Food with Nutrition

The course focuses on the food chain and issues that are important to consumers, such as nutrition and safety. We’ll equip you for professional life, with skills that will make you attractive to employers.

We offer a supportive, close-knit working environment. Class sizes are small. Staff and students are on first name terms, and you’ll be assigned an Academic Advisor from day one.

You’ll graduate with:

• A deep understanding of the impact of food provision
• An understanding of the role of nutrition on health
• Familiarity with the scientific principles and laboratory techniques used in the examination and analysis of food
• An informed attitude to ethical and environmental concerns associated with food production.

Year one
In your first year, you'll build a science base, learning fundamental concepts of human biology, microbiology, anatomy and physiology. You'll learn about consumer perceptions of the food supply chain with particular reference to nutritional, environmental and ethical issues. You'll develop your practical, study and ICT skills.

Year two
In year two, you'll gain more detail in topics you covered in your first year, while laying the foundations for your dissertation in your final year.

You'll develop:

• your understanding of the interaction of diet and other lifestyle factors that affect individuals, communities and population groups, in the development and/or treatment of disease
• your methods of enquiry and critical evaluation of the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems
• the skills and techniques required to undertake primary and secondary scientific research in food science, food technology and nutrition.

You'll also explore food quality and new food product development, and you’ll have the option to complete a work placement module.

Year three
In your final year, you'll critically evaluate the national and international concepts of risk assessment and their application at all stages of the food system. You'll evaluate issues and concerns over food provision, and conduct a primary research investigation. You can opt to collaborate with an organisation in the food and nutrition sector for an independent project.

Many assessments on this course mimic the tasks, ways of working and reporting that are used by the food and nutrition sector. Experiencing these ways of working will help prepare you for employment, whether that's in industry, or as a consultant, teacher or researcher.

Assessment methods include essays, reports, case studies, seminar presentations, examinations, group work, and independent study projects. There's an approximate 50/50 split between coursework/presentations and exams.

Examples of assessments

Year one

• Food diary
• Development of a smoothie
• Communication of a food issue (report)

Year two

• Students develop an affordable standard range healthy option convenient food for a supermarket
• Dietary review
• Food analysis report
• Group research project

Final year

• Independent project – dissertation
• Hazard analysis of critical control points (HACCP) report
• Practical report on food preservation and packaging
  

You’ll be taught by our core team of lecturers in lectures, seminars, case studies, practical workshops, and educational visits. You’ll benefit from visiting lecturers who’ll give you insight into their areas of expertise. We’ll encourage you to gain relevant work experience. In your final year you’ll undertake an independent study which will further enhance your transferable and employability skills.

The majority of modules have associated practical classes. We’ll equip you with important practical skills not only in laboratory techniques, but also in data handling and problem solving, use of IT, and communication skills such as presentations and report writing.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities

Factory visits are part of the compulsory second year module Food Product Development and third year module Global Trends in Food Preservation and Packaging. Visits have included trips to:

• Marshfield Bakery
• Marshfield Ice Cream
• Bath Brew House
• Wyke Farms
• Westbury Dairies
• Barber's Cheese
• Yeo Valley

We encourage our students to attend external events such as:

• The Bath Science Fair
• The Bristol Science Fair
• IFST career launchpad event
• The Nutrition Society conferences
• Food Matters Live event
• IFST Annual Conference
• IFST annual lecture

We also encourage our students to attend as many endorsed events or activities that they can, such as IFST and Nutrition Society training events and endorsed activities.

We provide opportunities in areas allied to food and nutrition such as business and enterprise, environmental management, and science/food writing. As part of the Food and Nutrition in Practice module (Work based module), our students have:

• Developed sports milk;
• Developed low sugar ice-cream;
• Created weight management resources for teenagers;
• Worked with the NHS to develop a tool for analysing weight loss phone apps and healthy eating resources for dietitians;
• Developed recipe cards for Heart UK;
• Developed an interactive food hygiene resource for schools with Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) council;
• Developed hygiene guidance for home catering businesses with BANES Environmental Health Department (now in use across South West England);
• Developed a white chocolate lemon meringue bar for Marshfield Bakery;
• Developed a salsa dip for Tracklements (now in production); and
• Developed a pie for Pieminister (now in production)

Employers such as Oasis Foods, Kerry Foods, Leatherhead Food Research, Coldwater Seafoods and Ferndale Foods have recruited graduates from this course.

Students have gone into roles including:

• Food Development Technologist
• Research Technician
• Assistant Scientific Officer
• Nutritionist
• Product Developer
• Quality Controller
• Teacher

• Best Dissertation in a  Food and Nutrition award
• Highest academic achievement in a Food and Nutrition award

Students are encouraged to submit to  IFST Competitions.

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

The Professional Placement Year (PPY) provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for, and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Before your PPY, you'll work to identify roles of interest and secure a placement. The Placements Team will support through timetabled sessions and 1:1 appointments.

As well as completing a minimum of 900 placement hours, you will complete two assessments demonstrating your skill development, growth in professional behaviours and how the PPY has impacted your future career aspirations.

Aiming to make work experience more accessible, we have introduced the PPY Bursary. Students undertaking a PPY can receive between £500 and £1,500 to be used towards placement costs such as travel, food, workwear or accommodation.

For more information and details of eligibility criteria, please visit the PPY Bursary webpage.

Our specialist facilities give you access to some of the latest technologies and learning resources, including a wide range of industry standard specialist food and nutrition software. You'll have access to:

• Teaching laboratories
  For biochemistry, human biology, microbiology and food analysis
• Low hazard laboratory
  For food preparation (kitchen facilities), sensory analysis and physiology (including exercise equipment)
• Analytical suite
  For instrumental analysis
• Research and project space
  
• Resources Room 
  Student Open Access study space
• Virtual Learning Environment
  
• Commons building
  
• Newton Park library

The Food and Nutrition Labs and workshops are fully equipped with a mix of general and specialist equipment, appropriate for modules taught in them, student dissertations and staff research. Students have personal on-campus access to dietary analysis software, which is used frequently in lectures and seminars.