The Department of Food Science and Nutrition started as the Department of Home Economics in 1953 and was established in 1974. The undergraduate program expanded to graduate study (master's degree) in 1978 and Ph.D. programs in 1981. The curriculum is focused on the basic and applied sciences relating to food biochemistry, advanced food chemistry, advanced nutrition science, advanced human physiology, advanced life cycle nutrition, and nutrition research and evaluation methods. The graduate school provides academic training for students to develop qualified specialties for research institutes, hospitals and other fields.
The graduate school is divided into food science, nutrition, and nutritional education fields. The studies in the food science field analyze the components of food, examine the physiologically active matter and evaluate physical and chemical characteristics. It also develops new functional foods and examines the excellence of traditional foods by researching in vivo and in vitro the nutritional qualities and the anti-mutagenic, anti-cancer, anti-aging and anti-obesity effects of fermented food products, such as kimchi and soybean paste. In the nutrition field, ongoing research is looking into the nutritional basis and its applications, as well as directing public health promotion programs by comprehending the relationship between nutrients and their metabolic processes. The nutritional education field is using educational concepts of diets, food management research, and computerized nutrition programs in researching programs that will analyze and evaluate food prescriptions, food processing and nutritive conditions classified by diseases. Also, to support these efforts, several laboratories, such as the physico-chemical laboratories, nutrition experiment laboratories, machinery analyzation laboratories, breeding laboratories, radioactive isotopes laboratories and sensory test laboratories are equipped with HPLC, U.V., lipid extraction machinery, nitrogen analyzers, and other experimental apparatus.
The graduate school is divided into food science, nutrition, and nutritional education fields. The studies in the food science field analyze the components of food, examine the physiologically active matter and evaluate physical and chemical characteristics. It also develops new functional foods and examines the excellence of traditional foods by researching in vivo and in vitro the nutritional qualities and the anti-mutagenic, anti-cancer, anti-aging and anti-obesity effects of fermented food products, such as kimchi and soybean paste. In the nutrition field, ongoing research is looking into the nutritional basis and its applications, as well as directing public health promotion programs by comprehending the relationship between nutrients and their metabolic processes. The nutritional education field is using educational concepts of diets, food management research, and computerized nutrition programs in researching programs that will analyze and evaluate food prescriptions, food processing and nutritive conditions classified by diseases. Also, to support these efforts, several laboratories, such as the physico-chemical laboratories, nutrition experiment laboratories, machinery analyzation laboratories, breeding laboratories, radioactive isotopes laboratories and sensory test laboratories are equipped with HPLC, U.V., lipid extraction machinery, nitrogen analyzers, and other experimental apparatus.