Health & Food TechnologyQ&A by dot point

The factors that influence consumer food choice - cost and budget, lifestyle and time, culture and religion, allergies and intolerances, ethical and environmental beliefs, advertising and marketing, and availability and shopping habits.

Food labelling requirements and the legislation and organisations that protect consumers - mandatory and nutrition labelling, allergen and date marking, claims, and the roles of Food Standards Scotland, Trading Standards, the Advertising Standards Authority and Citizens Advice.

Technological developments in food and their effects on the consumer - food additives, preservation and processing methods (cook-chill, UHT, modified atmosphere packaging), functional and fortified foods, alternative proteins, and genetically modified food.

The relationship between diet and the major diet-related conditions and diseases - obesity, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dental caries, bowel disorders and bowel cancer, osteoporosis, anaemia and hypertension - including the dietary causes and the dietary changes that reduce the risk.

Current dietary advice (the Scottish Dietary Goals and the Eatwell guidance) and how the dietary needs of individuals change across life stages and for particular groups - pregnancy and lactation, babies, children, teenagers, adults, the elderly, and vegetarians and vegans.

The functions, food sources and health implications of the macronutrients - protein (including biological value), fats and oils (saturated and unsaturated), and carbohydrates (sugars, starch and non-starch polysaccharide) - and the role of food in supplying energy.

The functions, food sources and deficiency or excess effects of the main vitamins (A, B group, C, D, E, folic acid) and minerals (calcium, iron, sodium, phosphorus, fluoride), and the role of water in the diet.

Food safety and hygiene in the development and production of food - the causes of contamination, the conditions bacteria need to grow, food poisoning and its prevention, and methods of preservation and temperature control.

The stages of food product development - the brief and market research, concept generation, prototype development, sensory and other testing, evaluation against the brief, and launch - and the research techniques used to gather and analyse consumer information.

The functional properties of ingredients in food preparation - aeration, binding, bulking, coagulation, dextrinisation, emulsification, gelatinisation, shortening, thickening, browning and caramelisation, and the use of raising agents - and how these properties are used in product development.