About us

Modern food and drink manufacturing processes are highly sophisticated, involving heat and mass transfer, mixing, reaction, separation and transport of liquids and solid materials. The design and operation of safe and cost-effective process lines, whilst ensuring product quality and microbiological safety, requires a multidisciplinary approach to all aspects of process hygiene.

The Food & Drink Special Interest Group provides a networking community for anyone with an interest in this complex and diverse sector, whatever their background.

Membership is open to all with an interest in the area – you don’t need to be a member of IChemE to join the Food & Drink Special Interest Group.

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Objectives

• Promote the importance of food process engineering in the manufacture of food and drink
• Advance technical policy, and progress the implementation of the Food and Drink theme of IChemE's Technical Strategy Roadmap
• Support the professional development, education and training of process engineers in the industry
• Form and maintain links worldwide with other organisations in the field
  

Activities

• Technical seminars, workshops and site visits
• Regular newsletter
• Website with member-only areas
• Travel awards to support students attending conferences
• Prizes for undergraduates on food engineering-related courses
• Joint initiative with the Royal Society of Chemistry to publish and build upon a major report, The vital ingredient – chemical science and engineering for sustainable food. On 16 October 2009 a joint IChemE/RSC workshop was held at the University of Birmingham, UK, to determine what food manufacturers, retailers and consumers want and need in terms of safe and nutritious food and to identify key engineering and science skills necessary to achieve these targets. View the outcomes
• Representation of professional interests via international forums