Ideas for Research Topic Msc in Food Technology

Good afternoon All,
Currently i am doing Msc in Food Technology..
IS any one help me on choosing Reserach Topic??
Please list me couple of topic so i can choose one.
Your input are highly appreciated.
thanks for help
regards
Min

From your knowledge and learning is there any subject that has got you excited or made you raise your eyebrow. I think if you have a passion for a subject it will help you to motivate yourself as your workload grows. I think you can answer this question yourself, post your ideas and we will help you to refine them.

From your knowledge and learning is there any subject that has got you excited or made you raise your eyebrow. I think if you have a passion for a subject it will help you to motivate yourself as your workload grows. I think you can answer this question yourself, post your ideas and we will help you to refine them.

Thanks Simon,
Appreciate your response..
I am looking into somthing lab based project e.g. PRo biotic Cheese etc.
I have got the topic from college ( Impact of claimte change on microorganism ) but in this topic it is hard work to find information and complete reserach.
Or if you have any thing ini mind i will think about that.
thanks for your help and time
Regards
Min

Thanks Simon,
Appreciate your response..
I am looking into somthing lab based project e.g. PRo biotic Cheese etc.
I have got the topic from college ( Impact of claimte change on microorganism ) but in this topic it is hard work to find information and complete reserach.
Or if you have any thing ini mind i will think about that.
thanks for your help and time
Regards
Min

My thesis was about Probiotics& prebiotic.
Prebiotics are really big world and study on these was really enjoyable. Add smthng in probiotic food and make it both pre&pro biotics.
Like probiotic milk and add banana, make it prebiotic too.

Just an idea:)

On lab based, what about something along the lines of contamination levels in foods? A juicy one could be Listeria in ready to eat foods! Something close to my heart recently after having a baby is the advice different bodies give pregnant women on foods and from experience I've never had cured meats give a Listeria positive (recommended by some sources to avoid) whereas I've seen positives in sandwiches (not currently recommended to avoid by any literature I read).

There you go though, Simon's right, I went straight for a topic which meant something to me! What excites you about probiotics (no, really...)

If you wanted a more legislative less practical side, it might be worth looking into the FSA's role in the UK related to issues which are non food safety related? This cow cloning issue could be an interesting one to watch.

Good afternoon All,
Currently i am doing Msc in Food Technology..
IS any one help me on choosing Reserach Topic??
Please list me couple of topic so i can choose one.
Your input are highly appreciated.
thanks for help
regards
Min

Hi Min,

I would suggest start by picking an area that you are interested in and then I'm sure the guys & girls on the forum can come up with some ideas.

Suggested research areas:

Food Fermentation
Food Toxicology
Food Chemistry and Analysis
Food Marketing
Food Microbiology and Analysis
Nutrition
Engineering and Principles of Food Machinery
Food Processing
Thermal processing of foods
Transport of Food
Food hygiene
Laboratory Accreditation
Food Manufacturing
Food Packaging
HACCP
Product Development
Food Safety
Quality Management Systems
Laboratory Accreditation
Legislation
Raw Food Ingredients
Hygiene in Food Environments
Sensory Aspects of Food
Consumer R&D

Regards,

Tony

I would also think if I were your examiner, I would want to see a project which had as many aspects to food technology as a career as possible. IMO it's easy to be in a lab and you could focus a considerable part of your project on that but I would include some (paper / computer based) background research, and, this is key for me, I would definitely include some contact with production staff in some environment (wherever you can get access to) and also try and make some changes with those production staff based upon your findings in the lab. This is because food technology used to be men in white coats far removed from the factory and IMO completely useless because they weren't influencing the people who matter!

What about a personal hygiene project then based on hands? You could do research then on the effects of handwashing, e.g. not handwashing, ineffective handwashing, good handwashing. You could research key hand contact points in a factory or catering establishment, do swabs of hands, hand contact points, observe technique (do so discretely or else they will change it ) then based upon your findings you could do an education campaign, e.g. retraining, posters, greater supervision. You may also find that cleaning schedules aren't up to scratch so you may need to make suggestions there or you may find the soap they're using for handcleaning is ineffective so change to an antibacterial soap with an alcohol rub final step?

Obviously it doesn't have to be on hand hygiene but all of Tony's suggestions are good ones but in each case adopting this approach:



research background to why xxx is a good or bad thing (where xxx is your topic, e.g. supplier accreditation)
find out what the status quo is - using lab methods or other methods
research what the issues you find could cause and what could resolve them
put in place some changes
check the results, make further changes if needed
check the changes are still in place after a specified time period
conclusion

I would also think if I were your examiner, I would want to see a project which had as many aspects to food technology as a career as possible. IMO it's easy to be in a lab and you could focus a considerable part of your project on that but I would include some (paper / computer based) background research, and, this is key for me, I would definitely include some contact with production staff in some environment (wherever you can get access to) and also try and make some changes with those production staff based upon your findings in the lab. This is because food technology used to be men in white coats far removed from the factory and IMO completely useless because they weren't influencing the people who matter!

What about a personal hygiene project then based on hands? You could do research then on the effects of handwashing, e.g. not handwashing, ineffective handwashing, good handwashing. You could research key hand contact points in a factory or catering establishment, do swabs of hands, hand contact points, observe technique (do so discretely or else they will change it ) then based upon your findings you could do an education campaign, e.g. retraining, posters, greater supervision. You may also find that cleaning schedules aren't up to scratch so you may need to make suggestions there or you may find the soap they're using for handcleaning is ineffective so change to an antibacterial soap with an alcohol rub final step?

Obviously it doesn't have to be on hand hygiene but all of Tony's suggestions are good ones but in each case adopting this approach:



research background to why xxx is a good or bad thing (where xxx is your topic, e.g. supplier accreditation)
find out what the status quo is - using lab methods or other methods
research what the issues you find could cause and what could resolve them
put in place some changes
check the results, make further changes if needed
check the changes are still in place after a specified time period
conclusion

thanks for all your suggestions...
currently i am working on topic impact of climate change on microorganism but also suggested to look into what impact in traditional fermentation???
any idea on this.....
i really like this forum... people are really spnding theire time and adivse based on their experience....
i am also in food technology sector since 2002....
thanks foe help once again
cheers
Min