The first intake of undergraduates in the Department of Food Science and Technology was in 1973, with the award of first B.Sc. degrees taking place in 1976.
M.Sc. Programme in Food Science and Technology was designed in 1982-1984, with the first intake of postgraduate students occurring in 1984.
The M.Sc programme in Applied Human Nutrition was established in 1985, hence the department renamed "Department of Food Technology & Nutrition". The name of the Department was later changed to Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology following a restructure. The Department has evolved since then and offers other additional courses that include certificate in Food Safety and Quality, B.Sc Food Nutrition and Dietetics, Post-Graduate Diploma and M.Sc. in Food Safety and Quality.
Graduates of the department are internationally recognized and are well prepared to enter Food industries, Government ministries, Parastatals, Non governmental organizations, hospitals and research institutions in the various fields involved in food processing and human nutrition, research and development, as well as planning and implementation of projects.
The department collaborates with several institutions such as Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, the United Nations University, Tokyo, Georg-August University, Germany, Makerere University, FUDACIÓN SUSTALDE from Spain, International Potato Centre, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology. Close ties are also maintained with the Swiss Development Co-operation (SDC) and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and locally with the Food Science and Technology Platform of Kenya (FoSTeP-K), Kenya Institute of Food Science and Technology (KIFST), which provides linkage between the department and local food industries.
The department is located in Upper Kabete Campus of the University of Nairobi, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture.