TL;DR: BS Food Technology is a four-year, 165-unit degree under CHED Memorandum Order No. 07, series of 2019, with a ladder exit — the Certificate of Food Technician at 88 units after two years and OJT-1. The thing most course guides still get wrong: food technology is now a licensed profession. Republic Act No. 11052, the Philippine Food Technology Act, approved 29 June 2018, created the Professional Regulatory Board of Food Technology and the Food Technologists Licensure Examination, and PRC administered the first one in August 2024. If you are reading an older guide that says there is no board exam for this course, it is out of date.
The Licensure Change Nobody Updated
Start here, because it changes the shape of the whole degree.
For decades food technology was an unlicensed science degree. That ended with Republic Act No. 11052, "An Act Regulating the Practice of Food Technology in the Philippines, Creating for the Purpose the Board of Food Technology, and Appropriating Funds Therefor," approved on 29 June 2018.
RA 11052 created a Professional Regulatory Board of Food Technology under PRC and made a licensure examination the general requirement for registration. Section 13: "applicants for registration for the practice of food technology shall be required to pass a licensure examination as provided for in this Act."
PRC lists Food Technology among its professional regulatory boards, and the Commission administered the first Food Technologists Licensure Examination in August 2024 — 510 of 995 examinees passed that first sitting, according to PRC's own release. A second sitting followed in August 2025 in computer-based format.
That means a BSFT student today is on a different footing from one who graduated in 2017. You now have a licence to aim at, a defined scope of practice protected by law, and a legal framework behind the job title.
Qualifications for the exam
RA 11052, Section 14, requires an applicant to:
- be a Filipino citizen (or a citizen of a country with a reciprocity agreement on food technology practice);
- be of good moral character;
- hold a Bachelor's Degree in Food Technology from a school, college or university recognised and duly accredited by CHED; and
- not have been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude.
Note the degree requirement is specific. The two-year Certificate of Food Technician described below is an employment credential, not a route to the examination.
Scope and passing
Section 15 sets four subjects:
| Subject |
|---|
| Physical, Chemical, Biological, and Microbiological Principles |
| Food Processing, Preservation, and Food Engineering |
| Quality Sensory Evaluation of Food |
| Food Laws and Regulations |
The Board "may revise or exclude any of the above subjects and add new ones as may be called for by the requirements of the industry and the profession," so PRC's current table of specifications governs.
Section 16 requires a passing rating of 75% in each subject, with a removal examination available for subjects not passed; failing the removal examination means failing the entire licensure examination.
Exam dates and application windows are set by PRC in its master schedule of licensure examinations and change every cycle. Check PRC directly. Our PRC board exam requirements guide covers documentation.
The grandfather clause
RA 11052, Section 20, allowed registration without examination for the first Board members and for qualified applicants holding a Bachelor's Degree in Food Technology or an allied field (nutrition, agriculture, biochemistry or molecular biology, chemistry, fishery, chemical engineering) who had been actively practising food technology for at least five years immediately preceding the effectivity of the Act. That was a transitional window for existing practitioners, not a standing alternative route — new graduates take the examination.
What CHED Prescribes for BSFT
The governing document is CHED Memorandum Order No. 07, series of 2019, "Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Food Technology."
CHED's definition: food technology is "a discipline based on the application of science and related fields of study in the conversion of raw materials into safe, stable, palatable and nutritious foods. It includes the post-harvest handling, preparation, processing, packaging, storage and distribution of food to ensure food and nutrition security, safety and the well-being of individuals, families and communities." It adds the social, cultural, economic, managerial, entrepreneurial and environmental aspects of food systems.
The programme goals describe "a mix of pure and applied science, engineering, business and entrepreneurial skills." That mix is the honest description of the degree — it is a chemistry-and-microbiology-heavy science course with engineering and business components bolted on, not a cooking course.
How Many Units Is BS Food Technology?
CMO 07 s. 2019 gives 165 units:
| Component | Units |
|---|---|
| General Education courses | 36 |
| Tool courses | 26 |
| Professional courses | 74 |
| Electives | 6 |
| Thesis and On-the-Job Training | 9 |
| Physical Education and NSTP | 14 |
| Total | 165 |
The sample programme of study distributes it across four years plus a summer term, with third-year summer carrying 6 units.
This is CHED's prescribed structure. Confirm the actual curriculum with your target school's food technology department.
The Ladder: Certificate of Food Technician
CMO 07 s. 2019 builds in an exit point at 88 units:
| Component | Units |
|---|---|
| General Education courses | 27 |
| Tool courses | 20 |
| Professional courses | 22 |
| On-the-Job Training (OJT-1) | 5 |
| NSTP | 6 |
| Physical Education | 8 |
| Certificate of Food Technician total | 88 |
The CMO states that students who satisfactorily complete the first two years and the 5 units of OJT-1 "shall be awarded the Certificate of Food Technician which the students may use for immediate employment as Food Technician in manufacturing, food service, research and laboratories and as an Entrepreneur."
This is a genuinely useful safety net if funding is uncertain. Be clear about the limit, though: the Certificate is not a degree and does not qualify you for the Food Technologists Licensure Examination, which requires the bachelor's degree.
The Two OJT Blocks
CMO 07 sets the conversion explicitly: one unit equals 50 practicum hours.
| Placement | Units / hours | When | What CHED says it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| OJT-1 | 5 units / 250 hours (food technician track) | After second year | "An overview of the basic practice in food technology" — assisting in research, analysis and processing, and possibly entrepreneurship experience |
| OJT-2 | 6 units / 300 hours | Summer of third year | Honing skills and practical perspective; a holistic view of food technology as a profession, across research and development, training, analysis, procurement, processing, manufacturing, marketing and sales |
Those 6 units of OJT-2 plus the 3-unit fourth-year Thesis are the 9 units the components table labels "Thesis and On-the-Job Training."
OJT-2's description is worth reading twice. CHED expects graduating students to see the business of food, not just the laboratory — procurement, manufacturing, marketing and sales are named alongside R&D. That is unusual for a science degree and it reflects where most food technology jobs actually sit.
The degree also requires a thesis, which appears in the fourth-year curriculum alongside courses such as Food Laws, Quality Assurance, Food Product Innovation, Environmental Issues in the Food Industry, and a seminar on current trends in food science and technology.
What You Actually Study
The curriculum builds through chemistry and microbiology into processing and engineering. Courses named in CMO 07's sample programme include Food Chemistry, Food Processing, Physical Chemistry, Sensory Evaluation, Food Engineering, Food Analysis, Food Safety, Food Labelling, handling technology, Basic Nutrition, Quality Assurance, Food Laws and Food Product Innovation.
Two things follow. First, if you dislike chemistry, this is not the degree — Food Chemistry and Physical Chemistry sit at the core of third year. Second, the presence of Food Laws, Quality Assurance and Food Safety as distinct courses maps directly onto the licensure exam's fourth subject and onto the regulatory-compliance jobs that dominate the industry.
Scope of Practice Under RA 11052
Because food technology is now regulated, the law defines what practice covers. Section 4 includes:
- Identifying specifications of raw materials and supervising their procurement
- Supervising food processing operations
- Evaluating and certifying the microbiological, physical, chemical, sensory and functional properties of food
- Technical transactions in food, ingredients, additives and processing equipment
- Basic and applied research to develop or improve food safety and quality
- Teaching, lecturing and reviewing professional subjects in the BSFT curriculum or in the licensure examination
- Compliance with food laws and regulations in local and international markets
- Implementing quality management systems — food safety, laboratory management, quality requirements, quality audit
- Waste management assistance for environmental safety
- Consultation work and procurement of laboratory materials
The certification function is the commercially important one. A licensed food technologist can certify analytical results, which is exactly what exporters, manufacturers and regulators need.
Careers
CMO 07 lists the destinations: "food manufacturing and engineering, quality control/assurance, product development and innovation, food analysis, food microbiology, marketing, distribution and sales," plus "research, extension, instruction and training in the food industry."
In practice that means quality assurance and food safety roles in manufacturing, product development in food companies, laboratory analysis, regulatory affairs, and technical sales for ingredients and equipment suppliers. The entrepreneurial angle CHED builds into the curriculum is real too — food processing is one of the few science degrees where starting a small production business is a normal outcome rather than an exception.
BSFT Compared With Nearby Degrees
| Degree | Object of study | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| BS Food Technology | The food product — processing, safety, quality, regulation | Yes — Food Technologist (RA 11052) |
| BS Nutrition and Dietetics | The person — nutritional status, therapy, community nutrition | Yes — Nutritionist-Dietitian |
| BS Chemistry | Chemical science generally | Yes — Chemist |
| HRM / Culinary programmes | Food service and hospitality operations | No |
The comparison people most often need is against BS Nutrition and Dietetics. Both are food-related, both are now licensed, and they are not substitutes. Food technology sits in factories and laboratories. Nutrition and dietetics sits in hospitals, communities and clinics.
If you want a licensed profession generally, our courses with board exams list compares them side by side.
What It Costs
We are not quoting figures. Structurally, food technology is laboratory-intensive — chemistry, microbiology, processing and analysis all carry laboratory fees — so it prices above business or humanities programmes at the same school. State universities and colleges charge no tuition for qualified students under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, and several of the strongest food technology programmes in the country sit at state universities. Ask a school separately about tuition, laboratory fees, and OJT-related costs.
Should You Take BS Food Technology?
- Are you comfortable with chemistry and microbiology? They are the spine of the degree, not electives.
- Do you want the licence? Since RA 11052, a BSFT is a route to a protected professional title. Take the full degree if that matters — the two-year Certificate does not get you there.
- Are you interested in industry, not just science? OJT-2 and the curriculum's business courses assume you will end up near manufacturing, quality systems and regulation.
- Is the ladder exit part of your plan or your fallback? Know which, and tell the school.
- Does the school have working laboratories and industry OJT partners? For a degree this practical, that is the real difference between programmes.
Senior high students on the science track should read our STEM strand guide; no strand is formally required, but the chemistry load makes STEM the smoothest run-up.
Ready to compare schools? Browse food technology programmes across Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- CHED Memorandum Order No. 07, series of 2019 — Policies, Standards and Guidelines for BS Food Technology
- Republic Act No. 11052 — Philippine Food Technology Act (LawPhil)
- Professional Regulation Commission — Professional Regulatory Boards
- Professional Regulation Commission — Food Technology Board
- Professional Regulation Commission — August 2024 Food Technologists Licensure Examination results release
