食品科学与工程系于1985年创办，为原江西工业大学食品工程系和江西大学食品科学系。1993年，江西大学和江西工业大学合并成立南昌大学，两校食品学科随即合并组建南昌大学食品工业学院，同年获批食品科学硕士学位授予权。1996年，食品科学获批博士学位授予权。2005年，食品科学与工程获批一级学科博士学位授予权。

The Department of Food Science and Engineering, was founded in 1985 through the merger of its two predecessor departments: the Department of Food Engineering of Jiangxi University of Technology and the Department of Food Science of Jiangxi University. In 1993, the two universities merged to form Nanchang University, with their food science disciplines integrated to establish the College of Food Industry at Nanchang University. In the same year, the university was authorized to confer master’s degrees in Food Science. In 1996, it obtained authorization for doctoral degrees in Food Science. In 2005, the discipline of Food Science and Engineering was authorized to offer doctoral degrees as a first-level discipline.

食品科学与工程系现有教师40人，其中教授25人。食品科学与工程系设有食品科学、食品营养、粮食油脂及植物蛋白工程、农产品（含水产品）加工与贮藏工程、食品安全、食品生物技术等六个研究方向。食品科学与工程专业通过国家工程教育认证，是国家一流本科专业。食品科学与工程学科在教育部第四轮学科评估中获评 A 类，第五轮学科评估实现历史性突破，成为江西省唯一入选最高等级的学科。截至2026年1月，食品科学与工程学科所在的农业科学学科进入ESI全球排名前0.2099‰。

The Department of Food Science and Engineering currently has 40 faculty members, including 25 professors. Its research focuses on six areas: Food Science, Food Nutrition, Cereals, Oils, and Plant-based Protein Engineering, Processing and Preservation of Agricultural Products (including Aquatic Products), Food Safety, and Food Biotechnology. The undergraduate major in Food Science and Engineering has passed the National Engineering Education Accreditation and is recognized as a national-level first-class undergraduate program. In the fourth round of the Ministry of Education’s discipline evaluation, the discipline received an A-grade rating. In the fifth round, it achieved a historic breakthrough, becoming the only discipline in Jiangxi Province to be selected for the highest level. As of January 2026, the agricultural science discipline, under which Food Science and Engineering falls, has ranked in the top 0.2099‰ globally in ESI.