At KNUST, Food Science Students Take Cleanliness Beyond the Classroom
At the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), students studying food safety and hygiene recently put those principles into practice, swapping their usual academic activities for scrubbing, sweeping and clearing waste from the facilities where they learn.
On Saturday, 31 October 2026, lecturers and students from the Department of Food Science and Technology came together for a clean-up exercise at the Department's Food Processing and Sensory Units.
Organised in collaboration with the Association of Food Science and Technology Students (AFSTS), the exercise aimed to improve sanitation in facilities used for practical training and research.
The activity drew support from senior faculty members, including the Head of Department, Prof. Jacob K. Agbenorhevi; the Association's Patron, Prof. Francis Alemawor; and Prof. William Otoo Ellis, who joined students and AFSTS executives in the exercise.
Participants scrubbed surfaces, cleaned workspaces and collected waste, contributing to a cleaner environment for teaching and laboratory activities.
But the exercise was about more than tidying up.
In food science, where hygiene can determine the safety and quality of a product, maintaining clean working environments is as important as understanding the science behind them. The activity offered students an opportunity to practise the principles they are expected to uphold as future food professionals.
The message was captured in a simple slogan: “When the lab shines, the department also shines.”
AFSTS leaders thanked the lecturers, students and executives who participated, describing the initiative as part of their broader effort to encourage responsibility and good sanitation practices within the Department.
For the students, the exercise reinforced a lesson that extends well beyond the university: food safety begins with the everyday habits of the people who handle, process and study food.
