The history of the Department started in 1970 when it was founded initially as the “School of Food Technology” within the Higher Technical and Vocational Education Center of Thessaloniki. At that stage, it included two departments: the Department of Animal Products and the Department of Agricultural Products.
In 1983, after the abolition of Higher Technical and Vocational Education Centers and the formation of Technological Education Institutes (TEIs), the Department was named «Department of Food Technology» of the Technological and Educational Institute of Thessaloniki. In 1985, the Department of Food Technology joined the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics in forming the School of Food Technology and Nutrition. In 2013, the School was expanded with the inclusion of the Department of Agricultural Technology and it was renamed to School of Agricultural Technology, Food Technology and Nutrition. In 2019 the Technological and Educational Institute of Thessaloniki became part of the International Hellenic University and the Department took the current name «Department of Food Science and Technology» as part of the School of Geosciences together with the Departments of Agricultural Biotechnology and Oenology (Drama), Agriculture (Thessaloniki) and Forestry & Natural Environment (Drama).
The Department implements the credit transfer units system (ECTS) since 1999. In 2008, the Department was evaluated positively by a committee of Greek and international experts.
Currently, the Department offers one undergraduate program in Food Science and Technology and one Master’s level program entitled «Quality assurance and operation management systems in the food industry».