The Food Engineering Program was established in 1993 as a department of the Faculty of Engineering. It began its education in the Mersin Metropol building with 21 students in the 1993-1994 academic year. In the 1994-1995 academic year, it moved to a part of the Mersin Vocational School building on the Çiftlikköy campus of the university. Between 1994-1997, education and training continued in the classrooms and laboratories of the Mersin Vocational School. The 1996-1997 academic year was completed in a classroom allocated to our department in the Faculty of Engineering Classroom Block, the construction of which was completed in the same year. Education and training currently continues in 3 classrooms in the same building. Laboratory applications and research studies are conducted in 18 laboratories belonging to our department in the Laboratory Building, whose construction was completed in 2003. The department offers undergraduate students a program in which they can acquire knowledge and skills in the physical, chemical and biological sciences, as well as the processing, storage and transportation of foods, and the production and development of new foods. The department offers master's and doctoral programs within the Department of Food Engineering within the Mersin University Institute of Science. The department has been offering master's degree programs since its establishment, and authorization to offer doctoral programs was granted by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) decision numbered 2147, dated October 14, 2002. The Food Engineering undergraduate program, which underwent a general evaluation by MÜDEK Engineering Education Programs Accreditation (MAK) during the 2011-2012 evaluation period, was granted accreditation effective May 1, 2012, and valid until September 30, 2017, and the EUR-ACE label, valid from May 1, 2012, until September 30, 2017. The Food Engineering undergraduate program transitioned to a mandatory preparatory class and 30% instruction in English during the 2011-2012 academic year.

The vision of the Food Engineering Department is; Our mission is to be an institution that conducts research projects focused on industry and application, has an internationally recognized educational program, generates international acclaim for its research, fosters student and faculty exchanges with international institutions, and undertakes joint projects, becoming a center of attraction in its field both nationally and internationally.

The Food Engineering Department's mission is to develop educational programs aligned with developing food technology and science, to train confident, analytical, and problem-solving food engineers, to develop technologies for higher quality and safer food production, to ensure the transfer of generated knowledge and technology to the region, country, and world, and to train qualified academics.