The Brazilian Society of Food Science and Technology, SBCTA, was founded in Campinas, SP, under the leadership of the renowned teacher of food engineering and entrepreneur, André Tosello on April 8, 1967. The origins of the Society are closely linked to the Brazilian National Institute of Food Technology (ITAL), also located in Campinas and the Faculty of Food Engineering of the State University of Campinas. The idea of creating the Society was first set forth during the II International Congress of Food Science and Technology that took place in Warsaw, in August 1966.

At the Warsaw meeting, area representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru joined efforts to also establish the Latin Committee on Food Technology, that later resulted in today's Latin American Association of Food Science and Technology, ALACCTA. With the emerging needs for a self-reliant Brazilian food industry, the aims and scope of the SBCTA expanded within the country, firstly in the proximity of the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Campinas and later, to all the corners of the land.

The SBCTA is a non-profit, multi-professional organization administered by a 16-member Board of Directors, elected for two-year terms, with the option of one re-election, and an elected 15-member Board of Overseers (Council). To date, the Society has had eight presidents, the founding president being Dr. Walter Joaquim dos Santos. Under the current administration, president Nelcindo Nascimento Terra is sparing no efforts to increase services to the current 1,300+ members in an attempt to actively regain many of the 4,000+ former members that have been lost over the years. Membership fees for the Society are under $35, perhaps the lowest among similar societies in the country.

Among its main activities, the SBCTA organizes the biennial Brazilian Congress of Food Science and Technology (CBCTAs), publishes two scientific journals and some 15 technical handbooks, in addition to sponsoring or promoting a number of seminars, courses and local symposia throughout the country. Starting in 2001, the Society is cooperating with the organizers of the Latin American Symposium of Food Science (SLACA), an independent biyearly event, which has already gone through its 4th meeting. Due to its large territory and broad regional differences, the SBCTA has created several Regional Sections that operate in a rather autonomous fashion, each promoting courses, seminars and other activities to locally and more properly develop the field of food science and technology.

The SBCTA has exerted significant participation over the years in the discussion and formulation of Brazilian educational and research policies by participating in official committees or by organizing technical groups and workshops on specific needs.

The Society has been associated with the IUFoST for a long period of time and one of its former presidents is a member of the IUFoST Governing Council.

Through the years the SBCTA has uninterruptedly published two scientific journals, the Boletim da SBCTA and Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos. The former, with an emphasis on review articles and the solution of technological challenges of domestic relevance, is on its 35th volume. The latter is a journal with a wider, rather international scope, now on its 22nd year and is currently seeking indexation with the ISI. This is probably one of the largest Latin American and surely the largest Brazilian journal in the area of food science and technology. The Informativo da SBCTA is the quarterly newsletter of the Society, which is published in Portuguese and mailed to all members. The Informativo plus abstracts of the journals and other information are available in the Society's website www.sbcta.org.br .