Master in Food Quality and Health

The MQAS covers the area of food quality (nutritional, legal and sensory) and its laboratory control, as well as the implications that food compounds have on health, both from the point of view of promoting and preventing disease.

This course aims to contribute to the acquisition and / or updating of professional and scientific skills in the area, in order to improve the Quality and Food Safety in Portugal, indispensable in the guarantor of public health, in line with the requirements of the European Community, through:

• Acquisition of knowledge about the components, with physiological activity, present in animal and vegetal foods.
• Study of functional foods, food supplements and novel foods.
• Study of the main changes produced in food by the manufacture technology, storage and transport and their implication in the nutritional value and health of the consumer.
• Application of appropriate methodologies for the analysis of food analytes, in order to characterize and control the quality of these matrices.
• Definition of the main health risks associated with food intake, including human exposure to chemical, physical and microbiological agents.
• Assessment of the toxicological effect of additives, residues and contaminants on food, as well as toxics of natural origin and selection of methods of analysis for their quantification.
• Introduction of the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) system implementation principles and stages of its implementation.
• Development of technical / scientific concepts related to water quality and presentation of strategies for effective control of the quality of water for human consumption, from abstraction to the public water supply network.
• Study of national and Community legislation that regulates the food and water quality for human consumption.
• Definition of the objectives and importance of sensory evaluation, namely in the selection, training and control of panels of tasters and comparison of results with instrumental measurements.
• Integrated study of the evaluation, management and communication of risks along the food chain and search for biomarkers of exposure, effect and susceptibility for control and prevention of the risk of exposure to genotoxic and non-genotoxic agents.
• Food and public health

Teaching Language

The classes are taught in Portuguese.

Maria Eduardo Costa Morgado Figueira

ECTS
120 ECTS:
60 – correspond to the first two semesters.
60 – correspond to the Seminar and Dissertation.

Duration
2 academic years / 4 semesters

Regime
After-work

• Curricular Plan
• Curriculum published in Diário da República (Official Gazette of Portugal).

Accreditation

Accrediting body

Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education — A3ES

Process reference

ACEF/2526/0317937

Publication date

24/04/2026

Accreditation period

6 years

Accreditation date

31/07/2026

Registration

Responsible authority

Directorate General for Higher Education — DGES

Registration number

R/A-Ef 1951/2011/AL02

Registration date

08/05/2026

Documents

Food industry and Pharmaceutical industry.

In the case of the food industry:

• Production;
• Quality control;
• HACCP – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point;
• New foods;
• Risk assessment and communication.

In the pharmaceutical industry:

• Food suplements;
• Interactions between dietary supplements and drugs;
• Interactions between food and drugs

The course will be taught on Friday from 9 am to 6 pm and on Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.

The classes will take place at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon.

2025/2026

• 1st semester Schedule 
• Calendar

Full-time general student

National Students
Annual fee: 1.500,00 € (1.st year) | 1.750,00 € (2.nd year)

International students
Annual fee: 3.250,00 € (1.st year) | 3.750,00 € (2.nd year)

Consult associated documentation

2024/2025

Academic Success

96,55%

Pass rate

(Passed/assessed — academic year 2024/2025)
Source: FenixEdu, April 2026

4,55%

Failure rate

(Failed/assessed — academic year 2024/2025)
Source: FenixEdu, April 2026

Employability

100%

Employability indicator*

Graduates from 2019/20 to 2023/24

* Calculated as the difference from the percentage of graduates registered as unemployed with the IEFP.
This does not represent an employment rate.

0%

Registered unemployment rate with the IEFP, referring to graduates from 2019/20 to 2023/24

Source: DGEEC, data from June 2025 (2026 edition)

Additional indicators

View more indicators on the InfoCursos Portal

Postgraduate Studies Office: mestrados@ff.ulisboa.pt