Woodruff Lecture

Food Science and Food Safety
(Woodroof Lecture - April 8, 2010)

- David R. Lineback
(Senior Fellow)
Joint Institute for Food Safely and Applied Nutrition

About Dr. Jasper G. Woodroof

Born May 23, 1900 in Meriwether County, GA

Education: UGA > B.S.A. - 1922; M.S.A - 1926

University of California, Berkley and
Michigan State University > Ph.D. - 1932

Organized Department of Food Science at the Georgia Experiment Station (Griffin); HOD for 26 yrs

First Chairman - The Division of Food Science (1950-67);

Oversaw establishment of B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. programs

Autobiography – Dreams of a Food Scientist (1987)

Awards : Outstanding Alumni Award – MSU
Nicholas Appert Award - IFT
Donald K. Tressler Award - IFT

1981 – Endowment Fund established for Woodroof Lecture

Dr. Jasper Guy Woodroof
1900 - 1998

About David R. Lineback

Senior Fellow - JIFSAN (University of Maryland)

Carbohydrate Chemist and Food Scientist

B.S. Chemistry - Purdue University
Ph.D. Carbohydrate Chemistry - Ohio State University

President of IFT : 1992-93
Fellow of IFT

President of AACC : 1983-84

Awards > CFSAN Director’s Special Citation Award ‘02
> Geddes Memorial Award (AACC, 1998)
> “Old Master” (Purdue University, 1986)
> Special Award of Merit (Japanese Society
of Starch Science, 1985)

The Seminar

Inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a dream” speech

He talks about dreams and how to achieve them

Careers not necessarily linear

Unexpected can occur and does occur

His own career has been diverse, interesting, rewarding, sometimes frustrating and enjoyable

Food Forecast

Organically grown foods

Bio-engineered foods

Convenience will hold prominence
Example- microwavable foods

1991 – Your computer will determine your nutritional requirements. Now happening

Fergus Clydesdale (University of Massachusetts)
in 2004 – Envisioned appearance of functional foods in stores; now we see them

Current State

Poor don’t know from where their food is going to come tomorrow

See newspapers for policies

Whom do they benefit?

Projection:-
World Population to increase by 40% by 2050 from 6.5 billion to 9.1 billion

By 2050, world food requirement will double

1.3 Billion people live on $1 a day
2 Billion more people live on $2 a day

Food technologists and scientists will play a key role in meeting the demand

It is our onus to ensure food security for the underprivileged

Target 2015: The World Food Summit
… a reaffirmation of the right of everyone to have adequate, safe and nutritious food

What is The World Food Summit (WFS)?
- 1996: 180 nations met at FAO HQs (now in Rome)
- Discussed ways to end hunger
- Commitment – reducing number of undernourished people by half by 2015

This should be our goal too as a food scientist

Mission of a Food Science and Technologist: To create new knowledge and to develop processes

Food Safety

It means more than consuming food that doesn’t harm us
Includes accidents, environmental effects & terrorism

Integration of toxicology, nutrition, microbiology, genetics, environmental sciences

Food Supply and Safety Chain

Farm - Transportation - Food Processor – Transportation - Retail

Current Mega Trends

One Stop Nutrition

Guilt free indulgence

Convenience Plus

Health, Convenience, Pleasure

Well being, time, sensory

All combined is
Food Safety

Time to prepare food needs to be decreased, while maintaining same food safety levels

Need For New Technologies

Required for maintaining and improving food safety

Newer Technologies:-
-- Modern Biotechnology
-- Nano-engineering
-- …omics ~ Genomics, Transcriptomics, Proteomics,
Metabolomics, Nutrigenomics

In US, not too much stress on ‘authenticity’
Example – Honey may not be 100% honey, but still sold as honey. Potential for Metabolmics

Food Scientists’ Task

Food Scientists – Need to be involved in generating new knowledge for advances related to food technology; address food safety issues

Consumers have concerns regarding new technologies:-
-- Citizens request USFDA to stop the use of nano-tech
in food packaging until laws were formulated
-- Apprehension regarding food irradiation

Role of food scientists to educate the consumer

Too much variation between individuals; one recommendation doesn’t apply to all

Increase in incidences of microbial food-borne disease outbreaks

Food microbiologists will play important role

Give attention to identification and characterization of microbes

There is a bigger challenge still-

To identify incidences before their occurrence.

Lookout for symptoms

Example – the cause for outbreak may lie outside the manufacturing facility (the transportation)

Interesting

Increased sensitivities of analytical methods

Now able to detect analytes at extremely low concentrations

Some substances can have potential adverse human effects
Example: acryl-amide

Again Food Scientists have to reassure consumers about Food Safety

Other Food Safety Concerns

Increasing incidence of food allergies

Food Irradiation and acceptance

Attracting more students into the field

REITERATION!!!

Collaborative efforts required

Food Scientists will have to play a big role

Conclusions

21^st Century – time of rapid change

Many challenges (for Food Industry)

Many Opportunities (for Food Scientists)

Much responsibility (of Food Scientists)

The Excitement of a challenging future

The demanding task of providing citizens of the world with safe and nutritious food