Delivering the Food Science Message
Food Technology Magazine
In January 2009, Food Technology published two articles related to food safety—"Food Product Traceability: New Challenges, New Solutions" and "New Media for Communicating Food Safety." In February, the magazine published a 2500-word synopsis article on the Scientific Status Summary "Quorum Sensing in Biofilms: Why Bacteria Behave the Way They Do." A perennial reader favorite, the Top 10 Food Trends report was published in April. In June, the magazine published the "GRAS Flavoring Substances 24" report. IFT and Food Technology have been publishing the GRAS updates since 1960. In July, Food Technology published a 2500-word summary article on the Expert Report "Making Decisions about the Risks of Chemicals in Foods with Limited Scientific Information." In September, Food Technology published an article on "Nanoscale Science Creates Novel Food Systems" based on IFT’s fourth International Food Nanoscience Conference, which was held in Anaheim during the IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo. In November, the magazine published an online exclusive article on the IFT’s Report and Recommendations to FDA on Product Tracing [Traceability] in Food Systems and a Perspective column on how the work of and friendship between Samuel Cate Prescott and William Lyman Underwood forged the advancement of food science and the founding of IFT.
IFT Journals
Submissions to all three IFT journals continue to rise due to their added visibility online through Wiley-Blackwell’s hosting services, elimination of page charges for IFT members in 2007, and rising Impact Factors for the Journal of Food Science (JFS) and Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (CRFSFS). The journals, including JFS, CRFSFS, and the Journal of Food Science Education (JFSE), are attracting more top authors in their fields and more foreign authors. 2009 saw nearly 1300 unique submissions to the journals, (the highest volume yet), and 420 papers were published. CRFSFS is now ranked as the #3 journal in Food Science by Thomson-Reuters Citation Reports.
Traceability Study
Frank Busta, IFT Member
On September 15, 2009, IFT submitted to FDA its substantial, two-volume report of the year-long task "Tracing Systems: An Exercise Exploring Data Needs and Design." This task, the most complex task order IFT has had during 10 years of contract work with the FDA, engaged approximately 200 individuals, including many IFT members.
Since submission of this work and another product tracing task, (a mock trace-back/trace forward exercise that shows there is potential to expedite trace-backs by visualizing supply chains to find points of commonality), IFT has responded to a multitude of requests for additional information.
Most notably, IFT provided testimony twice at the invitation of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition during their joint public meeting with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service on product tracing. IFT has also spoken to many trade associations, IFT members, and members of the press, securing over 320,000 media impressions from both trade and consumer media.
Expert Report on "Making Decisions About the Risks of Chemicals in Foods with Limited Scientific Information"
The fifth IFT Expert Report,"Making Decisions about the Risks of Chemicals in Foods with Limited Scientific Information," debuted at the 2009 Annual Meeting in Anaheim, with a technical scientific session. IFT convened a panel of experts to examine the complexities that challenge timely decision-making about chemical substances when available scientific information is limited and define and develop a workable tool to guide food safety managers in effectively and knowledgeably evaluating available scientific evidence to make timely decisions.
Panelists who contributed to the report are: Wayne Bidlack (Panel Chair), Diane Birt, Joseph Borzelleca, Roger Clemens, Nicole Coutrelis, James Coughlin, George Dunaif, Andrew Ebert, Richard Hall, James Heimbach, William Helferich, Bernadene Magnuson, Diane McColl, Robert McQuate, Ian Munro, Barbara Petersen, Ashley Roberts, Joseph Scimeca, Martin Slayne, and Thomas Trautman.
A summary of the report was published in the July 2009 issue of Food Technology magazine, and a copy of the full report can be found in the July 2009 issue of Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety.
Electronic Newsletters
The Weekly newsletter continues to provide timely news on food regulations, nutrition, food safety, scientific research, food company acquisitions, and IFT and member activities to about 37,000 subscribers. All members also have access to IFT’s ExpressConnect, a monthly member newsletter with focus on programs, activities, and stories of interest to our IFT community.
ePerspective
In January 2009, the ePerspective - a food science & technology blog with postings from experts and comments from readers—was launched under the Food Technology brand. The first ePerspective, which discussed the Salmonella outbreak in peanut butter, generated five comments. In its first year, ePerspective was viewed over 13,500 times or about about 38 visits per day. New ePerspectives are posted about every 1 to 2 weeks and are publicized through The Weekly newsletter and Daily News on our website.
IFT Press
IFT Press, a book partnership with Wiley-Blackwell, has published a total of 17 books since 2004. It published three books in 2009: Sustainability in the Food Industry edited by Cheryl J. Baldwin; Microbial Safety of Fresh Produce edited by Xuetong Fan, Brendan A. Niemira, Christopher J. Doona, Florence E. Feeherry, and Robert Gravani; and Calorimetry and Food Process Design edited by Gonul Kaletunc. There are two books with projected publication dates of 2010: Bioactive Proteins and Peptides as Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals edited by Yoshinori Mine, Eunice Li-Chan, and Bo Jiang and Hydrocolloids in Food Processing edited by Thomas R. Laaman. Some topics of future IFT Press books (reflecting manuscripts submitted or in development) are thermal processing, nonthermal processing, carbohydrates, fats and oils, dairy ingredients, resistant starch, nanotechnology, food safety of imported foods and ingredients, and foodborne pathogens. Visit the IFT Press area of ift.org, for more information about all of the books in the series, including how to purchase books and submit manuscripts.