Transformative Food Science at IFT15

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Chicago has been described as the “city of big shoulders” as IFT 2014–2015 President Mary Ellen Camire reminded attendees at one of the inaugural events of IFT15: Where Science Feeds Innovation. It was also the “city of big ideas” during the four days of IFT’s 75th annual celebration of scientific insight and technological innovation held Saturday to Tuesday, July 11–14, in Chicago.

Presenters shared information in 100-plus scientific and applied sessions, and 1,225 exhibitors at IFT’s food expo showed off innovative ingredients, cutting-edge technologies, and hard-to-resist product prototypes. Four general sessions challenged those in attendance to turn their thoughts to big-picture food industry issues.

“Think big, think new, but most importantly, think quickly,” counseled futurist Mike Walsh, IFT15 keynote presenter. Participants in the Women in Food Science Business Panel had a similar perspective. Asked what advice she would have given her younger self, panelist Catherine Woteki of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture replied, “Think bigger.” And Sara Mortimore of Land O’Lakes advised audience members to “trust that you can do some of the things that you dream about.”

IFT15 offered a wealth of transformative scientific content—the kind of information capable of inspiring bolder and bigger ways of thinking. Topics ranged from the micro level (the microbial community in the gut and what it means to human health) to the macro (what the food industry is doing to feed a fast-growing global population).

Certainly the event itself was large in scale. IFT15 drew more than 23,000 registrants from around the globe, and 2,600 booths filled the McCormick Place South exhibit hall. Transformation was also a theme on the food expo floor. A brand-new exhibit called the Transformation Lab took showgoers on a journey through the digestive process.

A Memorable Night at the Museum
Recognition of some of IFT’s top achievers and most dedicated volunteers was on the agenda for a Saturday evening celebration at Chicago’s majestic Field Museum.

Stephen L. Taylor, professor and codirector of the Food Allergy Research & Resource Program at the University of Nebraska was recognized with IFT’s highest honor, the Nicolas Appert Award, for his comprehensive investigative work on food allergens. Taylor is pictured in with Camire.

Recipients of IFT’s 2015 Achievement Awards, which honor outstanding individuals, teams, and organizations for contributions to the profession are pictured in. They include (front row, from left) Ahmed E. Yousef, Research and Development Award; Gabriel Keith Harris, William V. Cruess Award for Excellence in Teaching; Elvira de Mejia, who accepted the W. K. Kellogg International Food Security Award and Lectureship for Octavio Paredes-López; Julie Goddard, Samuel Cate Prescott Award for Research; Kenneth Marsh, Elizabeth Fleming Stier Award; and Pablo Coronel, Industrial Scientist Award. Pictured (back row, from left) are Theodore P. Labuza, Gilbert A. Leveille Award and Lectureship; David Patrick Green, Carl R. Fellers Award; Josip Simunovic, Food Technology Industrial Achievement Award; David Julian McClements, Babcock-Hart Award; Joe M. Regenstein, Bor S. Luh International Award; Hildegarde Heymann, Sensory and Consumer Sciences Achievement Award; Mickey Parish, Myron Solberg Award; Appert Award recipient Taylor; Bruce Ferree, Calvert L. Willey Distinguished Service Award; and Michael Druga, Food Technology Industrial Achievement Award.

Twelve IFT members were accorded Fellows recognition, a distinction conferred on IFT professional members in honor of outstanding achievement and service to the profession. The 2015 IFT Fellows include (front row, from left) Gregory Zeigler, Hyun Jin Park, Olga Martin-Belloso, and Janet Collins. Fellows in the second row, from left, are Sheryl Barringer, Yrjö H. Roos, Harjinder Singh, David Julian McClements, H. Russell Cross, and Christopher Daubert. N. A. Michael Eskin and Gow-Chin Yen are not pictured. 

Next, IFT Executive Vice President Christie Tarantino updated those in attendance on IFT’s FutureFood 2050 initiative, a multiyear program conceived of in an effort to create a broad dialogue and educate the public on how science will deliver solutions to the challenge of feeding the world’s rapidly growing population.

Two IFT student leaders were recognized at the event. Susan Hammons, a PhD student at Purdue University and an active IFT Student Association (IFTSA) volunteer since 2007, is the graduate student recipient of the 2015 IFTSA Excellence in Leadership Award. IFT 2015–2016 President Colin Dennis is shown presenting Hammons with the award in. The undergraduate IFTSA Excellence in Leadership Award recipient is Sarah Tensa, a recent graduate of Oregon State University, who participated in several IFTSA product development competitions. She is shown with Dennis in.

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Winners of the Food Science in Action video competition launched last year by the Journal of Food Science Education were also recognized at the awards ceremony. Competition participants were asked to create educational videos about food science and technology. In the educator category, the award recipients were Clint Stevenson and Caitlin Alberts of North Carolina State University’s Dept. of Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences. In Stevenson (right in photo) accepts the award from IFT 2016–2017 President John Coupland, and in Coupland presents the award in the student category of the competition to Ben Averill (center) and Nick Reitz of the University of Illinois.

Following the awards ceremony, IFT members gathered in the museum’s Stanley Hall to socialize, celebrate the evening’s honorees, and welcome the start of another IFT annual event.

General Sessions Supply Food for Thought
The IFT15 Sunday schedule got off to a strong start with the session on women in the food business. Moderator Michele Perchonok, manager of the Human Research Program Science Office at NASA, addressed questions to Catherine Woteki, undersecretary for research, education, and economics, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture; Sara Mortimore, vice-president, product safety, quality assurance, and regulatory affairs, Land O’Lakes; and Liz Myslik, CEO of Fresca Brands and executive vice president of Fresca Foods. In addition to the advice they shared on thinking big, the panelists urged audience members to leverage their strengths on the job, seek constructive feedback, and accept that failure brings with it an opportunity to move forward.

On Monday morning, keynoter Mike Walsh challenged the audience to think in new ways and noted that future consumers will think very differently about shopping, cooking, and eating. 

Tuesday brought two general sessions. In the first, journalist Ron Insana posed provocative questions to three prominent food industry professionals—James Borel of DuPont Pioneer, David Cotton of Flying Food Group, and Erik Larson of Linden Capital Partners. The moderator and industry executives delved into the challenges of modern food businesses, including communicating with consumers, who tend to be fickle, demanding, and often poorly informed. Insana made the latter point by showing a humorous video clip from the Jimmy Kimmel Live! television show in which several seemingly health-conscious gluten avoiders came up short when asked to explain exactly what gluten is. IFT 2015–2016 President Colin Dennis set the stage for the discussion, describing the current environment as “dynamic and turbulent.”

In the final general session of IFT15, Oscar-nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy and writer/producer Trace Sheehan previewed the documentary film IFT has commissioned. The goal of the documentary, which has the working title Food Evolution, is to present different sides of the debate about what is healthful, nutritious, and sustainable in ways that are engaging and compelling, Hamilton Kennedy said. IFT 2016–2017 President John Coupland moderated the session.

High-Powered Scientific Sessions
If knowledge is power, then thousands of IFT15 attendees must have been feeling very empowered in Chicago this summer. Hundreds of presenters shared insights and information on topics related to food formulation, health and nutrition, policies and regulations, food safety, and much, much more.

IFT introduced a new educational element this year. Two research sessions with poster presentations featured academicians sharing research outcomes immediately followed by technical research poster presentations on the same topic, allowing presenters and attendees to interact and further discuss the topic. A session on Sunday was built around the theme “Gut Microbiota”. On Monday, the topic was “Food Structure From a Micro to a Macro Level.” Traditional poster presentations of technical research papers took place as well; IFT15 featured more than 1,000 poster presentations in all.

Hot topic sessions made a successful return engagement at IFT15 after making their debut last year. A series of five sessions helped keep IFT15 participants well-informed on relevant topics, including processed foods and gut microbiota, transparency in the food industry, child nutrition, pasteurization processes for low-moisture foods, and global regulations and import issues. In Heather Eicher-Miller of Purdue University discusses nutrient gaps that children face.

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Some of the most popular sessions included those on food entrepreneurship, formulating clean label products, the Food Safety Modernization Act, and insect-based foods and ingredients. Anthropologist Julie Lesnik offered a historical perspective on the latter topic. 

Two high profile featured lecturers also contributed to the mind-expanding educational environment in Chicago this summer. Mark Post of Maastricht University explained the process of culturing meat in a lab and predicted that commercial cultured meat production will be possible within the next decade. Mark Heiman of Microbiome Therapeutics presented strategies to improve human health by bolstering dietary diversity. He explained that as the food supply has become less diverse, the gastrointestinal microbiome has become less healthy and metabolic diseases have become more prevalent. 

Teaching & Learning Sessions at IFT15 were designed to allow academicians to interact and network with fellow educators. The annual Fennema Lectureship and Workshop was among the highlights of this segment of the programming. This year’s special lecturer, Susan Ambrose of Northeastern University, discussed the importance of educators’ shifting their focus from how they teach to how students learn.

Lots to Digest at the Food Expo
For all those with an appetite for product development inspiration, IFT’s food expo was the place to be. Exhibitors, including 100 who were new this year, occupied 2,600 booths spread across 250,000 square feet in McCormick Place South, and they shared hundreds of product prototypes and samples ranging from McIlhenny’s Mexican Spiced Coffee to Mini Peach and Bourbon Pecan Pie from Mizkan. Oil derived from algae, allulose low-calorie sugar, and protein sources from aquatic plants were among the attention-getters at the 2015 food expo. Ingredients for gluten-free and clean label product formulation as well as new options for egg replacement also had a significant presence at the expo.

The IFT booth provided a welcoming spot for showgoers to interact with IFT team members, access resources, conduct an informal meeting, or even just stop in for a brief break from all of the surrounding activity. A number of special guests, including “sweet scientists” Amy DeJong and Maya Warren, winners of last year’s The Amazing Race competition, made appearances at the booth. In Warren (at rear on right) and DeJong (front on right) chat with show attendees.

Located adjacent to the IFT booth, the Transformation Lab offered a multisensory journey through the digestive process. More than 1,200 food expo attendees took the journey. (See sidebar on page 37 to learn more about the Transformation Lab.)

• Innova Pavilion. At its Taste the Trend exhibition, Innova Market Insights treated showgoers to a visual presentation of the year’s top trends, along with interactive displays of product packaging from around the globe. The Innova exhibit also highlighted 30 trend and product infographics.

For 2015, the megatrend the research firm identified is “From Clean to Clear Label.” The following trends rounded out Innova’s top 10 list: 2) convenience for foodies; 3) marketing to Millennials; 4) snacks rise to the occasion; 5) good fats, good carbs; 6) more in store for protein; 7) new routes for fruit; 8) a fresh look at frozen; 9) private label power; and 10) rich, chewy, and crunchy. Innova analysts drew sizable crowds for daily presentations on the top 10 trends, clean label, and free-from foods.

• Mintel Pavilion. The Mintel Intelligence Zone was another hub of activity on the food expo floor. Mintel’s popular presentation duo, global analysts Lynn Dornblaser and David Jago, served up daily main stage presentations. Their presentations—each followed by an interactive tasting session—focused on shifting fad diets and how to respond to them, alternative proteins, and innovations in hydration products.

The market intelligence agency introduced a new feature for 2015, a “Meet the Analyst” bar that was home to consumer-focused presentations from some of the firm’s other analysts. Additional topics Mintel analysts addressed during the expo included “flavor tourism,” the rise of sour flavors, and the impact of water shortages on agriculture and food processing.

• Cooking Up Science. Culinary creativity was literally center stage on the food expo floor in Cooking Up Science demonstrations conducted by high-profile chefs using products from ingredient suppliers. This year’s Cooking Up Science participants included PureCircle, the Almond Board of California, Solazyme, United Sorghum Checkoff Program, QUALISOY, and Bunge. Representing the United Sorghum Checkoff, chef Marc Forgione, winner of season three of the Food Network’s Next Iron Chef competition, kept an appreciative audience engaged as he shared his techniques for preparing a version of Popcorn Shrimp made with popped sorghum.

• Pedometer Challenge. Everyone recognizes that there’s a lot of ground to cover at the annual event—whether one is walking the show floor or dashing from one session to the next. This year the Be Well, Stay Well Pedometer Challenge sponsored by Wellmune helped participants keep track of their steps and compete for prizes for walking the most steps. Debbie Lohmeyer of the National Food Lab (not pictured) earned the grand prize.

Before the Main Event
• Board of Directors Meeting. Members of the IFT Board of Directors gathered for a meeting prior to the start of IFT15. They are pictured in. Seated from left are Treasurer Robert Gravani, 2015–2016 President Colin Dennis, 2014–2015 President Mary Ellen Camire, 2016–2017 President John Coupland, Past President Janet Collins, and IFT Executive Vice President Christie Tarantino. Second row (from left) are Anne Goldman, Cindy Stewart, Pam Coleman, Dawn Merrill, Dallas Hoover, Cathy Kapica, IFTSA 2014–2015 President Jay Gilbert, IFTSA 2015–2016 President Amy DeJong, and Carolyn Fisher. Third row (from left) are R. Paul Singh, D. Scott Lineback, Robert McGorrin, Jonathan Gray, Feeding Tomorrow 2014–2016 Chair Noel Anderson, Martin Cole, Matthew Teegarden, and IFTSA Past President Jon Baugher. 

• Section Summit. The first-ever IFT Section Summit also took place before the start of IFT15, and feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive. The summit brought together nearly 40 section leaders, IFT board members, and IFT senior staff to engage in a dialogue aimed at strengthening the support for sections. After a round robin of introductions led by IFT 2014–2015 President Mary Ellen Camire, 2015–2016 President Colin Dennis delivered a presentation on IFT’s new strategic plan. IFT’s legal counsel, audit firm representative, and insurance broker gave presentations designed to help section leaders understand the ins and outs of running a section. The summit concluded with a Q&A session.

• Short Courses. As it does each year, learning got underway even before the official start of the annual event. Eleven short courses drew nearly 500 participants and allowed them to glean a lot of knowledge in a time frame of only a day or two. In consultant Kantha Shelke of Corvus Blue shares information in a short course on sodium reduction.

• LEAD 360. Talented young food science professionals from around the globe gathered for an intensive leadership skills development experience Saturday through Monday. This year’s LEAD 360 class featured 24 enthusiastic participants, including Mandy Boquin of Bush Brothers (pointing) and Sarah Scholl of Tate & Lyle, who presented the IFT Board of Directors with their group commitment to advance their LEAD 360 learnings within their organizations. Designed to help prepare the next generation of professional leaders, LEAD 360 is now in its third year.

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And That’s Not All
Here’s a look at some additional high-lights from IFT15.

• CFS Networking Breakfast. Several Certified Food Scientists (CFS) gathered for the annual CFS Networking Breakfast and Celebration, which was a great venue to network and get the latest updates on the program. IFT 2015–2016 President Colin Dennis and International Food Science Certification Commission Chair Douglas Marshall, both Certified Food Scientists themselves, were on hand to personally congratulate the latest professionals to join them by earning the credential. In Marshall (far left) poses with a group of recent CFS recipients including (left to right) Thomas Beane, Evangeline Fadrigalan, Simmone March, Jessica Marshall, Andrienne Patterson, Aneliya Grozdanova, and Patrick Mitra.

• Division Networking Reception. Once again a well-attended, fun-filled event, the Division Networking Reception celebrating IFT’s 24 divisions drew more than 600 attendees. In addition to the refreshments and socializing, this year’s reception had a special feature—the #Picture This contest. Division volunteers decorated photo frames, and at the reception, students posed for “framed” photos and then posted the photos on social media. A winning photo was chosen in a random drawing from qualifying entries posted. The winner (not pictured) was Cansu Gumus, a PhD student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who will receive a $500 travel grant to put toward travel to IFT16.

• Career Center. With 30 companies participating, the IFT15 Career Center Live was a record breaker. More than 600 people interacted during the informal networking event on Sunday, and prospective employers conducted hundreds of interviews with job seekers on Monday and Tuesday, seeking to fill positions ranging from process engineer to flavorist among many others.

• Past Presidents’ Dinner. It’s always a special occasion when past IFT presidents gather with current leadership for a reception and dinner as they did on Sunday evening. Seated (from left) in are Past Presidents Dennis Heldman, John Litchfield, Al Clausi, Colin Dennis (2015–2016 president), Mary Ellen Camire (2014–2015 president), Mary Schmidl, Philip Nelson, and Janet Collins. Standing (from left) are John Coupland (2016–2017 president), Herbert Stone, Frank Busta, Marianne Gillette, Ted Labuza, Mark McClellan, Daryl Lund, Bruce Stillings, Margaret Lawson, Gilbert Leveille, retired IFT Executive Vice President Daniel Weber, and current IFT Executive Vice President Christie Tarantino.

• Reviewers Reception. MaryAnne Drake of North Carolina State University was the recipient of the Manfred Kroger Outstanding Reviewer Award for IFT Journals, presented by Scientific Journals Editor in Chief E. Allen Foegeding, at a Reviewers’ Reception on Sunday. Reviewers mixed, mingled, and celebrated Drake’s achievement as well as other journal authors whose papers were most frequently cited.

• IFT Cares. This year IFT’s annual philanthropic initiative conducted in partnership with Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, took IFT volunteers to Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood to lend a hand at the 2 Li’l Fishes soup kitchen. Volunteers pitched in to unload deliveries from the Greater Chicago Food Depository and to help restock the soup kitchen’s pantry. 

• An International Presence. IFT15 was very much a global event, with registrants from 79 countries and a number of international delegations in attendance. In representatives from a delegation from the United Kingdom pause for a photo with members of IFT’s leadership team. Pictured (from left) are IFT Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Eric Schneider; Jon Poole, chief executive of the UK-based Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST); IFT 2015–2016 President Colin Dennis; Maureen Edmondson, IFST president; IFT Executive Vice President Christie Tarantino; and IFT Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mark Barenie.

Students Learn, Compete, and Network
The menu of options for IFTSA members on hand for IFT15 was varied, educational, and, of course, also fun. 

• Workshops for Leaders. Three Chapter Leaders Workshops gave incoming presidents of food science clubs the opportunity to reap the benefit of leadership-building input from IFT and IFTSA leaders. 

• Mixer and Closing Ceremony. Monday night was a big night for students, starting with the IFTSA Mixer sponsored by PepsiCo. The IFTSA Closing Ceremony, which included final rounds of the College Bowl Competition, announcement of competition results, and the introduction of student leaders, took place immediately after the mixer. At the event, IFT 2014–2015 President Mary Ellen Camire presented IFTSA 2015–2016 President Amy DeJong with a gavel, which symbolized her new leadership role. In DeJong is shown presenting IFTSA 2014–2015 President Jay Gilbert with a plaque acknowledging his leadership and service.

• College Bowl. One of the longstanding events on the schedule of student activities at IFT’s annual gathering is the College Bowl competition, which this year celebrated its 30th anniversary. Eight finalist teams from around the country competed for top honors—a distinction claimed by the team from North Carolina State University. NC State team members pictured (from left) in include Jon Baugher, Jacques Overdiep, James Chapa, and Kurt Selle. The Ohio State University team placed second. The other finalist teams were from Chapman University, Cornell University, the University of Minnesota, Texas A&M University, the University of Georgia, and the University of California, Davis.

Pictured (from left) in are College Bowl timekeeper Bria Abeles-Allison and judges Bruce Ferree, Mohamed Badaoui Najjar, and Pam Vaillancourt. Chelsey Hinnenkamp, College Bowl chair, kept score, and William Dixon, incoming College Bowl chair, tracked questions. Roger Clemens, Ellen Bradley, and Donna Anderson provided judging assistance.

Getting Competitive
Students put their product development skills to the test in four competitions in Chicago. In addition to the three team competitions, a fourth event for individual contestants was part of the mix in 2015. This year was an especially good one for students from McGill University. McGill teams placed first in the IFTSA & Mars Product Development Competition and also in the domestic segment of the Developing Solutions for Developing Countries Competition.

• IFTSA & Mars Product Development Competition.
A snack product called TiraVerde—inspired by classic tiramisu and billed as both decadent and healthful—earned the McGill University team first place in this prestigious annual competition. Made with avocados, TiraVerde also boasts added protein and fiber. In student Aya Horii prepares to offer a sample of TiraVerde to the judges.

Members of the winning team from McGill are pictured in. Front row, from left, are Anne Frazer-McKee, Lily Chen, Nicole Mantilla, Jer Lin Poh, Aya Horii, Kayleigh Bossy, and Angelia Mah. Back row, from left, are Chloe Anderson, Erin Davis, Jonathan Khouzam, Kristin Mattice, Sonia Périllat-Amédée, Michelle Fong, and Erik Cheng.

Students from Michigan State University placed second in the competition with Souperbowl, a frozen microwavable soup in a lightly browned bread bowl. Team members pictured from left in are Javier Salas, Steve Skrypec, Allison Burg, Joanna Carroll, Silas Bonczyk, and Aaron Stebbins.

The Pennsylvania State University team placed third with Happy Valley-oli, a frozen ravioli product with a name that pays homage to a nickname for Penn State’s home turf. Other finalists in the competition included California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with RISE vegetable-based cereal; Cornell University with a snack called Crunchia; and the University of Wisconsin–Madison with Cracker Smackers, a high-protein cracker sandwich. The competition is sponsored by Mars Chocolate North America.

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• Developing Solutions for Developing Countries Competition. In this competition, which asked participants to create a product that uses an insect-based ingredient, a team from McGill University triumphed in the domestic segment with Falamus Instant Mix, a nutrient-dense flour used to prepare hummus or falafel and designed to alleviate malnutrition in Syrian refugee camps. Members of the McGill team include (from left) Arsalan Malick, Katherine Banon, Homeiraa Waheed, Loloah Chamoun, Niruya Kumarasamy, and Lisa Lam, who are pictured with competition director Jaime Savitz (far right).

Other finalists in the domestic portion of the competition were the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with Nu Stew, a canned stew, and the University of Massachusetts with Meal-malade, a protein-packed powder.

In the international segment, Cricketa, a cookie snack for Costa Rican children made with cricket flour and sweet potato puree, earned the team from the University of Costa Rica first place. Pictured (from left) in are team members Pamela Malavassi, Cristina Azofeifa, Daniela Kopper Valerio, Gloriana Hernández, and Krissia Villalta, along with competition director Jaime Savitz (far right).

Other finalists in the international segment were another team from the University of Costa Rica with Molibannann, a dry mix, and a team from University of Putra Malaysia with Coco-Wormy, a wholesome biscuit product.

• Disney-IFTSA Product Development Competition. With many of the contestants donning fun attire as they made their presentations, this competition definitely added a lighthearted element to IFT15. Oral presentations took place on the show floor in the Food Expo forum booth.

Team members from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, wowed the judges with their Build a Snowman Kit concept and earned the grand prize in the competition. The interactive snack kit contains a cracker, fruit-and-vegetable spread, and toppings. Members of the award-winning Cal Poly team shown here dressed to impress are (from left) Franca Rossi, Vidita Deshpande, Michelle Reimer, and May Cheng. 

First place in the competition went to the team from the University of Georgia for Snow Snacks gummy snacks made with 100% real fruit and vegetables and filled with nonfat yogurt, dried mango strips, and raisins.

Honorable mention recognition was awarded to three teams: Virginia Tech for its Nemo Pockets snack made from vegetables and topped with chia seeds; Rutgers University for its low-calorie, gluten-free WhOlaf Grain Treats; and the University of Massachusetts Amherst for Cinderella’s Chicken and Veggie Bites, which are vegetable-fortified chicken nuggets.

Now in its seventh year, this competition, focused on creating healthful snacks, is sponsored by Disney Consumer Products.

• IFT Global Student Innovation Challenge. Iowa State University student Hanyu Yangcheng placed first in this brand-new competition sponsored by Tate & Lyle, which challenged graduate student competitors to develop an innovative ingredient to improve the properties of dairy desserts.

Yangcheng’s winning entry, a blend of hydrocolloids, is called KIK-Food Stabilizer System. Shintaro Pang of the University of Massachusetts Amherst placed second with ChiaTek, and Ryan Murphy of Purdue University earned third place with InGluTech. Pictured from left in are Pang, Yangcheng, and Murphy.

• Undergraduate Research Competition. Daniel Finkenaur of Louisiana State University clinched first place in the annual Undergraduate Research Competition, which brought six finalists to Chicago to present research projects both orally and via poster. Finkenaur’s presentation was titled “A Development of Lyophilized Alginate Microcapsules Coated With Egg White Protein for Enhancing Viability of Lactobacillus reuteri.”

Elvira Sukamtoh of the University of Massachusetts Amherst placed second, and Meredith Kuchera of Washington State University came in third.

• Chapter of the Year Competition. Several high-achieving IFTSA chapters were recognized at IFT15 in Chicago. The University of Wisconsin–Madison was acknowledged as 2015 Chapter of the Year. In competition director John Frelka presents the Chapter of the Year Award to Emily Harbison.

Same Place, New Experiences Next Year
Although it’s unlikely that the experiences of IFT15 have faded for all those who attended, a brand-new set of not-to-be-missed experiences is just 10 months away at IFT16. Once again, the annual event will take place in Chicago in July; the exact dates are July 16–19, 2016. It’s not too early to start looking forward to it!

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Feeding Tomorrow Hosts Student Groups
If you happened to see high school students this year on IFT’s food expo floor in Chicago or middle school students attending programming in McCormick Place Convention Center, you witnessed participants who were part of Feeding Tomorrow’s Food4Thought initiative, a total group of more than 90 students who were invited to IFT15 to get immersed for a brief time in food science and food technology, learning from experts in the profession.

Feeding Tomorrow hosted students from Girls Inc. for the third year at IFT’s annual event. This year students and representatives from the Orange County, Calif., and Central Alabama chapters participated. The students from California paused for a photo. They are (from left) Rocio Antonio Martinez, Sara Hinton, Leslie Villa, and Arielle Crowe.

The group was joined on Monday, July 13, by the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, and by middle school students from the Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview School District, who were hosted by the IFT Foodservice Division. The students participated in food science educational sessions at IFT15, including a look at sensory activities and flavor science from Edlong Dairy Technologies, a mini product development competition with PepsiCo and Del Monte, and a glimpse behind the scenes about space food from NASA Johnson Space Center, giving them a unique opportunity to learn more about food science careers. They were also treated to a visit from recent winners of the 25th Season of The Amazing Race, Amy DeJong (IFT Student Association 2015–2016 president) and Maya Warren. The students from Girls Inc. received a special invitation to Starbucks Coffee Co.’s Chicago flagship store to go behind the scenes with their recent innovations, and they were invited to tour FONA International and explore flavor creation and product development.

On Tuesday, July 14, nearly 40 students and representatives from the University of Illinois Research Apprenticeship Program joined IFT volunteers for a tour of the expo floor, visiting participating companies.

Thanks to all of the companies that met with the high school students on the food expo floor over the two days, including Bell Flavors, Bunge, CP Kelco, Ingredion, JRS, and Virginia Dare. It was evident at IFT15 that many of these students were anxious to learn more about what it takes to become an integral part of the next generation of food scientists.

To learn more about Feeding Tomorrow’s Food4Thought initiative, visit feedingtomorrow.org.
—Heather Monroe Lang

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Despite Cancellation, Fun Run Participants Raise $140K for Feeding Tomorrow
Faced with the threat of severe thunderstorms and hail, organizers made the difficult decision on Monday morning during IFT15 to cancel the 15th Annual IFTSA and Feeding Tomorrow Fun Run and Walk, which raises money to support Feeding Tomorrow’s scholarship fund. Despite the cancellation of the race, all funds donated will still go to the foundation. This year, that will be $140,000—breaking last year’s record-setting total.

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Traveling Through the Digestive Process
The IFT food expo is always a journey of discovery, but that was especially true this year thanks to the debut of the Transformation Lab exhibit.

Food expo attendees who paid a visit to the IFT Transformation Lab began their experience by taking a quick “mouth behavior” survey to learn if they were crunchers, chewers, smooshers, or suckers. Product samples that reflected the preferences of individuals according to their mouth behavior were featured in this zone of the exhibit, which was sponsored by JBMB, a company that specializes in mouth behavior. The final tally showed that crunchers dominated, followed by chewers, smooshers, and suckers.

Zone two of the Transformation Lab focused on the stomach and featured a gastric simulator to help illustrate the way that the stomach breaks food down, mixing it with acid and enzymes to help release nutrients that are later absorbed in the small intestine, said IFT member R. Paul Singh, a University of California, Davis, distinguished professor emeritus and expert on the role of the stomach in food digestion. With his colleagues, Singh prepared the exhibits featured in zone two.

Zone three of the lab offered insights on the small intestine and how various foods affect the gut microbiome. Experts were available to discuss the gut microbiome, and a video helped explain some of the science behind its important role in the body.

Health and wellness were the focus of zone four, which zeroed in on market and product development trends as they affect four key population segments: infants, adolescents, adults, and older adults. Zone four was sponsored by Innova Market Insights and featured data from the research firm.

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IFT Division Competition Winners
The winners of this year’s poster, oral, and writing competitions sponsored by IFT divisions are as follows:

AAFSIS – 1st place: Tushar Galati, Cornell Univ.

Aquatic Foods Products Div. – 1st place: Behnam Keshavarz, Florida State Univ.; 2nd place: Robert Sevenich, Berlin Technical Univ.; 3rd place: Jonelo Sobreguel, Univ. of Maine

Biotechnology Div. – 1st place: Ebenezer Ifeduba, Univ. of Georgia; 2nd place: Arranee Chotiko, Louisiana State Univ.; 3rd place: Namrata Karki, Louisiana State Univ.

Carbohydrate Div. – 1st place: Yingshuang Lu, Univ. of Illinois; 2nd place: Yan Wang, Rutgers Univ.; 3rd place: Fang Fang, Purdue Univ.

Dairy Foods Div. – 1st place: Suresh Sutariya, South Dakota State Univ.; 2nd place: Bingqing Cai, Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison; 3rd place: Angie Ameerally, North Carolina A&T State Univ.

Dairy Foods Div. (Manfred Kroger Oral) – 1st place: Lily Benner, Iowa State Univ.; 2nd place: Gopinathan Meletharayil, South Dakota State Univ.; 3rd place: Curtis Park, North Carolina State Univ.

Education, Extension & Outreach Div. (Undergraduate) – 1st place: Jenna Huynh, Univ. of California, Davis; 2nd place: Joice Pranata, Cornell Univ.; 3rd place: Wahyu Choirur Rizky, Univ. of Pembangunan Nasional

Education, Extension & Outreach Div. (Graduate) – 1st place: Cansu Ekin Gumus, Univ. of Massachusetts; 2nd place: David Potts, Univ. of Minnesota; 3rd place: Mrittika Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay

Food Chemistry Div. – 1st place: Kang Pan, Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville; 2nd place: Matthew Allan, Purdue Univ.; 3rd place: Ningjian Liang, Univ. of British Columbia

Food Engineering Div. – 1st place: George Stoforos, North Carolina State Univ.; 2nd place: Alexander Meldrum, Univ. of Idaho; 3rd place: Bangping Wang, Auburn Univ.

Food Microbiology Div. (John Z. Ordal Oral) – 1st place: Jimsong Feng, Univ. of British Columbia; 2nd place: Qing Wang, Univ. of Delaware; 3rd place: Muhammed Shafeekh Muyyarikkandy, Univ. of Connecticut

Food Microbiology Div. – 1st place: Meera Surendran Nair, Univ. of Connecticut; 2nd place: Katheryne Daughtry, North Carolina State Univ.; 3rd place: Deepti Karumathil, Univ. of Connecticut

Food Packaging Div. – 1st place: Maxine Roman, Univ. of Massachusetts; 2nd place: Chandani Sen, Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur; 3rd place: Elham Lashkari, Rutgers Univ.

Foodservice Div. – 1st place: Cecily Dussell, California Baptist Univ.; 2nd place: Grace Crosby, California Baptist Univ.; 3rd place: Maria Perez, California Baptist Univ.

Fruits & Vegetable Products Div. – 1st place: Karina Rodriguez, Chapman Univ.; 2nd place: Wenjie Wang, Oregon State Univ.; 3rd place: Virginia Gouw, Oregon State Univ.

International Div. – 1st place: Trang Duong, Auckland Univ.; 2nd place: Sze Ying Leong, Univ. of Otago; 3rd place: Yaxi Hu, Univ. of British Columbia

Muscle Foods Div. –1st place: Xu Wang, Univ. of Kentucky; 2nd place: Charles Quinto, Chapman Univ.; 3rd place: Nantawat Tatiyaborworntham, Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison

Nonthermal Processing Div. – 1st place: Chuhan Liu, Univ. of Delaware; 2nd place: Shaila Nayak, Drexel Univ.; 3rd place: Jose Maldonado, Rutgers Univ.

Nutraceuticals & Functional Foods Div. – 1st place: Mary Kellett, Univ. of Georgia; 2nd place: Jinzhou Li, Cornell Univ.; 3rd place: Arashdeep Singh, Univ. of Calgary

Nutrition Div. – 1st place: Stephanie Diamond, The Ohio State Univ.; 2nd place: Duc Huy Do, Univ. of Georgia; 3rd place: Elizabeth Pletsch, Purdue Univ.

Product Development Div. – 1st place: Poonam Bajaj, Washington State Univ.; 2nd place: Ting Liu, Univ. of Minnesota; 3rd place: Changmou Xu, Univ. of Florida

Quality Assurance Div. – 1st place: Valerie Zaffran, Florida State Univ.; 2nd place: Mei-Ling Shotts, The Ohio State Univ.; 3rd place: Ningjian Liang, Univ. of British Columbia

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods Div. – 1st place: Alexander Chouljenko, Louisiana State Univ.; 2nd place: Timothy Shafel, Univ. of Hawaii; 3rd place: John Frelka, The Ohio State Univ.

Sensory & Consumer Science Div. – 1st place: Shilpa Samant, Univ. of Arkansas; 2nd place: Kenneth McMahon, Washington State Univ.; 3rd place: Kyle McClean, North Carolina State Univ.

Toxicology & Safety Evaluation Div. – 1st place: Shyamali Jayasena, Univ. of Nebraska–Lincoln; 2nd place: Changqi Liu, Florida State Univ.; 3rd place: Amma Amponsah, Univ. of Maine

 

 

Mary Ellen Kuhn is executive editor of Food Technology magazine ([email protected]).