EDUCATION NEWS
Schmidt appointed committee member of Food Chemicals Codex
Shelly Schmidt, Professor of Food Chemistry in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois, has been appointed a member of the Committee on Food Chemicals Codex of the Food Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine.
The Committee is comprised of 11–15 members from academia and industry, including food manufacturers, suppliers, and users of food chemicals. Committee members update the Food Chemicals Codex, which provides the accepted standards for quality and purity in food chemicals. The publication has been used by the food industry since its first edition was published in 1966.
Committee members share the goal of defining the quality of food-grade chemicals in terms of identity, strength, and purity, based on elements of safety and good manufacturing practices.
Schmidt is a University of Illinois Scholar and a professional member of IFT and the American Cancer Society. She has served as a USDA National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program Panel Manager and consultant for several food industries. Her research focuses on the elucidation of the relationship between water and solid mobility and the physical, chemical, biological stability, and quality characteristics of food systems.
SureBeam Corp. and Texas A&M to build new food research facilities
SureBeam Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Titan Corporation of San Diego, Calif., has entered into a strategic alliance with Texas A&M University to create a new research facility with a focus in electron beam treatment of foods and food-related products.
During the ten-year period of the alliance, Titan will add to facilities managed by Texas A&M’s Institute of Food Science and Engineering (IFSE), a fully automated research facility with three linear accelerators capable of electron beam treatment as well as high energy x-ray treatment of foods. Titan will also support the Center with a ten-year grant to the IFSE which will be used to staff the facility with full-time operators and management. Operating hours will be equally shared between Titan researchers and Texas A&M faculty researchers. At the end of the ten-year alliance, all facilities and equipment will be solely owned by Texas A&M University.
This private-public sector partnership is a clear example of the opportunities for visionary teamwork while meeting the needs of industry and supporting the goals of higher education. The Texas A&M team responsible for presenting a full multidisciplinary approach to the issues of developing and applying this technology to our food system includes: Mark McLellan, Professor and Director, Institute of Food Science & Engineering (IFSE); Elsa Murano, Professor and Director, Center for Food Safety, IFSE; Rudy Nayga, Associate Professor, Center for Consumer & Food Marketing Issues, IFSE; Dale Whittaker, Professor, Center for Food Processing & Engineering, IFSE; Alan Walter, Head of Nuclear Engineering; Les Braby, Professor, Nuclear Engineering; and Lee Deviney, Assistant Commissioner for Finance and Agribusines Development, State of Texas.
NCSU faculty members receive recognition awards
Lee-Ann Jaykus was awarded the 1999 Research Award of North Carolina State University’s (NCSU) chapter of Sigma Xi. This award recognizes young scientists for superior accomplishments in the field of scientific research and the furtherance of the ideals and objectives of the Society of Sigma Xi. Jaykus was recognized at the annual initiation banquet and dinner on May 10, 2000.
John Rushing received the Food and Drug Administration’s Group Recognition Award as a member of the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipment (NCIMS) Training Team. The award recognized Rushing’s invaluable assistance, outstanding contributions, and extraordinary team effort in developing and presenting HACCP training to the NCIMS Dairy HACCP Pilot Program participants.
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