IFT NEWS
Introducing Carol Wargo, Director of Development, IFT Foundation
Carol V. Wargo, MA, CFRE, CVA, has joined the IFT Foundation as Director of Development, succeeding Julie Vande Velde. She will work with Foundation board members and IFT constituencies to build the Foundation’s endowment, market sponsorship opportunities, and create donor recognition programs.
Carol served most recently as Executive Director of the Resource Center for the Elderly, Arlington Heights, Ill. In this capacity, she was responsible for all fundraising activities as well as program oversight. She has a B.A. in communications from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., and an M.A. in marketing from Webster University, St. Louis, Mo.
She is a member of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives (NSFRE) and the Association for Volunteer Administration (AVA), and serves as Chair of the Certification Assessment Committee for the AVA, which administers the Certified in Volunteer Administration (CVA) credential. In her spare time, she is active with Pathways, an organization committed to enhancing the lives of individuals through positive communication. At Pathways, she is Co-Chair of the Alumni Association Donations Committee and serves as a seminar leader.
Tung named Riester-Davis awardee
Marvin A. Tung of the University of Guelph has been named winner of the 1999 Riester-Davis Award, sponsored by IFT’s Food Packaging Division. The announcement was made at IFT’s Annual Meeting in Chicago following the division’s symposium, “Packaging for the New Millennium.”
Tung is NSERC/George Weston Industrial Research Chair of Food Packaging Technology at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He is known for his research and training efforts in thermal processing, particularly steam/air processing, of hermetically packaged foods, including retort pouches. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Tung taught there prior to becoming Head of the Dept. of Food Science and Technology and Director of the Canadian Institute of Fisheries Technology at the Technical University of Nova Scotia in Halifax, his position prior to joining Guelph.
The Riester-Davis Award was established to recognize lifetime achievement in food packaging. The award was created more than ten years ago to memorialize Don Riester of American Can Co. and the Food and Drug Administration and Rees Davis of Continental Can Co. and FDA, who helped found the IFT Food Packaging Division. Tung is the first non-United States citizen to receive the award.
IFT establishes Bernard L. Oser Food Ingredient Safety Award
IFT has established the Bernard L. Oser Food Ingredient Safety Achievement Award in memory of IFT’s 29th President. The award will be presented for the first time at IFT’s 2000 Annual Meeting to be held June 10-14 in Dallas, Tex.
The purpose of this award is to honor an IFT member for his or her contribution to the scientific knowledge of food ingredient safety or for leadership in establishing principles for food ingredient safety evaluation or regulation. It carries a $3,000 honorarium and a plaque from IFT.
Oser was credited with alerting the food industry in the 1950s to the need for toxicological studies and safety evaluations. His expertise in two related fields—nutrition and toxicology—helped move food science forward at a time when there was growing concern over new additives and preservatives. Active in the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers’ Association (FEMA) as well as IFT, he initiated and coauthored the first several evaluations by the FEMA Expert Panel of Generally Recognized as Safe flavoring substances (the “FEMA GRAS lists”), which have been published in Food Technology since 1961.
Nominees for the award must have been a professional in the area of food additives or GRAS ingredient safety in an academic, industrial, and/or government setting for at least ten years prior to the nomination. The area of professional involvement for this award can include toxicological research, analytical research, safety/regulatory involvement, and associated scientific work in support of food additive and GRAS ingredient safety evaluation and policy development. Publications and examples of leadership qualities in the area of safety evaluation will be the criteria for final selection.
Chaired by the chair of the IFT Toxicology and Safety Evaluation Division, the ten-member award jury will consist of three IFT members chosen from IFT’s Expert Panel on Food Safety and Nutrition, three IFT members chosen from the FEMA Expert Panel, three IFT members chosen from the IFT Toxicology and Safety Evaluation Division, and the chair of that division.
The deadline for submission of nominations is December 1, 1999. Nomination forms may be obtained by accessing IFT’s Web site (www.ift.org under "Awards/Scholarships”); using the IFT e-XPRESS fax-on-demand service (800-234-0270 in the U.S. and Canada or 913-495-2551 elsewhere—request Document 3520); or calling IFT headquarters (312-782-8424).
Clydesdale reappointed chair of Food Forum
Fergus M. Clydesdale, Head of the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has been reappointed Chair of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine’s Food Forum, an activity of the NAS Food and Nutrition Board.
The Food Forum was established in 1993 to provide a unique opportunity for scientists, policymakers, and industry to interact, openly communicating about food and food safety issues. It provides a mechanism for leaders from industry, academia, government, and the public sector to discuss problems and issues related to food, food safety, and food technology, and to identify possible approaches for addressing problems and issues surrounding the often complex interactions between such diverse groups. The Forum is precluded from making recommendations to the government, but does compile information and bring interested parties together.
Under Clydesdale’s leadership, the Food Forum has sponsored several workshops this year. One, entitled “Enhancing the Regulatory Decision Making Approval Process of Direct Food Ingredient Technologies,” published a 150-p Proceedings. A second workshop on “Science in the Regulation of Function Foods and Supplements” was held June 24, 1999, in Washington, D.C. A third workshop, “Food Safety Policy and Science,” was held July 13-14, also in Washington.
IFT Career Guidance honors student scientists
IFT participated in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Philadelphia, Pa., May 9–15, 1999. ISEF is sponsored by Intel and has been administered by Science Service since its inception in 1950. Judging the event on behalf of IFT were Mary Palumbo and Jeff Nash from Delaware Valley College, and Bev Friend from IFT’s Career Guidance Committee.
IFT participates, through its Career Guidance Committee, to encourage interest in food science and engineering. Awards were given to the three best food-related projects presented. First-, second-, and third-place winners received $1,000, $600, and $400 respectively; a certificate; and a subscription to Food Technology.
In first place was Blake Wallach, Tottenville High School, Staten Island, N.Y. His project was “The Role of K+ Efflux Channels in the Survival of E. coli.” Catherine Goff, Arkansas High School for Math and Science, Hot Springs, Ark., won second place with “The Detection of Heat-Injured Salmonella enteritidis through the Introduction of Catalase,” and Lauren Walker, James Madison High School, Vienna, Va., took third place with “Does Protein Content Affect Dough Rheology?”
The Fair is the pinnacle event in a year-long process of local, regional, and national science fairs in which more than 1,000 students from the United States, its territories, and more than 25 other countries participated. Winners were chosen from students competing in 14 disciplinary categories and a Team Projects Category.
The ISEF takes place each May in a different city. The next Fair will be held in Detroit, Michigan, in May 2000.
Two new video conferences announced for 1999–2000
Chuck Manley, IFT President-Elect, has announced an exciting program of video conferences for 1999–2000.
The first, entitled “Genetically Modified Organisms: Current Science and Global Issues,” has been scheduled for November 16, 1999, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST. The second conference, entitled “Nonthermal Processing Techniques: Current Status,” will take place April 11, 2000. These video conferences are offered specifically for IFT Sections, universities, and other interested organizations.
Further information and other updates regarding speakers and how to participate will be made available on IFT’s Web site (www.ift.org/video/) as time progresses. Questions about the program may be directed to Paul Grassman, Director of Information Services, at IFT headquarters (phone 312-782-8424; fax 312-782-8348; e-mail [email protected])
AATA holds food science conference in Argentina
The Asociacion Argentina de Tecnólogos Alimentarios (AATA), IFT’s affiliate organization in Argentina, held its 8th Congress of Food Science and Technology on May 13–16, 1999, in Santa Fe, Argentina.
Al Clausi, 1993–94 IFT President, spoke at the congress on “New Food Products Development: Past and Future.” Funding for his talk was obtained through the International Speaker Funding Program.
Further information on the International Speaker Funding Program is available from Pamela Pierson, Director of Field Services, at IFT headquarters.
by BETSY BAIRD
Assistant Editor
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