IFT proposes membership and governance document changes; ASAE awards IFTSA grant

IFT proposes membership and governance document changes
In conjunction with the Leadership Election, IFT is asking members to vote on proposed changes to its membership model and its constitution and bylaws.

This vote asks members to approve a new tiered membership model consisting of five levels—premier, which merges the current member and professional member categories; networking and engagement, which provides a subset of resources as well as discounts to IFT’s events and programs at a lower price point; joint international membership; emeritus; and student. In addition, IFT proposes to offer a tiered dues discount for early career professionals following graduation.

IFT decided to look into these proposed changes to provide more membership options that meet the needs expressed by current and prospective members and remain relevant to shifts in the food science profession, along with shifts in demographics and member needs. Click here for more information about each membership type, as well as more insight into the reasoning behind the proposed change.

“The new model offers options to members for different levels of engagement with the organization,” explains IFT President John Coupland. “For many of us, the premier membership is the obvious choice, but we have to remember that with the changing dynamics of the profession, others will find the lower entry point better meets their needs, including early career professionals and those with less time to commit to the organization.”

In addition, the vote asks members to approve combining IFT’s constitution and bylaws documents into one bylaws document, which would allow for greater efficiency in decision making (since there would only be one document to consult) and to eliminate some redundancies and confusion that resulted from having two documents. Under the new structure, the IFT Board of Directors would be able to amend the bylaws; changes to the constitution currently require a member vote.

“Combining the organizing documents provides clarity and consistency to our governance,” says Coupland. “The board remains the governing body, thus responsible to the membership for the success of the organization.”

Voting for these measures, as well as the Leadership Election, opened Jan. 31 and closes March 2. Click here for more information about the membership model and governance documents vote. Click here for more information on the Leadership Election.

ASAE awards IFTSA grant
The ASAE Foundation announced that it will grant $10,000 to IFT’s Student Assoc. to pilot a novel method of student engagement that will help IFT achieve its organizational goals and, more critically, offer a forum for global innovation and collaboration.

The project consists of a food innovation challenge in which global partner associations will be invited to select student delegates to attend IFT17. At the annual event, these students will be organized into teams, presented with a case study that is representative of a pressing global food issue, and challenged to develop solutions using the vast knowledge available through the more than 100 scientific educational sessions and 1,000 exhibitors at the food expo. The program will feature opportunities for students to interface with professionals who will mentor them on how to best access resources during IFT17 to address the case study challenge. This intensive learning environment will give students a real-life laboratory to discover solutions, apply theory to practice, and ultimately understand how global collaboration will advance innovation in the science of food marketplace.

“I am so thrilled that we were chosen to receive this award!” says Matt Teegarden, IFTSA president. “IFTSA has always been a forward-thinking organization, and this grant will enable us to develop more exciting and innovative programming for students. We are so thankful for this opportunity and the unwavering support of the IFT Board of Directors and staff.”

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IFT, ACTA create Innovation Award
The Asociación Colombiana de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos/Colombian Assoc. of Food Science and Technology (ACTA) and IFT recently partnered to create the IFT/ACTA Innovation Award, the first international innovation award partnership for IFT and the first innovation award for ACTA, with a focus on ingredients.

ACTA, which was founded in 1975, is an association of professionals, institutions, industries, and students in the agri-food sector. ACTA’s flagship biennial event, CONACTA (Congreso Internacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos/International Congress of Science and Food Technology), showcases prestigious national and international companies in the areas of the science and technology of food, food safety, and nutrition. During the 2016 event, ACTA and IFT presented the inaugural IFT/ACTA Innovation Award to Griffith Foods, a global manufacturer of food products including seasoning blends, dry mixes, coating systems, dough blends, crumbs, flavors, sauces, and food bases, for its SaltSavor technology, a homogeneous product that provides sodium reduction while retaining the characteristics of salt.

“We would like to thank ACTA and IFT for this wonderful award; Griffith has evolved on this theme of functional ingredients based on consumer care, clean labeling of foods, and to improve health issues due to increased salt in some foods,” says Angela Ortega, principal food scientist, meat and functional, for Griffith Foods. “We are working on the future of the consumer with healthier foods.”

Getting to Know Yael Vodovotz
Each month, we meet one of IFT’s valued volunteers.

Yael Vodovotz began volunteering with IFT’s International Division while an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois, taking on the role of student representative. In that role, she met other members of the Student Assoc. as well as faculty and industry professionals. “This was a great experience socially and professionally, and I keep many of those friendships today,” she reflects. “I believe IFT gains tremendously from their international reach, and students that get involved in global issues get a much more rounded education about food and its impact worldwide.”

The International Division also played a big role during her graduate school years, when Vodovotz traveled to Mexico to collect mango samples and analyzed them at the University of British Columbia. “The trip to Mexico and all the connections I made there were facilitated by members of the International Division that I was part of in my undergraduate years. I couldn’t have done any of that work without their help,” she says.

These days Vodovotz is a professor in food science and technology at The Ohio State University, where her research focuses on the physico-chemical properties of foods and biomaterials as they apply to functional foods and bioplastics. She credits her role on the IFT Press Advisory Group, which reviews proposals for IFT’s book publishing series, with keeping her informed of some of the latest scientific trends. There she has also met what she describes as a very diverse group of individuals who are passionate about translating their research into books.

“I viewed volunteering as a way to give back but also as a way to meet people, interact, and learn about new things,” Vodovotz explains. “Balance is key. These days with my very busy teenagers and a highly demanding work environment, adding more to do becomes a real challenge. However, we can all get into a rut of doing the same thing if we don’t go out and invite new challenges, so I’ve always been committed to try new things and get involved.

“You gain great self-satisfaction and meet wonderful new people and have amazing new experiences by being a part of an organization and lending a hand,” she adds.

Section & Division meetings
British Columbia
Feb. 22: Suppliers’ night. Burnaby, Canada. Click here.

Central New Jersey
Feb. 9: Student night. New Brunswick, N.J. Click here.

Central New Jersey/Philadelphia
Feb. 28: Joint meeting. Pennsauken Township, N.J. Click here.

Chicago
Feb. 13: Dinner meeting. Des Plaines, Ill. Click here.

Florida
Feb. 21: Suppliers’ night. Orlando. Click here.

Oregon
Feb. 23: Food ingredient expo. Portland, Ore. Click here.

Puget Sound
Feb. 21: Suppliers’ night. Seattle. Click here.

South Eastern
Feb. 7: Food industry expo. Atlanta. Click here.

In Memoriam
Yi-Cheng Su passed away Dec. 3, 2016. Su was a professor in the Oregon State University Seafood Lab, and he spent the past 16 years dedicated to improving the safety of seafood. His accomplishments include validation of a Vibrio parahaemolyticus reduction step in raw oysters using high pressure technology, and he wrote a book about oyster safety called Pathogenic Vibrios and Food Safety. He also authored 12 book chapters and more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and participated on the editorial boards of the Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology, the Journal of Food Protection, and the Journal of Food Safety. Su received his PhD in food science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994, and during his studies, he identified, purified, and characterized a new staphylococcal enterotoxin and developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for its detection.

IFT also notes the passing of the following members: Carl Herald, Dale T. Landis, and Erik Von Sydow

Do you have some news to share about yourself or another IFT member? Please email [email protected].