NEIFT Food Professionals: Newsletter

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“Nutrition Agenda 2008” is Focus of Tufts Friedman School Symposium
Eileen T. Kennedy DSc, Dean of Tufts University’s Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy announced the 3rd Annual Friedman School Symposium, a conference for nutrition professional that will examine critical issues facing industry, policy-makers, academics and thought leaders in the coming year. 150 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111 | TEL: 617.636.3718 | FAX: 617.636.3727
The conference will be in Boston, September 24th to 26th, 2008.
Fifteen experts will present on four main topic groups:
•
Nutrient Profiling, Scoring and Labeling: Does it Make a Difference?
•
What’s Next in Dietary Guidance?
•
Threats and Challenges to Nutrition in an Era of Climate Change.
•
“Hot Topics” including Vitamin B & Cognition, Artificial Sweeteners and Children, Vitamin D and Cancer, Effects of Folate on Cancer Risk, and Probiotics: “Good Bugs? Bad Bugs?”
Former US Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman will be this year’s keynote speaker. Glickman served as Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 until 2001. He also has served as Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
For more info...

In Memorium....

Herbert Hultin
Of Rockport, formerly of Quincy, 73, on Dec. 10. Dr. Hultin was a longtime faculty member of the Food Science Department at Umass, Amherst and considered a founding father of food biochemistry. Husband of Marie C. Hultin of Rockport. Also survived by a brother Richard of Weymouth; a sister Joan Goffi of Needham; his five children, Stanley and wife Irina of Kensington, N.H., Patricia and husband Dr. Roland Vanaria of Hopkinton, Katherine and husband Ed Frick of Wenham, Lil of Stoneham, Stephen and wife Anne-Marie of Sudbury; twelve grandchildren Helen, Ekaterina and Stanley Hultin; Alessandra Vanaria; Edward, Samuel and Benjamin Frick; Stephen, Caroline, Francoise, Julia and Alexia Hultin. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Joachim's Church, Broadway, Rockport, on Friday, Dec. 14th, at 11 AM. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery, Gloucester. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, Dec. 13th, from 4 to 8 PM in the Burgess & Mackey Funeral Home, 20l Main St., ROCKPORT. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to University of Massachusetts, referencing Dr. Herb Hultin Fund, Development Office, Attn: Rick Robar, 311 Stockbridge Hall, Amherst, MA 01003

Support grows for turning marine station into a research center that reflects beliefs of UMass scientist
Courtesy of Boston Globe, July 21, 2008
link

check out these links....

UMass Food Science Club

Food Science at UMaine

Food Science at URI

Food Science at UMass

Food Science at Northshore CC

NEIFT Bylaws

Favorite Websites of our Members

(not necessarily food related!)

Homestar Runner

Associated Press: July 13, 2007 BEIJING - Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.

The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country's problems with food safety despite government efforts to improve the situation.

Countless small, often illegally run operations exist across China and make money cutting corners by using inexpensive ingredients or unsavory substitutes. They are almost impossible to regulate.

State TV's undercover investigation features the shirtless, shorts-clad maker of the buns, called baozi, explaining the contents of the product sold in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang district.

Baozi are a common snack in China, with an outer skin made from wheat or rice flour and and a filling of sliced pork. Cooked by steaming in immense bamboo baskets, they are similar to but usually much bigger than the dumplings found on dim sum menus familiar to many Americans.

The hidden camera follows the man, whose face is not shown, into a ramshackle building where steamers are filled with the fluffy white buns, traditionally stuffed with minced pork.

The surroundings are filthy, with water puddles and piles of old furniture and cardboard on the ground.

"What's in the recipe?" the reporter asks. "Six to four," the man says.

"You mean 60 percent cardboard? What is the other 40 percent?" asks the reporter. "Fatty meat," the man replies.

The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made.

Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda — a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap — then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in.

Soon, steaming servings of the buns appear on the screen. The reporter takes a bite.

"This baozi filling is kind of tough. Not much taste," he says. "Can other people taste the difference?"

"Most people can't. It fools the average person," the maker says. "I don't eat them myself."

The police eventually showed up and shut down the operation.

In the future, you’ll be able to customize more and more products to your own liking, and why should beverages be any different?

This new technology from Ipifini, called “Choice-Enabled Packaging,” provides bottles of soda with multiple flavor “buttons,” which can be pressed to create your own customized soft drink flavors.

A programmable bottle with four flavors and a caffeine button can produce up to 32 unique concoctions. A six-button prototype has been produced which can create 64 combinations. Bring on those cherry lime vanilla sodas!

[via Technabob via Technovelgy via CNET]
Details at Ipifini

Welcome Regional Members of the
Institute of Packaging Professionals!

Members of the NEIFT are invited to keep up with the latest developments in food packaging technology through the resources available at their website, www.ioppne.org

Check for links to packaging professionals in the NE region, as well as upcoming events.

Passings....
Ernest Earl Lockhart, 93, died at his home on July 26, 2006.
Following a year of study on fellowship at teh Biochemical Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, Earl served as the physiologist on Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd's United Stated Antarctica Expedition of 1939-1941. For this service he received a special medal authorized by the Congress of the United States.
Upon his return to the States, Earl began a career of research and teaching at MIT in the field of food technology and nutrition. In 1955, he left MIT to join the Coffee Brewing Institute, a trade organization located in New York City, as its Research Director. In 1965 he assumed the position of Assistant Research Director of the Coca Cola Company in Atlanta, where he remained until his retirement in 1978.
Earl was a co-founder of the International Life Sciences Institute, a worldwide foundation that seeks to improve the well-being of the general public through the advancement of science.
He is survived by his loving wife and constant companion of 63 years, Helen Scrufutis Lockhart. Condolences may be sent to PO Box 720, Summerfield, NC 27358.

SOUP TO NUTS
By Meredith Goad

Portland Press Herald
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Sweet deal!

They were up against a bagel with the cream cheese already swirled inside it, a healthier version of fish and chips for kids, and a caramel apple without the stickiness -- it had caramel flavoring injected into it.
The other students in the competition had more experience and fatter budgets.
But in the end, the food-science students from the University of Maine were triumphant. Their "Yo Bon Blueberry Bites" -- frozen blueberry yogurt covered in dark chocolate -- won first place in a prestigious product-development contest sponsored by the Institute of Food Technologists Student Association in June. There was lots of hugging and yelling.
"We beat out some of the nation's largest food-science departments," said Jason Bolton,
Now, encouraged by their success and a grant from the Maine Technology Institute that allowed them to purchase a chocolate waterfall, Bolton and a couple of partners are trying to develop the frozen novelty further.
Cathy Billings, one of the consumers who taste-tested the Yo Bons when the students were creating the product for one of their food-science classes, liked them so much she asked to be made a partner in the endeavor.
"It's that outstanding," she said.
Not only are the Yo Bon Blueberry Bites tasty, they're more healthful than a lot of frozen novelty products on the market, too. They are full of antioxidants and calcium. One serving of the bites, which amounts to two bon bons, is higher in antioxidants than a cup of blueberries.
A serving contains 188 calories, 25 percent of the daily value of calcium, 10 percent of daily fiber needs, and a little over 9 grams of fat.
Using real chocolate instead of a chocolate coating, as other products do, made a big difference in the amount of fat in the bon bons, Bolton said.
"The chocolate coatings are mostly fat, less chocolate," he said. "Most of our competitors have almost twice as much, if not more, fat than we do."
The product has the same mouth feel as higher-end ice creams, however, according to Shari Baxter, a graduate student who worked on the project. The Yo Bons, which start with Gifford's plain frozen yogurt, have a lower percentage of milk fat than premium ice creams, she said, but "we have compensated for that by using stabilizers to make a creamier mouth feel so it still feels like you're eating a very high-end product, but you aren't getting the fat associated with that."
When they were developing the product, the students tested it on 132 consumers and were astonished by the response. On a scale of 1 to 9, with 9 being the highest score, the Yo Bon Blueberry Bites averaged 8.1, "which is extremely high," Baxter said.
"In most industry product-development scenarios, if they get in the high 6's to 7's they know they have a good enough product to take to market."
The students produced 600 of the bon bons for the food-science competition. Now, even with their initial success, the students are still making the bon bons by hand, but their productivity has skyrocketed.
Before receiving the MTI grant, they were using a chocolate waterfall at Wilbur's of Maine in Freeport.
"We actually transported frozen yogurt cores on dry ice the hour and a half down to Freeport, coated them, put them back on dry ice, and transported them back up to the university," Baxter said.
Now they are able to make more than 4,000 bon bons in a couple of weekends.
There's still more market research, and other work, to be done before you'll be seeing the product in your grocer's freezer. And the partners are considering developing other product lines -- say, coffee- or cranberry-flavored bites.
"It's a learning process even still, and there's quite a long way to go, I think, before we get to the point where we totally ramp up for production," Billings said.
If they ever start making money at this, they plan to give back to the university, which has allowed them to use its equipment and the expertise of its faculty. One thing they are considering is donating some of their profits for food-science students who want to do similar projects in the future.
"One of the things we're priding ourselves on is, because of the backing from the university, we always want this to be associated with the university," Bolton said.
Until then, they are working hard and weighing all their options.
"We're pretty open to see what the future holds for us," Baxter said.
Staff Writer Meredith Goad can be contacted at 791-6332 or at:
mgoad@pressherald.com

UMaine Product Development Team

Global Organics Ltd., supplier of organic ingredients to the natural food and cosmetics industries worldwide, is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to its' management team in QA and Operations. "Given our significant growth in the last few years, we are adding depth to our team which allows us to continue working closely with our customers to meet their needs in a very exciting and challenging business environment," said Dave Alexander, Founder and President. "Quality assurance and operations are critical components to the high level of service we provide our customers."
Lisa White has been hired as Director of Operations and Business Development. Most recently VP/Operations and Quality of Annie's Homegrown, Lisa brings over 25 years of experience in the food business to Global. She will be responsible for overseeing operations as well as developing new business initiatives. In addition to Annie's Homegrown, Lisa has worked with Newman's Own Organics, Nantucket Off-Shore seasonings and Stirrings among others. Lisa is a graduate of Boston College and holds a professional chef diploma obtained in Annecy, France.
Ed White (no relation) joins Global Organics, Ltd. as Quality Assurance Manager. Ed holds a BS degree in Food Science and Technology from University of Massachusetts. Previously employed at Shaw's Supermarkets, Stop & Shop and Amstar Corp. (Domino Sugar), Ed will be responsible for maintaining a total quality program for Global Organics, including vendor compliance and product development in addition to providing technical support to customers.
Global Organics, Ltd. sources quality organic ingredients worldwide from sustainable projects that are environmentally and socially responsible members of their communities. It distributes from warehouse locations in the US, Canada and Europe.

The University of Massachusetts Food Science Club will be hosting the North Atlantic IFTSA Area Meeting. For this event, students from regional food science departments will travel to Amherst for a two day meeting and the College Bowl Competition, which will determine which team moves on the competition at the IFT Annual meeting in Chicago.

Three of Professor Vieira's food chemistry students at North Shore Community College recently had
articles published in the monthly school newspaper, The Pennon. Janet
DeLeskey wrote a wonderful article on The Avian Flu & Food Safety.
Danielle Ennamorati wrote about Splenda and the many myths surrounding
it and Ryann Collins had an article published on Food Terrorism and the effects it could have on our food supply.

Congratulations to Andres Rodriquez, UMASS,
2006 recipient of the
International Association for Food Protection's
"Developing Scientist" Award.
More than 1,700 of the top industry, academic and government food safety professionals attended IAFP 2006 held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, August 13 to 16.

The meeting has earned recognition as the leading food safety conference and featured over 500 presentations on all aspects of food science and food protection. Networking opportunities, committee meetings, tours and special presentations rounded out the meeting. Representatives from 115 companies exhibited equipment and the latest innovations in food safety services.

Concord Foods Teaches Kids!

Brockton based Concord Foods visited the Elmhurst Street Children's Park in Dorcester on July 20 to keep children about food science, food preparation and human nutrition. Concord employee Caitlin Jamison taught children to use the Food Pyramid and to prepare healthy snacks.

Ever wonder what foods the Vikings ate when they set off to explore the new world? How Thomas Jefferson made his ice cream? What the pioneers cooked along the Oregon Trail? Who invented the potato chip...and why? Welcome to the Food Timeline.

www.foodtimeline.org

A fun look at Organic Foods...presented by the Organic Trade Association

www.storewars.org/flash/index.html

What 25 basic ingredients would you find in kitchens around the world?
International Pantry


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