Matthew Moore, a recently tenured associate professor of food science, has been honored with the Outstanding Young Scientist Award in honor of Samuel Cate Prescott from the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). This prestigious award includes a $3,000 honorarium and was bestowed during the IFT annual meeting in Chicago in July. Named after Prescott, a pioneer in thermal food processing, this award holds significant recognition for young scientists in the field.

Dr. Moore’s research focuses on food safety microbiology, particularly food-borne viruses. His lab aims to better understand virus-bacteria interactions in the gut, develop cost-effective methods for virus detection in foods and the environment, and create more effective disinfectants to combat foodborne viruses. Notably, Dr. Moore played a key role in founding the World Society for Virology (WSV) in 2017. The WSV, which aims to be accessible to virologists worldwide without membership fees, boasts over 1,600 members from 96 countries.

Other accomplished UMass Amherst food scientists who have received this award include Eric Decker (1997), David Julian McClements (1999), Hang Xiao (2014), Lili He (2016).

Lutz Grossmann, an assistant professor of food science, has received prestigious accolades: the 2023 Nils Foss Talent Prize and the 2024 International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) Young Researcher Award. His exceptional contributions span alternative protein extraction, purification, protein functionality, sustainable food processing, and innovative food design, garnering recognition both nationally and internationally.

Furthermore, Dr. Grossmann secured a $250,000 grant from the Good Food Institute for his project titled “Development and Implementation of a Novel Coextrusion Technology to Produce Plant-based Meats with Lipid Marbling." One of the challenges of creating realistic-looking and delectable plant-based meat is mimicking the marbled effect of animal fat that many carnivores expect and enjoy. Dr. Grossmann plans to address this challenge with a novel coextrusion technology to replicate the juiciness, appearance, and texture of animal meat by incorporating lipids into high-moisture extrusion processes. The method, described as working like a piping bag to create a two-colored swirl, could revolutionize the plant-based meat industry. 

Lynne McLandsborough, recipient of the 2024 Mahoney Life Sciences Prize, has devised a groundbreaking solution to address sanitation and food safety challenges faced by the peanut butter and chocolate industries. Her innovative “dry” sanitation method has garnered attention from major players in the field, including Mars (the world’s largest chocolate manufacturer) and J.M. Smucker (owner of Jif peanut butter). McLandsborough is actively collaborating with these companies to test her method in pilot plant facilities. Additionally, she has filed a patent application for her remarkable innovation.

Explaining her approach, McLandsborough shares, “We added a small, controlled amount of water as an emulsion. By mixing the acidified oil with a surfactant and water—just 1 to 3%—we achieved a six-log bacterial reduction
(equivalent to a 99.9999% kill rate).” The improved kill rate is attributed to osmotic pressure, a fundamental concept in both basic microbiology and food science. McLandsborough emphasizes, “It’s simple, but it works.”. 

Lili He has secured a $1.71 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Her project aims to develop and test a novel approach for age-grading mosquitoes. The multidisciplinary team includes experts in analytical development, mosquito biology, biochemistry, field studies, and machine learning modeling. Collaborators include researchers from UMass, Cornell University, and the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Bangkok. By accurately determining mosquito age, this research could significantly impact mosquito-borne disease control and address global health challenges.

In one project, Assistant Professor Jiakai Lu received a three-year grant of $630,000 to develop an eco-friendly drift reduction agent. This agent aims to reduce the use of conventional agricultural pesticides by utilizing essential oils derived from food waste, such as orange peel and culinary herbs. The project involves a multidisciplinary effort, with Lu collaborating with experts in emulsion formulations and pest control methods.

Additionally, Lu was awarded a two-year, $270,000 seed grant for another project. This initiative focuses on creating a scalable processing technology for plant-based seafood that closely mimics the texture of fish meat. By addressing the challenge of overfishing and related pollution, Lu’s work aims to provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution. The project involves exploring innovative structuring-layering technology for large-scale production of plant-based fish products. Lu collaborates with experts from UMass Amherst and Purdue University, with the goal of creating high-quality, affordable, safe, and nutritious fish analogs while stimulating the development of plant-based food companies.

For the second consecutive year, the premium craft ice cream flavors created in the annual UMass Amherst Food Science-Herrell’s Ice Cream & Bakery Ice Cream Product Development Competition were each so luscious and innovative that Herrell’s vows to produce and sell all four of them at its popular Northampton store.

Audience members tasted two-ounce cups of the ice cream flavors, including Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake, which was announced as the audience’s favorite flavor. Coming out on top was Brown Butter Miso Caramel, painstakingly created with made-from-scratch caramel and brown bits of cooked butter, cutting the buttery fat with nonfat dried milk and punctuating the flavor with hand cut chunks of dark chocolate.

What made it so special? “It was the combination of flavor and olfactory,” Herrell said. “You could smell the brown butter when it was frozen. Then, when you tasted the brown butter, it really pushed it over the edge.” The winning group was food science majors from Massachusetts: Victoria Cercone of Concord, Adam Forbes of Arlington and Ethan Walton of Holden.

Charmaine Koo, instructor of the food processing lab who organized the competition, was impressed with all the flavors. “The idea of combining miso and caramel – that’s not mainstream.”

The latest book of prolific author David Julian McClements is a family affair. The Distinguished Professor of Food Science, along with his daughter Isobelle Farrell McClements and nephew Jake McClements, have written “How to be a Successful Scientist: A Guide for Graduate Students, Postdocs, and Professors” (Springer, 2024). The three authors offer different perspectives as scientists at different stages in their careers. 

The book includes tips on designing, performing, and analyzing experiments, writing manuscripts, preparing scientific presentations, writing grant proposals, networking and defending a graduate thesis, among other things. 

“We hope this book will be useful for those wanting to be more efficient and impactful scientists,” Julian McClements says.

Undergraduates:

Adam Forbes ‘24 (advisor Lili He) and Xiaoke Xiang ‘25 (advisor Julian McClements) have been selected as 2023- 2024 UMass Amherst Rising Researchers
Nicholle Tan (advisor Lutz Grossmann) won the 2023 Emily J. Prior scholarship
Cristina, Lauren, Mia, and Abby won 2nd place in the American Society of Baking Product Development Competition
Lily Saad (advisor Matt Moore) won 2024 IFT Hollingsworth Student Leadership Scholarship
Lauren Ho (advisor Julian McClements) won 2024 IFT Institute for Thermal Processing Specialists

Graduates/PostDocs:

Sloane Stoufer and Christina Allingham (advisor Matt Moore) won 2024 Phi Tau Sigma Student Achievement Scholarship
Xiaoyan Hu (advisor Julian McClements) has been honored with 2024 Honored Student Award from the American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS) for the outstanding contributions to science.
Rabia Shamim Basha (advisor Amanda Kinchla) on winning the highly prestigious and competitive FMI Food Safety Auditing Scholarship. 
Prerana Balasubramanian (advisor Lutz Grossmann) and Melissa Fernandez (advisor Amanda Kinchla) - the final round of the 3 Minute Thesis competition.
Kimberly Acevedo (advisor John Gibbons) won the best poster in the 2024 Pioneer Valley Microbes Symposium 
Yuzhen Zhang (advisor Lili He) won the 2024 Health Tech for the People (HT4P) fellowship award
Prarthanaa Sankaranarayanan (advisor Lili He) won the 1st place in "Speedy Science", a 3-minute thesis competition organized by the Phi Tau Sigma.
Dr. Minji Kim (advisor Matt Moore) won the 2024 ASM Peggy Cotter Award for Early Career Scientists.
Prarthanaa Sankaranarayanan (Advisor Lili He) received 1st place in the oral competition at the Toxicology and Safety Evaluation Division of IFT.
Xiaoyan Hu, Jaekun Ryu, and Xiaoke Xiang won 3rd place in the 2024 IFT Proteins of the Future Challenge.
Rabia Farheen S and Prarthanaa Sankaranarayanan won the 3rd position at the 2024 IFT Think Tank Hackathon 2024 in the non-thermal processing division.
Yuzhen Zhang (advisor Lili He) was selected to present in Massachusetts Life Science Innovation DAY 2024 Poster Pitch Showcase. 
Rachael Enfield and Haknyeong Hong (advisor Jiakai Lu) won the 2024 NEIFT Scholarships.

Eric Decker. Sabbatical with the Cawthron Institute in Nelson, New Zealand, focusing on oxidation issues in fish oil and green-lipped mussel oil supplements. Gave a plenary lecture at the 5th International Symposium on Lipid Oxidation and Antioxidants in Bologna, Italy.

Lili He. Appointed Chair of IAFP Food Chemical Hazards and Food Allergens Professional Development Group. Hosted two sessions at the 2024 IAFP conference in CA. Her students presented at various conferences including PVMS, IFT, and IAFP. Directed the Raman, IR, and XRF core facility, providing services to campus users and industrial companies.

David Julian McClements. Ranked as the most highly cited food scientist and the 22nd chemist in the world by Research.com. Published over 100 papers and edited "Biodegradable and Edible Food Packaging." Interviewed by CBS, Korean TV, and US radio on food-related topics. Quoted in numerous publications like New Scientist, National Geographic, and Fortune magazine. Worked with non-profits to secure funding for alternative protein research.

Matthew Moore. Awarded the UMass Eric A. Decker Scholar title and received tenure and promotion. Appointed to the Editorial Board of Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. Helped organize the New England IFT Expo, with his lab members playing key roles. His students presented at various conferences including PVMS, UMass Undergraduate Research Conference, ASM, and IAFP. On the organizing committee for the 2025 World Society for Virology conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Jiakai Lu. Appointed adjunct faculty in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering at UMass. Joined the Editorial Board of Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition and Food and Bioproducts Processing. Gave seminars on computational simulation and machine learning at various events. His students presented at IAFP, ASABE, and CoFE.

Hang Xiao. Recognized as a highly cited researcher by Clarivate for six consecutive years. Appointed Associate Editor of Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. Awarded a USDA grant to study fermented chickpeas and peas. Gave research talks on food components and gut microbiota at international conferences.

Alissa Nolden. Co-chair of the 16th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium. Invited speaker at several conferences, including UMass Chef Culinary Conference and New England IFT Expo. Hosted the UMass Alumni event at IFT. Participated in panels and gave talks on sustainable food. Her students presented at AChemS, IFT, SSIB, EuroSense, and SSP.

Peiyi Shen. Appointed Chief Undergraduate Advisor. Established semiweekly advising drop-in hours and created a formal undergraduate research program. Organized social events for networking. Advised over 30 incoming food science students. Taught "Food Preservation" during summer and winter sessions through UWW, attracting over 30 students each semester.

Welcome to our department, Wesley LaValley and Shannon Bennett!

Wesley joins our administrative team, bringing valuable business experience. Meanwhile, Shannon takes on the role of a technical assistant, bringing her skills in culinary, horticulture and technical assistance. We're excited to have both of you on board!    -Lili He

Preventive Controls Qualified Individual Blended Training

Host: Amanda J. Kinchla
Date: Monday, September 23, 2024, 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM 

Course Description: The Current Good Manufacturing Practices, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-based Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation (the Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation) ensure safe manufacturing, processing, packing, and holding of food products in the United States. A “preventive controls qualified individual” who has completed training in risk-based preventive controls is required for certain activities. The FSPCA-developed Blended Training course provides an alternative for completing the FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food. It consists of two parts: an online portion (Part 1) and an instructor-led, in-person portion (Part 2). Both parts are necessary to obtain the certificate. The online portion emphasizes key concepts from the participant manual, while Part 2 covers all information presented in the traditional three-day FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food. Registration for Part 1 of this 2-part course is $208. To complete the course, a participant must be present for the entire workshop and actively participate in all of the presented exercises. 

Location:  UMass Amherst

For more details go to: https://ag.umass.edu/upcoming-events