Lynne McLandsborough has been named interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement and interim director of the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE) where she will oversee UMass Extension and the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station.

A national decanal search for a permanent director of CAFE will commence in the fall. McLandsborough has conducted research in food safetyand has collaborated with extension personnel in the Food Science and Nutrition departments to applied research and to UMass Extensionprograms in food safety in service of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts constituents.

McLandsborough is an experienced administrator who has completed the HERS Leadership Institute, served as the head of the Department of Food Science since 2020 and co-chairs the Food Science Industry Advisory Board.

Lutz Grossmann is on a scientific mission to create tasty, animal-free protein that has a low carbon footprint and is produced without relying on agricultural land – a usual and progressively stressed source of the global food supply. “The increasing global population and a changing climate increase the pressure on our food and protein supply coming from these natural habitats,” says Grossmann, an assistant professor of food science.

“By 2050, we need to produce up to 60% more food, but we don’t want to transform more land into agricultural land. This is the reason why alternative sustainable protein supply chains are urgently needed to ensure future food security.”

To kickstart his long-term mission as an early-career researcher, Grossmann has been awarded a $430,485 New Innovator Grant from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research. “We want to prove that humanity is exceptionally resilient when it comes to food production,” he says. Grossmann is one of 10 researchers to receive the latest round of New Innovator Grants.

By 2050, we need to produce up to 60% more food, but we don’t want to transform more land into agricultural land. This is the reason why alternative sustainable protein supply chains are urgently needed to ensure future food security In a nutshell, the Grossmann Lab’s ultimate goal is to try to make protein-rich foods from a bacteria, powered by hydrogen. “We found this interesting technique where you can use gasses to grow bacteria rich in proteins you can later consume,” he explains. Grossmann plans to use renewable “green electricity” – solar, hydropower or wind – to split water into hydrogen and oxygen – the process of electrolysis – and then use the hydrogen as an energy source for the bacteria, known as hydrogenotrophs.

Novel protein supply chain using hydrogen to produce ‘hydrogen foods.’ “The cultivation of these bacteria requires no inputs coming from traditional agriculture,”Grossmann says. “In fact, the bacteria can be grown by bubbling hydrogen,CO2, and O2 in a reactor filled with water that is enriched with nitrogen and minerals.” In the 1960s, NASA explored the possibility of using hydrogenotrophic bacteria to feed astronauts on space missions. In recent years, the idea has resurfaced in light of the need for alternative and sustainable global food sources.

Grossmann’s past research focused on cultivating other single-cell proteins – from microalgae – using sunlight, carbon dioxide and fertilizer. “Microalgae is still a very interesting biomass,” he says, “but they need a lot of sunlight and for this you need a lot of surface area, so there are some limitations.” Once Grossmann and his team grow the bacteria, they will focus on the resulting protein-rich byproducts – a sort of cell slurry. “We have to figure out how to extract the protein and optimize the process top reserve the functionality of the proteins. Then we need to understand what kind of foods we can form,” Grossmann says.

For that, he will have a lot of support. Forming sustainable, alternative, plant-based protein is a primary focus of UMass food scientists, many of whom specialize in the complex, multidisciplinary realm of structural design, nanotechnology, protein functionality, bioavailability and metabolism. “We have to be able to design foods that are nutritious and tasty,” Grossmann says. “In the end, we want to feed people.”

In a novel effort to create the next generation of plant-based, protein-rich environmentally sustainable and savory alternatives to animal meat, a University of Massachusetts Amherst food scientist has turned his attention to soybean meal. Globally, this byproduct of soybean oil extraction is used almost exclusively for animal feed. In the U.S. alone, some 48 million metric tons of soybean meal was produced in 2022, according to the USDA.

“After the oil extraction, the majority of the protein is in the meal, not the oil,” says Hang Xiao , professor and Clydesdale Scholar of Food Science. “It’s a high-quality protein compared to other plant-based protein.” We will create a library of genes to produce more nutritional and more delicious tempeh food, and we can be very creative.

Xiao grant from NIFA is funding a multidisciplinary team of food scientists at the UMass Clydesdale Center for Foods for Health and Wellness, where researchers focus on food design for improved health and safety. Joining Xiao are John Gibbons (food fermentation and biostatistics); Alissa Nolden (sensory science); David Julian McClements (novel food processing for enhanced functionality); and Eric Decker (food chemistry and food processing).

The team’s project was inspired by a historic use for soybeans, Xiao says. Hundreds of years ago, Asian people who couldn’t afford meat, fermented soybeans to make tempeh. “Poor people wanted the soybeans to taste like real meat,” he explains. “After fermentation, the texture of the soybean becomes more chewy, so it tastes like a piece of meat or jerky. The UMass researchers will make protein products not from the whole soybeans, the traditional method, but from the soybean meal, using “smart fermentation” that can pinpoint attributes of flavor, texture and nutrition.

“Currently, tempeh fermentation is done mostly empirically without a scientific understanding of the molecular basis of fungal fermentation – for example, which gene of the fungal starter is responsible for specific product functionality, such as nutritional and sensory properties,” Xiao explains. During tempeh fermentation, the action of the fungi transforms the nutritional components of soybean meal, including polyphenols, flavonoids, proteins and amino acids. The researchers will conduct genomics profiling and sequence the RNA of 20 different strains of the fungus Rhizopus spp to identify the functional genes responsible for the chemical and biological changes in the different food components. “With this knowledge, we will be able to manipulate the genetic makeup and combine traits from different fungi strains to optimize their function,”

Matthew Moore, Assistant Professor of Food Science, has been elected treasurer-elect for North America for the World Society for Virology (WSV), an organization he helped found in 2017, along with numerous other virologists worldwide. “The goal was to develop the first global virology society that connects virologists around the world without the need for members to pay a membership fee,” says Moore, who also served as the society’s founding treasurer. “Although a number of excellent national virology organizations exist, most require membership fees, and the goal of WSV was to help connect and support virologists who may already belong to one national society or another,” he adds. “This new society is both global in scope and has no fee required for membership, only a demonstrated history of activity in virus research.” Moore is one of the organizers for WSV’s first in-person conference since the pandemic. The conference – One Health - One World - One Virology – will be held June 15-17 in Riga, Latvia,and Moore will attend in person. “Based on sponsorship, we are hoping to have the content of the meeting recorded and available virtually,” Moore says.

A University of Massachusetts Amherst nutrition scientist who has spent his career studying breast milk has demonstrated how beneficial microbes in the gut of infants use nitrogen from human milk to support pediatric nutrition and development. “The molecules in breast milk not only feed the baby but also feed the baby’s microbiome,” says David Sela , associate professor of food science and director of the Fergus M. Clydesdale Center for Foods for Health and Wellness. “This changed the way people think about the role of human milk in infant nutrition.”

Microbes that feed on breast milk play key roles in an infant’s growth, from jump-starting the immune and digestive systems to aiding in brain development. The molecular underpinnings of these processes, however, are not well understood. More than a decade ago, Sela and his team noticed that Bifidobacterium infantis, a beneficial bacterium that colonizes the infant gut, had the ability to degrade urea, a molecule that mammals excrete as waste in urine. The molecules in breast milk not only feed the baby but also feed the baby’s microbiome. This changed the way people think about the role of human milk in infant nutrition. David Sela, associate professor of food science & director of the Fergus M. Clydesdale Center for Foods for Health and Wellness.

”There’s a lot of urea in breast milk and since it’s typically excreted out of the system, and this major colonizer has the ability todegrade it, we thought it’s possible that the microbes are utilizing this waste product as a nitrogen source within the infant gut,”Sela says. In a paper published Monday, March 27, in the journal Gut Microbes, senior author Sela describes how B. infantis utilizes urea from human milk to recycle nitrogen in the infant’s gut microbiome. The paper lays the groundwork for applying this discovery to improve infant health around the world by identifying molecular targets to improve nitrogen metabolism efficiency.

“This might lead to nutritional interventions and diagnostic tools to address infant nutrition, not only in the Western world, but also in developing countries,” Sela says. “If we have a better understanding of how the microbiome contributes to nutrition, we have a better understanding of how to provide nourishment to not only healthy infants but also infants who are preterm or are more predisposed to diseases, sickness and conditions that are deleterious to their health.”

After years of research, Sela and his team in the Sela Lab have achieved an understanding of the process from the microbial side, which was “the overarching objective of the project.” Since 2021, Sela’s research has been funded by a five-year, $1.69 million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Christina Allingham and Sloane Stoufer, doctoral candidates in the Department of Food Science, have received USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) predoctoral fellowships for their research related to food safety and foodborne viruses.

NIFA predoctoral fellowships are only given to the top tier of doctoral candidates in the agricultural sciences. Only 93 of the fellowships were awarded this year, with Christina and Sloane receiving two of the three fellowships related to microbial food safety. Christina and Sloane and working with Matt Moore and Amanda Kinchla.

Pictured: Liana Nichols, Lauren Ho, Aviva Stein, Jacqueline Frederick, Amelia Navarre, AstridD’Andrea

Adam Forbes, a rising senior majoring in food science and mathematics, won first place in the Undergraduate Research Competition at IFT First, the annual event and expo of the Institute of Food Technologists, held recently in Chicago. Forbes’ research revealed a potential way to decrease the processing time for many naturally colored, iron-fortified foods. It also may help identify new color stabilizers for anthocyanins, a large class of natural pigments found in red, blue and purple plants. Adam’s research advisor is Lili He.

In a nutritional comparison of plant-based and dairy yogurts, almond milk yogurt came out on top,according to research led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst food science major. “Plant-based ogurts overall have less total sugar, less sodium, and more fiber than dairy, but they have less protein, calcium, and potassium than dairy yogurt,” says lead author Astrid D’Andrea, a graduating senior. Astrid works in the lab of Alissa Nolden.

Alissa Nolden. Announced as co-chair for the 16th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium in 2025 to be held in Philadelphia(>1,200 attendees); Invited speaker at UMass Chef Conference and Librarian Boot Camp; Multiple press-releases for Undergraduateled paper (Plant-based yogurt).

Amanda J. Kinchla. Awarded $300K USDA Critical Agriculture Research and Extension project titled, "Investigating the Implicationsof Observed Sanitation Practices on the Development of Foodborne Viral Recalcitrance" in collaboration with Dr. Matt Moore'steam. Had a team of 3 students received a scholarship supported by NOAA for their efforts in developing a sustainable baitalternative for the lobster industry.

David Julian McClements. Most highly cited food scientist. Gave invited talks at several scientific meetings internationally(including Good Food Conference 2023 and Aree Memorial lecture (Maihadol University, Thailand). Received USDA grant on PBFoods ($550k). Interviewed and quoted by BBC, the Guardian, Hampshire Gazette and other organizations. Met with theMassachusetts State senate leader (Karen Pilka) in Boston on alternative proteins (April 4, 2023).

Eric Decker. Keynote at lipid oxidation conference at Wageningen University; Invited talk at International Conference of Oleosomesand Lipid Bodies; Chair of the National Academy of Sciences Food Forum.

Hang Xiao. Received 2023 Research and Development Award (IFT), Received a USDA grant titled "Functionality-guided SmartFermentation of Soybean Meal: A Novel Approach to Producing Next-generation Meat Alternatives from a Plant-based Byproduct"($601K). highly cited researcher. Gave invited talks at several scientific meetings internationally and international universities.

Jiakai Lu. Media Report of the Awarded USDA grants (https://www.umass.edu/natural-sciences/news/food-sciences-professor-awarded-usda-grants); Enlisted on the Editorial board as a Subject Editor for Food and Bioproducts Processing journal fromInstitution of Chemical Engineers; Invited talk on AI hot topic session at the Annual AOCS conference.

Lili He. Awarded as one of UMass family research scholars in year 22/23. Invited to give talks at Bringham Young University,Jiangnan University, and Photonics Spectra Spectroscopy Conference.

Lutz Grossmann. Awarded FFAR and USDA grants ($1M). Chaired several Bridge2Food conferences in Singapore, Chicago and LasVegas with >300 attendees.

Matthew Moore. Dr. Moore is the primary supervisor for two USDA NIFA Predoctoral Fellowships awarded to Sloane Stoufer andChristina Allingham (above). Dr. Moore also oversaw and conducted an international expertise exchange, along with invited talk,with the Marloes Peeters lab at Newcastle University in the UK along with Dr. Minji Kim and Sloane Stoufer. Dr. Moore alsoorganized and presented an invited talk for the World Society for Virology 2023 meeting in Riga, Latvia, also where an officialpartnership with the American Society for Virology was announced.

FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food Certification Training

Host: Amanda J. Kinchla

Date: March 19-21, 2024, 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM

Course Description: The Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-based Preventive Controls for HumanFood FDA regulation ensures safe manufacturing/processing, packing and holding of food products for human consumption inthe United States. The regulation requires that certain activities must be completed by a “preventive controls qualified individual”who has “successfully completed training in the development and application of risk-based preventive controls.” This coursedeveloped by the FSPCA is the “standardized curriculum” recognized by FDA; successfully completing this course is one way tomeet the requirements for a “preventive controls qualified individual.”

Location: UMass Amherst

For more details, visit FSPCA Workshops