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Food Science 101

Six Elephants on a Dime!

Many of the methods used to process the foods we eat involve heating them to a specified temperature and holding them there for a given period of time before cooling. This method of thermal processing is highly effective and dates back to the 1800s when Louis Pasteur provided a scientific understanding of the relationship between time and temperature in the destruction of microorganisms.

Unwelcome Picnic Visitors

There’s an old adage that states, “It’s better to be safe, than sorry”. Nowhere is this more true than when dealing with the food we eat.

As someone who has spent almost forty years in various food-related activities, food safety is a major concern to me. While preparing course material, I often search the Internet on the topic of foodborne illnesses. One thing that tends to stand out is the number of “food poisoning” cases that are attributable to improperly stored foods – especially during the hot summer months when family and group picnics are in full swing.

An Impressive Natural Defense Mechanism

A number of years ago, I worked on a project to extract a natural mucilage material from yellow mustard seeds. The mucilage had many interesting properties and potential applications as a thickening agent in various sauces and dressings. However, there were other aspects of mustard seeds that soon became apparent and quite intriguing.

Any of you who have bitten into a tiny raw mustard seed may have noticed the rather characteristic burning or bitter aftertaste left in your mouth. What you are experiencing is actually part of mustard’s natural defense mechanism against attack by insects and other threatening predators.

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IUFoST Scientific Information Bulletin (SIB)

 

FOOD FRAUD PREVENTION

John Spink, PhD
Summary
Food Fraud – and the focus on prevention – is an important and evolving food industry focus. Even though the vast majority of these incidents do not have a health hazard in some ways they are more dangerous because the substances and actions are unknown and untraceable.  The types of food fraud stretch the traditional role of food science and technology to include criminology, supply chain traceability and other control systems. The food authenticity and integrity testing will be the most complex actions and their value should be assessed in terms of the contribution to prevention. This Scientific Information Bulletin (SIB) presents an introduction, review of incidents, the fundamentals of prevention which then provide insight on the optimal role of Food Science and Technology.
See IUFoST SIBS below for the complete Food Fraud Prevention Scientific Information Bulletin.

 

2017

 

 

 

Congratulations Prof. Dr. Purwiyatno Hariyadi

Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Puwiyatno Hariyadi who has been elected to the position of Vice-Chair of the  CODEX Alimentarius Commission.

Dr. Hariyadi is a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST) and Senior scientist, SEAFAST Center; Professor, Dept. Food Science and Technology, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia.

World Congress

 

Mumbai, India

 

October 23-27, 2018

 

Register at www.iufost2018.com