Interview with Prof Walter Spiess, food engineer

Interview with Prof Walter Spiess, food engineer

In your opinion, what are the main challenges being faced by the food engineering community in developed and developing countries? How can the food engineering community overcome these challenges?

WS: The major challenge which food engineers together with the entire food science community are facing is to provide sufficient, safe and nutritious food to all people around the globe. The food which is offered to the world wide community of consumers has to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life and, very importantly, it has to be socially and economically accessible. How can we achieve this objective in the long run? To answer this difficult question, the food science community must develop an integrated approach with agriculture and nutrition in order to achieve sustainable raw material production, processing and targeted nutritional concepts. Food engineering should concentrate on:

• reduction of postharvest losses,
• reduction of processing losses,
• waste and biomass utilisation,
• utilisation of under-utilised raw materials and unconventional resources,
• fortification and up-grading of nutritionally poor produce / products, and
• development of sustainable and ecological food production / processing technologies, taking into account modern developments in neighboring fields of science especially nutritional physiology (see below).

What is your opinion about the golden age (1960-1990) of food engineering research? How do you compare the current and future food engineering research trends to the golden age?

WS: In the golden age (1960-1990) of food engineering, chemical engineering unit operations were in the focus of research. With the advancement of progress it became clear that a better in-depth understanding of the structure and composition of food materials and their physiological function after ingestion was important. When the food engineering, or better to say, the food science community, arrived at the level of better understanding, a shift of paradigm took place, materials, processed  more and more raw products, and the physiological function of the ingested food moved into focus. New challenges have to be faced but the old ones should not be neglected.

What is your view on world hunger and how the food engineering / science community could help to address this issue?

WS: As stated above, the food engineering community should help, as an important step to eliminate hunger, to reduce postharvest losses and processing losses and show ways to a better utilisation of waste and biomass, and of under-utilised raw materials and unconventional resources. Since most of the problems occur in developing countries, all measures should take into account the technical potentials of those countries. It will be important to discuss how existing and new technologies are being introduced and extended into those areas. In my very personal view, a key role in this process has to be played by young, well educated food engineers with roots in those countries; they are close to the problems, know the people and have the knowledge base which is required to solve the problems. Again, a shift in paradigm away from strong support and advice from the outside to a transfer of responsibility to people born and living in developing countries, only in situations where outside help is vital, should that help be provided.

What are the incentives to attract more students to the food engineering profession?

WS: If we can demonstrate the challenges that food engineers are facing and the depth and breadth of the field, which ranges from its center in chemical engineering and radiates outward to biology, nutritional physiology, etc., it should not be difficult to attract dedicated young people with a strong background in natural science.

How can food engineering students be better prepared for their future career in the food industry?

WS: Food engineering students should focus on a combined education based on high standards for scientific academic education and industry based vocational training.

Please name five outstanding food engineers who have contributed to the development of food engineering  and how their contributions made a difference in our food world.

WS: Five outstanding candidates would be:

• Nicholas Appert, who literally invented the heat sterilisation of food.
• C. Olin Ball formulated the mathematical tools for heat processing of food based on his understanding of the destruction of microorganisms; he paved the way for the world-wide canning industry.
• Clarence Birdseye transferred a technology to which he was confronted in the Arctic into an important element of modern food processing: freezing and chilling.
• Rudolf Plank laid the basis for the mathematical handling of freezing and other food processes.
• Marcus Karel promoted the concept of water activity in the preservation of food.

Please name five relevant accomplishments made in food engineering research.

WS: There are many food engineering developments that deserve mention, but significant processes include:

• Development of the sterilisation process into aseptic processing with all its branches;

• Modern drying processes, e.g. spray drying, freeze drying, etc;
• Size reduction / comminution and emulsification processes;
• Membrane separation processes (e.g. ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis);   and
• Distillation and rectification processes.

What recommendations would you have to food engineering leaders to have a presence in the food engineering world and beyond?

WS: Demonstrate to the outside world the potentials of food engineering to resolve some of the most socially relevant questions, i.e. sustainable processing, food safety, and promotion of processed foods as high quality food products.

What priority activities should be in the food engineering agenda?

WS: Promote networking amongst food engineers world-wide; stress education in basic principles of food engineering; promote / emphasise social responsibility of food engineering; take part in discussions on the future of food processing.

Should IAEF (International Association of Engineering and Food) and ISFE (International Society for Food Engineering) become a single organization in the near future?

WS: That would certainly be a good idea; we should indicate that organising food engineers under one umbrella strengthens the community, not forgetting that we are a part of the larger world-wide food science community under the overall umbrella of IUFoST.

Prof. Walter Spiess seeks answers from colleagues in the Food Engineering Community: what can be done about the following?

• Reduction of overall losses in the food chain.
• Sustainable food processing.
• Water utilisation and management in the food chain.
• Utilisation of unconventional biological materials for food and feed purposes.
• Utilisation and management of waste materials.
• Availability of nutrient-dense foods.
• Impact of processing / food structure and composition on nutrient bioavailability, including consideration of human health aspects (including strategy development for global campaigns).
• Optimisation of storage and long- and short-distance distribution.
• Development of technology transfer and communication systems.
• Food law application and development based on sound science.
• Food safety assessment throughout the food chain, i.e. from farm to table.
• Harmonisation of food safety regulations with consideration to avoiding needless destruction of healthy food.
• Future developments in food science and technology (2030 and beyond), including “The Food Factory of the Future” and “Small Scale Technology” .
• Energy management in the food industry.
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An excerpt  from  the  International Society of Food Engineering Newsletter Issue 1, Volume 1.  

Professor Walter E.L. Spiess is formerly Director, Federal Research Center for Nutrition, Karlsruhe, Germany, Honorary Professor in the Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart, Germany), and presently a Visiting Professor at the Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie (KIT) Institut für Bio- und Lebensmitteltechnik-Kaiserstr. 12,  D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany; he was President of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST, 1999-2003) and is currently President of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST, 2012-14);e-mail: walter.spiess@partner.kit.edu