Greetings from the New Society President - Katsuyoshi Nishinari

New Society President - Katsuyoshi Nishinari

It is my honor to succeed Dr.Makoto Tajima as the Chairman of our Society. I look forward to the challenge of fulfilling this significant responsibility with the support of the members.

Our Society was founded as the Society for Agricultural Processing Technology in 1953, then renamed as Nippon Shokuhin Kougyougakkai in 1984, and then the name was changed to the present one JSFST in 1994.Our society celebrates the 60 the anniversary in 2013.

The recovery from the disastrous damage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake is taking a long time because of many reasons, and Japanese food industry is required to expedite this process effectively. Since the total surface area and thus the natural resource is limited, and the population is gradually decreasing, Japanese industry faces to the difficulty. The role of food industry is to develop the science and technology for food processing, storage and distribution, and ensure the safety and security of foods in collaboration with the Food Safety Commission and the Consumer Commission, Cabinet Office.
With increasing number of handicapped persons in mastication and swallowing, the number of elderly persons suffering from the aspiration is increasing and it is becoming the most important cause of death in the elderly. Safe and palatable foods for these persons are demanded.

In the present globalization, it is becoming important to have close contact and collaborate with overseas societies for food science and technology. In Japan, after the 5th IUFoST World Congress for Food Science and Technology was held in Kyoto in 1978, no IUFoST WCFST has been organized while our Asian counterparts are active and keen in the exchange with foreign scientists and technologists.

The collaboration with relevant societies in Japan are also required to develop further.? Workshops for several research topics such as water in foods, cereals, soybeans, drinks, eggs have been launched at our annual meetings and attracting many participants. It is expected that these workshops further activate the research and development. The reviewing process of our journals has been improved by introducing IT systems, and attracting more students and engineers in the industry. Our home page is also improved to offer more information and the stage for exchange between the industry and academia.

Most of our members belong to universities, national and municipal research organizations, and food related companies, and the further collaboration is expected to develop successfully the food science and technology. Is fundamental study useful for food industry? Even when the industry is faced to resolve an urgent problem, it is necessary to go back to the basic principle to find the best solution.? If responsible persons facing to the urgent problem have colleagues who are experts in the relevant field, they may be able to collaborate with these colleagues to find the better solution more efficiently.

The number of many scientific societies in Japan is decreasing gradually and our Society is not an exception, but the number of student members is increasing which is very encouraging. I would like to ask all the members for further support to develop.