Darryl Lund, professor emeritus in food science from the University of Wisconsin, spoke to FoodProductionDaily about the most interesting, valuable, and revolutionary advances in the field of food safety and quality. He said while there have been a great number of emerging and developing technologies to come out in the past half a century, a great deal has happened in recent years.
“We are getting to see some exciting new developments in the field of food quality and safety improvements,” he said.
Scientific achievements
As a food researcher with several decades of experience under his belt, Lund has had a front-row seat to the growth of the industry. He mentioned packaging and preservation technologies are among the most notable in recent years.
“In packaging and shelf life extension there has been a lot of activity in the past 25 years,” he said, adding the growth in number of technological articles in academic journals on a particular food safety or quality topic demonstrates its rise in popularity.
In the past few years, Lund said, the food industry has seen some notable developments in food preservation techniques. He mentioned EnWave’s nutraREV technology, which uses a combination of vacuum pressure and microwave for rapid, low-energy dehydration of food an ingredients.
Top food advancements
- Refinements in microwave-assisted processing, such as thermal processing and freeze drying
- Applications of high-pressure processing
- Developments of membranes for RO, ultrafiltration, microfiltration, etc.
- Developments in aseptic processing of particulates
- Ultrasonic processing
- Modeling digestion
- Developments in new films and performance packaging materials
- Advances in computer modeling
- Advances in emulsion science
- Advances in freezing technology
- Development of unique properties through extrusion.
Lund added while food scientists have collectively accomplished a great deal, they cannot rest on their laurels.
“We have an obligation to keep considering what we need to accomplish in food technology and research, and to impress upon regulators and government what actions need to be taken in the arena of food safety,” he said.
Lund spoke to FPD during IFT 2014, an event dedicated to food processing, ingredients, safety, and packaging. The event is taking place in New Orleans June 21-24 in New Orleans.