From the Department Chair

I am pleased to present the 1998 highlight report of The Ohio State University Food Science and Technology Department. This is a much shorter version of a more comprehensive annual report for 1998. In keeping with our theme of short highlights, this chair message has just one: This unit is well underway toward achieving top national stature by 2003.

I am most sincerely,

Ken Lee, Professor and Chair

Food Science and Technology

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

The Ohio State University

JOHN B. ALLRED. Professor. Dr. Allred researches regulation of metabolic processes, particularly lipid metabolism. His projects uncover the role of storage forms of enzymes in regulation of fat synthesis; the role of carbohydrate in fat synthesis; and the role of dietary fat on food intake. He is a popular speaker and writer about diet and health. His teaching includes graduate nutritional biochemistry, a class that draws students from five colleges. He teaches food and nutrition to undergraduates with non-science majors. Dr. Allred chairs the departmental P&T Committee; he is Chair of the College Faculty Council and is a member of the University P&T Committee.

VALENTE B. ALVAREZ. Assistant Professor. Dr. Alvarez supports Ohio’s dairy industry. He studies quality and shelf life of milk, processing of milk using pulsed electric field technology and whey processing. He teaches courses on GMPs and HACCP implementation for plant personnel, and conducts environmental and Grade A dairy plant audits. Alvarez chairs the Annual Food and Dairy Industries Conference, which attracts 300 dairy and food industry professionals. He teaches Processing of Fluid Milk and Dairy Products, Sensory Evaluation of Dairy Products, and coaches our dairy products judging team.

SHERYL A. BARRINGER. Assistant Professor. Dr. Barringer’s primary research interests are the effects of processing on tomato structure and flavor. Dr. Barringer also studies the prevention of color loss in vegetables, electrostatic powder coating of snack products, and the dielectric properties of muscle foods. Dr. Barringer’s Extension activities are directed toward Ohio’s fruit and vegetable processors, particularly the tomato industry. She advises graduate students and teaches FST 423 Food Regulations Laboratory, FST 630 Principles of Food Processing and FST 613 Fruit and Vegetable Processing. Dr. Barringer is a member of the Graduate Studies and Lab Instruction Committees, and she chairs the Recruitment Committee.

GRADY W. CHISM III. Professor. Dr. Chism teaches Introductory Biology (a class of 600 students), FST 201 The Science of Food, and FST 621 Food Additives. As Graduate Studies Chair, Dr. Chism recruits high quality students and helps students and faculty comply with department and graduate school rules. Dr. Chism handles student job and intern placements, coaches the College Bowl team, advises the Food Science Club, and advises undergraduates. His research interests involve enzymes related to the quality of plant foods and functionality of non-protein food ingredients.

CHRISTOPHER T. CORDLE. Adjunct Assistant Professor. Dr. Cordle volunteers his time to the Food Science and Technology instructional program by teaching classes in food immunology and food sensitivities. As the Manager of Immunology Research and Development at Ross Laboratories, Dr. Cordle is a highly respected scientist and often advises the faculty on scientific matters. He brings considerable real-world experience to the classroom and student advising committees. Dr. Cordle is a very active member of the Campaign for Food Science and an advocate on behalf of higher education in the state budget process.

POLLY DINSMORE COURTNEY. Assistant Professor. Dr. Courtney’s primary research interests are the molecular biology of microorganisms involved in food fermentation, foodborne diseases and human health. Current research involves stress adaptation in foodborne bacterial pathogens, synthesis of conjugated linoleic acid (a cancer preventative compound with other potential health benefits). Professor Courtney advises graduate students and teaches FST 611 Cheese and Fermented Foods. Dr. Courtney’s service activities include membership on the departmental Facilities Committee and chairing of the Awards Committee.

W. JAMES HARPER. Professor, J.T. Parker Chair in Dairy Foods. Dr. Harper's research interests are the chemistry, microbiology and process engineering of dairy foods, including investigation of flavor and functionality of dairy foods as ingredients in formulated foods. He also studies flavor and functionality of whey protein concentrates. Professor Harper advises graduate students and teaches FST 401 Introduction to Food Processing, FST 650 Food Product Development and FST 696 Technical Problem Solving. His Extension activities provide technical assistance to the Ohio dairy industry and educational programs for the state's food industry. Dr. Harper serves on the departmental Curriculum, Promotion and Tenure, and Pilot Plant Committees; he chairs the Lab Instruction Committee.

RONALD D. HARRIS. Adjunct Professor. In May, Mr. Harris left the University to serve as Executive Vice President, Research—Nabisco Inc. Mr. Harris was a Senior Lecturer in the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and served an adjunct appointment in Food Science and Technology since 1996. Before joining the OSU faculty he had extensive experience in the food industry. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from Ohio State, where he was designated a Distinguished Alumnus in 1992. Instructor Harris taught FST 650 Food Product Development with Dr. W. James Harper.

GONUL KALETUNC. Assistant Professor. Dr. Kaletunc's research interests focus on three areas: extrusion processing of cereals and legumes; high pressure processing of proteins; and thermal analysis of microorganism inactivation. She teaches Transfer Processes in Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Systems, an introduction to the fundamental concepts in food engineering and their application to food processing. She serves on the departmental Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies Committees.

C. LYNN KNIPE. Associate Professor. Dr. Knipe has a joint appointment with the Department of Food Science and Technology and the Department of Animal Sciences. Dr. Knipe’s primary responsibilities include Extension activities for the Ohio meat industry, focusing on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) training and implementation assistance for Ohio meat plants. Research interests include identifying processing methods that optimize the functional quality of pork; identification of processing procedures that extend shelf life and increase safety of meat products; and maximizing the functionality of high-collagen meat raw materials. Dr. Knipe teaches Animal Sciences 550 Meat Processing.

KEN LEE. Professor and Chair. Dr. Lee leads and manages the department. He helped plan and obtain funding for the new FS&T building now under construction. His outreach interests include service to the food industry and partnership with the Edison Industrial Systems Center in Toledo. Dr. Lee’s Extension work includes national programming for the Food Update Foundation, of which he is program chair. Dr. Lee’s service activities include several committees, including RBB Budget Restructuring, an Electronic Dissertation Task Force and the search for the Director of OARDC. He creates and maintains much of the department web site, http://fst.osu.edu.

JOHN H. LITCHFIELD. Adjunct Professor. With four decades of experience at the Battelle Memorial Institute, Dr. Litchfield’s research covers a broad range of aspects of food science and technology, including processing systems, product and ingredient development, safety, and industry waste and by-product utilization. Professor Litchfield participates in the instruction of The Science of Food and Food Chemistry, coaches the College Bowl team, and interacts extensively with students. Dr. Litchfield is a former president of the Institute of Food Technologists and received the IFT’s Fellow and Carl R. Fellers Awards. He is a former president of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and received the society’s Fellow and Charles Porter Awards.

MIKE MANGINO. Professor. Dr. Mangino’s primary research interest is the relationship between protein structure and function in food products. Recent projects involve the development of foods that contain modified whey proteins. He teaches Biology 101 General Biology, FST 201 The Science of Food, FST 605 Advanced Food Chemistry and FST 821 Food Proteins. Dr. Mangino advises undergraduate and graduate students and serves as the departmental coordinating advisor. Service activities include membership on the College Promotion and Tenure and Academic Affairs Committees, University Senate and Senate Rules Committee, president of the OSU chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta, and chairing of the departmental Curriculum Committee.

SYLVIA A. MCCUNE. Associate Professor. Dr. McCune's research focuses on a rat colony (her own special sub-strain - SHHF/Mcc-fa^cp) that exhibits a number of genetically induced disease states: obesity, non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM), hypertension and congestive heart failure (CHF). The major emphasis of her research in the past few years has been establishing the reliability of the animal model as an analogue of human CHF. Dr. McCune teaches FST 762 Nutritional Biochemistry and a graduate seminar (FST 850.02). She leads WIRED (Women's Interdisciplinary Research Experimental Development), a group that fosters research on women's health among women investigators at OSU.

RANDAL P. McKAY. Adjunct Assistant Professor. Mr. McKay is an attorney and scientist with 10 years of experience working in the food industry. As director of trade practices for the Ross Products Division of Abbott Labs, he is responsible for identifying and combatting counterfeit diversions of infant formula and medical and nutritional products, and he provides regulatory counsel on food and drug matters at federal, state and local levels. Mr. McKay joined the Food Science and Technology faculty in 1993 and currently teaches FST 640.01 Food and Drug Law.

DAVID B. MIN. Professor. Dr. Min’s work focuses on the chemistry of lipid oxidation and its relationship to food flavor and stability. His current research includes the development of analytical methods to evaluate oxidative quality and stability in foods, natural antioxidants, and the study of mechanisms and kinetics of lipid oxidation in different physical and chemical food systems. Professor Min’s teaching responsibilities include FST 601 Food Chemistry, FST 820 Flavor Chemistry and FST 821 Food Lipids. Dr. Min is a member of the departmental Awards Committee and chairs the Lab Instruction Committee.

EDWARD R. RICHTER. Assistant Professor. Dr. Richter brings expertise in innovative microbiological testing methods to the department. Dr. Richter is president and founder of Richter International, an independent food safety, quality and research group. He also founded Silliker Laboratories of Ohio Inc., a successful food analysis organization with more than 500 clients and approximately $2.5 million in sales. At Ohio State, Dr. Richter conducts research on food preservation and rapid microbiological testing methods. He teaches FST 736 Advanced Food Microbiology.

KARLA L. ROEHRIG. Associate Professor. Dr. Roehrig’s research focuses on alterations of lipid metabolism as a result of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Dr. Roehrig collaborates with faculty and graduate students in Animal Sciences to study the effects of conjugated linoleic acid on metabolism, and with colleagues in Exercise Physiology to examine age-related changes in muscle metabolism. Dr. Roehrig advises the B.S. Nutrition undergraduate students in the department and served on five graduate committees in 1998. She taught a graduate level course on hormonal control mechanisms and two undergraduate courses: FST 170 Wine in Western Culture and FST 597.01 Alcohol and Society. Dr. Roehrig’s service activities this year included work on the College Guiding Coalition, the Ohio State Grape Team and completion of a three-year University Senate term.

SUDHIR K. SASTRY. Professor of Agricultural Engineering. Dr. Sastry holds a courtesy appointment in this department. He is a renowned expert on ohmic heating and collaborates on PEF and combination processing. His current work includes mathematical modeling of heat transfer, innovative continuous flow studies using non-destructive methods, particle-image velocimetry and microbiological verification of ohmically heated product. Dr. Sastry is responsible for the present state of understanding the important variables in ohmic heating technology and the aseptic processing of particulates. His research has attracted over $1,750,000 in grants and gifts in the past five years.

STEVEN J. SCHWARTZ. Professor and Endowed Haas Chair in the Food Industries. Dr. Schwartz’s research involves the chemical alterations of food components during processing, with emphasis on substances of nutritional, toxicological and food quality significance. Recent collaborations include studies with OSU’s Medical College to understand the importance of phytochemicals in the diet, particularly those related to cancer prevention and control. Dr. Schwartz also holds a faculty appointment in OSU’s Nutrition Program and is a member of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute.

THOMAS H. SHELLHAMMER. Assistant Professor. Dr. Shellhammer joined the program in 1996, bringing with him food engineering expertise in mass transport phenomena, liquid-liquid extraction, separations, reaction kinetics, rheology and food-package interactions. Dr. Shellhammer’s expertise in high pressure processing is an essential component to our emerging technologies program. He focuses on physical, chemical and microbial changes that occur in foods undergoing high pressure processing. He co-teaches FST 649 Packaging Materials and Methodology with Dr. Zhang, and teaches Agricultural Engineering 481 Introduction to Food Engineering. Departmentally, he serves on the Graduate Studies, Recruitment and Food Business Incubator Committees.

AHMED E. YOUSEF. Associate Professor. Dr. Yousef leads food safety research and instruction at OSU. His research focuses on improving the safety of foods through bacteriocins and use of ozone as a sanitizer on food and equipment. His research also involves enhancing the safety of foods through application of hurdle technology, and assuring microbial safety of foods subjected to novel food processing technologies such as pulsed electric field and ohmic heating. Professor Yousef teaches FST 636 Food Microbiology and FST 611 Cheese and Fermented Foods. Dr. Yousef's service activities include membership on the College's Agricultural Faculty Council and the departmental Graduate Exams Committee.

QINGHUA HOWARD ZHANG. Associate Professor. Dr. Zhang's research interests are in food process engineering (particularly nonthermal preservation technologies), biological sensors, process automatic control, physical properties of foods and ohmic heating. Dr. Zhang is the leader of the pulsed electric field (PEF) research team, which has attracted $3 million from the U.S. Department of Defense and the food industry to advance this highly promising food preservation technology. Professor Zhang teaches FST 541 Physical Properties of Foods and co-teaches FST 649 Food Packaging Materials and Methods. He advises undergraduate and graduate students, and serves as a mentor to minority students. Dr. Zhang's service activities include chairing of the departmental Facilities Committee and the Scholarship Committee.

Students

Current 1998
Male	Female	Minority (Black)	Minority (Asian)	Minority (Hispanic)
43	55	21	5	1
12	25	2	10
15	15	3	8
6	5	1	2
76	100	27	25	1
176		Total students in 1998

Food Science and Technology is one of the most diverse departments at The Ohio State University. Students and faculty from many cultures bring global perspective to the program, which contributes to the invigorating environment in FST. Diversity also makes for an incredible annual FST event known as International Dinner Night!

Graduate Placement

Placement summary of students who graduated in 1998
Student	Advisor	MS	Ph.D.	Current Position – location
Bartee, Shirley	Min	6/98		Project Leader, Ross Labs
Burchfield, Sandra	Yousef	6/98		Microbiologist, Ross Labs
Das, Dhruba	Barringer	1/98		Associate Research Scientist at Kraft USA
Draper, Cindy	Ndife	12/98		Assistant Sensory Analyst, Brown-Foreman, Louisville, KY
Fang, Yi-Yu	Min		6/98	Research Scientist, Nymox Research Center, Rockville, MD
Ferruzzi, Mario	Schwartz	9/98		Currently a Ph.D. student within the department
Gunawan, M.I.	Barringer	12/98		Research Assistant, Nestle
Huang, Yan	Yang		3/98	Currently working at OSU
Kim, Jin-Gab	Yousef		9/98	Post-Doctorate, FST-OSU
Pandrangi, Srilatha	Barringer	12/98		Pursuing Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University
Pausson, Charlaotta	McCune	8/98		ASTRA Pharmaceutical Co., Sweden
Seth, Sarit	Harper	9/98		Nu-Tek Foods

What impact does food science research have on Ohio?

Advancing the food processing industry

Ohio has over 800 food processing plants that together generate $19 billion annually. The Department of Food Science and Technology is a “right arm” to these businesses. Research and Extension efforts by our faculty and staff lead to more efficient processing technology, better packaging and labeling, education and training for employees, regulatory advice and more.

Tomato processingOhio ranks second among tomato-producing states, with 312,000 tons of tomatoes grown annually. Dr. Sheryl Barringer’s research and Extension activities benefit the state’s tomato growers and processors. Much of Barringer’s work focuses on increasing yield, improving peelability, waste reduction and environmentally-friendly processing methods. Recently Barringer completed two highly significant studies in these areas. Several tomato growers have been spraying calcium on tomato plants to improve yield and peelability. Barringer’s study rebuked these claims and showed fruit yield and weight were unaffected by the calcium spray, and that tomatoes from plants sprayed with calcium were more difficult to peel. Another study involved the use of lye in the peeling process. The lye peeling waste from tomatoes contains high amounts of tomato solids. Typically, the processor has to pay the waste water treatment plant based on the solid content of the waste water. Coagulation of the waste with ferric chloride was found to be very effective at removing the suspended solids. In addition, the lye in the waste can be recovered and reused, resulting in lower overall operating costs.

Pulsed electric field: A better way to pasteurize milk

Howard Zhang, the department’s PEF team leader, and Jim Harper and Valente Alvarez, faculty with extensive experience with dairy products, collaborated on experiments to determine the effectiveness of pulsed electric field (PEF) processing on milk. They pasteurized milk inoculated with harmful pathogens using a high voltage, pulsating electric current. Dr. Zhang built the PEF equipment used in this research. The results were highly promising. After being zapped, the milk was tested tor microorganisms and analyzed for color, pH, protein, particle size and moisture content. PEF processing destroyed harmful microorganisms with no significant change in color or composition. These promising results lead us to believe that PEF processing of milk may produce new, unique dairy products without the typical cooked milk flavor.

Electrostatic coating of snack foods

Dr. Sheryl Barringer is taking technology used for years by the painting and automotive industries and applying it to food. Since the 1960s, electrostatic coating technology has been used for coating surfaces with paint or other substances because of its even and efficient coverage capabilities. Snack food manufacturers are now embracing this technology for the same reasons. The premise: The coating or seasoning falls across a charged wire, causing the seasoning to become negatively charged. The negatively charged particles then seek the nearest ground state, the food item to be coated. Research on the effectiveness of electrostatic coating compared with traditional powder coating proved the advantages of electrostatic coating technology—even coverage, less waste and cleaner air in the manufacturing environment.

Putting the squeeze on foodborne pathogens

Dr. Tom Shellhammer’s research focuses on high pressure processing, an emerging technology that uses immense pressure to inactivate pathogenic and spoilage organisms. High pressure processing has several benefits, including effective inactivation of microorganisms and enzymes, and because this is a nonthermal process, flavor, color, texture and nutrients are retained. This highly promising technology is of great interest to food processors that recognize its advantages over thermal processing. The objective of a recently initiated study is to identify pressure-induced genes in foodborne bacterial pathogens. High pressure processing shows tremendous promise for improving the quality and shelf life of citrus juices. The industrial sector is attempting to commercialize this process for citrus juices, but first must have a better understanding of the pressure, temperature and time combinations needed to achieve enzymic stability in citrus juice. Shellhammer’s research with high pressure processing technology strengthens OSU's leadership in the field of nonthermal food processing. Drs. Shellhammer and Schwartz collaborated on research determining the quality of tomatoes processed by high pressure. They determined the pressure-temperature-time combination necessary to produce safe, high-quality chopped tomatoes.

Product Development

Look around any supermarket—or simply turn on your TV—and you’ll find plenty of evidence that consumers want variety. Developing new foods and improving on existing products is a key function of food scientists. FST research enables the industry to produce value-added goods that meet consumer expectations.

Helping the dairy industry create safe, healthy products

An important change in dairy industry regulations in 1998 was the removal of existing packaging restrictions for dairy products. This regulatory change provided new marketing opportunities for dairy products, however, the use of new packaging materials required studies to ensure the quality and shelf life of dairy products. An important development in this area is the packaging of milk in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Light, gases and leaching of packaging chemicals are factors that effect the nutritional quality, shelf life and taste of milk. Research by Drs. Valente Alvarez, Jim Harper and David Min looked at the quality and shelf life of UHT 2 percent milk packaged in PET bottles under aseptic conditions by Smith’s Dairy. Milk products stored for nine weeks under fluorescent light at temperatures of 38 F and 45 F was evaluated weekly for microbial growth, pH and titratable acidity. A trained panel evaluated sensory characteristics of the products. The results of this study helped the Smith’s Dairy Company successfully introduce innovative milk products packed in PET bottles. These products are sold throughout Ohio and neighboring states.

Longer lasting salads

Dr. Sheryl Barringer’s research on vegetable color loss has important ramifications for producers of ready-made deli salads. Salad makers had a problem with shelf life of pasta salads containing vegetables in vinegar dressing; the shelf life of these salads was limited because the vegetables lost their color, making the product undesirable to consumers. Barringer found that color loss was dependent on two factors: pH and microbial growth. By controlling pH and microbial growth, processors can make longer lasting, more appealing salads.

The electronic nose always knows

Flavor is one of the most important factors in consumer acceptance of food. For some time, need has existed for an objective method that provides a reliable means to supplement human sensory analysis. The electronic nose, a device that combines biosensors with artificial intelligence to mimic the human sense of smell, does this. Dr. Jim Harper is a pioneer in electronic nose technology. His research tests the accuracy of the electronic nose and finds applications for its use in the food manufacturing industry. Harper’s recent research has shown that the electronic nose has almost the same sensitivity for detection as the human nose. Ohio’s major industry is the food industry, and the electronic nose promises to provide an excellent means for improving quality control in the food industry.

Ohio leads the way in MPCs

Developing new food ingredients is yet another way our faculty contributes to the food industry. Proposed changes in Codex Alimentarius