At the meeting of the Governing Council that preceded the Congress, the IAFoST Report for 2006-2008 was received and accepted.
On the morning of Sunday, 19 October, the IAFoST Executive Council met, including the incoming new Councillor, Prof Delia Rodriguez Amaya (Brazil). Arrangements for activities during the Congress were reviewed, and tasks for the future were considered, including updating the Executive Council and Fellows’ listservs, and updating the Fellows database.
At the World Congress Opening Ceremony on Monday, 20 October, the International Academy Fellows present and their partners were seated together in reserved seats at the front, and were recognised. Immediately following the opening addresses, the new Fellows of the International Academy who had previously been elected by postal ballot, to join the existing 120, were publicly inducted into the Academy by the President, Prof J Ralph Blanchfield. The 16 who attended were presented with their Certificates and the names of the 9 unable to be present were announced and would be sent their Certificates by post.
On Wednesday, 22 October, a joint Symposium of IAFoST with the French Academy of Technology and the Chinese Academy of Engineering was co-chaired by Prof J Ralph Blanchfield and Dr Junshi Chen (National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Entitled “Vision on the future ¡V Impacts of science and technology advances on the food chain on 2030”, the purpose of the symposium was to identify and discuss how the food chain (farm production, industrial manufacture, retail distribution, consumer behaviour) could be possibly influenced during the next 22 years by scientific and technological breakthroughs (biotechnology, nanotechnology, information and communication technology). The symposium was opened by Dr Pierre Feillet and closed by Prof J Ralph Blanchfield. Papers were given by IAFoST Fellows, Prof Sakarindr Bhumiratana, Prof Vic Morris, Dr Dennis Heldman and Dr V Prakash. A paper on Healthy Food was given by Dr Junshi Chen.
On the morning of Thursday, 23 October, following the Distinguished Lecture by Prof M S Swaminathan, the President presented him with his Academy Fellow’s Certificate.
The 5th Meeting and Luncheon of Fellows took place on Thursday, 23 October. Outgoing President, J Ralph Blanchfield, presented his Report. The new Fellows attending were presented with their Fellow lapel pins.
The outgoing President then invested the incoming President, Dr V Prakash, with the President’s Jewel and lapel pin, and was in turn presented with a Past President’s lapel pin.
For the International Academy Executive Council 2008-2010, the previous President Elect, Dr Vishweshwariah Prakash (India), automatically succeeds as President, and Prof J Ralph Blanchfield becomes Immediate Past President. As a result of election by the Fellows earlier in the year, Prof Daryl Lund (USA) becomes President Elect. The two additional elected members of the Academy Executive Council are Prof Dr-Ing Walter Spiess (Germany) (re-elected for a second term) and Prof Delia Rodriguez Amaya (Brazil). Ms Judith Meech is Secretary General to the International Academy.
The Executive Council meets face-to-face during World Congresses but business is progressed by listserv and telephone conference calls.
At the IUFoST General Assembly on 23 October the outgoing IAFoST President presented the IAFoST Report for 2006-2008. A copy of the Report can be accessed at http://www.iufost.org/international_academy/
J Ralph Blanchfield.
(as reported by G. Barbosa-Canovas)
It is indeed an honor and a pleasure to announce that Professor Jose Miguel Aguilera of Pontificia Catholic University, Santiago, Chile, has received the highest Scientific Award granted in his country. Jos? Miguel has received the National Academy Award in Applied Sciences in recognition of his brilliant contributions to Food Engineering and other closely related fields. This award is given to only one scientist per year, and it is the first time for someone in the Food Science/Technology/Engineering field to be honored with such. This is an extremely well deserved award and it has been given to one of the shining stars in our profession. Jose Miguel's many attributes make him a very natural recipient of this outstanding recognition. These excellent attributes include his known creativity, tremendous drive, superb scientific background, and excellent skills as a team player. It is an honor to have Jose Miguel as one of the key players in our profession.
On behalf of the ISFE community, IAFoST and IUFoST, our warmest congratulations to Jose Miguel!
IUFoST Past President and Academy Fellow Joseph Hulse
Canadian biochemist, Joseph H. Hulse, one of the world¡¦s leading experts in biotechnology and a former Vice-President of Canada¡¦s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), was honoured this year with a Padma Shri award, at a ceremony to be held at Rashtrapati Bhawan on May 5th.
One of India¡¦s highest civilian marks of recognition, the Padma Shri conferred to Prof. Hulse comes at a time when the spectre of food crises looms over the world. A former scientific advisor to the UN Secretary General, Prof. Hulse has devoted his life to research on food, nutrition and food security and written many acclaimed scientific books and papers on the subject.
"We are very pleased to see such a prestigious award being conferred on a man whose illustrious career has been one devoted to mankind,¡¨ said David Malone, Canada¡¦s High Commissioner to India and President-elect of IDRC. ¡§This recognition will bring to the attention of those not already aware that Canadians are heavily engaged in research activities aimed at bettering life conditions in the developing world."
Receiving accolades in India is not new to Prof. Hulse, who first visited the country in 1962 to offer Canadian cooperation in the establishment of the International Food Technology Training Centre, Mysore. In the next 40 years, he travelled to India over 60 times for various projects. Indians have shown their appreciation for Prof. Hulse¡¦s contribution to their country by honouring his achievements.
In 2006, Prof. Hulse was elected Fellow for Life of India¡¦s National Academy of Sciences. To date, he remains the only non-Indian to have received the Conservation of the Environment Award presented by Rotary Clubs and the Earthcare Society of India.
Prof. Hulse is currently a Visiting Professor at the Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Tamil Nadu, besides being the Honorary Fellow of the University of Manchester¡¦s Institute of Science and Technology and the Australian, British and New Zealand Institutes of Food Science Technology. He has served on numerous scientific committees and held various high-profile positions, including Consultant to the Secretary General of the United Nations, President of the International Union of Food Science and Technology and Chair of the Canadian Freedom From Hunger Committee.
Fellows have been invited to contribute to the “horizon scanning” for possible adverse events.
Fellows have been invited to contribute papers or articles to the re-launched The World of Food Science.
Individual Fellows have played active parts in progressing the project on Distance Food Education in Sub-Saharan Africa; the IUFoST/FAO Database on research projects relevant to the food needs of developing countries; and as speakers in various IUFoST-sponsored events.
October 2007
International Academy Fellow, Dr Philip E. Nelson is the winner of this year's World Food Prize. Dr. Nelson was announced as the 2007 Laureate by Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, President of the World Food Prize Foundation. In making the announcement, Ambassador Quinn stated that Dr. Nelson’s food science research has significantly reduced post-harvest waste and spoilage and greatly increased the availability and accessibility of nutritious food worldwide, particularly in emergency situations. "Dr. Nelson’s pioneering work, which began with tomatoes and later included a variety of seasonal crops, has made it possible to produce ultra-large scale quantities of high quality food" Ambassador Quinn said. "This food can then be stored for long periods of time and transported to all corners of the world without losing nutritional value or taste." Dr. Nelson’s research led to the discovery of methods and equipment to preserve perishable food at ambient temperatures in very large carbon steel tanks (beginning with 100 gallon tanks and increasing in capacity to 8 million gallons). By coating the tanks with epoxy resin and sterilizing the valves and filters, food products were able to be stored and removed without reintroducing contaminants. As a result, enormous quantities of pathogen-free food could be distributed to plants around the world for final processing and packaging. Later partnering with the Scholle Corporation, Dr. Nelson developed a low-cost aseptic "bag-in-box" system for preserving and shipping foods. By the 1980’s, this technology had spread throughout the global food industry. Working with another company, Fran Rica Manufacturing (now part of FMC), Dr. Nelson engineered a variation of the bag sealing fitment as a membrane, which ruptures during the fill and then reseals with a sterilized foil cap. This is now the standard technology used for processing and packaging of aseptically processed foods worldwide. In the developing world, these technologies have made it affordable and convenient to transport and deliver a variety of safe food products without the need for refrigeration, averting loss due to spoilage. Citrosuco, a leading orange juice producer based in Brazil, has used the technology developed by Dr. Nelson to ship up to eight million gallons of orange juice to the United States and Europe. The technology has also been applied to bring potable water and emergency food aid to survivors of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and the victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as well as to other crisis situations worldwide, and is used in school nutrition programs in developing countries. Significantly, this is the first time that the World Food Prize has been won by a food scientist.
Dr Joseph H. Hulse, Academy Fellow and Past President, IUFoST, has been appointed Foreign Fellow of the Year in the National Academy of Sciences of India. He received this honour for "For his contributions in Industrial Biochemistry" Dr Hulse has had 40 years of involvement in industrial biotechnologies, food and agriculture in India, which began when he raised the funds [some $350,000 in the early 1960s] in Canada, funds which created the International Food Technology Training Centre at Mysore which, since it started in 1964, has trained close to 5000 men and women from 47 developing countries. Dr. Hulse is currently leader of the IUFoST Task Force on Integrated Food Systems for Food Security and Rural Agroindustries.
The Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology was formed just over 40 years ago, in May 1967, during a Convention in Shepparton, Victoria. Celebrations culminated this year in the 40th Anniversary Convention held in Melbourne, Australia from 24–27 June, 2007.
AIFST’s second and third Presidents, Dr Keith Farrer and Jack Kefford, both now in their 10th decades are still contributing to the Institute and profession. Dr Farrer has been recently recognised by the Institute renaming its prestigious Award of Merit in his honour and Mr Kefford has an award for the best paper published in food Australia each year named in his honour. This reflects his more than 40 years (and ongoing) contribution to the journal. The 13th President Alan Mortimer was the first Australian to be President of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST), of which Jack Kefford was also Secretary General for 10 years. Dr Vickery, AIFST’s first President, the sixth President Professor Ron Edwards and 15th President Professor Ken Buckle have also played major roles in IUFoST.
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