12TH WORLD CONGRESS OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA
JULY 16-20, 2003
Highlights: Dr. Ismail Serageldin delivered the Distinguished Lecture - "Harnessing Science and Technology for Food and Agriculture in the 21st Century" and he tells the congress that "we must bring moral outrage to address the rising inequities within countries and between countries." Ken Buckle's commentary on this powerful presentation is available in the July/August Newsline (#55).
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Dr. Ismail Serageldin Photo: J. Ralph Blanchfield |
The ICSU Symposium, organised by IUFoST President Prof. Walter Spiess, brought together the ICSU Life Science Unions to discuss "The Food Chain". ICSU's Executive Director, Thomas Rosswall contributed to this symposium and remained at the Congress to participate in the IUFoST General Assembly on Sunday, July 20th.
ICSU Symposium at the XII IUFoST Congress - Abstracts (4.2 Mb)
The IUFoST 12th World Congress of Food Science and Technology was held July 16-20, 2003 at the Hilton Hotel & Towers in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The theme for the Congress was "Feeding the World - Opportunities without Boundaries". The technical program for the Congress consisted of plenary lectures, discussion sessions related to the plenary lectures, symposia, roundtable discussions, student symposia, and posters. Virtually all of these were directly related to the Congress theme.
Two plenary lectures were planned for each morning. These addressed:
| Thursday: | IUFoST Distinguished Lecturer (former Founders' Lecture)
Overcoming Barriers to Globalization |
| Friday: | Water Security: Availability and Quality
Emerging Food Safety Issues |
| Saturday: | World Health and Emerging Technologies
International Harmonization of Food Regulations |
Each plenary lecture was followed by at least one discussion session directed to issues addressed by the plenary lecture. Symposia and roundtable discussions were scheduled during the latter part of the morning sessions and in the afternoons.
In addition to other sessions, Saturday afternoon featured a session in which results from the discussion sessions on issues related to the plenary lectures were presented and discussed. This format was innovative and highly effective.
The Opening Ceremonies were marked by an address by Pers Pinstrup-Andersen, Former Director of the International Food Policy Institute, remarks by IUFoST President Walter Spiess and the announcement of this year's World Food Prize recipient, Catherine Bertini, for her leadership as Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme. Social events included the Wine and Cheese Reception where congress participants had the opportunity to view the Posters and also Table Top Displays presented by IUFoST Adhering Bodies. The closing Banquet offered the opportunity to dine and dance among friends and to hear the exciting programme under the theme "Food is Life", planned for the 13th World Congress of Food Science and Technology in Nantes, France in September 2006.
The 11th World Congress of Food Science & Technology
The 11th World Congress of Food Science & Technology, IUFoST Congress XI, was hosted by the Korean Society of Food Science and Technology in Seoul, Korea, 22-27 April 2001.
The Congress was officially opened on Sunday evening 22 April by Professor Tai-Wan Kwon (Inje University, Korea), Chair of the Organising Committee. He stated that the Congress theme ('Paradigm Shift-Harmonisation of Eastern and Western Food Systems') provided delegates from both the East and the West with the opportunity to contribute the latest knowledge in food research and industrial activity, and he invited all delegates to be active participants.
Professor
Walter Spiess (IUFoST President 1999-2003) stressed that in the past,
food science and technology had concentrated more on preserving the
properties of the raw material than in meeting the needs of the
consumer, but this role should change to one of a mediator between the
needs of agriculture and nutrition. He challenged the food science and
technology community to think differently about the major food
concerns, such as the imbalance of trade in food stocks in the work and
the challenges facing food scientists and technologists is to
investigate new techniques for food processing, monitoring food quality
and providing the consumer with not only choice but also their
nutritional and physiological needs.
Mr Dong-Keun Kim (Vice-Minister of Agriculture, Republic of Korea) reported that Korea produces only 30% of its food supply, and hence encounters many of the issues facing food importing countries, including GMOs, animal diseases, and food safety. The message from Professor Si Myung Byun (President, Korean Society of Food Science and Technology) was that although Korea has a 5000 year history of food and its associated culture, Korean technology would be enhanced by its hosting of such a Congress.
For Congress XI overview:The Pre-Congress Internet Conference on the Congress research topics (Asian Food, Fermentation and Biotechnology, Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Food Processing/Engineering) from May to December 2000 was an innovation. Two hundred abstracts from 22 countries were posted, and 429 authors were involved. More than 5000 scientists actively participated in the on-line discussion. The Internet Conference resulted in a substantial book of collected research papers.
The Congress itself was very successful. 1942 delegates from 63 countries attended the events which included the Founder's Lecture, 9 Plenary lectures, 48 symposia including three student sessions, seven roundtable discussions, 14 poster sessions. four pre-Congress short courses and a total of 1063 scientific presentations.
In addition to the technical sessions of the Congress, 429 commercial companies and 18 trade and scientific associations and university research centres exhibited their products and services at the Seoul International Food Technology Exhibition run concurrently with the Congress and in adjacent floors of the Convention Centre.
Delegates also enjoyed several wonderful social events during Congress week. One highlight was Korean Night that featured young Korean dancers, musicians and singers.
All photographs courtesy of Joan Meyers except for dinner guests (credit: R. Blanchfield)
September 9 2007
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