content tagged as Sustainability

Tamar Haspel, Washington Post columnist, moderates a discussion on how shifting diets to more plant-based food might impact the environment. Panelists include: Mary Christ-Erwin, Taylor Wallace, Adam Drewnowski, and Jessica Fanzo.

More and more consumers are gravitating toward increased consumption of plant-based foods, and health and diet research supports the many benefits of doing so.

IFT and the Feeding Tomorrow Foundation have announced a new program called Food Technologists Without Borders to leverage the technical know-how of the IFT community to address critical global food needs.

The IFT17 screening of Food Evolution drew an enthusiastic audience response. The film uses the debate around GMOs to further the dialogue about the role of science in the food system.

Environmental concerns over conventional meat production is stimulating R&D of cultured meat products.

This year’s Scientific Programming will include four Hot Topic sessions—curated, scientific sessions focused on impactful, current trends and issues facing the science of food. 

“Cellular agriculture,” the ability to produce agricultural products, such as meat, eggs, and milk through the use of biotechnology and cell culture and without the use of animals per se, is being touted as the next big breakthrough for ensuring a sustainable, safe, and ethical food supply. Meats produced via cellular agriculture have been given various monikers such as “cultured meats,” “animal-free meats,” “clean meats,” and “lab-grown meats,” to name a few. As this field of research emerges, it is conceivable that these cultured products could become commercially available in the near future. What are some of the regulatory challenges that will be faced by companies wanting to bring these products to market?

The market introduction of products developed via cellular agriculture poses a myriad of questions from a regulatory perspective. For example, what level of regulatory oversight will be needed? How will it be ensured that these products are safe? Will these products have to be nutritionally equivalent to their conventionally-obtained counterparts? How will they be labelled? When genetically modified (GM) foods were first developed and brought to market, existing regulations had to be adapted and new regulations had to be promulgated and, in some jurisdictions, GM foods continue to be contentious. Similar developments are likely to be needed for the commercialization of products obtained via cellular agriculture.

This symposium will begin with an overview of cellular agriculture: what it is, and the methods and technologies used to develop cultured animal products. The stakeholders involved in advancing the research and development of cultured animal products will be shared, in addition to the challenges associated with the progress of research in this area. Whether the existing regulatory framework in the United States for bringing food products to market can be adapted to support the commercialization of cultured animal products will be discussed, in addition to foreseen regulatory challenges.



*Our thanks to Naturex for their sponsorship of the Product Development & Ingredient Innovations track*

This symposium will highlight the latest in cutting edge research and the state of the new industry developing insects as sustainable food ingredients and a family / suite of new commodities for the food industry (protein isolates and extracts, whole insect based ingredients such as cricket powder, oil, fiber, and bioactives, etc.) We will offer information to stake holders on the latest research and technology development in insect farming, processing, functionality evaluation and product development. We will also provide late breaking cutting edge research on insect genomics and transgenic insect development for newer and improved lines of farm raised insects (crickets, mealworms, etc.) for more efficient delivery of nutrient dense insect based food products and disease resistant insects.

This session will explore the evidence underlying recommendations for restricting red meat intake. In particular, evidence regarding current vs. recommended intakes to achieve a healthy dietary pattern, red meat’s impact on health outcomes such as heart health and cancer, and if red meat is compatible with a sustainable diet will be discussed. Three dynamic speakers will approach the question of red meat intake from multiple vantage points. Specifically, the health implications of including red meats in a healthy diet will be discussed. Secondly, the role of red meats and cancer will be explained based on current evidence. Finally, the challenges of limiting livestock production as a means of improving environmental outcomes while maintaining healthful diets for a growing population will be discussed.

The future of food packaging concerns the consumer packaged food industry as well as business-to-business commerce in the case of food ingredients, as well as shipments of foods in intermediate states of processing for consumers. The future of food packaging relates to how packaging technology will be applied to extend the shelf life of food and decrease food waste while being competitive and meeting business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer needs. Future food packaging must be meet technical needs of a changing food supply, consumers’ buying patterns, and changes in complex supply and value chains. This session will not review past technologies in place; but, instead address emerging, future/pending food packaging technologies related to: sustainable packaging to align with the circular economy, meeting the needed of altering venues such as e-commerce, intelligent packaging to benefit the value chain, active packaging, and package design.

This topic is relevant to food industry professionals looking for innovations, development pipeline context, and competitive advantages, as well as researchers searching for alignment of their research to new packaging technologies. This session is co-sponsored by the Food Science and Technology Honorary Society Phi Tau Sigma.