FoodPAC Technical Committees to Select FY 2008 Research Program

FoodPAC’s FY 2008 Call for Program Proposals received 24 submissions. The submitted proposals were divided among FoodPAC’s three research focus areas as follows: 9 Process and Product Improvement, 8 Food Safety and Health, and 7 Environmental. These proposals request funding totaling more than $2.3 million. FoodPAC’s leadership hopes to receive $1.3 million in state funds for project funding in FY 2008. (As of this writing, the General Assembly had yet to approve the FY 2008 budget.)

In order to select projects for the FY 2008 research program, FoodPAC’s three Technical Committees will meet separately in mid- to late March to rate and prioritize the proposals. During the selection process, each Technical Committee compares the proposals for their responsiveness to the Proposal Call. Committee members also hear oral presentations from each research proposal leader. These oral presentations are designed to explain the thrust of the proposed research as well as update the committee on previous work done in the proposed area.

The Technical Committees then give each proposal a numerical rating using a 20-point criteria scheme (10 points for Technical Merit, 5 points for Collaboration, and 5 points for Funding). Each criterion asks three questions:

Technical Merit
• Does it address a priority of the initiative?
• Does it have the potential of solving a problem?
• Is it of value to the industry as a whole?

Collaboration
• Is more than one research unit involved?
• Is there industry leadership in the effort?
• Does industry play a strong role in the initiative?

Funding
• Is the funding requested reasonable for the effort proposed?
• Is there suitable cost sharing?
• Is there industrial funding support?

After each proposal is rated, the committees rank order the submissions (by overall score) and put together a final recommendation on their selections for the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee will meet in early to mid-April to review, select, and approve the FY 2008 research program. All proposal submitters will be notified of the final selections by late April.

FoodPAC's Fiscal Year 2006-2007 Report to Industry

FoodPAC’s Fiscal Year 2006-2007 Report to Industry gives an overview of the Traditional Industries Program for Food Processing, provides the FoodPAC committee leadership listing, and highlights the research results of 15 projects conducted during FY 2006 as well as activity plans for FY 2007.

The report is available to all members of Georgia’s food processing industry. To receive a copy, contact Kristi Spivey at (404) 894-3412 or email kristi.spivey@gtri.gatech.edu.

The report is also available in PDF format here.

Industrial Partners: A Closer Look

As a part of Georgia’s Traditional Industries Program, FoodPAC was designed to bring industry leaders and university-based researchers together to develop and implement practical solutions to improve industrial competitiveness. FoodPAC’s industrial partners represent companies across the food manufacturing sector, ranging from fruits and vegetables to beef and poultry. In each issue, The Food Chain will take a closer look at one of these partners.

Introducing...Wayne Farms LLC

Wayne Farms LLC, formerly known as the Poultry Division of ContiGroup Companies, is the sixth largest producer and processor of broiler chickens in the United States. Utilizing the many resources of ContiGroup, Wayne Farms’ vertical integration allows control of the process from feed to final (raw or cooked) product, assuring strict product quality and food safety throughout the process. Producing products under the brand names of Wayne Farms®, Dutch Quality House®, and Platinum Harvest®, Wayne Farms has a well-known history of providing exceptional poultry products to some of the largest industrial, institutional, and foodservice companies across America. For more information, visit Wayne Farms online at www.waynefarms.com.

Project Spotlight

Researchers Measure the Health-Promoting Components in Peanuts and Peanut Products

Every one percent increase in U.S. peanut consumption adds $16.9 million to Georgia’s economy.

The peanut is a highly concentrated source of nutrients and functional constituents. Marketing programs designed to explain the peanut’s benefits to consumers, backed by scientific documentation, will continue to increase per capita consumption. The fact that The Peanut Institute has documented that every one percent increase in U.S. peanut consumption adds $16.9 million to the economy of Georgia is a powerful statistic. The scientific documentation of peanut composition and continuing research is the necessary first step to inform consumers about the nutritional worth of the peanut.

FoodPAC researchers, under the leadership of Dr. Ronald Eitenmiller of the University of Georgia’s Department of Food Science and Technology, have embarked on a multi-year study aimed at providing the necessary information to allow the industry to increase per capita peanut consumption through marketing efforts that exploit emerging information on the peanut as a desirable package of nutrients and health-promoting components. According to Eitenmiller, although research has made nutrient composition information more readily available on peanut and peanut products, few studies have been completed with proper sampling plans.

Eitenmiller’s research team recently completed an initial sampling plan that covered the major peanut types, cultivars within type, and cultivars at multiple geographic locations. The sampling plan was designed and conducted by industry personnel to accurately determine major cultivars grown by U.S. growers in the Southeast, Southwest, and Virginia/Carolina regions. The result was the collection of 85 cultivar-identified samples representing four peanut types (Runner, Virginia, Spanish, and Valencia). The samples were analyzed for four important nutrients in the peanut: L-arginine, folate, vitamin E, and dietary fiber. Analyses showed that all peanut cultivars examined are consistently high sources of these health-promoting nutrients. Statistical differences exist among types, cultivars, and geographic regions of production.

To date, the team has collected an additional 115 cultivar-identified peanut samples. Those samples along with the initial 85, explains Eitenmiller, provide unlimited information on compositional properties (nutritional and functional) of peanuts. The complete sample set should be useful in determining varietal and regional differences of peanut nutrients, and undoubtedly represents the most complete and well-defined collection available for delineating peanut composition, adds Eitenmiller.

Researchers are now collecting data on commercial peanut flours as well as raw and refined peanut oils. And the overall study has been expanded to include many other compositional components such as fatty acids, amino acids, sterols, and soluble fiber.

Several industrial collaborators are participating in the study, including the American Peanut Shellers Association, Birdsong Peanuts, Golden Peanut Company, J. Leek Associates, PMK Associates, The Peanut Institute, and USDA National Peanut Research Laboratory.

Upcoming Food Industry Learning Events

National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry

The National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry will be held June 6-8, 2007, in Savannah, Georgia, at the Savannah Marriott Riverfront Hotel.

This unique conference is designed to provide participants with information vital to ensuring effective safety management in today’s poultry processing plant. Presentations cover topics in the areas of Worker Safety, Plant Safety/Plant Security, and Worker Training. Participants also have the opportunity to participate in round-table discussions, which provide a forum for professionals to discuss problems and ideas relevant to the poultry industry.

The conference is co-sponsored by the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation, Georgia Poultry Federation, and Georgia Tech Research Institute. For more information, contact Kristi Spivey at (404) 894-3412 or email kristi.spivey@gtri.gatech.edu.

In-Plant Control of Microbial Contamination for Refrigerated and Processed Foods Workshop

The In-Plant Control of Microbial Contamination for Refrigerated and Processed Foods Workshop is scheduled for June 26-27, 2007, at the Extension Food Science Training Facility on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia.

This hands-on, interactive short course will teach participants to effectively control pathogenic microorganisms in a food processing facility through environmental sampling, statistical monitoring, and interpretation of microbiological data. A background in statistical analysis is not required. For more information, visit www.EFSonline.uga.edu.

Remember to Visit FoodPAC on the Web Visit

FoodPAC at www.foodpac.gatech.edu to access previous issues of The Food Chain, FoodPAC Annual Reports and to learn more about FoodPAC and Georgia’s food industry.

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