Food Science Programming in Cornell University’s

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Kathryn J. Boor, Ph.D.

The Ronald P. Lynch Dean of

the College of Agriculture and

Life Sciences

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Overview

• Faculty: 337

• Undergraduate students: 3,379

• Graduate students: 887

• Annual operating budget: > $400 million

• 15 academic departments

and two schools

• Focal areas:

• Food & Energy Systems

• Social Sciences

• Life Sciences

• Environmental Sciences

• > 50,000 living alumni

• > $122 million in research

expenditures FY16

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Highlights

Food and Energy Systems • Animal Science

• Entomology

• Food Science

• Nutritional Sciences

• School of Integrative Plant Science

• Horticulture Section

• Plant Biology Section

• Plant Breeding and Genetics Section

• Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe

Biology Section

• Soil and Crop Sciences Section

CALS Departments and Schools

Social Sciences – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics

and Management

• Communication

• Development Sociology

Environmental Sciences • Biological and Environmental

Engineering

• Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

• Landscape Architecture

• Natural Resources

Life Sciences • Biological Statistics

and Computational

Biology

• Ecology and

Evolutionary Biology

• Microbiology

• Molecular Biology

and Genetics

• Neurobiology and

Behavior

• 23 major fields of study for undergraduates

• In addition to those associated with specific departments (e.g., Nutritional

Sciences, Food Science, Animal Science, etc.), we have an increasing number

of majors that span disciplines:

• Agricultural Sciences

• Biology and Society

• Environmental and Sustainability Sciences

• Global and Public Health Sciences

• Information Sciences

• Interdisciplinary Studies

• International Agriculture and Rural Development

• Viticulture and Enology

CALS Majors

Cornell Food Science: The New Stocking Hall

Cornell Food Science

• The discipline focuses on conversion of raw agricultural commodities into human food products, while managing the environmental, quality, safety and nutritional consequences of these conversions

• The vision: to apply research, education, and extension programming to achieve a sustainable, wholesome, safe and affordable food supply for New York State, the United States and the world.

Cornell Food Science: Department Overview

• 23 Professorial faculty

• 22 Non-professorial faculty

• 62 Employees

• 86 Graduate students

• 121 Undergraduate students

• Research Expenditures (external

funds) of ~ $6 Million/year

• Funding from the Food and Drug

Administration, United States

Department of Agriculture, National

Institutes of Health, National

Aeronautics and Space

Administration, National Science

Foundation, New York State

Department of Agriculture &

Markets, Private Industry

Cornell Department of Food Science - Research

• Food Protection

Cornell Food Science: Programmatic Foci

• Food and Health

• Value-added Products & Processing

Cornell Food Science: Extension

• Dairy Foods

• Food Safety Programs

• Food Entrepreneurship

• Beer, Brewing, Wine & Spirits

• Kosher Foods

Cornell Food Science: Food Entrepreneurship

New York State Food Venture Center

• #3 in Total Milk

Production

• (12.5 Million lbs.)

• #1 in Yogurt

• #1 in Sour Cream

• #1 in Cottage Cheese

• #4 in Cheese

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

New York Milk Production Growth

8.3% Growth

Dairy Industry in New York State

• Multidisciplinary

collaborations to address

industry concerns:

• College of Veterinary

Medicine

• Animal Science

• Food Science

• Applied Economics &

Management

Comprehensive Dairy Programming at Cornell University

Our program offers an array of workshops on production of fluid

milk, cheese, and other fermented dairy products:

• Dairy Foods Certificate Programs

• Hazard Analyses & Critical Control Point (HACCP) Programs

• Pasteurization Schools

• Basic Dairy Science & Sanitation Course

• Dairy Sanitation

• Sensory Evaluation of Milk - Identifying Defects

• Cheese and Cultured Dairy Products Courses

Cornell Food Science: Dairy Extension

Our program also offers training programs and workshops in

association with the New York State Department of Agriculture &

Markets Division of Milk Control:

• New York State Fair Dairy Judging and Awards Program

• Dairy Processing Plant Superintendent

• Dairy Laboratory Regional Workshops

• Dairy Laboratory Hands-on Workshop

• Certified Milk Inspectors Training School

• Certified Milk Inspectors Annual Update

Cornell Food Science: Dairy Extension

Comprehensive Industry Support in Dairy Food Science

R&D Collaboration

Workforce

Development

Operations Support

R&D Collaboration

Workforce Development

Operations Support

• Efficiency projects

– Greek yogurt separation efficiency

• Quality Assistance

– Milk Quality Improvement Program, Voluntary Shelf Life Program

– Bacterial, yeast & mold identification

• Byproduct management

– Best management practices for optimizing potential of byproducts (e.g., acid whey)

Cornell Dairy Food Science: Operations Support

• Serve as an incubator for new product development

• Facilitate research on behalf of companies

• Share research and assist with technology transfer

– Carbon dioxide in cottage cheese

– Microfiltration for protein separation

R&D Collaboration

Workforce Development

Operations Support

Cornell Dairy Food Science: Research & Development Collaboration

• Developing and Supporting

Training Programs

– Cornell Dairy Foods Certificate

Program

– Curriculum Development at

Community Colleges

• Associate of Applied Science

Degrees

• 10-month certificate programs

– 2-week Food Processing Training

Boot Camp

– High School Technology

Academies

R&D Collaboration

Workforce Development

Operations Support

Cornell Dairy Food Science: Workforce Development

Molecular Tools to Improve Food Product Quality and Safety

• Dairy food quality tools

• Food safety tools

• Nationally, fluid milk products account

for ~18% (>17 billion lbs.) of edible

food lost by retailers, the food service

industry and consumers

(Kantor et al. 1997. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/foodreview/jan1997/jan97a.pdf)

Shelf Life of Fluid Milk Products

• Farm

practices

contributing

to fluid milk

spoilage-

sporeforming

bacteria

•Evaluation of

milk quality

determination

tests

• Identification

of spoilage

bacteria

• Phenotypic

and genetic

characteristics

of Bacillus and

Paenibacillus

spp.

• Shelf-Life

•Tracking

sources of

contamination

with molecular

methods

Research Across the Dairy Production Continuum

• Paenibacillus spp. are cold-growing gram positive spore-forming rods ubiquitously present in nature

• These are the predominant organisms limiting shelf life of pasteurized milk products protected from post-pasteurization contamination

• Paenibacillus spp. spores can survive pasteurization and subsequently grow at refrigeration temperatures

• Key questions: where do they enter milk processing systems and how many are too many?

Paenibacillus spp.

Farm Environment (n=93)

Raw milk

tank trucks

(n=57)

Raw milk

plant silos

(n=136)

Pasteurized

Milk

(n=338)

1, 15

21, 27

6, 20,

62

7

3, 23,

32, 33

2, 13, 30

35, 46

41

17, 19, 39,

40, 58, 59,

74, 75, 111

68, 69,

97

29, 65

42 ATs *

7 ATs *

14 ATs *

61 ATs *

Summary

• >1500 isolates

characterized ; >260 ATs

• AT in red most

frequently isolated across

the US

Paenibacillus spp.

Bacteria and spores from the

environment (soil, plant material,

water) enter raw milk

Interventions: Sanitation;

temperature control

Additional bacterial and

spore contamination

Interventions:

Sanitation; temperature

control

Control Point: Processing (heat)

eliminates most vegetative cells.

Must prevent post-pasteurization

contamination.

Processing parameters affect

growth of residual sporeforming

bacteria.

Interventions: sanitation,

temperature control, physical spore

removal; UHT processing

Entry Points for Sporeforming Microbes in Milk Processing Systems

• The dairy industry faces challenges in identifying routes of entry for spoilage organisms, and particularly sporeforming microbes

• Molecular subtyping provides valuable tools to identify, differentiate, and track dairy spoilage organisms

• Control of spoilage bacteria – particularly sporeforming bacteria – will help reduce product loss and improve dairy product quality

Summary

Cornell Food Science: Food Safety

• National Good Agricultural Practices

(GAPS) Program & Produce Safety Alliance

• Fruit, Vegetable & Juice Processing and

Safety

• Cornell Food Safety Laboratory

Listeria DNA fingerprinting

• 1988: One human listeriosis case linked to hot

dogs produced by plant X

• 2000: 29 human listeriosis cases linked to sliced turkey meats from plant X

Environmental Persistence of L. Monocytogenes

• Molecular tools are used around the

globe for tracking movement of

foodborne pathogens in food systems

• These tools enable illness outbreaks to

be traced to source

In Summary

• Comprehensive farm-to-table approaches are

essential to ensure food product safety and

quality

– Attention must be paid across the spectrum,

from small artisan producers to large-scale

industry

• Partnerships among industry, government, and

higher education improve efficiency,

communications, and ultimately, product safety

Conclusions

Food & Energy Systems

Environmental Sciences

Social Sciences Life Sciences

Resilience

Knowledge with public purpose

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Land Grant Mission

Thank you!