The Department of Food Science has developed three key areas of expertise, each with several major thrusts: food processing, food microbiology, and food chemistry. Centers have been developed around these areas of focus.

For companies, it is easy to establish research projects in the Department of Food Science. Companies may contact the Centers and faculty directly or contact the Administrative Director, Mike Reckowsky, at (765) 494-6303 to see how best we can fulfill the research needs.

The Department has been a recognized leader in aseptic processing, starting with Dr. Phil Nelson’s bulk aseptic storage in the late 1960s. In 2006, we held our 23rd annual Aseptic Workshop open to the general public. Upon demand, Purdue Food Science can customize the workshop to fit your individual company’s needs. Please contact Steve Smith at (765) 494-7706 or via email at smithrs@foodsci.purdue.edu for further questions on having a customized workshop.

Research Centers

The Center for Food Safety Engineering incorporates a large collection of microbiologists in a food science department with other Purdue University areas for the purpose of rapid detection and eradication of foodborne pathogens. The website is http://www.cfse.purdue.edu.

To address the emerging research in phytochemicals and nutraceuticals (including functional foods), the Center for Enhancing Foods to Protect Health(CEFPH) was developed. This is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional effort to conduct research on nutraceuticals and phytochemicals and optimize the health protectant capacity of these compounds and create delivery systems for designed functional foods to consumers. The website is http://www.efph.purdue.edu/.

The world-renowned Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research (WCCR) is a university-industry research center that conducts fundamental research related to practical applications of carbohydrates. The WCCR includes faculty from several departments at Purdue. It has a consortium of companies that interact on a research level. Participating companies receive a research investment value of 80 to 1. The web address is http://www.whistlercenter.purdue.edu.

The Computer Integrated Food Manufacturing Center (CIFMC) has the mission to raise the level of education in automation and process control among food scientists and engineers, and to increase the value of automation to food manufacturers through enhanced productivity, food quality and food safety. The website is http://cifmc.foodsci.purdue.edu/.

Research by Areas of Specialization