ALUMNI NEWS Chapman University Food Science Alumni Newsletter
March 2015
In This Issue
Welcome from Dr. Prakash
Congrats to Suresh Decosta
Alumni Highlight on Iris Galanis Eshoo
Food Science Going Digital
Workshops and Events
College Bowl Team Wins Regional
Ways to Support Food Science
“When you go to Chapman you form a community. You have a lot of colleagues. You become a very close-knit family and therefore you always have people to lean on.” - Clement Saesun (Class of 1992)
Commencement (2013)
Program Director Anuradha Prakash, Ph.D. (714) 744-7826 prakash@chapman.edu
Program Assistant Sonja Montiel (714) 289-2040 smontiel@chapman.edu
Food Industry Tour at Houwelings (2013)
College Bowl in Colorado (2012)
Congrats to Suresh Decosta! Early this month alumnus, Suresh Decosta (Class of 2000), accepted the nomination to serve on the Board of Directors for the United Fresh Produce Association. Suresh is the Manager of Quality Systems for the McDonald’s Corporation.
Going Digital! As we embrace virtual platforms and social media we learned a couple of things on creating strong connections with a community far greater than the campus sidewalks. Take a look at our new digital tools and join the community!
Current students in the lab with Dr. Rosalee Hellberg
We have created a private group titled “Chapman University Food Science.” Join in the group and online conversations.
Welcome from Dr. Prakash Greetings from the Food Science Program at Chapman University. I trust 2015 is off to a good start. This is the first of our alumni newsletters, part of a special effort to connect and maintain contact with our alumni. This newsletter has been compiled by Sonja Montiel, our program assistant, who joined the food science program in November and has in just a few months become an indispensable part of our program. I am sure that you will enjoy the updates about the program, our students, alumni and faculty. Coming up on April 1st is the networking event organized by our students. The idea is to meet old friends and make new connections. Whether or not you are in the job market, we would love for you to attend. In this era of social media and virtual friends, it would be lovely to see you in person and enjoy a glass of wine together. Until then drop us a note, send an email, or call to let us know what you have been up to. We are excited to have this platform to share experiences, stories, and memories of the Chapman days! I look forward to seeing many of you this year. Best,
There is no online tool more relevant for food science than Instagram. Follow us at “cufoodscience” and checkout our photos.
We just launched our first digital resume book through issuu.com which highlights our graduate student experience for internships and careers. Have a look!
In order to reach potential students and organizations abroad, we are launching online information sessions using Adobe Connect. These sessions will review program and admission requirements as well as highlight current research projects happening in our department.
Upcoming Events & Workshops Irradiation for Fresh Produce Workshop March 25-26, 2015 Chapman University www.chapman.edu/food-irradiationworkshop
Better Process Control School March 23-26, 2015 Chapman University www.chapman.edu/bpcs
Photo of Alum Past
Food Science Awards Night May 5,2015 Chapman University Contact: smontiel@chapman.edu
IFT 2015 Conference July 11-14,2015 McCormick Place S, Chicago, IL http://www.am-fe.ift.org/cms
THEN: Iris receiving her MS degree in 1997
NOW: The Vice President of Safety and Quality for See’s Candy
Alumni Highlight on Iris Galanis Eshoo Title: Vice President for Safety and Quality Company: See’s Candies Graduated: 1997
Food Industry Networking Night! The Food Science Student Association would like to invite you to participate in the fourth Annual Food Industry Networking Night! RSVP required
Wednesday, April 1, 2015 Chapman University Beckman Hall 404 6:00-9:00pm Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP here.
What led you to pursue the field of food science? I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry in 1995. Although I loved science, I didn’t enjoy the isolation of the lab. At that time, I didn’t know anything about food science. It wasn’t until I took a vacation to Greece where I met my first food scientist. I realized that my love for eating, baking and cooking food could be combined with my love for science. When I returned from that trip, I researched programs and found only two universities that offered a food science program – UC Davis and Chapman. Chapman offered a “warmer” and more welcoming environment compared to UC Davis. Being able to establish faculty relationships was important to me. In fact, the day after I graduated I was hired by one of my professor’s at Chapman to go work for him at Huxtable’s Kitchen, Inc. where he was the Director of Quality. Going down memory lane as a Chapman graduate student, what do you remember most? I cannot really say that I had one memorable moment. However, what I can say is that I left the program truly prepared for the food industry. I formed quality relationships with faculty and received exceptional hands-on experience that gave me the initial skills needed to make it as a food scientist. I still remember the R&D courses where we developed, prepared and fed hamburgers to the people in the local community. Overall, the excellent preparation I received at Chapman was acquiring knowledge in various subject matters like quality assurance, food safety, R&D, regulatory and others. (continue on page 4)
Interested in being an Alumni Highlight? Contact Sonja Montiel at smontiel@chapman.edu We would love to showcase your path from Chapman to profession!
More on Iris Galanis Eshoo What are your current primary responsibilities? I oversee Food Safety and Quality in all of our production facilities, packing and distribution centers, and over 200 shops across the country. At the manufacturing level, I am responsible for a team that manages supplier qualification, ingredient testing, product quality, pest management, plant sanitation and environmental testing, labeling and regulatory compliance, and staff training. At the retail level I support our shops with health inspection audits, regulatory compliances and consumer complaint investigations. When non-conformances are identified, I ensure investigations are conducted, root cause identified and preventative actions implemented. The critical component to my position is bringing people together at each of our sites to proactively identify opportunities, and implement programs that address potential food safety concerns and improve the quality of our product. In your current position what trends are you seeing from your perspective? From a consumer perspective, trends in the food industry include a shift to healthy eating, clean labeling (preservative and additive-free), and labeling transparency (GMO, etc.). From a regulatory perspective, the industry will be impacted by the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years. With the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) reform that was signed by President Obama in January 2011, there has been a great demand to quickly create systems that satisfy strict audits and new compliance proposals. For example, the development of HARPC (Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventative Controls), revision of product labeling to comply with new nutritional panel guidelines, implementation of a food security program that includes a plan to address economically motivated product adulteration and many others that See’s Candies needs to comply with. My job requires that I keep up with regulatory changes and ensure appropriate programs are implemented to ensure compliance. What do you find most rewarding about your current profession? I find my ability to positively impact organizations most rewarding. Ensuring the product we produce is safe for consumption and ensuring the quality of our products exceeds our consumer’s expectations. I thrive in an environment that allows me to collaborate cross functionally with other departments to improve our business. In my role with See’s I have the opportunity to work cross functionally with sales, marketing, human resources, finance, operations and shop operations. Although I enjoy the very technical aspects of my job, I really love the opportunity I have to work with people and positively impact their lives. See’s Candies has been in business for over 90 years. Many of its employees have celebrated 20-30 years working for the company. With such knowledge and experience, I have an incredible opportunity to learn something new every day while I help the organization implement new systems and programs. What has been the biggest challenge in your current profession? The challenges I have in my current position is three-fold. On one hand I am challenged with affecting change in an environment that has been unchanged for decades. Change is always harder in an environment that has been consistent for so many years. On the other hand I am challenged with ensuring that the tribal knowledge that our staff members possess is captured on paper and in programs. Our staff tenure and knowledge is what has kept our processes and product so consistent over the years. So as these tenured staff members start to retire, so will their knowledge, if it is not captured and preserved. As we implement new programs and systems, we are most focused on capturing this knowledge that has made See’s successful for so many years. We are also focused on updating our facilities, equipment and technology ensuring that it is able to replicate our processes and product consistency. (continue on page 7)
2014 - 2015 Faculty and Student Research Antioxidant effectiveness of ground roasted coffee in raw ground top round beef with added sodium chloride By: Lin, Crystal; Toto, Criselda; Were, Lilian LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Volume: 60 Issue: 1 Pages: 29-35 Published: JAN 2015 Rosemary extracts are commonly utilized in the meat industry to control oxidation. Roasted coffee, a source of antioxidants, was investigated for its utility as a less costly rosemary replacement for meat. Ground beef with 0–2 g salt/100 g was treated with rosemary extract (0.1 mL/100 g, positive control), light roasted, medium roasted or dark roasted coffee (0.1 g/100 g) and stored for 7 days at 4 °C. Coffee was characterized by melanoidins, chlorogenic acid content, and metal chelation. Ground beef was evaluated for CIE L* (lightness), a* (redness), and b* (yellowness) values and lipid oxidation products. Increasing roast degree increased melanoidins and decreased chlorogenic acids. Salt treated samples developed higher thiobarbituric reactive substances values. Dark roasted coffee showed the greatest antioxidant capacity in salted beef after 7 days. Rosemary maintained the highest a* for all salt levels. Of all antioxidants, dark roast coffee showed the greatest % aldehyde inhibition for pentanal (86%), hexanal (90.3%), octanal (74.8%), and nonanal (60.3%) after 7 days in 2 g/100 g salted beef compared to control without added antioxidants. These results suggest that roasted coffee could act as an effective natural antioxidant in beef, extending its shelf-life, even in the presence of NaCl, which typically increases lipid oxidation levels.
Effects of climate change on the persistence and dispersal of foodborne bacterial pathogens in the outdoor environment: A review By: Rosalee S. Hellberg, Eric Chu INFORMA HEALTHCARE USA —CRITICAL REVIEWS IN MICROBIOLOGY Pages: 1-25 Published: JAN 2015 According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warming of the climate system is unequivocal. Over the coming century, warming trends such as increased duration and frequency of heat waves and hot extremes are expected in some areas, as well as increased intensity of some storm systems. Climate-induced trends will impact the persistence and dispersal of foodborne pathogens in myriad ways, especially for environmentally ubiquitous and/or zoonotic microorganisms. Animal hosts of foodborne pathogens are also expected to be impacted by climate change through the introduction of increased physiological stress and, in some cases, altered geographic ranges and seasonality. This review article examines the effects of climatic factors, such as temperature, rainfall, drought and wind, on the environmental dispersal and persistence of bacterial foodborne pathogens, namely, Bacillus cereus, Brucella, Campylobacter, Clostridium, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio and Yersinia enterocolitica. These relationships are then used to predict how future climatic changes will impact the activity of these microorganisms in the outdoor environment and associated food safety issues. The development of predictive models that quantify these complex relationships will also be discussed, as well as the potential impacts of climate change on transmission of foodborne disease from animal hosts. (continue on page 8)
College Bowl Team for the Regional Win!
From left to right: Tushar Sawant, Shweta Birwadkar, Karina Rodriguez, Jessica Sambuco, Alexa Sarcona, Taylor Patti, Maria Belen Meza
Once again, Chapman University’s food science students reign as the Mountain West region’s champions of Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) College Bowl. Next stop: Chicago for the National Competition at the IFT Annual Meeting! The team just returned from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where they competed this weekend and won the regional competition. Next they will be headed to Chicago to represent the Mountain West region at IFT’s Annual Meeting in July. Taylor Patti, undergraduate member of the team, said that “the tournament itself provided me with scores of opportunities to exercise and hone my science knowledge in a competitive environment.” Despite their substantial academic workloads, with the extraordinary help of faculty advisor Dr. Lilian Were, the team managed to keep up with their regular study sessions for this competition. In the end, the efforts paid off and the team is “very honored to represent our region at the National IFTSA College Bowl Competition in Chicago,” beamed Tushar Sawant. The IFT College Bowl is designed to facilitate interaction among students from different universities, stimulate the students’ desire to accumulate and retain knowledge, and provide a forum for students to engage in friendly competition. Teams for IFT Student Chapters in eight geographical areas of the Student Association compete in area competitions prior to the IFT Annual Meeting. The winning teams from the eight areas then compete in a final competition at the Annual Meeting. The Competition As the final scoreboard indicates, the team started off playing Cal State LA, where they had their largest point difference of the day. “This helped get the team’s momentum going and every teammate answered several questions,” said team captain Jessica Sambuco. In the second round against Cal Poly Pomona, the team won. During the third round, Chapman faced its toughest competition: Brigham Young University (BYU). “The third round was absolutely nail biting! I actually prayed for our team, and I haven’t prayed that hard since I was 12!” said team member Karina Rodriguez. For that entire round, both teams were tied. After the final bonus question, the teams entered a three-question tie-breaker round, where BYU won the third tie-breaker question. After facing BYU, Chapman had lost one round where BYU were undefeated. In order to win the regional competition, Chapman had to beat Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO), followed by BYU, twice in a row. The Panthers defeated SLO 24-10 and immediately played BYU twice back-to-back. Facing Their Toughest Competitor “When BYU beat us the round before lunch, we felt down, but not defeated. The little time we had during lunch we studied more. Those of us in the audience cheered for those in front even harder to increase their spirits” said Rodriguez. In the semi-finals against BYU, the Chapman students’ hard work and strong spirit prevailed and they defeated their competitor 30-2. However, in the final round, the scores were much closer: BYU was leading 12-6. Chapman needed to get both the toss-up question and the bonus question correct in order to win. Midway through the toss-up question being asked, Chapman team captain Jessica Sambuco answered correctly giving her team the bonus question- which they knew, of course! From there, Chapman proceeded to take home the regional title 14-12. Rodriguez described the scene: “At first, the score was -6 for Chapman for the last round, but we literally rose from the ashes and were able to come out victorious! We all ran down there and just felt an overwhelming sense of happiness and we were all trying very hard not to cry.” The IFT College Bowl, though filled with some tough competition, brought a great sense of camaraderie, fun, and accomplishment for our participants! “I am very happy that I participated in the College Bowl. That was an amazing experience. And this would have not happened without support of the Chapman food science faculty,” said team member Shweta Birwadkar. Big congratulations and thanks to Dr. Lilian Were and our awesome team for working so hard together to bring home another win. However, the IFT College Bowl isn’t over yet! The next stop will be in Chicago to represent the Mountain West region in July. The competitors will be announced at the end of April once all the regions are done with their competitions. Due to the early date of Chapman’s regional competition, the team have plenty of time to practice for the nationals.
Final Words from Iris Galanis Eshoo What abilities or personal qualities do you believe contribute most to success in this field/job? In order to develop as a professional, you will need to develop your people skills and also your teambuilding skills. Learning how to work with different people toward a common goal under a specific timeline is essential. When I graduated from Chapman, there was no doubt that I had technical skills and knowledge. However, it wasn’t until I worked at The Cheesecake Factory that I learned other skills that contributed to my success today. During my tenure of fourteen years with The Cheesecake Factory, I held various positions: Quality Assurance Supervisor, Quality Assurance Manager, Training Manager, Sr. Manager of Training and Safety and Director of Food Safety and Quality. Through the transition of these roles, I developed the ability to connect with people, develop and train staff members and managers and ultimately build teams that would support our programs and culture. The higher your position within the organization, the more critical it becomes that you have the skills to influence and lead teams to accomplish the mission. To summarize, I began as a food scientist with knowledge about quality and safety of food, then honed in on my people skills while working for the human resources department, and finally began building teams who would manage quality and safety of food. Simply put: you need people skills. What advice would you like to share with our current graduate students? I will always remember what a mentor said to me when I was younger, “Be a generalist and not a specialist.” With this motto, I have learned these few critical lessons that I want to share with you: Approach any professional opportunity with an open mind. Be prepared to work hard. Learn beyond the scope of your job description. Learn what other departments do to support your department. Have the goal to learn the business rather than just the role. Avoid asking what the rewards are (e.g. pay) before doing the work because rewards will come when you are genuine in your curiosities, initiative, and contributions.
IFT Regional College Bowl Score Board
2014 - 2015 Faculty and Student Research Identification of meat species in pet foods using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay By: Tara A. Okuma, Rosalee S. Hellberg ELSEVIER—FOOD CONTROL Volume: 50 Pages: 9-17 Published: AUG 2014 Product mislabeling, adulteration, and substitution are increasing concerns in highly processed foods, including pet foods. Although regulations exist for pet foods, there is currently a lack of information on the prevalence of pet food mislabeling. The objective of this study was to perform a market survey of pet foods and pet treats marketed for domestic canines and felines to identify meat species present as well as any instances of mislabeling. Fifty-two commercial products were collected from online and retail sources. DNA was extracted from each product in duplicate and tested for the presence of eight meat species (bovine, caprine, ovine, chicken, goose, turkey, porcine, and equine) using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with SYBR Green and species-specific primers. Of the 52 tested products, 31 were labeled correctly, 20 were potentially mislabeled, and 1 contained a non-specific meat ingredient that could not be verified. Chicken was the most common meat species found in the pet food products (n ¼ 51), and none of the products tested positive for horsemeat. In three cases of potential mislabeling, one or two meat species were substituted for other meat species, but major trends were not observed. While these results suggest the occurrence of pet food mislabeling, further studies are needed to determine the extent of mislabeling and identify points in the production chain where mislabeling occurs.
Microbial safety and quality of fresh herbs from Los Angeles, Orange County and Seattle farmers’ markets By: Donna Levy, Nicola Beck, Alexandra Kossik, Taylor Patti, Scott Meschke, Melissa Calicchiac, Rosalee Hellberg SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY— J SCI FOOD AGRIC Pages: 1-5 Published: NOV 2014 BACKGROUND: Farmers’ markets have been growing in popularity in the United States, but the microbial quality and safety of the food sold at these markets is currently unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the microbial safety and quality of fresh basil, parsley and cilantro sold at farmers’ markets in the Los Angeles, Orange County and greater Seattle areas. RESULTS: A total of 133 samples (52 basil, 41 cilantro and 40 parsley) were collected from 13 different farmers’ markets and tested for Salmonella and generic Escherichia coli. One sample (parsley) was confirmed positive for Salmonella and 24.1% of samples were positive for generic E. coli, with a range of 0.70–3.15 log CFUg−1. Among the herbs tested, basil showed the highestpercentage of samples with generic E. coli (26.9%), followed by cilantro (24.4%) and then parsley (20.0%). For 12% of samples, the levels of generic E. coli exceeded guidelines established by the Public Health Laboratory Service for microbiological quality of ready-to-eat foods. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study indicates the presence of Salmonella and generic E. coli in fresh herbs sold at farmers’ markets; however, additional studies are needed to determine the sources and extent of contamination. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry
2014 - 2015 Faculty and Student Research Ripening Quality of ‘Bartlett’ Pears (Pyrus communis L.) Subjected to Phytosanitary X-ray Irradiation Treatment Followed by Simulated Retail Display By: Sokrith Sea, Cyril Rakovski, and Anuradha Prakash Department of Food Science, Chapman University, One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866 HORTSCIENCE Volume 50(2):279–287. Published: FEB 2015 The objective of this study was to determine the effect of phytosanitary X-ray irradiation on the physicochemical properties and sensory attributes of early- and late- harvest ‘Bartlett’ pears (Pyrus communis L.) during ripening under simulated commercial conditions. Irradiation delayed ripening, which in turn affected respiration rate, ethylene production, and firmness. Irradiation decreased ethylene production in early- and late- harvest pears and maintained firmness as compared with the control pears. In the early- harvest pears, irradiation did not affect respiration rate, weight loss, or total soluble solids. However, in the late-harvest pears, irradiation resulted in an increase in respiration rate and weight loss and a decrease in total soluble solids. The appearance for irradiated early- harvest pears was rated lower by consumers, but there were no significant differences in the rest of the attributes. Consumers rated the irradiated late-harvest pears lower (P < 0.05) than the non-treated pears for overall liking, texture, and flavor on a 9-point hedonic scale. Consumers perceived the late-harvest irradiated pears to be less sweet than the control (P < 0.05), which correlated with total soluble solids of 12.4%for treated pears vs. 13.2%for the control. Our results show that there were significant differences between the early- and late-harvest pears in their responses to irradiation. Although some sensory attributes were negatively affected, the delay in ripening helped reduce bruising and mold development in irradiated pears during the retail display simulation.
Ways to Support Food Science Get Your T-Shirt! Support the Chapman Food Science and Nutrition Student Association by purchasing a vintage cotton T-Shirt! The cost is $15. Send your order request to Sonja Montiel at smontiel@chapman.edu Everyone is wearing one! Make a Donation! Your generosity can make a HUGE impact here at Chapman University! When you give to the Food Science Fund, you support our world-class students and faculty, student scholarships, research conferences, and more. For more information, please contact Lauren Kenney at lkenney@chapman.edu or Make your Gift online. Dr. Anu Prakash and Dean Andrew Lyon sporting the new food science T-Shirts
Contact Us Chapman University Food Science Program One University Drive Orange, CA 92866 (714) 289-2040 —————————— Program Director Anuradha Prakash, Ph.D. (714) 744-7826 prakash@chapman.edu Program Assistant Sonja Montiel (714) 289-2040 smontiel@chapman.edu
—————————— www.chapman.edu/fsn
SAVE THE DATES! APRIL 1, 2015
FOOD SCIENCE SENIOR AWARDS NIGHT on May 5, 2015
IFT CHICAGO ALUMNI DINNER on July 11, 2015 Email smontiel@chapman.edu for more information