fapc.biz Magazine Spring/Summer 2017

The official magazine of the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center, Oklahoma State University

fapc.biz

Spring/Summer 2017

1997-2017 CELEBRATING THE FIRST 20 YEARS 12

Spring/Summer 2017

CONTENTS

12

Illustration/Shelby Rogers

COVER STORY CELEBRATING THE FIRST 20 YEARS

6

From 1997 to 2017, FAPC has assisted more than 1,000 Oklahoma clients through 3,000 technical and business projects.

9

16

Volume 12 | Issue 1

3 PARTNER WITH FAPC 4 VISIONARY LEADER IN AGRICULTURE 6 DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL? 7 FSMA REQUIREMENTS OF THE PCHF RULE 8 NEW EVENT TO FOSTER INNOVATION 9 GROCERS ARE REACTING TO GLOBAL FOOD TRENDS 10 STAKING YOUR CLAIM 11 MEETING THE TRENDS OF ONLINE SHOPPING 14 DEATH OF THE ATES 16 BIG DATA AND FOOD SECURITY 18 CONSIDER C. DIFF 20 BALANCING THE DREAMABLE WITH THE ACHIEVABLE 22 WHO WILL PROCESS THE FOOD? Managing Editor/Designer Mandy Gross | mandy.gross@okstate.edu Editor Melanie Jackson | melanie.m.jackson@okstate.edu Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources 148 FAPC, Stillwater, OK 74078-6055 405-744-6071 | 405-744-6313 FAX http://fapc.biz | fapc@okstate.edu

FAPC Connect Food safety information on the go.

Text FAPC to 80802 to download the free app!

Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Higher Education Act), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal and state laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, genetic information, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, or status as a veteran, in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This provision includes, but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid, and educational services. The Director of Equal Opportunity, 408 Whitehurst, OSU, Stillwater, OK 74078-1035; Phone 405-744-5371; email: eeo@okstate.edu has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity. Any person (student, faculty, or staff) who believes that discriminatory practices have been engaged in based on gender may discuss his or her concerns and file informal or formal complaints of possible violations of Title IX with OSU’s Title IX Coordinator 405-744-9154. This publication is printed and issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the Vice President of Agricultural Programs of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and has been prepared and distributed at a cost of $2,200 for 700 copies. 0517 MG.

2

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Partner with

By Roy Escoubas

FAPC

New diet preferences, transparency, embedded sensors, flexitarians, Jackfruit, pulse, algae for foods, hemp as a food ingredient, cultured nuts for cheese replacement, cars driving themselves … Where will it stop?

The answer … It won’t. The food industry is experiencing both exciting and challenging times in 2017. Challenges of food safety, third-party audit programs, the Food Safety Modernization Act and rapidly changing consumer demands, coupled with new food opportunities, traditional food demand, expanding food ingredients and more broadly accepting consumer tastes, all woven into the food industry tapestry.

For a food processor to find their way in 2017 and beyond without wasting profits and optimizing time requires a plan. How do you set your goals and yet be flexible for rapid changes? How do you stay the course of your manufacturing plans, yet be ready to turn on a moments notice? How do you seek external help and advice, yet stay engaged with your own product development and marketing staff?

One solution could be the involvement with the experienced faculty and staff at the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center. These scientists, technologists, marketing and communications experts are traditional foods-based, yet contemporary foods-minded. They are well read and experienced with trends and consumer demand profiles. They know the regulations, how to apply these regulations and how third-party audit programs are applied to new foods, ingredients and processes.

I urge you to allow FAPC to partner with you to make the most out of opportunities in 2017. Get us engaged now so we understand your products and processes and can rapidly assist when changes are needed. Call us today.

FAPC is available to assist with your company needs.

Whether it’s technical assistance, product development or understanding regulations, the center’s experts can help.

Photos/Melanie Jackson

3

LEADERSHIP

Visionary leader in

AGRICULTURE

From the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Virgil Jurgensmeyer, a leader in agriculture as well as his community and the state of Oklahoma, was recognized with Gov. Mary Fallin’s Outstanding Achievement in Agriculture Award during Ag Day ceremonies at the state Capitol in March.

Although Jurgensmeyer was out of the country and unable to attend, he said in a pre-recorded acceptance speech, “Without the support of my family and friends, so much of what I’ve been able to accomplish would not have happened, it would still be just a dream.”

Jurgensmeyer’s company, now known J-M Farms Inc., was founded in 1979 in Miami, Oklahoma. The first mushrooms were picked on March 13, 1980, and the initial delivery was made the following day to Associated Wholesale Grocers of Springfield, Missouri. At the onset, there were 40 employees and about 40,000 pounds of mushroom production per week.

Today, the company employs hundreds of Oklahomans and produces more than 27 million pounds of white button, Crimini and Portabella mushrooms annually. At Miami, they grow, harvest, pack and ship mushrooms daily. Their trucks deliver products to Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.

Jurgensmeyer and his late wife of 62 years Marge have three sons, Curtis, Terry and Pat, who all play key roles in J-M Farms today. Marge passed away in 2014.

Virgil and DeDe Dowling wed in February of this year.

4

Jurgensmeyer has been called “a visionary leader and a natural mentor to Oklahoma’s agricultural community, as well as the local and northeast region of the state.” He has been involved in agricultural organizations and city and state organizations for many years.

Jurgensmeyer served as a board member of the Miami Rotary Club from 1980 to 1996. During his service in 1988, the Miami Rotary Club awarded Jurgensmeyer the Paul Harris Fellow Award. He also has served as a member and secretary of the Miami Chamber of Commerce from 1981 to 1987. From 1988 to 1996, Jurgensmeyer served as a board member for the Miami Area Economic Development Board.

The former educator was involved in several local and state educational boards and foundations. He was involved in the Miami Public School Enrichment Foundation as vice chairman from 1988 to 1991.

He participated on the Northeastern Oklahoma State College Advisory Board from 2000 to 2013 as a member.

Jurgensmeyer served as the chair and board member of the Miami Area Zoning and Planning Commission from 1988 to 2009. In addition, he served on the Task Force for the Tar Creek Superfund Site from 2003 to 2008. And since 2009, he has served actively on the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Trust Board.

In agriculture, Jurgensmeyer served on the State Board of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. He is currently an active member of several advisory boards and associations. These include the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association with service from 1985, Oklahoma State University Dean’s Advisory Board with service beginning in 1998 and FAPC’s Industry Advisory Committee with service beginning in 1996. In 2012,

Virgil was awarded the DASNR Champion Award from OSU’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources for his service to the university.

“Virgil’s broad respect as an agricultural producer and a very successful business leader has made him tremendously valuable to FAPC,” said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director. “He believes in valueadded processing and what value-added processing can do to expand the Oklahoma economy. Virgil is a tireless supporter of FAPC and the state’s food and agricultural industries, and he is well deserving of this achievement.”

Nationally, Jurgensmeyer has been active in the Mushroom Growers Association – holding the positions of member, secretary-treasurer and president – and the Mushroom Council where he has been a member and board member.

He has received numerous awards through the years. On Nov. 18, 1999, he was presented with a Citation of Congratulations and a Virgil Jurgensmeyer Day Proclamation. He was awarded an Outstanding Service Award from the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1989 and an outstanding Service Award from the Oklahoma Senate Agriculture Committee in 1995.

In his acceptance video, Jurgensmeyer said, “Oklahoma agriculture is not a job, it’s a way of life, and I feel so honored to have chosen it as my way of life. To say that I’m honored to be recognized by the Governor’s Outstanding Achievement in Agriculture is a tremendous understatement. To be honored to have my name alongside the other members of the Oklahoma Agriculture Hall of Fame is something that I could only dream about.

Thank you again to everyone that made this special moment become reality.”

Virgil Jurgensmeyer, owner of J-M Farms in Miami, Oklahoma, was awarded with Gov. Mary Fallin’s Outstanding Achievement in Agriculture Award. Jurgensmeyer is one of the original members of FAPC’s Industry Advisory Committee.

Photo/Todd Johnson

LEADERSHIP

5

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Photo/Ralph’s Packing Co.

Does one size

By Erica Hering

FIT ALL?

I’ve had the privilege to travel around the United States, visiting various meat trade association conventions over the past year. I also toured several different meat shops, from three-person custom butcher shops to multi-employee protein snack manufacturers. Throughout these tours and meetings, I noticed most of these meat processors have many things in common and are quite different at the same time.

However similar or different, most of them are family-owned businesses, with sometimes second-, third- and fourth-generation relatives working together to ensure their businesses continue for future generations.

As an individual involved in a multigeneration, family-owned business, I can relate with these processors. You’re not only the owner, but also you oversee customer relations, human resources, bookkeeping, raw production, ready-toeat production, insurance, quality control, training and the list continues. As an owner/proprietor, we wear many different hats in our businesses and usually change hats multiple times throughout the day.

So, what does this mean for the family-owned and/or small food manu-

6

facturer, specifically, those manufacturers involved in doing business with mediumto large-size grocery store chains? Grocery stores and other food-distribution companies have started requesting some sort of auditing scheme be completed by their suppliers/vendors. In many ways, we’re adding one more hat or group of hats to our repertoire; a hat sold in a “one-sizefits-all.”

I believe auditing schemes have a certain place in our society. I’m also a firm believer in promoting and supporting a strong food safety background in my business. In fact, it’s the primary hat I wear in our facility. I just find many of these auditing schemes, which were developed in larger companies, are difficult, if not counter-productive to follow in a small- to very small-size company.

We’ve been following a Global Food Safety Initiative Intermediate scheme in our facility for several years now. I consider this scheme more of a mediumsize scheme and not quite as complex as other schemes, such as BRC or Safe Quality Foods. However, for a small- to very small-size plant, it’s a daunting task when

Ralph’s Packing Co., a complete meatprocessing business specializing in highquality smoked and fresh-meat products, has served Perkins, Oklahoma, and surrounding communities since the 1950s.

you first begin and continue to implement these schemes.

For example, when you only have three to five employees, how exactly do you map out your organization chart? Or, when it comes to training your employees, you’re sometimes the trainer and trainee at the same meeting. Or, when it comes to assigning specific routinely inspection tasks, you may be the individual completing the tasks and reviewing the said tasks were completed correctly. Or, the biggest question of all, if something detrimental happens to management (i.e. you), who will complete the jobs in your facility? In other words, is your business sustainable?

In all honesty, if something bad happens to me or other members of management (my family), we’re probably done. Turn out the lights and lock the doors.

So, does one size really fit all? In my opinion, no, it absolutely does not. Not to say one size doesn’t fit most, but there are certain exceptions to the existing schemes in the food processing world. In fact, I’m not sure how many things in this world really are one-size-fits-all.

FOOD SAFETY

FSMA requirements of the

By Ravi Jadeja

PCHF RULE

The Food Safety Modernization Act, which was enacted in 2011, is the largest food safety law reform in the last 70 years.

One of the seven rules of FSMA, Preventive Controls for Human Food or PCHF, specifically affects facilities engaged in the storage of unexposed packaged human food. This article summarizes the major compliance requirements listed in the PCHF rule for a facility solely engaged in the storage of exposed packaged food.

Applicability of Subparts

A facility solely engaged in the storage of unexposed packaged food product is exempt from subparts C (hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls) and G (supply-chain program) but subjected to subpart D (modified requirements), section 117.206.

Major Requirements

If a facility stores any food products requiring time/ temperature control to minimize or prevent pathogen growth or toxin production significantly, the facility must conduct the following activities as appropriate to ensure the effectiveness of the temperature controls: (1) Establish: Establish and implement adequate temperature controls to significantly minimize or prevent the growth of or toxin production by pathogens.

(2) Monitor: Monitor the temperature controls with adequate frequency.

(3) Corrective action: If there is a loss of temperature control, the following steps must be performed: (i) Correct the problem and reduce the likelihood the problem will recur; (ii) Evaluate all affected food for safety; and (iii) Prevent the food in question from entering commerce.

(4) Verify: Verify temperature controls are consistently implemented by: (i) Calibrating temperature monitoring and recording devices (or checking them for accuracy); (ii) Reviewing records of calibration within a reasonable time after the records are created; and (iii) Reviewing records of monitoring and corrective actions taken to correct a problem with the control of temperature within seven working days after the records are created or the frequency determined by a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual.

Required Records

(1) Temperature monitoring records: Temperature logs, charts, etc.

(2) Corrective action records: Nature of problem, how problem was fixed, root-cause analysis, identification of affected food and how affected food was dealt with.

(3) Verification activity records: Temperature measuring device calibration and/or accuracy check, record review for calibration and accuracy check results on a predetermined frequency and monitoring and corrective action record review within seven days of creation or frequency determined by the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual.

The information presented in this article is of a general nature and is intended to help readers become familiar with the general requirements of PCHF for a facility solely engaged in the storage of unexposed packaged human food.

The complete version of the rule can be found at https://www. gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/ FR-2015-09-17/ pdf/2015-21920.pdf.

For more information, please contact Ravi Jadeja, FAPC food safety specialist, at ravi.jadeja@ okstate.edu.

Photo/Mandy Gross

7

FOUNDATION FOCUS

New event to foster

INNOVATION

By Chuck Willoughby

FAPC’s Foundation Focus team serves to support and enhance programs of the center through individual and industry partner donations to the Product Innovation Fund. The fund focuses on five areas; one of which is product and process development.

This area fosters creative research, idea development, commercialization potential, compliance evaluation, consumer acceptance, market strategy and risk assessment for entrepreneurial clients as well as small, medium and large businesses, and commodity and trade organizations.

To focus on product and process development, FAPC will hold a Food and Beverage Product Development Competi-

8

tion on Sept. 12, 2017, providing a venue for college students to share creative and innovative ideas for new food and beverage products with the food industry. The competition is open to current undergraduate and graduate students from any Oklahoma college or university.

Food and beverage industry representatives will serve as judges during the event. First, second and third place winners will receive $500, $250 and $100, respectively. More information about the event is available at http://fapc.biz/workshops/food-beverage-product-development-competition.

The competition is just one of many special events celebrating FAPC’s 20th anni-

versary in 2017. Sponsored by the Product Innovation Fund, industry sponsors and free-will donations, the contest will provide product ideas with commercialization potential and marketability to millennials, as well as other segments, while providing attention to FAPC’s mission.

To date, the Product Innovation Fund has To learn more about received $1.5 milthe Product Innovalion in contribution Fund, visit http:// tions from the fapc.biz/productOklahoma valueinnovation-fund added industry or contact Chuck and private Willoughby by calling individuals.

405-744-6071 or emailing chuck. willoughby@okstate. edu.

Photos/Shutterstock

BUSINESS & MARKETING

The popularity of ethnic and international foods continue to grow, and 2017 is no exception. Retail grocery stores must adapt to consumer preferences to meet this multicultural trend.

Photo/Shutterstock

Grocers are reacting to global

FOOD TRENDS

By Jim Brooks

Change is on the horizon for consumers shopping at their neighborhood grocery stores. Like other industries, the retail grocery store sector is experiencing many changes in keeping consumers shopping at stores. While the traditional grocery store is still the center of the food shopping experience for most American consumers, many other options are available and include ethnic and international foods.

While the cultural and ethnic trends are not necessarily new, the sales and variety of products offered have continued to grow, and 2017 is no exception. The food industry, both retail and foodservice, feel the need to adapt to the consumers’ changing tastes, and for the supermarket sector, it will be a challenge to keep pace with the new products to maintain market share. With new technology and apps, selection of foods will continue to increase among a range of races and cultures.

The retail grocery store can demonstrate its awareness of shoppers’ needs by offering a wide variety of ethnic foods for cultural households. The U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse with Hispanic, African American and Asian American populations, which currently account for approximately 38 per-

cent of the total population, according to the U.S. Census data. It is projected these groups will collectively represent a majority by 2044, according to a recent Nielsen report. Also, according to a Nielsen report, multicultural buying power is growing at a rapid rate compared to the total U.S. increasing from $661 billion in 1990 to $3.4 trillion in 2014.

The multicultural trend will continue to create the need for product selection and variety to meet the demands of a diversifying population and the interest in ethnic food choices. Many retail grocery stores are becoming aware of these trends and are constantly updating the selection of items available to shoppers.

Some stores are offering recipe cards and cooking classes on how to prepare ethnic dishes, as well as staffing their stores with associates fluent in Spanish, Mandarin or Korean to interact with consumers.

With the rapid interest and growing demand in ethnic foods, supermarket operators must react quickly to keep their base of consumers shopping in their stores. From product offerings to properly trained employees, stores should achieve success in the immediate future.

9

BUSINESS & MARKETING

Staking your

By Andrea Graves

CLAIM

Food entrepreneurs must answer many questions to evaluate whether to move forward with developing new food products. Some of the questions include: what are the benefits of the product, what are the good and bad characteristics about it, and why would someone want to buy the product?

Inevitably, a long list of claims can often start to appear on the list such as “healthy,” “low in salt,” “gluten free,” “sugar free,” “no preservatives,” “no added sugar,” “no chemicals,” “organic,” “no GMOs,” “good for your heart” and more.

At first glance these so-called food claims seem fine because, for example, salsa is made of vegetables, and we learned in grade school vegetables are good for you and that is a good thing, right? So, why not let everyone know your salsa is healthy? Of course, we are telling the truth. Or, are we?

With endless information available at our fingertips, it often is not quite enough to produce a new food product that merely

tastes and looks good. Competition is fiercer than ever.

According to Mintel, the world’s leading market intelligence agency, there is an 80 percent failure rate for new product launches in the grocery segment by larger food companies, and a success rate of only 11 percent of new products launched by smaller companies. Consumer demand for foods perceived as healthy or with benefits continues to climb, and food companies are trying to meet the need.

Before making any kind of claim, it is imperative processors check the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations. There are four types of label claims that can be made on a food product regulated by FDA: nutrient content claims, health claims, qualified health claims and structure function claims. Each type has specific definitions, requirements for the claims that can be made and specific wording that must be used when making the claim. Some claims must have certain supporting material,

No organic Chemicals

10

such as a disclosure statement, and food labels with any claim must have a nutrition fact panel. If a claim is not on the FDA list, then it is not allowed on the label.

It is important to note any claim made on a product also can extend to wording on the product website or even marketing materials. FDA considers these to be extensions of the food label and can require the information be removed or changed if an improper claim is made or implied when marketing the food product, or the product might be removed from the shelves.

It is good to be competitive and have a marketing strategy using the strengths of products, but food companies must be careful about claims. Manufacturers should learn the definitions and how they can be used intelligently and legally. For more information about claims, visit the FDA website at https://www.fda.gov/ Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm064908.htm.

no GMOs

Gluten Free

BUSINESS & MARKETING

Meeting the trends of online

By Erin Johnson

SHOPPING

With a click of a mouse you can buy anything from shoes to household goods. Now, online shopping has included convenient meals to be prepared at home as well as purchasing your entire grocery list. Today, more than ever, consumers are looking to add extra convenience to their everyday lives, while still wanting food to taste good and be healthy.

More people are looking to make meal preparation easier as well. Meal kit subscriptions are becoming a new trend in the food industry, providing perfectly portioned meals feeding two to four people with unique recipes. These recipes bring a fresh twist to family dinners with a new experience at your kitchen table. However, each company serves a different customer base.

Whether the consumer is shopping for smoothies, paleo dinners or would like a better understanding of where their food originates, these specifications are considered when making a meal. The varieties offered in these meal kits give the customers a convenient option for their hectic lives or an opportunity to try something new.

Technomic estimated the global meal kit market topped $1 billion in 2015 and predicted it would grow into a multi-billiondollar market during the next five years. How would a food manufacturer be able to get involved in the rapidly expanding market?

An article in the August 2016 Meating Place magazine suggested using portion cut meats. Erik Thoreson, principle of Technomic, a food research firm, said “The opportunity is really about determining what kind of unique positioning they can help a meal kit company achieve. Maybe it is a special variety or type of beef, for example.�

Companies manufacturing sauces and spice mixes also could take advantage of this suggestion by producing small, pre-portioned packages for a single meal.

How are grocery stores playing a role in this new click-andbuy environment? Many grocery store chains have online shopping systems, which provide the consumer a way to select their grocery items and schedule a time to pick up their items without the hassle of doing the grocery shopping on their own.

According to an online Statista article, in 2016 an estimated 5 percent of U.S. consumers preferred shopping for groceries online. In 2015, the total online grocery sales amounted to about $7 billion. This is expected to increase to $18 billion by 2020.

Online grocery shopping is a convenient and easy way for consumers to save time and money on their shopping budget.

These fresh options offer consumers a variety of ways to decide what’s for dinner without having to prepare it or physically go to the store to shop for it.

Illustration/Shutterstock

11

COVER STORY

Celebrating the first

By Mandy Gross

20 YEARS

FAPC is celebrating its first 20 years of adding value to Oklahoma.

From 1997 to 2017, FAPC has kept food and agricultural processors and entrepreneurs on the forefront of cutting-edge value-added processing and technology and has assisted more than 1,000 Oklahoma clients through 3,000 technical and business projects.

“FAPC was launched with a tremendous vision of helping value-added food and agricultural companies across the state, but no one had an idea of how it would actually flesh out,” said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director.

Twenty years later the center is still going strong. In fact, many of the faculty and staff hired in 1997 are still employed at FAPC today.

Jim Brooks, FAPC business and marketing services manager, and Tim Bowser, FAPC food process engineer, were the first two people hired on Jan. 2, 1997.

“Remembering back to 1997 when FAPC officially opened its doors to serve

Jim Brooks (left), Tim Bowser (middle) and Dani Bellmer (right) have helped fulfill FAPC’s mission since 1997.

12

Photos/File

the food and agricultural industry in Oklahoma, it doesn’t seem possible that 20 years have passed by so quickly,” Brooks said. “It has been my privilege to have been in the very first group of faculty and staff to be hired and begin the work for industry in our state.”

Bowser said it is hard to believe he has been at FAPC for 20 years, but he is excited for the future.

“I think 20 years sure went fast,” Bowser said. “I think the next 20, if I’m here to see any of them, will go quickly too. I think the center’s goals and its original intentions are long lasting. I think they will sustain the center through the next 20 years easily.”

Dani Bellmer, FAPC food process engineer, also has been working for the center since June 1, 1997.

“I honestly cannot believe it has been 20 years already; it’s been a wonderful 20 years,” Bellmer said. “It’s been fun, it’s gone by fast, and I am really excited about our 20-year celebration. But, I’m even

more excited for what’s to come. I think we’re going to do many great things in the future.”

The center has celebrated the 20-year milestone with several events and will continue throughout 2017.

FAPC kicked off the 20-year anniversary with a reception during its 17th Annual Research Symposium in February.

The symposium highlighted food and agricultural products student research from OSU, Langston and the University of Central Oklahoma.

In March, FAPC and the Oklahoma Wheat Commission partnered with Oklahoma 4-H to promote Bake and Take Month with a contest promoting the 20year anniversary. 4-H members across the state were encouraged to bake products made with locally grown wheat, use Made in Oklahoma products and decorate with a 20-year anniversary theme.

FAPC celebrated Made in Oklahoma month with a 20-year anniversary booth during MIO Day at the OSU Student Union

COVER STORY

and the Wine Forum of Oklahoma, sponsored by OSU’s Human Sciences in April.

Recently, FAPC, along with The Oklahoman and the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources SUNUP TV show, developed a documentary, which aired on OETA in May. The documentary, “20 Years of Made in Oklahoma Food Innovation,” highlighted how FAPC was started, the impact the center has on Oklahoma and the food industry, and three Made in Oklahoma companies FAPC has assisted: Suan’s Foods, Ace in the Bowl Salsa and Diane’s Signature Products.

In addition, FAPC launched FAPC Connect, a free mobile app providing food safety and other food processing information on the go. Individuals can select topics of interest and get notified when new content is added; access articles, videos and trainings by FAPC topics or experts; and ask an expert to get answers on FAPC topics.

Finally, FAPC published an historical book outlining how FAPC was established to help add value to Oklahoma’s economy.

FAPC will hold one more event to help celebrate its 20-year anniversary, a Food & Beverage Product Development Competition on Sept. 12. The contest provides a venue for college students to share creative and innovative ideas for new food and beverage products to the food industry.

“We have had an amazing year celebrating our successes for the first 20 years, but we’re not finished,” Escoubas said. “I hope to see many food and agricultural industry representatives in September for our product development competition.

The future of FAPC is bright, and I truly believe the best is yet to come.”

“

FAPC Connect Food safety information on the go.

Text FAPC to 80802 to download the free app!

FAPC Documentary 20 Years of Made in Oklahoma Food Innovation http://fapc.biz/videos/documentary

FAPC Historical Book 1997-2017 A look into the first 20 years.

http://fapc.biz/publications/historical-book For a hard copy, email fapc@okstate.edu.

It’s a little bit of a hidden secret here in the state of Oklahoma that people just don’t know about. It’s exciting to see the opportunities that we’re trying to help further my dad’s idea of helping businesses and industry grow in the state of Oklahoma.

Rodger Kerr, son of Robert M. Kerr, in the FAPC documentary.

13

MEAT PROCESSING

Death of the

By Jake Nelson

ATES

It seems to be a common occurrence these days, and in case you were not aware, there is a movement running at full throttle in the food industry. It’s a fight, a race and a guessing game with all parties having one general pursuit – stopping the use of ates (pronounced like the numeral eight, like a bunch of eights).

Not only must the use of ates cease but also alternative ingredients must be found and used to serve a similar or same purpose of the ates. I’m referring to the movement to stop using ingredients which end in “ate” such as phosphate, nitrate, sorbate, erythorbate, lactate, diacetate, sulfate, carbonate, metasilicate and so on. Fortunately, the word water has an “r” at the end of it.

The term “clean label” is often used to describe the motivation for eliminating the use of ates, and the so-called clean-label movement is well established. There are extensive, ongoing studies on consumer preferences and trends, and researcher Jayson Lusk states observations about consumer behavior on his web page: “A key question driving much of my research is why do consumers say they will do one thing in a survey but do something entirely different when shopping in the grocery store?”

I don’t envy the difficult work of researchers like Lusk and the skills required to study consumer behavior. I believe many people ponder the origination of trends in the food industry.

Perhaps just as intriguing as consumer behavior is the food industry’s apparent commitment to maintain absolute homeostasis while adjusting to the latest trend.

I attended a processed meats workshop, which included participants from meat processing companies, scientists and technologists, along with university employees, all working together to stay current and contemporary in the industry. And, while the death of ates was not the intended or general theme of the session, it was oozing out of all the technologists and technical sessions.

14

It was obvious the daily pressure to formulate multi-ingredient foodstuffs without using the known, traditional, functional ingredients (often, the ates) was weighing heavily on the minds of those involved in product development who must deliver new ideas and concepts. It requires one to have a full understanding of the function of each ingredient as well as interactions with other ingredients.

Additionally, FAPC is continuing to assist clients as they attempt to produce their same, signature products without using the same, signature ingredients. Entire formulations are edited and rewritten, and the resulting product is often quite different than the original. Seems simple enough to understand a different recipe will yield a different product. Perhaps the most difficult component to using alternative ingredients is the need to reject a change in the product’s palatability profile and price. Consumers want the label cleaned up, but the product should taste, smell, feel and be priced the same. That is a tough but common pursuit.

In case you don’t recall chemistry class, molecular compounds with a name ending in “ate” are generally those compounds which have at least three elements. One of those elements is oxygen. Thus, it could be jokingly stated consumers don’t want those oxygen-containing chemicals in their food. I don’t think clean label pressures will stop once we’re reminded the ates are a function of oxygen.

As one who often studies and applies traditional nonmeat ingredients, it is difficult for me to understand the death of the ates when the pressure to stop using them seems to be consumer whims. But, I’m reminded of a statement by a corporate-level employee of a global foodservice company. To paraphrase, the sentiment from the corporate employee was “Science matters much less than the customer’s desire.”

MEAT PROCESSING

Photo/Shutterstock

15

FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Big Data and

FOOD SECURITY

By Nurhan Dunford

Since the development of personal computers in the 1970s, then the World Wide Web in the 1990s and later social media in the 2000s, the size of the digital data stored, processed and easily accessed has exploded. Mobile phones, online shopping, social networks, electronic communication, GPS and machinery equipped with data collection and storage capabilities all generate enormous amount of data during their everyday operations.

Probably some of you have heard the term “Big Data” but are not quite sure what exactly it means. You are not alone. According to surveys, most professionals in different fields have heard the term, but only a small group could offer a definition.

Due to its increasing use, the Oxford English Dictionary recently defined the term Big Data as “extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends and associations.” Still, what constitutes Big Data is contested.

16

Illustration/Shutterstock

Some consider a minimum of one terabyte (storage capacity equals about 1,500 CDs, 220 DVDs or enough space to store about 16 million Facebook photographs) is the threshold of Big Data.

Nonetheless, the minimum size to qualify as Big Data is changing rapidly due to technological developments.

Big Data provides tremendous opportunities for creation of new businesses, development of new products and services and improvements in existing business operations. Some economists consider Big Data as a new “asset class,” and others regard it as “the new oil.” Significant cost savings, better decision making, and higher product and service quality can be achieved using Big Data analytics.

Adaption of any disruptive technology, such as Big Data, is daunting. Businesses face challenges in exploiting Big Data and making investment decisions because of the demanding data processing speed, interpretation, quality, security and privacy, and shortage of qualified data scientists.

The unreliability and uncertainty concealed in data sources due to incompleteness, inaccuracy, latency, inconsistency, subjectivity and deception diminish the value of the available data.

For example, data collected from social media and other internet sources may be subjected to consumer sentiments and could be unreliable and uncertain due to subjectivity of human opinions.

Fortunately, analytics, statistical tools and techniques have been developed to deal with uncertainty and unreliability of Big Data.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, approximately 1 billion people do not have enough food to eat. Global hunger is one of the fundamental and moral human problems. Considering the world population will reach to about 9 billion by year 2025, food security is the most important issue facing humanity.

Food security is achieved “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life,” according to the 1996 World Food Summit. Big Data can be helpful in achieving this goal. One of the critical factors for attaining food security is ensuring food availability, which largely depends on production. Technological tools supporting sustainable food production at the farm level are vital to achieve high yields at an affordable cost.

During the recent decades, farmers have been introduced to precision agriculture, which is a farming management approach that measures and responds to field variability for crops often using GPS tracking systems. Obviously, one can’t manage what is not measured. Precision agriculture allows farmers to measure,

FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Photo/Todd Johnson

hence, know more about their fields, crops and operations, and directly translate that knowledge into improved decision making and potentially better performance and higher yield.

About four years ago, a survey of soybean farmers indicated implementation of this technology resulted in a rapid payback, 5 percent savings on seed, fertilizer and chemicals expenses, about 16 percent crop yield increase and 50 percent reduction in water use. Tools used in precision agriculture rely on data collection and Big Data analytics. Agricultural production practices (inputs, i.e. type and amount of seed, fertilizer and pesticides applied, yield, etc.), weather patterns and soil chemistry are monitored at the farm level and collected data are stored digitally. Numerous analytics and statistical techniques have been developed to analyze large raw data sets. Advanced Big Data analytics facilitate precise management of agricultural operations and making better predictions and smarter decisions based on data. Farmers can target more effective interventions using this technology.

Today, farm machinery equipped with digital systems that collects, retrieves and analyzes data, and provides feedback on agronomic practices and yield estimates are readily available and broadly used on farms. Wi-Fi enabled barns allow farmers to manage their operations using software developed based on Big Data platforms. This technology can increase production yields while minimizing the adverse effects of agriculture on the environment. Experts believe new technologies based on Big Data have the potential to double the agricultural production in the near future.

Although Big Data present remarkable opportunities in many areas including food security and agriculture, there are valid concerns this technology can challenge the accepted ethical and social norms. Capability of digital technologies to track behavior and

The GreenSeeker handheld crop sensor is a tool used in precision agriculture.

This technology was developed by OSU researchers to assess the health or vigor of a crop to make better nutrient management decisions on a farm.

capture data has been rapidly increasing. Nevertheless, understanding of the ethical implications of Big Data is lagging behind its applications. Informed consent, ownership, privacy, objectivity and gaps created between those who can afford to implement the technology and those who lack the necessary resources are major concerns.

Big companies involved in agriculture are investing heavily in technologies and tools for collecting farm-level data. These technologies could potentially advance inequities between farmers and large chemical, seed and machinery manufacturers, and suppliers because of the lack of legal and regulatory framework to ensure farmers’ access to the information collected from their fields and the technologies developed using the data. Technologies supporting particular agricultural systems of production could favor some farmers’ operations at the expense of others and promote one brand over other similar products. If the data collected from a farmer’s field fall into the wrong hands, it can potentially be used against the farmer.

Despite the concerns, Big Data has been used in humanitarian food security initiatives since 2009. The United Nations has been leading the “Global Pulse” initiative, which is an international collaboration allowing UN agencies to use Big Data to monitor global socioeconomic crises such as famine, droughts and conflicts, and respond on a timely manner and gain real-time feedback on how well policy responses are working.

While promising on many fronts, Big Data and the tools and findings originating from it are provoking a host of ethical concerns. There is no question more work needs to be completed to establish a legal and regulatory frame around ownership, privacy and shared benefits stemming from Big Data analytics.

17

FOOD MICROBIOLOGY

Consider

By Peter Muriana

C. DIFF

There are several foodborne pathogens, organisms acquired through consumption of food and cause illness, that can result in persistent diarrhea. Most are either foodborne parasites such as Giardia, Cryptosporidium or Cryptococcus, or bacteria such as Shigella, Campylobacter, Salmonella and Vibrio, or viruses such as Norovirus.

Cryptosporidium resulted in 403,000 cases of illness during a waterborne disease outbreak in 1993 when the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, municipal water system broke down allowing contamination of the public water system. However, in recent years there has been an increasing number of Clostridium difficile cases of unknown source, and investigators are beginning to consider them foodborne.

18

Illustration/Shutterstock

Clostridium difficile, also called C. diff, is one of the most common microbes associated with healthcare associated infections, whereby people obtaining healthcare for one reason may come down with C. diff disease as a secondary illness, also referred to as nosocomial infections. In 2011, it was estimated there were more than 500,000 infections by C. diff resulting in 29,000 deaths occurring within 30 days of the initial diagnosis.

Diagnosis is another problem as C. diff is not easy to culture and identify. It is now included on various pathogen panels of diagnostic tests usually testing for any of 14-22 bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases. It is a member of the Clostridium group that includes foodborne pathogens Clostridium botulinum and Clostridium perfringens, and is an anaerobic microorganism requiring strict anaerobic conditions, the absence of oxygen, to grow. It also is a spore-forming bacterium, and spores are hardy, heat resistant and difficult to destroy with normal cooking conditions as it may take an hour of boiling to inactivate them. Vegetative cells can produce spores, also called sporulation, when induced by inhospitable conditions. Often, consumption of vegetative cells causes sporulation in the gut resulting in spore presence in the feces.

As with other Clostridium spp., anything encountering soils may have spores associated with them, such as meat derived from animals that may have them in their intestines or hides, vegetables subjected to home canning or herbs subjected to water/oil infusions.

For instance, in 2005, C. diff was found in 20 percent of ground beef samples in Canada. Heating has another impact on spores. It causes them to germinate from the spore state into vegetative bacterial cells. After a typical cooking scenario, the food is cooled down, perhaps vacuum packaged and the heat treatment may activate the spores to germinate into active bacterial cells, which may grow if conditions permit. Because foodborne conditions for C. botulinum and C. perfringens problems are so well known, there are food regulations and treatments directed to minimize problems with these organisms. But C. diff is not yet fully recognized as a foodborne pathogen, but perhaps it is time to do so. There have been so many outbreaks with C. diff, it is now suspected a good portion of these are likely foodborne, and we must now consider looking at this organism during investigations of foodborne illness.

FOOD MICROBIOLOGY Peter Muriana, FAPC food microbiologist, focuses on improved detection, identification and control of foodborne pathogens, and is actively involved in extension service projects for all phases of the valueadded food industry.

Photo/Todd Johnson

19

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Balancing the dreamable with the

ACHIEVABLE

By Darren Scott

I recently purchased a dry-mix product from the grocery store. After I got home, I noticed the name and face of a famous television personality associated with food on the side of the package. As I read the list of ingredients, I was surprised by how typical it was. There were the base ingredients you would normally expect to find in such a product, but there also were an assortment of stabilizers, preservatives, conditioners and anticlumping agents.

On television, this person is always certain to hit the buzzwords natural, simple, fresh, etc., and yet, it could be reasonably Photo/Mandy Gross

20

argued this flew in the face of that. However, rather than being annoyed or angry, I was content in the knowledge that while rhetoric may not always address reality in public, it will usually acknowledge it in private. In other words, to make a commercially feasible product, concessions to reality had to be made.

This can be an extremely helpful lesson for entrepreneurs to learn early on. Unfortunately, the temptation to follow questionable fads or even the mistakenly held belief of the supposed perfection of the recipe can prevent this from happening. Here are a few common challenges entrepreneurs must face.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

All new, all the time.

One advantage often attributed to small companies is their ability to rapidly adjust production to follow the latest trends.

However, a new company already struggling to meet the demand of manufacturing one or two flavors of product should think long and hard before attempting to manufacture four or five. Are the recipes basically the same except for a few minor ingredients, or are they radically different? Can the ingredients be purchased from current suppliers, or will new suppliers, along with new accounts, be needed? Can they be made on existing equipment, or will new equipment need to be purchased?

Everything but the kitchen sink.

The temptation for some entrepreneurs is to manufacture products with recipes a mile long and absolutely every last ingredient is indispensable. However, entrepreneurs are closer to their recipes and will notice things their customers won’t. Will anyone notice the flavor difference between gourmet sea salt and regular sea salt? Will anyone notice the difference between extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive if it comprises only 2 percent of the recipe

weight? If a spice makes up only 0.15 percent of the recipe weight, will anyone notice if it is removed entirely?

So close, yet so far.

This point is slightly opposite of the one above (ahh, there’s nothing like being a contrarian, especially in the same article).

Simple, clean labels, along with their associated recipes, are popular with consumers, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, the entrepreneur needs to recognize the limitations these recipes may place upon their products. It may not be possible to manufacture a food consisting of only five “natural” ingredients and expect it to function, cost and last as long as one made with seven ingredients, two of which are chemical/synthetic. Will consumers be accepting of a product that separates after a week because no stabilizers or emulsifiers were used? Will consumers be willing to pay more for a product that spoils faster because the natural preservative is more expensive and less effective?

Unfortunately, no magic bullets exist when creating products.

All ingredients come with pros and cons to consider. The successful entrepreneur must balance the dreamable with the achievable.

FAPC’s Darren Scott and Erin Johnson help Brooke Franklin and Diane Mashore of Diane’s Signature Products with product development. The center can help food entrepreneurs with common challenges they face.

21

FOOD PROCESSING

Who will process the

By David Moe

FOOD?

During the past few years, I have written several articles was not available. They might mention gathering and processing related to food processing. During the same period, consumers was done by women and children. Also, chewing and cutting were have become more concerned about the amount of fat, sugar and initial forms of food processing that made eating easier. This can salt present in many processed foods. Some now have shifted be compared to the needle tenderizer used on some meat today. It concerns toward the removal of artificial preservatives, colors and gives an impression of tenderness by saving the first few chews. flavors. As of late, this group has been expanded to include the Later, processing was enhanced by cooking using heat from removal of hormones, steroids and antibiotics. fire. With cooking, food became more easily digested. AnthroProcessed food is perceived to be the common carrier for the pologists claim this was a factor in the evolution of man––smaller items noted above, and the warning is stay away from “it,” whatfaces, teeth and jaws as chewing became easier, as well as larger ever “it” is. If the “it” is processed food, then the real challenge brains as nutrition improved. is to find a food that is not “it.” Finding a food that has not been Harvard primatologist Richard Wrangham believes the bigprocessed in some way is difficult in what I call the current golden gest revolution in the human diet was not when meat came to age of great processed food. In every store visit, I see examples the table but when we learned to cook. He tested his premise by of processed foods getting better and better. I also see examples feeding similar foods and amounts of raw or cooked meat and where value remains the prime consideration. Keep in mind, when sweet potatoes to rats and mice. The result was mice that were fed ingredients mentioned above are selectively removed or rearcooked food gained 15 to 40 percent more weight. Cooking and ranged, the food product may be marketed as a clean or healthier processing appear to encourage our body to absorb more nutrifood. Unless one’s overall diet pattern is changed, along with the ents, using less energy as compared to uncooked foods. ingredient change, the benefit may mostly be psychological.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the question: Who will process food in the future? First, let’s review some “We need to become aware of the calorie raising history of some early processing and where it all started. consequences of a highly processed diet.”

If we ask anthropologists, they likely will tell us about hunters for meat and gatherers of food when meat Richard Wrangham, Harvard Primatologist

22

Illustrations/Shutterstock

FOOD PROCESSING

The hunter-gatherer diet today is referred to as the Paleolithic or paleo diet. This diet varied depending upon where the people lived and the food available at a particular time and place. It is doubtful the paleo movement, which encourages dieter to eat like our ancestors, would consider eating armadillo, coatis or the like, even if processed.

to Europe from Persia in the middle ages, and the profession of bread making was established. Bread baking shifted from the home to commercial bakeries with growth of cities.

The merits of white versus dark bread have changed over time. Whole grain or dark bread originally was workers’ food, while light bread took more work and became a status symbol.

Hippocrates noted the difference somewhat as follows.

“What makes us human is our ability to find a Brown bread was considered more laxative and white bread more nutritious. Today, whole grain bread is said meal in virtually any environment.” to be more nutritious. We do not hear the part about William Leonard, Northwestern available nutrients and how some may pass through.

University Biological Anthropologist Whole grain consumption is increasing in popularity.

I recall in grade school snacking on and sometimes Bread was not on the menu for hunter-gatherers. However, it lunching on Wonder bread dipped in dark corn syrup. This was has been around in some fashion for around 30,000 years. Accorda glorious tribute to processing at its best. Wonder bread was a ing to an article by Evelyn Kim published in Scientific American leader, one of first sliced breads, enriched breads and breads with (2013), “Bread was a nutritional step backward. Comparative nutritional claims on the package. First, it “built strong bodies” studies show Neolithic hunter-gatherers ate a more varied and eight ways and later 12 ways. The best part was Wonder bread nutritious diet than Neolithic farmers” as food diversity decreased. was a sponsor for the Howdy Doody show with Buffalo Bob. When Moses and Aaron led the Israelites out of Egypt, they began to grumble about the lack of food after only a few “We have gotten so good at processing food that weeks along the desert trail. The Israelites said they ate all the food they wanted while in Egypt but were for the first time in human evolution, many humans going to starve in the desert. Convenience stores and are getting more calories than they burn in a day.” fast food joints had not come to this land yet.

Ann Gibbons, 2014 National Geographic That evening quail visited the camp and when the dew was gone the next morning, flakes appeared on the desert floor. The flakes were a form of bread they There are lots of opinions when discussing foods and processcalled manna. They ate this naturally processed food for a long ing of yore and today. The food scene continues to be dynamic, time, 40 years, according to Exodus 16. where old sometimes becomes new and new sometimes becomes Bread making continued to evolve as grain-grinding sysold and both may end up as “I told you so.” Watch what you eat, tems progressed from pounding, mortar/pestle and flat stones, but also watch what you are told about what you eat. to stones moved in a circular motion. Energy was applied by humans, animals, water and wind. Arabs brought the windmill

23

Oklahoma State University Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources 148 FAPC Stillwater, OK 74078-6055

148 FAPC-OSU, Stillwater, OK 74078-6055 405-744-6071 | http://fapc.biz | fapc@okstate.edu

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID STILLWATER, OK PERMIT NO. 191

FAPC Connect Food safety information on the go.

Text FAPC to 80802 to download the free app!