"There really aren't many places in the United States doing flavor research," says Gary Reineccisu, professor and department head of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. "The numbers are getting smaller, the funding more difficult. Flavor [research] is not something the government supports. If we are looking at basic work that needs to be done, it really has to come from industry one way or another." He adds, "Every company is into headcounts. They don't [always] have money to hire more people, so they need outside resources such as the Flavor Research and Education Center (FREC) will provide." FREC is a new platform for academic and industry collaboration spun off from the university to help overcome these hurdles. Devin Peterson, associate professor in the Food Science and Nutrition department, adds, "Companies are realizing the cost of (flavor) research and are looking for better, more efficient ways to meeting their technical needs."
The Last Word: F&F Innovation Within Reach
Jul 20th, 2011