Juming Tang

　　Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

　　Three emerging major drivers will change the landscape of the food industry and global research activities: 1) new food safety regulations activated by different countries (e.g., US Food Modernization Act) to protect consumer interest will force implementation of rigorous food safety measures through ingredient supply, food production and distribution chains; 2) strong growth of on-line shopping and E-commerce of foods will level the playing-field for small and medium size companies to directly compete with multi-international companies globally, but also create new food safety challenges; 3) consumer desire for clean labels and healthy foods discourage the uses of traditionally effective preservations methods (e.g., chemical preservatives). These will drive technology innovations and create new opportunities for food engineers worldwide.

　　This presentation will provide cases of recent food poison outbreaks in USA to highlight the need for new food safety technologies. It will provide a brief introduction of the developments of Microwave assisted thermal sterilization (MATS) Technologies and Microwave Assisted Pasteurization Systems (MAPS) at Washington State University, USA, for production of shelf-stable or chilled prepackaged meals free from bacterial and viral pathogens.  It will show some of our recent outreach activities to assist US and International food companies adopt the technologies in meeting consumer demands for high quality, clean label, and safety prepared meals. Our vision is provide worldwide food industry environmentally sound and sustainable technologies as a new innovation platform to create and produce high quality, healthy, and convenient meals for retail markets, as well as for airlines, school programs, hospitals and E-commerce.