Michigan State University Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition

Our Food Science and Human Nutrition department recently joined the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) at the annual International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) 2026 in New Orleans. Both students and faculty co-lead two pre-meeting workshops, presented oral and poster presentations, participated in technical committees, and more! Thank you for your engagement and for representing MSU!

Congratulations to former FSHN Food Science doctoral student and recent graduate, Dr. Yawei Lin, on her recent publication "Evaluation of Wheat-Derived Bacteria as Surrogates for Validating Antimicrobial Inactivation of Foodborne Pathogens during Wheat Tempering" in the Journal of Food Protection! The paper is co-authored with her former FSHN advisor, Dr. Teresa Bergholz.
The article is available online: https://loom.ly/bYaHyUY

Food Science PhD student, Somneang Oul, will be presenting "What Makes an Ideal Strawberry? Development and Application of Consumer-defined Quality Thresholds" at the summer program in Sensory Evaluation (SPISE) 2026 on July 31, 2026. Summer isn't over and neither are our student and faculty summer conference announcements. More to come!

Nutritional Sciences BS student, Eshika Avidi, will be presenting "Associations between baseline fatty acids and scholastic adversities over 12 months in Ugandan Children affected by perinatal HIV" at the American Society for Nutrition NUTRITION 2026 meeting on July 26, 2026. There are still more summer conference announcements coming up, so stay tuned!.

Food Science PhD student, Hui Zeng, will be presenting "Evaluation of Ozone Nanobubbles for Reducing Listeria on Food-Contact Surfaces" at the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) 2026 on July 29, 2026. Keep a lookout for more student and faculty summer conference announcements coming up!

Food Science PhD student, Julianna Adams, will be presenting "Production System Influences Carotenoid and Polyphenol Concentrations in Egg Yolk" at the American Society for Nutrition's NUTRITION 2026 meeting on July 27, 2026. The summer isn't over yet! More student and faculty summer conference announcements are on the horizon.

Come join booth 5040 near the networking lounge at the IFT - Institute of Food Technologists FIRST Food Expo from July 13-15 at the McCormick Place in Chicago! The Mobile Food Processing Lab is being showcased to highlight educational excellence and how academia can work together with the food industry to graduate students ready to enter the food arena. Academic sponsors of the mobile trailer exhibit include Michigan State University Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, the MSU Institute of Agricultural Technology, the Institute for Food Laws & Regulations, the MSU Food Safety Pilot Plant, the Michigan State University Online Food Safety Program, and the School of Packaging - MSU. Industry sponsors include FlavorSum, the Great Lakes Section - Institute of Food Technologists, Butterball Farms, Carroll Products, Cello Wrap Packaging, Niverplast, JIFFY Mix , and Vincent Co. We hope to see you all soon!

Dr. Felicia Wu will be presenting "Anatomy of a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) Determination" at the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS) on June 25, 2026. FSHN is back for another summer full of featuring faculty and student conference presentations, so keep an eye out for more!

This year's 2026 International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Educational Summit, presented by The Food Away From Home Association, took place on May 15 at the University Club in Chicago! A select number of FSHN undergraduate and graduate students were invited to attend this event, as well as the prestigious Silver Plate Induction Dinner and the Gold & Silver Plate Awards on May 16. Students spent their time networking with top industry leaders and peers from other Universities. Go Green!

Congratulations to Annmarie Murphy, FSHN Nutritional Science and Lymann Briggs student, who placed first in the Nutrition and Food Science category at the 2026 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF). Her poster presentation was titled "Maternal Early-Pregnancy Diet Quality and Markers of Reproductive System Development in Newborn Babies." Annmarie works in the lab of Dr. Rita Strakovsky. Congratulations, Annmarie!