Food Safety's University-Industry Connection

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the print edition of QA under the headline "Class Acts."

From validation studies for plant-based meats — proving systems can produce safe products — to demonstrating microbiological control with extended processing so efficiency measures don’t sabotage safety, university-driven research delivers science to the industry to elevate food production.

The university-industry connection is reciprocal.

“We are constantly asking our industry colleagues what they want to learn about so we can coordinate a host of different educational opportunities,” said Adam Borger, outreach coordinator of the Food Research Institute (FRI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, housed within the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. FRI operates laboratories, conducts research and service programs and is a vital university-industry conduit.

FRI works almost exclusively with industry for food safety research needs, training and outreach. It also trains University of Wisconsin-Madison students in the fields of food microbiology and food safety. One example is a 10-week summer undergraduate program emphasizing food microbiology and safety with manufacturer visits. “Part of our goal is to expose students to how their applied research really does hit home for food manufacturers in helping them produce safe food,” Borger said.

The applied research filtering out of university labs and into the industry addresses emerging industry issues.

“You have to be a lifelong learner in the field of food safety, or any science-based field,” said Patty Weber, Ph.D., director of the Michigan State University Online Food Safety Program. “Regulations are getting more complex, and we are learning more about the control and prevention of foodborne illnesses and other food safety hazards. New powerful tools like AI have tremendous potential to help us keep our food safe.”

These challenges are a quick scan — and there’s a constant need to pivot.

For instance, MSU’s program includes one-credit courses that allow the flexibility of addressing in-the-moment food safety issues. “If there is an emerging pathogen, we can create this accelerated five-week course to offer some really current food safety applications,” Weber said, citing one way universities feed innovative best practices.

From challenging students to solve company-specific issues in the field to introducing more soft skills in curriculum, here’s a spotlight of how universities and industry are advancing together.

Informing Industry Advances

Universities and institutes can play an integral role in fulfilling an ongoing requirement to level up across every aspect of food processing and packaging. In fact, Weber said MSU’s Online Food Safety Program was born out of a market survey by its founder, Dr. Edward Mather, which indicated a lack of accessible, educational avenues for working professionals.

“There were a lack of degrees or ways to help food safety professionals excel and continue moving up and introducing new technologies to the field,” she said. “The program was created so industry professionals can still work and complete courses at the same time, so it’s much more available.”

Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is considering development of hybrid online on-campus offerings for busy professionals, said Carmen Moraru, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Food Science.

As for the MSU program, anyone with experience in the food safety field is a candidate, Weber said. This includes professionals focused on operations, research and development, packaging and beyond. The program started in 2002 with a few students, and now there are more than 600 alumni from across the country and abroad.

The way applied concepts and lab findings inform industry students enrolled in these programs depends on their role in food processing. For example, from a food packaging capacity, “By taking the courses, they can better understand the science behind movement of toxins from packaging to food,” Weber said.

The curriculum includes microbiology for foodborne pathogens, foodborne disease epidemiology and food safety toxicology, plus a research methods class culminating in an applied project exploring topics such as regulations for milk and milk-like products labeling, food safety culture and the cost-benefit analysis of using top ice as a cooling method for produce, Weber said.

“Our past Dave Theno fellow is completing a systematic review on long-term consequences of foodborne illnesses,” she said. The fellowship is a collaborative program between MSU and STOP Foodborne Illness.

"You have to be a lifelong learner in the field of food safety.” Patty Weber, Ph.D., director of the Michigan State University Online Food Safety Program

Many students entering the master's program have some science background, but “that doesn’t mean they are researchers in the sense of academia,” Weber said. “So, we are helping them understand how to find research, understand the findings and how to determine if it is good or bad research.”

These critical thinking skills — and continuing to sharpen them — are educational building blocks that advance food industry careers.

“What we are seeing on the forefront [of in-demand skills] is critical thinking,” Weber said, circling back to her emphasis on understanding how to be a “self-regulated learner” in a dynamic industry.

Training Talent for In-Demand Careers

Universities are a talent pipeline for industry — an essential feeder in a hungry hiring environment. The demand for food scientists is expected to increase 7% through 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “There are definitely more jobs in food science than talent we can supply,” said Dr. Lilian Senger, professor and program director for the Faculty of Food Science at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.

Borger added, “We hear from companies we work with that students with technical skills coming out of universities with microbiology, genetics and biochemistry degrees are highly desirable, especially those students that have some experience in food science and food production.”

Food manufacturers are looking for additional skillsets in food microbiology and safety, Borger said. “I think there is a growing need for biological sciences students with a good understanding of data analysis and even computer programming for AI in food safety and big-data analysis.”

Senger acknowledged that a program with core basics and innovative offerings — including the soft stuff like communication and leadership — helps develop well-rounded candidates for today’s food industry.

“Students need a good grounding in chemistry, sensory analysis, microbiology and food engineering. Beyond that, experimental design, computation and machine learning are added skills,” Senger said. “There’s a need for students to blend food science, computation and sustainability.”

"We hear from companies we work with that students with technical skills coming out of universities with microbiology, genetics and biochemistry degrees are highly desirable.” Adam Borger, outreach coordinator of the Food Research Institute (FRI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

With novel food products entering the market, “there is a need for lab techniques necessary to manufacture these products,” Senger said. “Some of these include molecular biological, cell culture and protein extrusion techniques.”

Basically, with new products — which are aplenty in our consumer-centric society — comes a demand for new skills. Not to mention business acumen and leadership development, Senger added, explaining the vision behind Chapman University’s MS/MBA program. “For students who want to serve in management roles, it’s helpful to have those business skills,” she said. “You need to deliver product on time and within budget, and a business background enables you to address those needs.”

Introducing soft skills into the food science curriculum has been a push at Chapman and other food science programs. New in fall 2023 was a leadership development program and workshop co-funded by the Department of Agriculture to include underrepresented students through a National Needs Fellowship (NNF). The school also rolled out a project management workshop. Both will be offered over two weekends next academic year for a concentrated learning and networking experience.

“Food science touches on so many different fields,” Senger said, listing pharmacy, nutrition, business, communications — and education. “Does it make sense to collaborate with the School of Education so we can introduce food science earlier? Most definitely. There is excitement to see how to work with other departments on campus to get the word out about what food science is.”

Moraru at Cornell said cross-departmental collaboration to “complement traditional food science training” is a growing trend. “We teach core courses such as food chemistry, food engineering, food safety and microbiology and newer topics such as ingredient technology or the microbiome,” she said. Students can also access business, sustainability and AI machine learning courses on campus. “All of these could really support a successful career in food science,” Moraru said.

The school is currently developing offerings within and outside of the department to support a rising interest and future careers in fermentation, synthetic biology and cellular agriculture, Moraru said.

Weber said developing and maintaining a food safety culture is an overarching interest among students working in the industry, and MSU addresses this demand with a hybrid program, including an on-campus segment allowing company executives and students to network while learning about food safety culture. “They learn fundamental theories behind behavior, how to change it and how to create a strong food safety culture in your company,” she said.

Staying Current, Thinking Ahead

Since Moraru joined Cornell’s food science program more than 20 years ago, there’s been an influx in enrollment and interest in the industry regarding the master’s degree in food studies. The program is particularly attractive to non-traditional students with science degrees who want to learn about food processing, food safety or other areas of food science, which can help them with a career reset. “They may have an interest in opening a startup or changing career paths, or they have an opportunity to work for a food company but don’t have the credentials, so this program offers them a one-year opportunity to attain their goals,” she said.

This student body trend speaks to a demand for talent with advanced training, especially “on the practical side of food science,” Moraru said.

Case in point: Cornell’s food safety assurance class delivers technical training, and upon completion, students earn Safe Quality Food (SQF) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certifications.

Meanwhile, an advisory council of roughly two dozen successful food industry executives helps inform the curriculum and provides mentorship experiences, said Moraru. “They give us feedback on where our students have strengths and how we can improve our educational offerings,” she said.

Again, university-industry collaboration is critical.

At Cornell, a capstone course was built to facilitate student teams to address specific challenges food processing companies pose to the university. “We also have guest speakers in our upper-level courses on issues related to product development or food companies’ technical challenges,” Moraru said. “There is a lot of excitement in our program about training students and also about addressing current and up-and-coming issues in the food industry.”

Across the board, facilitating an open and ongoing conversation to connect ivory towers and industry players is helping to develop a ready talent pool while delivering research to guide food safety and processing best practices.

“It’s about creating an environment for professionals to come and learn more so they can ask questions, interact with faculty and network with other student professionals,” Weber said. “The more we can interact and create that network, the better.”

The author is a regular contributor to QA.