The Food Science Club & Food Science Faculty held an Ice Cream Social in Room 222 Babcock Hall on February 6. Thanks to Scott Rankin and his group for making the ice cream.

The Food Science Club organized a Chocolate Dipping event on Friday (13th) to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Congratulations to Steve Ingham who was named as the administrator of the Division of Food Safety in the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). The food safety division is responsible for licensing and inspecting dairy farms and dairy plants, grocery stores and delicatessens, food processing plants and warehouses, and some meat slaughter and processing plants. The division also licenses butter and cheese makers and graders, as well as regulating many other activities in the state’s vital dairy industry. The department wished Steve every success in this position. Initially Steve will be on leave from the Department of Food Science while taking up this position.

Dr. David Horne, formerly of the Hannah Research Institute, Ayr Scotland gave a seminar on December 5. The title of the seminar was Gels, Particle Mobility and Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy (DWS).

Congratulations to Mike Pariza who has been chosen as the recipient of the 2009 David Kritchevsky Career Achievement Award in Nutrition from the American Society for Nutrition. This award includes a $2,500 honorarium and an inscribed plaque.

Scott Rankin, his graduate student Luis Jimenez-Marato, and postdoctoral researcher Arnoldo Lopez-Hernandez were featured in the fall 2008 issue of Grow magazine. Under a piece entitled "The case for Queso" the article discussed the research that they are undertaking to understand why American versions of traditional Latin American cheeses do not always meet expectations. With the growth in the Hispanic population fueling interest in authentic Hispanic foods their research will help the US dairy industry meet the consumer expectations of this growing market segment.

Food Science graduate student Carrie Grummer took several awards at the 87th annual Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest held in Newark, Ohio, including first place in the “Butter--Individual, Graduate” category.

The annual Babcock Associates meeting was held on November 13. The focus of this meeting was to discuss various strategic initiatives of the department with our key stakeholders and industry alumni. The initiatives included Phase II of Babcock hall, and the organization of the research foci of the department into Food and Health, Food Material Science and Sustainability of Food Processing Systems.

Dr Peter Pesheck, a Fellow at General Mills Riverside Technical Center joined Dr Lucey’s group on sabbatical. Peter will be here for up to 9 months and is working on texture development in yogurt.

Food Science alumnus Jim Behnke received the CALS Honorary Recognition Award on October 23. Jim Behnke has been a true Badger and has been a strong supporter of our Department in various capacities, including his current function as the chair of the Food Science Education Initiative (FSEI) campaign. As an expression of our gratitude for his long service to the Department a reception for Jim was held on October 23 in room 111 Babcock Hall.

On September 19 a party was held to celebrate the many contributions of Professor Bill Wendorff who recently retired after 19+ years in the Food Science Department. A large crowd attended the festivities including industry and Cooperative Extension representatives. The department wishes Bill and Hallie all the best in the future.

Dr. Franco Milani joined the faculty as an assistant professor starting August 1. Dr. Milani’s position is primarily extension: he will focus on the application of sustainable practices in food process, product, and marketing designs. He will also be supporting the short courses for the dairy/food industry. Dr. Milani did his PhD at UW-Madison under Professor Bradley and has previously worked for Schrieber Foods.

Professor Markus J. Seewald from Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Bernburg, Germany gave a seminar on August 5^th entitled: Functional Foods: New Meat Products with Proven Health Benefits, Folic Acid Fortification of Foods in Germany.

On August 7th the State Building Commission approved Babcock Phase II Renovation. This long overdue renovation will be done as part of a Concentrated Upgrade and Repair of Buildings (CURB) project by Physical Plant. Funding for the project came from a variety of sources including the State, UW, CALS and Food Science department. As part of the project the new Food Applications lab will be built in the basement of Babcock Hall. Building work will start around May 2009. Total budget for all the remodeling and upgrading projects is likely to be around $9.5 million.

Incoming freshman to Food Science were given an orientation of the programs in the department on August 29^th as part of Welcome week. Freshman students had the chance to Meet and Greet faculty and staff as well as the Food Science club.