UC Davis features diverse group of speakers at III International Conference on Fresh-cut Produce
The Postharvest Technology Center at University of California Davis is hosting the September 13-18 III International Conference on Fresh-cut Products: Maintaining Quality and Safety. The conference is organized by Marita Cantwell under the aegis of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).
The Postharvest Technology Group has presented 19 years of fresh-cut workshops and occasionally expands on these to present an international flavor. The September event will be the third such event.
“We are hosting an international conference that builds on the annual workshop but extends the participation of speakers and attendees to an international audience,” Cantwell said.
The conference will present the general topics of: quality and product development, temperature and handling logistics, preparation and processing, packaging and modified atmospheres, food safety and sanitation and marketing and consumer acceptance.
The following globally recognized experts in fresh-cut processing technologies and research will make the keynote presentations.
Jeff Brandenburg, JSB Group, USA
Packaging fresh-cut products
Jeff Brecht, University of Florida, USA
Temperature and transportation
Giancarlo Colelli, University of Foggia, Italy
The QUAFETY project
Roberta Cook, UC Davis, USA
Marketing trends of fresh-cut produce
Merete Edelenbos, Aarhus University, Denmark
Processing and handling of fresh-cut root vegetables
Charles Forney, Agri-Food Canada, Canada
Physiology and biochemistry of aroma and off-odors in fresh-cut products
Maria Isabel Gil, CEBAS-CSIC, Spain
Preharvest factors and fresh-cut quality of leafy greens
Gustavo Gonzalez-Aguilar, CIAD, Mexico
Nutritional quality of fresh-cut products
Rudi Groppe, Heinzen, USA
Equipment and sanitary design for leafy green process lines
Yaguang (Sunny) Luo, USDA, USA
Sanitation in water wash systems
Latifah Mohd Nor, MARDI, Malaysia
Processing and handling fresh-cut tropical fruits
Anne Plotto, USDA, USA
Sensory quality of fresh-cut products
Elliot T. Ryser, Michigan State University, USA
Cross-contamination and quantifying bacterial transfer during slicing
Brooke Schwartz, Brooke Schwartz Consulting, USA
Commercialization and adoption of new food safety technologies
Trevor Suslow, UC Davis, USA
Preventive controls for microbial quality/ or role of microbial testing
Alessandro Turatti, Turatti, Italy
Innovations in fresh-cut fruit process lines
Other highlights will include sessions about breeding fruit and vegetable varieties specifically for fresh-cut processing, traceability and new ideas about the wounding process, Cantwell said. An academic industry panel will be led by Susanne Kloos, research manager of raw R and D for Fresh Express.
“This conference, although just three days, packs in a lot of different topics and information and has international perspective,” Cantwell said.
After the conference, an optional 1.5-day technical tour will make four stops to equipment suppliers and processing plants in and near the Salinas Valley, including field and plant operations.
For more information, visit UC Davis’ website.
