Andy Proctor, U of A University Professor emeritus in food science, was a guest presenter at the Food Science Discover Day Conference in June in Stowmarket, Suffolk, United Kingdom.

The conference was sponsored by the Eastern Regional Branch of the British Institute of Food Science and Technology.

Proctor, also a visiting professor at the University of Suffolk, spoke on "Adventures in Food Science and Technology to Solve Real Industry Problems" on June 18.

His presentation titled "Adventures in Food Science" was an invited paper in a session on "Farm to Fork" transitions. It features his past research projects addressing practical food industry problem solving. Projects include how cultivation conditions affect food quality, development of novel green techniques to measure food quality and the innovative use of food processing waste to make biomaterials.

More specifically, Proctor described his work showing how naturally occurring yeasts on blueberries affect pie starch gel stability, use of infrared technology as a green methods to rapidly determine milled rice brewing quality and the use of rice hulls as a source of green sodium silicate and carbon adsorbent products for the chemical and water purification industries.

Proctor, who retired in 2019, joined the Department of Food Science and Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Science's faculty in 1993 as associate professor of lipid chemistry. He was promoted to full professor in 2002 and University Professor in 2013.

He taught lipid chemistry and U.S. food law and conducted research in lipid chemistry and agricultural co-products utilization. His later lipid chemistry research focused on increasing the nutritional value of vegetable oils by enhancing CLA oil levels by catalysis. Proctor has three patents on this novel technology. He also developed technology for extraction of silicate and carbon from rice hull ash, which was commercialized by the rice industry.

Proctor has more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and, for 20 years, served as either associate editor or senior associate editor for the Journal of America Oil Chemists' Society. He is a fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Oil Chemists' Society.

The Food Science Discover Day Conference aims to inspire the younger generation to explore opportunities for studying and working in food science and included exhibits to explore, interactive activities and the opportunity to speak with local producers and food science professionals.  

Other presenters included Robert Edge-Partington, senior communications manager, IFST, Hammersmith, London; Ken Spears, visiting lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University and former senior lecturer at South Bank University; Sandra Höfemeier, research and development, Katkins, London and Haverhill; Fandi Ibrahim, Suffolk University, Ipswich; Thomas Hunt, researcher, Quadram Institute, Norwich; Karen Pardoe, proprietor of KPS Consulting; Rob Winwood, vice chair of IFST Eastern Branch; and Mike Long, Jubilee Farm, Great Barton, Suffolk.

ISFT is the leading independent voice and membership body for anyone with an interest in food science and technology. 

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