Institute of Food Technologists


The Institute of Food Technologists is an international, non-profit scientific society of professionals engaged in food science, food technology, and related areas in academia, government and industry. It has more than 17,000 members from more than 95 countries.

History

Early history

As food technology grew from the individual family farm to the factory level, including the slaughterhouse for meat and poultry processing, the cannery for canned foods, and bakeries for bread, the need to have personnel trained for the food industry did also. Literature such as Upton Sinclair's The Jungle in 1906 about slaughterhouse operations would be a factor in the establishment of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later that year. The United States Department of Agriculture was also interested in food technology, and research was already being done at agricultural colleges in the United States, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the University of California, Berkeley. By 1935, two MIT professors, Samuel C. Prescott and Bernard E. Proctor decided that it was time to hold an international conference regarding this. A detailed proposal was presented to MIT President Karl Taylor Compton in 1936 was presented with $1500 of financial aid from MIT for a meeting to be held from June 30 to July 2, 1937 with Compton asking how many people would be in attendance at this meeting. Prescott replied with "fifty or sixty people." 500 people actually attended the event.
This meeting proved so successful that in early 1938 that a second conference would be held in 1939. Initially led by George J. Hucker of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York, a small group meeting was held on August 5, 1938 on forming an organization with an expanded group meeting in New York City on January 16, 1939 to further discuss this. The second conference was held at MIT June 29 to July 1, 1939 with Proctor as conference chair. 600 people attended this event. At the final session, the chairman of the session Fred C. Blanck of the United States Department of Agriculture, proposed that an organization be established as the Institute of Food Technologists. This was approved unanimously. Its first officers were Prescott as President, Roy C. Newton of Swift & Company in Chicago, Illinois as Vice President, and Hucker as Secretary-Treasurer. By 1949, IFT had 3,000 members.

Growth

Regional sections were established in IFT as early as 1940 in northern California. The first IFT Award, the Nicholas Appert Award was established in 1942 by IFT's Chicago section with additional awards being established since then. For the first ten years, IFT officers were President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. In 1949, IFT moved into offices in Chicago and created a permanent position of Executive Secretary to run daily organizational operations. Retired U.S. Army Colonel Charles S. Lawrence was named the first Executive Secretary, a position he would hold until 1961 when he was replaced by Calvert L. Willey. During Willey's term as Executive Director, IFT would grow from 6,000 members in 1961 to 23,000 members in 1987. Additionally, IFT Divisions were established in 1971 with the Refrigerated and Frozen Foods Division being the first. The was established in 1975, and was reorganized in 1984 to be the IFT Student Association with the chairperson serving as a member of the IFT Board of Directors.

Today

The governing body of IFT consists of a Board of Directors made up of the President, President-Elect, Immediate Past-President, Treasurer, Student Association President, Student Association Immediate Past President, IFT Foundation Chair, and Executive Vice President, along with twelve board members. IFT also communicates with the news media, using sixty scientists to discuss the scientific perspective on food issues. IFT is also active in the international level by its membership in the International Union of Food Science and Technology, headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Education has always been a focus of IFT, going as far back as 1941, with the desire to have uniform education standards in food technology. Education standards for undergraduate students were approved by IFT in 1966 for food science and technology. These standards were revised and updated in 1977, 1992, 2001, and 2011. Today, IFT sits on the advisory council for the International Food Protection Training Institute.

IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo

IFT largest in-person gathering is IFT’s Annual Meeting & Food Expo. This event, which offers more than 100 scientific and applied education sessions and an expo featuring 1,000+ exhibiting companies, regularly attracts 23,000 food professionals from more than 90 countries.

Certification

IFT offers the Certified Food Scientist designation. The CFS is the only globally-recognized certification for food scientists, and has more than 1600 certificants in 55 countries. The CFS program is officially endorsed by the Australian Institute of Food Science Technology as well as the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology. Earning the CFS consists of meeting certain academic and work experience requirements and passing an exam in the following content areas:
It was designed to meet the International Standards Organization 17024 standards for certification programs.

Global Food Traceability Center

IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center is the global resource and authoritative voice on food traceability. Supported by its Founding Sponsors and guided by its Advisory Council, GFTC is designed to accelerate adoption and implementation of practical traceability solutions across the global food system.
The Center works to deliver events, research, and support services that will help to increase understanding of food traceability across four business platforms:
All awards except the Loncin prize have this reference listed below.
These are divisions of interest by the IFT Members
These are usually cities, states, and regions. If a region is mentioned, a city in that region is mentioned which include areas surrounded by the city.
Between IFT's founding in 1939 and 1949, the institute had elected a secretary and treasurer that kept up with the daily operations of the institute. By 1949, the membership had reached 3,000 and it was decided to create an Executive Secretary position and establish national office in Chicago. Since then, the position's name has changed twice to its current name. There have been six Executive Vice Presidents shown below:
There are four member grades within IFT:
2019-2020 Pam Coleman
2018-2019 Michelle Perchonok
2017-2018 Cindy Steward
2016-2017 John Coupland
2015-2016 Colin Dennis
2014-2015 Mary Ellen Camire
2013-2014 Janet Collins
2012-2013 John Ruff
2011-2012 Roger A. Clemens
2010-2011 Robert B Gravani
2009-2010 Marianne Gillette
2008-2009 Sheri Schellhaass
2007-2008 John Floros
2006-2007 Dennis Heldman
2005-2006 Margaret Lawson
2004-2005 Herbert Stone
2003-2004 C. Ann Hollingsworth*
2002-2003 Mark R. McClellan
2001-2002 Philip Nelson
2000-2001 Mary K. Schmidl
1999-2000 Charles H. Manley
1998-1999 Bruce H. Stillings
1997-1998 Mary K. Wagner
1996-1997 Robert E. Smith
1995-1996 Frank F. Busta
1994-1995 Roy G. Arnold
1993-1994 Al S. Clausi
1992-1993 David R. Lineback
1991-1992 John H. Litchfield
1990-1991 Daryl B. Lund
1989-1990 Paul F. Hopper*
1988-1989 Theodore P. Labuza
1987-1988 Roy E. Morse*
1986-1987 John J. Powers*
1985-1986 Charles J. Bates*
1984-1985 Bernard J. Liska*
1983-1984 Gilbert A. Leveille
1982-1983 Owen R. Fennema*
1981-1982 Arthur T. Schramm*
1980-1981 Frederick J. Francis*
1979-1980 Walter L. Clark*
1978-1979 Bernard S. Schweigert*
1977-1978 Howard E. Bauman*
1976-1977 John C. Ayres*
1975-1976 Ernest J. Briskey*
1974-1975 Charles F. Niven Jr.*
1973-1974 Reid T. Milner*
1972-1973 Ben F. Buchanan*
1971-1972 Richard L. Hall
1970-1971 Hans Lineweaver*
1969-1970 Herbert E. Robinson*
1968-1969 Bernard L. Oser*
1967-1968 George F. Stewart*
1966-1967 John H. Nair*
1965-1966 Maynard A. Joslyn*
1964-1965 Charles T. Townsend*
1963-1964 C. Olin Ball*
1962-1963 John M. Jackson*
1961-1962 Harold W. Schultz*
1960-1961 Irmi J. Hutchings*
1959-1960 Ray B. Wakefield*
1958-1959 Aksel G. Olsen*
1957-1958 Emil M. Mrak*
1956-1957 George F. Garnatz*
1955-1956 LaVerne E. Cilfcorn*
1954-1955 Phillip K. Bates*
1953-1954 Berton S. Clark*
1952-1953 Bernard E. Proctor*
1951-1952 Charles N. Frey*
1950-1951 Paul F. Sharp*
1949-1950 Carl R. Fellers*
1948-1949 H.C. Diehl*
1947-1948 George J. Hucker*
1946-1947 Ellery H. Harvey*
1945-1946 Fred W. Tanner*
1944-1945 Fred C. Blanck*
1943-1944 William V. Cruess*
1942-1943 Roy C. Newton*
1941-1942 Laurence B. Burton*
1939-1941 Samuel Cate. Prescott*
The Institute also has many publications that are both in print and online that are shown below:
Both Food Technology and the Journal of Food Science can be accessed in print or online. Other publications are shown below:
In 2016 they initiated and funded the documentary Food Evolution by Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Concerns

One constant that IFT has concern with is food safety, mainly with pathogens in food and how to counter these harmful bacteria. The global trade of food is also concerned with food safety and food security, specifically with ingredient availability and consumer tastes worldwide. Food traceability, food fraud, obesity, and how science and technology will help feed the world’s projected 9 billion-plus people in 2050 have all become main issues for IFT.