Innovative Food Packaging and Processing Technologies

Daniela Bermudez-Aguirre has a background in Food Engineering (BSc), Food Science (MSc), and Engineering Science, with a focus on Food Engineering (PhD). She currently works as a Research Food Technologist at USDA Eastern Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, PA where she uses innovative interventions to control foodborne pathogens in different food products. During her graduate and post-doctorate work at Washington State University (WSU), she was involved in the development of nonthermal technologies for food processing and preservation, such as high hydrostatic pressure, pulsed electric fields, ultrasound, ultraviolet, cold plasma, and ozone. Her research at WSU also included projects funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) to improve the quality of military rations without compromising the food safety using innovative thermal processing. Afterwards, she worked as a senior research scientist for Lockheed Martin, a contractor of NASA. At NASA Johnson Space Center, she was the principal investigator of a project that used cold plasma to disinfect vegetables grown and consumed in-orbit by astronauts. In the last few years, she has been a consultant to industry and research centers about the use and applications of cold plasma equipment. She is the author of more than 60 peer-review publications, editor of 3 books in Food Engineering, and reviewer of over 50 high-impact journals in food science and technology. She has more than 20 years of experience working on nonthermal technologies for food safety and product development.

• SECTION I: Food Processing 1. Application of PEF in food processing and2. Ultraviolet light for food and beverage preservation. Exploring the latest advancements and potential challenges3. Megasonic treatments in food4. Cold Plasma for food processing applications5. Progress in radio frequency heating for food6. Nanotechnology in food safetySECTION II: Product development and food packaging7. Edible insects as alternative food: nutrition, safety, sustainability8. Development of novel ingredients using innovative9. Novel techniques for food product and packaging prototyping and manufacturing: from blueprints to enhanced functionality10. Edible films for food packaging and preservation11. Potential use of microalgae and Amazonian fruit in electrospun nanofibers for the development of innovative food packaging12. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as a tool to evaluate bioplastics as alternatives to petroleum-based plastics in the food industrySECTION III: Industry and consumer13. The entrepreneurial process for novel food products and packaging14. From the leap innovation department to your table: the transfer of novel technologies to the food industry15. Challenges and Innovations in High Pressure Processing Commercial Implementation16. 3D printing: at the intersection of social acceptance, participatory research, and specific nutritional benefits