Institute of Food Science and Engineering

Jean-Francois Meullenet, director
Food Science Building
2650 N. Young Ave., Fayetteville, AR 72704
479-575-4040

Institute of Food Science and Engineering website

The Institute of Food Science and Engineering and its three technology centers grew from the commitment of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture to finding creative ways to bring its expertise and resources to bear on specific problems and issues that affect productivity and growth in the food processing industry, with the mission of strengthening that critical component of the agricultural sector and the entire economy.

The institute assists industry by fostering cooperative, multidisciplinary efforts that provide research to solve problems, technology transfer to put new information to work, and education in skills needed by specific industries. Alliances between the institute and private industry devise solutions to identified problems. This demand-driven approach assures a direct, positive impact on the value-added processing of food products.

The Center for Food Processing and Engineering’s primary objective is to facilitate research leading to value-added products and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the processing of agricultural products. Activities of the Center for Food Safety and Quality seek to maintain or improve the safety of foods through production, harvest, processing, distribution, and storage. The main thrust of the Center for Human Nutrition is to develop new value-added functional foods with elevated levels of health-promoting compounds and ways to motivate people to include generous amounts of these foods in their daily diets. These efforts will assure food safety and improve the sensory and nutritional quality of food to meet the nutritional requirements and food preferences of a changing society.

The offices of the Institute of Food Science and Engineering are located in the Food Science Building at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center.