Clemson professor wins lifetime achievement award from Institute of Food Technologists

Published: December 21, 2010

CLEMSON — Kay Cooksey, Cryovac/Sealed Air Endowed Chair in Packaging Science at Clemson University, has received the 2010 Riester-Davis Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Food Technologists.

“Food packaging plays a major role in helping to maintain and enhance food product quality and safety, and it is also responsible for helping to reduce waste,” Cooksey said. “Food packaging is a key step in the design of a food product as it moves from field to table.”

One of the main issues challenging food-packaging technologists is food safety and how to control harmful bacteria. Cooksey has an international reputation for her research on the interaction of food and packaging components, specifically the effectiveness of antimicrobial packaging films to improve food safety and quality.

She and her colleagues have been researching nisin, a natural antimicrobial agent shown to be effective against a wide variety of undesirable foodborne bacteria. Other antimicrobial agents under study are chitosan, silver ions and chlorine dioxide. The use of such antimicrobials in food packaging can extend the shelf life of food while preserving freshness and quality.

Cooksey received the award at the institutes 70^h annual meeting in Chicago earlier this year. In her closing comments to her colleagues and students she said, “Enjoy what you do, share your talents and remain curious.”

Founded in 1939, the Institute of Food Technologists is the largest food science organization in the world with more than 22,000 members.

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