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iFOOD 2019: Advancing food security, safety, and sustainability in Singapore
18 January 2019, NTU, Singapore
Organized by NTU (NAFTEC-NTU Food Technology Centre),
SMART (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology) and
AVA (Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore)
Scope: Following the success of iFood 2017 conference on “Food for the Future", our iFood 2019 will
focus on “Advancing food security, safety, and sustainability in Singapore”. We will bring industry
leaders to this workshop to discuss the innovation challenges and customer demands they are
facing so that academic researchers can more adequately address these needs with their
research.
Global food security can be threatened by many interrelated factors, which includes food safety,
food fraud and sustainability of the food production system. Food is unsafe for consumption when
it is contaminated by disease-causing bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals during production,
processing, distribution, storage or preparation. It is estimated that the consumption of unsafe
food caused 600 million and 420,000 deaths in 2010 globally. Similar to food safety, food fraud
is also a widespread global problem and it is costing the global food industry $49 billion annually.
The incidence of food fraud has grown over the last years, which includes a number of widely
reported food scandals that have led to reduced consumer confidence in the food industry. At the
same time, some are voicing the concern of our capacity to produce enough food for the world in
the future. The real problem is not if we will be able to produce enough food, the problem is if we
will be able to produce this food in a sustainable way.
Singapore’s food and beverage industry contributes S$14.4 billion to GDP and employs nearly
300,000 people, larger than industries such as speciality chemicals, petrochemicals, medical
technology and land transport engineering. A total of S$210 million on food R&D was spent in
2013. There is great opportunity to multiply this, by further focusing on high value and answering
the food related challenges that we have in the coming decades, and by this, strengthening
Singapore as a world centre for advanced food.
This 1-day conference aims to discuss food safety and food fraud prevention and innovations
focused on advances in sustainable farming. Prominent plenary speakers from world-renowned
institutions and industries in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific will be featured, thus
providing a platform for participants to interact and communicate with leading experts in the food
science and engineering fields.
The organizing committee, NTU (NAFTEC-NTU Food Technology Centre), SMART (Singapore-
MIT Alliance for Research and Technology) and AVA (Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of
Singapore) welcome you to Singapore and look forward to your participation in this conference.
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
18 January 2019, Friday Lecture Theatre 5 (LT5), NTU North Spine Block NS2, NS2-02-07
Theme 1 – Food Safety and Food Fraud Prevention (Chair: Prof Mary Chan)
8:30 - 9:00 Registration 9:00 - 9:10 Opening by Prof Tim White (Associate Vice President-Infrastructure
and Programmes, NTU; Professor, NTU, Singapore) 9:10 - 10:25 Prof Retsef Levi (Professor, MIT, USA)
Title of Presentation: Systemic Risk Management of Food Supply Chains
Prof Joergen Schlundt (Professor, NTU, Singapore) Title of Presentation: Why do We Need Integrated Control Systems for Food Safety and Food Fraud?
Prof Terence Lau (Director, Innovation and Technology Development, HK PolyU, Hong Kong) Title of Presentation: Addressing Emerging Food Safety Challenges through Multidisciplinary Research and Innovation
10:25 - 10:45 Tea break 10:45 -12:25 Prof Michael Strano (Professor, MIT, USA)
Title of Presentation: Nanosensor Technology and Food Security
Prof Anders Dalsgaard (Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark) Title of Presentation: Antimicrobial Use in Asian Aquaculture: Food Safety Aspects and Challenges Faced at Export Markets
Dr Peiying Chuan (Deputy Director, Innovations in Food & Chemical Safety Programme, ASTAR, Singapore) Title of Presentation: Non-animal Alternative Methods: Their Development and Potential Applications in Food Safety
Prof Philip Demokritou (A/Professor, Harvard University, USA) Title of Presentation: Engineered Water Nanostructures: A Nanotechnology Based Antimicrobial Platform for Food Safety and Beyond
12:25 - 13:00 Panel discussion (Chair: Prof Patricia Conway) 1. Prof Retsef Levi (Professor, MIT, USA) 2. Prof Joergen Schlundt (Professor, NTU, Singapore) 3. Prof Terence Lau (Director, Innovation and Technology Development,
HK PolyU, Hong Kong) 4. Prof Michael Strano (Professor, MIT, USA) 5. Prof Anders Dalsgaard (Professor, University of Copenhagen,
Denmark) 6. Dr Benjamin Smith (Director, Innovations in Food & Chemical Safety
Programme, ASTAR, Singapore) 7. Prof Philip Demokritou (A/Professor, Harvard University, USA) 8. Ms Nicola Kerslake (Founder, Newbean Capital & Contain Inc and Co-
Founder Contain Inc, USA) 9. Prof Trevor C. Charles (Professor, Department of Biology, University of
Waterloo, Canada) 13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE – continued
18 January 2019, Friday Lecture Theatre 5 (LT5), NTU North Spine Block NS2, NS2-02-07
Theme 2 – Advances in Sustainable Farming (Chair: Dr Charles Swofford)
14:00 - 15:15 Dr David Appleton (Vice President, Sime Darby Plantation R&D, Malaysia) Title of Presentation: Sustainable Palm Oil Production: How can Science Help?
Ms Sonia Lo (CEO, Crop One Holdings, Inc, USA) Title of Presentation: Digital Distributed Agriculture - the Future of Food
Dr Oliver May (Corporate Scientist, DSM Innovation Center, The Netherlands) Title of Presentation: Enabling Better Food for Everyone
15:15 - 15:35 Tea break
15:35 - 17:15 Mr Joep Klein Staarman (CEO, Barramundi Asia, Singapore) Title of Presentation: Barramundi Farming in a Changing Environment
Dr Deepak Raghothaman (Science Manager, Ferrero Asia Pacific, Singapore) Title of Presentation: Improving Traceability and Sustainable Sourcing of Key Raw Materials
Prof Dan Li (Assistant Professor, NUS, Singapore) Title of Presentation: Microbial Safety of Urban Farming
Prof Mary Chan (Professor, NTU; Director, NAFTEC, Singapore) Title of Presentation: Disinfection and Bacterial Treatments with Cationic Safe Agents
17:15 - 17:45 Panel discussion (Chair: Prof Anthony J Sinskey) 1. Ms Sonia Lo (CEO, Crop One Holdings, Inc, USA) 2. Dr Deepak Raghothaman (Science Manager, Ferrero Asia Pacific,
Singapore) 3. Mr Joep Klein Staarman (CEO, Barramundi Asia, Singapore)--TBC 4. Prof Dan Li (Assistant Professor, NUS, Singapore) 5. Prof Mary Chan (Professor, NTU; Director, NAFTEC, Singapore)
17:45 - 18:00 Closing Remark
End of Programme
Retsef Levi
Professor, MIT, USA
Retsef Levi is the J. Spencer Standish (1945) Professor of
Operations Management at the MIT Sloan School of
Management. He is a member of the Operations Management
Group at MIT Sloan and affiliated with the MIT Operations
Research Center. Levi also serves as the Faculty Co-Director of
the MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO).
Before coming to MIT, he spent a year in the Department of
Mathematical Sciences at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
as the holder of the Goldstine Postdoctoral Fellowship. He
received a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Tel-Aviv
University (Israel) in 2001, and a PhD in Operations Research
from Cornell University in 2005. Levi spent almost 12 years in the
Israeli Defense Forces as an officer in the Intelligence Wing and
was designated as an Extra Merit Officer. After leaving the
Military, Levi joined and emerging new Israeli hi-tech company
as a Business Development Consultant.
Systemic Risk Management of Food Supply Chains
In this talk, we will discuss how food supply chain analysis and analytics could be leveraged to
obtain fundamental insights and develop predictive risk analytics models that inform the
management of economically motivated adulteration (EMA) risks. In particular, we will discuss
how transparency into various risk drivers of the corresponding food supply chains (e.g., supply
chain structure, product characteristics, socio-economic & environmental conditions, etc.) can
be leveraged to develop predictive models and decision support tools, allowing proactive
identification and prioritization of risks.
Joergen Schlundt
Professor, NTU, Singapore
Joergen Schlundt has a DVM and Ph.D. from Copenhagen
University in Denmark. He has worked nationally and
internationally on food safety and security, including 11 years as
Director Department for Food Safety and Zoonoses at the World
Health Organization, and 4 years as Director National Food
Institute in Denmark. He has initiated the WHO/FAO International
Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) and the first global
assessment of the foodborne disease burden, and participated in
the international development of food safety Risk analysis
principles, as well as international evaluations of the importance
of antibiotic use in agriculture. He chairs the Global Microbial
Identifier, an international initiative suggesting a global database
of DNA-sequences of all microorganisms.
Why do we need integrated control systems for food safety and food fraud?
Two of the biggest (global) food fraud scandals have occurred within the last 10 years. The
melamine scandal in China in 2008, resulted in the hospitalisation of more than 300,000
children, and the death of at least six infants. The horse-meat scandal in Europe in 2013
resulted in the eradication of certain brands (e.g. FINDUS) in some regions. This scandal was
not really about safety (although a specific veterinary drug used for horses is not acceptable in
food).
At a Meeting in Singapore in 2016, the INFOSAN (WHO/FAO International Food Safety
Authorities Network) suggested that food fraud issues be dealt with within existing food safety
systems. This is crucial because some fraud cases clearly link to safety (melamine), but also
because it is not always possible to immediately decide whether a contamination has a
random/natural cause or is in effect a case of fraud. There are examples (e.g. EU Food Fraud
Network) of the creation of separate reporting systems for food fraud incidents, but most
international developments are towards an integration of food safety and food fraud prevention
systems.
Terence Lau
Director, Innovation and
Technology Development,
HK PolyU, Hong Kong
Dr Terence Lau is the Director of Innovation and Technology
Development of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU).
He also serves as Adjunct Professor at the PolyU’s Department
of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, Convener of the
Food Safety Consortium, Founding Chair and currenlty Board
Member of the DISH Global Centre for Food Safety and Quality,
as well as Vice President of Hong Kong Food Safety Association.
Terence has 20 years of experience on development and
commercialization of innovative technological products
especially in the area of molecular diagnostics. He has been
serving a number of Governmental and organizational
committees such as Expert Committee on Antimicrobial
Resistance, Small and Medium Enterprise Committee,
Enterprise Support Scheme of HKSAR Government and also
National Committee on Biometrology of China. He is appointed
Senior Advisor of a food safety project in China led by the United
Nations Office for Project Services, Advisor of Infectious Disease
Centre of Peking University, Adjunct Investigator of Jilin
Academy of Agricultural Science. Terence has co‐authored a
number of peer‐reviewed scientific articles and is the co‐inventor
of over 60 patents. He has also co‐developed 5 Chinese National
Standards. Dr Lau is the recipient of Beijing Municipal
Technology Award and Chinese Medical and Technological
Award.
Addressing Emerging Food Safety Challenges through Multidisciplinary Research and
Innovation
Academia and research institutes often house the most cutting-edge research and is often
where innovative ideas are ignited. In identifying breakthroughs to address emerging food
safety challenges, a holistic mindset and an environment conducive to the integration of global
trends and needs, domain knowledge, innovative technologies such as genomics, IoT, big data,
block chain, artificial intelligence, etc., regulatory considerations, enhanced consumer trust and
other factors are indispensable to enhance food safety and quality for the global community.
For the academia to cope with shifting research landscapes in food safety, more collaborative
projects encompassing different technology areas are in place, and universities are
establishing central facilities which support research in various disciplines, thus changing from
the traditionally more vertical to integrated approach in facilitating academic research to suit
societal needs. This is especially important in dealing with food safety and food fraud issues
owing to the scale and complexity of our food supply chain, and the immense social and
economic cost arising from these issues. Ensuring comprehensive considerations, effective
integration of the most cutting edge technologies from relevant fields will contribute towards
safe and authentic food.
Michael Strano
Professor, MIT, USA
Professor Michael S. Strano is currently the Carbon P. Dubbs
Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received is B.S from
Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, NY and Ph.D. from the
University of Delaware both in Chemical Engineering. He was a
post doctoral research fellow at Rice University in the
departments of Chemistry and Physics under the guidance of
Nobel Laureate Richard E. Smalley. From 2003 to 2007, Michael
was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign before moving to MIT. His research focuses on
biomolecule/nanoparticle interactions and the surface chemistry
of low dimensional systems, nano-electronics, nanoparticle
separations, and applications of vibrational spectroscopy to
nanotechnology.
Michael is the recipient of numerous awards for his work,
including a 2005 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists
and Engineers, a 2006 Beckman Young Investigator Award, the
2006 Coblentz Award for Molecular Spectroscopy, the Unilever
Award from the American Chemical Society in 2007 for
excellence in colloidal science, and the 2008 Young Investigator
Award from the Materials Research Society and the 2008 Allen
P. Colburn Award from the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers. From 2014 to 2015 he served as member of the
Defense Science Study Group, and is currently an editor for the
journals Carbon and Protocols in Chemical Biology. Michael was
elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2017.
Nanosensor Technology and Food Security
To be provided.
Anders Dalsgaard
Professor, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark
Anders Dalsgaard is a Professor in Veterinary Public Health at the
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of
Copenhagen. He studied foodborne bacterial pathogens in
shrimp culture in southern Thailand in the early 1990’ies for his
PhD and has since then conducted a number of food safety
studies in Asian countries with a particular focus on aquaculture,
e.g. in Vietnam and China. He has been a member of several
FAO-WHO expert groups on food safety hazards. He is the author
of more than 225 articles published in international peer-reviewed
journals and has supervised 15 Asian PhD students.
Antimicrobial Use in Asian Aquaculture: Food Safety Aspects and Challenges Faced at
Export Markets
Global seafood provides almost 20% of all animal protein in diets, and aquaculture is the fastest
growing food sector worldwide with Asian countries being main producers, consumers and
exporters. The rapid expansion of Asian aquaculture has been achieved through intensification
of existing farming systems with high disease risks. Thus antimicrobials often of inferior quality
are widely used (AMU). This may compromise treatment of bacterial diseases, cause
antimicrobial residues in consumed products and human health risks, e.g. allergic reactions.
Reported incidences of antimicrobial residues in imported aquaculture products show that
some countries, e.g. Vietnam, experience more cases of residue findings as compared to more
mature and innovative aquaculture countries, e.g. Thailand. AMU may also increase risks of
transferring resistant zoonotic bacterial pathogens and resistance (AMR) genes to humans. In
contrast to other meat products however, fish and shrimp products are repeatedly exposed to
water during processing with a likely major change in the original bacterial flora. Thus, AMR in
such products is unlikely to originate from aquaculture environments and it is unknown to what
extent aquaculture may contribute to the human health AMR problems. Suitable routine
indicators and measurements of AMR in seafood are needed as traditional indicators of AMR,
i.e. E. coli and enterococci, are not part of the normal bacterial flora in aquaculture.
Comprehensive databases, knowledge and mitigation of drivers of AMU and AMR in Asian
aquaculture are needed as are genomic approaches to assess transfer and contribution of
AMR from aquaculture to humans. There are signs that AMU has damaged the brand and
reputation of Asian aquaculture and immediate actions are needed.
Peiying Chuan
Deputy Director,
Innovations in Food &
Chemical Safety
Programme, ASTAR,
Singapore
Dr Chuan Peiying is Deputy Director of the Innovations in Food
and Chemical Safety (IFCS) Programme at Singapore’s Agency
for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). The
Programme’s remit is to develop novel methods and approaches
to assess the safety and toxicity of chemicals, particularly those
to be introduced to market. Particular emphasis is given to
building 21st century risk assessment strategies which both
minimise the use of animals and increase human relevance and
accuracy of risk predictions, as well as their acceptance and
application by industry and competent authorities.
Peiying graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BSc
in Bioengineering, after which she went on to pursue her PhD in
Biochemistry at Stanford University. She spent 2 years as a
postdoctoral fellow at the Microfluidics Systems Biology
laboratory at A*STAR’s Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology. In
2012, she joined A*STAR Headquarters and has rotated through
divisions including the Biomedical Research Council and the Joint
Council Office. With the Food & Consumer cluster under the
Biomedical Research Council, and was responsible for seeding
and nurturing A*STAR’s efforts in the safety sciences. Peiying has
been Deputy Director with the IFCS Programme since its
establishment in 2018.
Non-animal alternative methods: Their development and potential applications in food
safety
The A*STAR Innovations in Food and Chemical Safety (IFCS) Programme takes a multi-
disciplinary approach to help advance the science of chemical risk assessment with fit-for-
purpose non-animal tools. Working closely with industry and regulators, both local and
international, we look to develop, validate, and accelerate the adoption of novel approaches for
predictive toxicology, and improve food and chemical safety frameworks.
This presentation will discuss current issues and opportunities in food safety assessment, as
well as provide a brief overview of research initiatives that are being undertaken by the A*STAR
IFCS Programme, a number of which are in collaboration with industry and regulatory bodies.
In order to improve health risk assessment of food products, it is important to increase our
knowledge of the mechanisms behind the toxic effects of compounds, as well as of actual
exposure levels. Sensory irritation and protein allergenicity are also of concern, as is the toxicity
of nanomaterials that are increasingly finding their way into the food chain. The in vitro and in
silico models being developed under the A*STAR IFCS Programme offer new opportunities for
us to fill these gaps in our knowledge.
Philip Demokritou
Associate Professor,
Harvard University,
USA
Dr Demokritou is currently the Director of two interdisciplinary
research centers at Harvard University: The NIH/NIEHS-funded
Nanosafety Research Center (www.hsph.harvard.edu/nanosafety)
and the Center for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology at
(www.hsph.harvard.edu/nano). He is also currently the co-director of
the Nanyang Technological University – Harvard T.H. Chan School of
Public Health Initiative for Sustainable Nanotechnology. He also
served as a co-PI of the Harvard- EPA PM Health Effect Center (1999-
2010, US EPA star grant) and participated in the development of
graduate level degree programs in the area of environmental health.
He served as PI, co-PI, or co-investigator on several grants funded by
NIH, EPA, NIOSH, NSF, USDA/NIFA, CPSC, and EU research
framework (FP7). He holds eight international/US patents and
inventions. He is a co-author of two books, numerous book chapters,
and more than 125 articles in leading journals in nanoscience, particle
health effect, and aerosol engineering fields. Dr Demokritou’s
innovative research was highlighted in major mainstream media and
online magazines, including articles published in the Economist,
NanoWerk, Chemistry World, The Scientist, ACS C&EN News, MIT
News, Harvard Gazette, and NPR news. Dr Demokritou is currently
an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and a
founding coeditor in chief of NanoImpact (Elsevier), a journal that
focuses on all aspects of nanosafety research.
Engineered Water Nanostructures: A nanotechnology based antimicrobial platform
for food safety and beyond
The rapid expansion of nanotechnology is a powerful scientific and economic force. However,
how we balance the potential benefits of nanotechnology with the potential environmental
health and safety (EHS) hazards from new and often inadequately characterized materials
and products remains a challenge. Sustainable nanotechnology is an emerging field of
interdisciplinary research that focuses on the development of “green” and “safer-by-design,”
less toxic nanomaterials and technologies that can be used to tackle major societal challenges
in various fields including food safety and security. This seminar will present highlights from
the development of a ‘dry,’ green, nano-carrier platform for targeted and precision delivery of
nature-derived antimicrobials for food safety applications using engineered water
nanostructures (EWNS); (Note: This research was funded by the US National Institutes of
Health [NIH] and United States Department of Agriculture [USDA]).
Benjamin Smith
Director, Innovations in
Food & Chemical Safety
Programme, ASTAR,
Singapore
Ben Smith is the newly appointed Director for the Food and
Chemical Safety Programme at the Agency for Science,
Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore’s lead
government agency for innovation. He joins A*STAR from the
specialty ingredients industry where he was Vice President of the
Toxicology & Scientific Services group for the Swiss flavour and
fragrance company Firmenich S.A. In this role, he acted as
Firmenich’s chief safety scientist and headed a team responsible
for the safety assessment of new ingredients and technologies.
Initially trained as a toxicologist and chemist he started his
studies in environmental toxicology before switching his focus to
applied toxicology. Nowadays his research efforts are focused on
developing and improving safety and risk assessment methods
for chemicals. He is particularly interested in the integration of
non-animal testing methods into the safety assessment approach
for food and consumer product ingredients (both screening and
in silico techniques), better understanding of the role of
thresholds for genotoxic substances in food and the improvement
of flavor and food additive intake models.
Nicola Kerslake
Founder, Newbean Capital
& Contain Inc and Co-
Founder Contain Inc, USA
Nicola is the founder of Newbean Capital, a registered
investment adviser that manages early stage venture capital
mandates, such as, the Battle Born Venture mandate which
invests in early stage Nevadan companies on behalf of the US
Treasury. She has substantial interests in indoor agriculture, as
the founder of Contain Inc., an alternate finance business
dedicated to indoor growers. It works with leading equipment
suppliers to arrange lease finance, and – through leading
regional broker InterWest Insurance - insurance.
Previously, she founded Indoor Ag-Con, the premier event
business in the space, focusing on crop-agnostic technology for
growing hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic systems in
warehouses, containers and greenhouses. As part of this
endeavour, she has authored ten white papers on the industry
that have been downloaded more than 10,000 times and have
been quoted in SEC filings. Newbean Capital disposed of Indoor
Ag-Con to three leading event industry professionals in
December 2018, marking one of the few successful exits in the
young indoor agriculture industry.
Nicola has spent more than 20 years in real assets investments
in Europe, Asia and the US. After spending time as a rated equity
analyst at ABN Amro Hoare Govett in London, she led a team of
equity analysts in Asia, achieving top 3 ratings in independent
analyst rankings. In the US, she has managed hedge fund
portfolios at a subsidiary of the Monitor Group and established
and managed private equity and real asset platforms for asset
management major SEI Investments. Her coverage sectors have
included traditional and renewable energy, chemicals, water,
agriculture, farmland, and forestland.
A graduate with honors of Magdalen College, Oxford, where she
studied politics, philosophy and economics, Nicola also holds
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative
Investment Analyst (CAIA) qualifications. Her work has been
featured in leading financial media, including the Wall Street
Journal and Financial Times.
More info:
Newbean Capital; newbeancapital.com
Indoor Ag-Con; indoor.ag
Contain Inc; contain.ag
Trevor C. Charles
Professor, Department of
Biology, University of
Waterloo, Canada
Trevor Charles, Ph.D., is co-founder and CSO of the company
Metagenom Bio, which applies metagenomic and microbiome
analysis to agricultural and environmental challenges. He is a
bacterial geneticist with a research program in plant-microbe
interactions, functional metagenomics, and bacterial genome
engineering for bioproducts. Following B.Sc. Microbiology at
University of British Columbia, he obtained his Ph.D. in Turlough
Finan’s lab at McMaster University (symbiotic nitrogen fixation)
and did postdoctoral work in Gene Nester’s lab at University of
Washington (Agrobacterium). He held a faculty position at McGill
University before moving to his current position at University of
Waterloo in 1998, where he is director of Waterloo Centre for
Microbial Research.
Joep Klein Staarman
CEO, Barramundi Asia,
Singapore
Joep is co-founder of Barramundi Asia. He has more than 30
years experience in aquaculture, with extensive knowledge of the
Asian Market. He specialises in establishing greenfield farms and
expanding them into new markets. He was the MD of Marine
Harvest Asia Pacific, where he managed the farms in Japan
(yellowtail) and Australia (Barramundi). Under Joep, Marine
Harvest Salmon sales reached 60,000 tons per year across Asia.
Joep was also the MD of Nutreco Japan, which he built from
scratch to become the 3rd largest fish feed player in Japan. Joep
is a graduate of Groningen University (BSc) and Wageningen
University (Msc) in the Netherlands.
Barramundi farming in a changing environment
Our world is going to change dramatically in the coming 3 decades.
Tropical seawater aquaculture is one of the promising routes for our food production in the an
age of global warming and fast increasing population
What R&D is needed to facilitate this?
Deepak Raghothaman
Science Manager, Ferrero
Asia Pacific, Singapore
Deepak Raghothaman is part of Ferrero’s Global Open
Innovation Science team since Jan 2017, leading Biotech and
Agriscience activities in Asia Pacific based out of Singapore
Innovation Centre. Prior to this, he was a Scientist at A*STAR,
working on stem cell bioprocessing and holds a PhD in
regenerative medicine from the School of Medicine, NUS,
Singapore.
Improving traceability and sustainable sourcing of key raw materials
Ferrero is an Italian sweet packaged food company specializing in confectionery with flagship
products such as Nutella, Kinder, Ferrero Rocher, Tic Tac, among others. Product freshness
and high quality, careful selection of raw materials, sustainable agricultural practices and
continuous research and innovation are some of the key elements of Ferrero’s success. Ferrero
Open Innovation Science team has global presence and Singapore hub holds a strategic focus
on APAC to build our partner ecosystem from early stage scientific discovery to scalable
industrial solutions. This talk will highlight Agriculture-related innovation focus and challenges
in developing new technology and supply chain partnerships to improve quality, traceability,
sustainable sourcing of key raw materials.
Dan LI
Assistant Professor, NUS,
Singapore
Dr Li Dan is an Assistant Professor in Food Science and
Technology at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She
obtained her Ph.D. in Applied Biological Science from Ghent
University, Belgium in 2012. Her research interests include
detection and mitigation of foodborne viruses, microbial safety of
urban agriculture systems, rapid detection of foodborne
pathogens and novel antimicrobial strategies
Microbial safety of urban farming
Urban agriculture systems have become more and more popular due to the shortage of farming
lands in many regions around the world including Singapore. Many fresh produce, especially
leafy green vegetables, are highly perishable and therefore local production is highly
appreciated in order to guarantee the freshness.
Fresh produce are known to harbor high microbial loads in general and have been identified
as an important vehicle for the transmission of foodborne pathogens. Traditionally, wildlife,
livestock, human activity, topography and climate, flooding, seed and crop selection, and prior
land use are influencing factors of microbial contamination of fresh produce. With the use of
urban agricultural systems, many factors can be completely or partially avoided such as wildlife,
livestock, flooding, etc. However, new possible microbial risks can be introduced due to, for
instance, closed-loop irrigation systems. Currently, there are still many unknown aspects
regarding the microbial safety of fresh produce, especially with the use of the urban agricultural
production systems.
Mary Chan
Professor, NTU, Singapore
Prof Chan obtained her BEng (Chem) and PhD (polymers) from
the National University of Singapore and MIT in 1986 and 1993
respectively. She is presently a professor at the School of
Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the Nanyang
Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore). Her main
research interests are in polymers in nanoscience and
biotechnology. She has published extensively, with more than
180 papers in top-tier journals such as Nature Materials,
Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, JACS,
Small, Biomaterials, etc. She has been the PI and co-PI of several
major projects. From 2008-2013, she was the lead PI of a multi-
PI Competitive Research Program on Manufacturability of
Carbon- Nanotube Printed Electronics ($10M). This research
develops a highly novel method of sorting single-walled carbon
nanotubes that is scalable and produces high purity and yield.
Professor Mary Chan contributes actively to the industry and sits
on a number of committees and boards.
Disinfection and bacterial treatments with cationic safe agents
To be provided.
iFood2019 Abstracts and Bios
iFood2019 website