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 and
2. Ultraviolet light for food and beverage preservation. Exploring the latest advancements and potential challenges
3. Megasonic treatments in food
4. Cold Plasma for food processing applications
5. Progress in radio frequency heating for food
6. Nanotechnology in food safety

SECTION II: Product development and food packaging
7. Edible insects as alternative food: nutrition, safety, sustainability
8. Development of novel ingredients using innovative
9. Novel techniques for food product and packaging prototyping and manufacturing: from blueprints to enhanced functionality
10. Edible films for food packaging and preservation
11. Potential use of microalgae and Amazonian fruit in electrospun nanofibers for the development of innovative food packaging
12. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as a tool to evaluate bioplastics as alternatives to petroleum-based plastics in the food industry

SECTION III: Industry and consumer
13. The entrepreneurial process for novel food products and packaging
14. From the leap innovation department to your table: the transfer of novel technologies to the food industry
15. Challenges and Innovations in High Pressure Processing Commercial Implementation
16. 3D printing: at the intersection of social acceptance, participatory research, and specific nutritional benefits