Targeting food safety and health benefits, npj Science of Food announced in China
Beijing | 30 June 2016
Food is a basic necessity of life, yet many common concerns about food safety, food processing, loss of nutrients, and food additives require further exploration. To shed new light on research in this field, Nature Research, part of Springer Nature, today announces an agreement with Beijing Technology and Business University and the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) to co-publish the high-impact, open access journal npj Science of Food.
The journal aims to publish high quality, peer-reviewed original papers, opinions and commentaries to enhance research and understanding of the properties of food, natural or processed, and how processing influences its biological functions.
Food science and technology is a fast growing field that attracts scientists and engineers from many different disciplines to study the mechanism underlying how food processing, additives and nutritional value interact to influence the health of consumers.
“Such an open access platform for high-impact research will enable us to expand the frontiers of food science by bridging food and nutrition sciences with biological and medical sciences, and also bridging basic chemical approaches with the complexity of food,” said Dr. Pingfan Rao, fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology. “Going beyond conventional aspects of food science, the journal will provide novel perspectives and multidisciplinary, cross-boundary information appealing to the food science and nutrition communities, policy & regulation makers and eventually the general public.”
Nick Campbell, Director of Nature Research for Greater China and Executive Editor of Nature, said: “There’s an old saying in China that ‘Food is the first necessity of the people’. So we are delighted to launch this Nature Partner Journal with our international partners with the aim of publishing high quality research that will help promote safe, healthy and nutritious food.”
npj Science of Food will cover a wide range of topics, including physiochemical changes and interactions between food ingredients during processing, eating and digestion; interactions between food and various digestive tract elements; physiological mechanisms of body responses to foods; food and stress, inflammation and metabolic syndrome; food policy and food safety; security and sustainability of the food industry.
Dr. Pingfan Rao, former President of IUFoST and the current Vice President of the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, will be co-editor-in-chief for the new journal. Dr. Rao is also a professor at Zhejiang Gongshang University and an internationally active scientist in the field of food and biotechnology, being a fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology and an advisor to municipal and provincial governments. He received his B.Eng. in food technology from Fuzhou University, M.Sc. in food science from Hiroshima University and Ph.D. in biochemistry from Osaka University.
Dr. Sharon Shoemaker, founding executive director of the California Institute of Food and Agricultural Research in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis will also serve as co-editor-in-chief. Dr. Shoemaker has a long history of developing international collaborations and technologies along the food, agriculture and health value chain. She has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Nutrition from Virginia Polytechnic and State University.
Prof. Baoguo Sun, President of Beijing Technology and Business University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, will be founding editor-in-chief for the new journal. Prof. Sun also serves as Vice President of the China National Light Industry Council, the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, the China Association of Nutrition and Healthy Food, the China Association of Fragrance Flavor and Cosmetic Industries, and the China Food Additives and Ingredients Association. He received his B.Eng. and M.Sc. from Beijing Technology and Business University, and Ph.D. from Tsinghua University.
npj Science of Food will open for submissions in July 2016. More information on the Nature Partner Journal programme can be found here.
ENDS
For more information contact:
Zhang Li
Senior Corporate Communications Manager, Greater China
T: +86 21 2422 5047
E: li.zhang@macmillan.com
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Beijing Technology and Business University (BTBU) is a key state-run university with comprehensive disciplines covering Arts, Sciences, Engineering, Law, Economics, History, Philosophy and Management. Under the university there are 9 schools, 1 department (Research Institute) and 1 education center, within which 43 undergraduate majors, 35 postgraduate majors, 2 master degree programs and some joint doctoral programs are offered. At present, BTBU has over 800 full-time faculty members and more than 15,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students on its campus. www.btbu.edu.cn
The International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST), a country-membership organisation is the global voice of food science and technology. It is a voluntary, non-profit federation of national food science organisations linking the world's food scientists and technologists. IUFoST aims to strengthen food science and technology's role in helping secure the world's food supply and eliminate world hunger by delivering programs such as distance education, workshops and integrated food systems targeted to these needs. www.iufost.org
