One Year. Multiple Impacts.

• Impacts & Highlights

  FAPC continued to deliver technical assistance, education and training, product development and business growth support for the food and value-added agricultural industries in Oklahoma in 2018. It did so with an effective outreach program to food and agribusinesses in 67 communities and 39 counties across Oklahoma.

   

  FAPC serves as a catalyst for Oklahoma businesses, and in 2018, FAPC assisted large, medium, small and entrepreneurial businesses, having an impact of more than $120 million in sales.

   

  The year was busy, and FAPC successfully contributed to the economic well-being of the food and agribusiness industries of Oklahoma in 2018.

• Year in Review
  • Client Projects - 170
  • Research Articles - 35
  • Invited Presentations - 16
  • Patent Actions - 1
  • Education and Training Events - 77
  • Education and Training Attendees - 1,894
  • Tours - 231
  • Visitors - 1,378
  • Process Authority Letters Issued - 73
  • Nutrition Label Sets Issued - 58
  • Granted Research Funding - $2.2 million
  • Food Safety Activities - 291
  • Livestock Harvested and Processed - 564
  • Media & Communications Activities - 431
• Donors

  FAPC established a Foundation Focus Program to enable the center to accomplish its mission with increased financial support from private donors. Because of this public- private partnership, FAPC is able to focus on delivering even greater economic impact to Oklahoma as it continues to serve the state’s value-added agricultural industry. FAPC would like to recognize the following 2018 donors:

   

  • Amundsen Kitchen
  • Dani Bellmer
  • Birko Corporation
  • BlendTech
  • Tim Bowser
  • Jim Brooks
  • Terra Brown
  • College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources
  • Creekstone Farms
  • Guadalupe Davila-El Rassi
  • Decon7 Systems
  • Nurhan Dunford
  • Roy Escoubas
  • Robert and Delores Gilliland
  • Andrea Graves
  • Griffin Foods
  • Mandy Gross
  • Rodney Holcomb
  • David Howard/Howard Enterprises, LLC
  • Joyce Hufford
  • IFT-Oklahoma
  • Divya Jaroni
  • Erin Johnson
  • La Tanja Johnson
  • Sheary Johnson
  • Jones-Hamilton Co.
  • Pal Kalyanaraman
  • KiZE Concepts
  • Tommy Kramer
  • Angie Lathrop
  • Log10 LLC
  • Fred and Amy Lindeman
  • Lopez Foods
  • Tony Mata
  • Christie McComas
  • William McGlynn

  • Jake & Reneé Nelson
  • Riley Pigeon
  • Premier Capital Partners, LLC
  • Patricia Rayas-Duarte
  • Riata Center for Entrepreneurship
  • S&D Coffee & Tea
  • Dennis and Candace Slagell
  • Shayma Al Sharqi
  • Karen Smith
  • Stillwater Centennial Rotary Club
  • Stillwater Chamber of Commerce
  • Stormberg Foods
  • Triple-S Farms
  • Unitherm Food Systems
  • US Roasters
  • Value Added Products
  • Derek and Brenita Walker
  • Chuck and Susan Willoughby
• Giving Back

  FAPC takes an active role in helping with community efforts such as the annual United Way of Payne County Campaign and food donations to the Oklahoma Regional Food Bank. In 2018, FAPC raised more than $5,000 for the United Way of Payne County through fundraising events and employee payroll deduction. FAPC also provided 1,032 pounds of meats and other food products to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma in 2018.

Featured Research

• ‘Meating’ the needs of small processors

  Oklahoma State University has had a rich relationship with the Oklahoma-Texas Meat Processors Association since its formation in 1956. Traditionally, OSU’s Department of Animal and Food Sciences provided technical expertise and support to the members of the organization, which was founded by the late Robert Henrickson, former faculty member of the department. OTMPA is comprised of small- to medium-sized food processing companies based in Oklahoma, Texas and surrounding states. Although relatively small in size, these companies are progressive and willing to adopt new techniques that aid in the production of meat products. OTMPA also is a charter member of the American Association of Meat Processors.

   

  After FAPC opened in 1997, the opportunity to provide a venue to OTMPA for its annual convention became apparent. The convention, held each year in June, devotes much of its time to educational activities that directly affect processors. Hosting the convention on campus provides for a synergistic utilization of expertise from the Department of Animal and Food Sciences and FAPC. Also, it provides a facility for seminar sessions and the Cured Meats Competition, as well as processing rooms for hands-on learning of new technologies or sharing tricks of the trade.

   

  FAPC has been the site for the annual convention 19 times. The latest convention was held at FAPC June 8-10, 2018, and featured alternative bacon-processing techniques from a member processor, as well as regulatory and industry updates from representatives of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food & Forestry and AAMP, respectively. Being able to utilize FAPC for the convention not only provides an ideal venue for the convention’s educational and judging activities, but it also saves OTMPA thousands of dollars. FAPC, an associate member of OTMPA, provided venue, expertise and student labor for only a third of its costs.

   

  FAPC looks forward to future conventions to come, but more importantly, is a ready source for these processors and associate members year-round. Hosting the convention is a small example of how FAPC can assist the value-added meat industry. The working relationships with its members is where FAPC best adds value to Oklahoma.

• Assisting an Oklahoma food manufacturer with a novel idea

  For years, many food manufacturers in Oklahoma have used a traditional style glass bottle when filling barbecue sauce and similar products. Glass is inexpensive and holds up to the high temperatures of a hot-fill pasteurization process. The downside to glass is it can break and chip during manufacturing and shipping. Glass also can add significant weight to the product, which is more expensive to ship. These problems pose a challenge for any food manufacturer’s bottom line.

   

  Plastic bottles can be a good alternative to glass. However, it is challenging to find a plastic bottle that can withstand the temperatures of a hot fill. The hot-fill process can cause deformation, also known as paneling, which leads to labeling challenges. After being filled with hot product, the walls of the plastic bottle can bow inward, causing the packaging to become unbalanced and look unappealing, even though the quality and safety of the product is intact.

   

  Head Country Inc., located in Ponca City, Oklahoma, developed the novel idea of using liquid nitrogen in filled bottles of barbecue sauce. This is the same process first used by the drinking water industry to keep flimsy plastic bottles of water from losing their shape. Liquid nitrogen is dosed into the bottle to pressurize it, which helps it maintain its shape and withstand stacking. Head Country worked with FAPC to determine the optimal dosage of liquid nitrogen that should be injected into the filled bottles. The result was a hot-filled bottle that kept its shape and looked good. The nitrogen had the added benefit of displacing oxygen, which helped maintain the color of the barbecue sauce over time.

   

  After determining the optimal dosage of nitrogen and working it into its current processing line, Head Country launched the products into the market in the new plastic packaging. As a result, Head Country reported savings of more than $1 million during the first year in freight and packaging costs, as well as a significant reduction in safety risk when working with glass compared to plastic. In addition, the project was featured as part of OSU graduate student Praveen Yerramsetti’s doctoral thesis titled, “Effect of Liquid Nitrogen Packaging and Formulation Concepts in Acid Foods.” Yerramsetti is the quality assurance manager for Head Country.

   

  FAPC plans to assist other food companies adopt this technology when they are ready to move from glass to plastic packaging.

• Supporting companies from small to large

  FAPC’s mission is to assist the food industry in Oklahoma, and part of that mission is to find ways to add value to agricultural commodities produced within the state. Small farmers and entrepreneurs often have success at farmers markets and grocery stores by selling fresh produce, but they may be able to improve their profit margins by manufacturing value-added products. However, they may not have experience manufacturing large batches of products and need guidance to help them through the process.

   

  One of the most common ways FAPC assists entrepreneur clients is by helping them successfully manufacture jams, jellies and preserves from fruit they are growing on their farms. Although the clients make small batches of their product, FAPC helps scale up their production to make larger batches. Creating a consistent product often is difficult when producing larger batches for small producers.

   

  For a jam or jelly to set up properly, it needs to have the correct amount of sugar, acid and pectin. For example, in 2018, FAPC assisted an entrepreneurial client that was starting from fresh fruit rather than canned, so the amount of acid in the fruit was variable and could have changed based on different factors such as soil condition, season and degree of maturation. FAPC determined measuring the pH of the fruit and then adding citric acid, if necessary, would help improve the texture of the finished product. Additionally, measuring the amount of sugar in the fruit and adding more, if necessary, also would help keep the texture consistent.

   

  In addition to providing assistance to small farmers and entrepreneurs, FAPC helps larger companies that are looking to produce a new product or wanting to standardize their recipes before expanding their company’s current marketing. In 2018, FAPC has worked with larger manufacturing companies, such as Bar-S Foods, a Sigma Co.; Tillamook Smokers; Hershey; and Simmons Foods. FAPC’s pilot-processing facility is optimal for these companies to produce test batches on a smaller scale than what they can do in their own facilities. Also, product produced at FAPC is under inspection and can be introduced into test markets for consumer feedback.

   

  Meeting the needs of all sizes of companies is a vital part of product research and development, and FAPC prides itself in helping these local, regional and national companies. FAPC looks forward to continue to work with these various companies for years to come.

• Collaborating and innovating to ensure food safety

  Consumers in the food industry are yearning more now than ever for more transparency with food products, especially with processed meat products. A recent project allowed FAPC to partner with a large pre-packaged poultry producer and Marlen International, a global supplier of food processing equipment and unique processes, to validate a new process involving the sous vide cooking technique.

   

  Sous vide cooking is the process of sealing food in an airtight container, most generally a vacuum-sealed bag, then cooking that food in temperature-controlled water. Protein foods such as chicken will cook for elongated periods of time, slowly heating up until the entire piece of protein reaches the temperature of the water. Although the process takes significantly longer than other cooking methods, the sous vide technique produces a fully cooked dish, never overcooked.

   

  As the project began, the pre-packed poultry producer and Marlen International needed to cook and chill a pre-packaged chicken product with fine tolerance to temperature, giving them an advantage a current system could not give. With all cooking procedures, there are concerns for safety, which is where FAPC provided its expertise.

   

  FAPC researchers and a team of graduate students performed studies of the process examining the potential risk from Listeria, Salmonella and Clostridium botulinum. One procedure examined was the validation of natural nitrite to prevent spore germination after the cooking process in case of temperature abuse. Chemical nitrite is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a food preservative and must be listed on the ingredient label. However, USDA has designated nitrate found in vegetables and commercially fermented into nitrite as natural nitrite. Companies must label this form of nitrite on products as having No Added Preservatives, but they cannot call the product cured. Nitrite not only prevents Clostridium spore germination, but also assists in forming the pink- reddish coloration of cured meats.

   

  Like many food products in today’s industry, many packaged meat products travel long distances before making it to grocery store shelves and dinner tables, providing opportunities for temperature abuse. These anaerobic spores thrive and grow only in the absence of oxygen, making packaged meats under the distress of higher temperatures, a playground for growth. Since the spores are heat resistant, normal heating and cooking is not sufficient to inactivate the spores, so the sous vide technology in conjunction with natural nitrite creates a food-safe cooking environment.

   

  The research project, which validated and defined the addition of vegetable nitrite in the sous vide process, prevents spore germination under permissive conditions and produces a pre-packaged product for many to enjoy. Because of this research, Marlen can use the data collected to demonstrate validation of the sous vide product, and the pre-packaged poultry producer also is reassured its products are produced in a safe and efficient manner.

   

  Additional innovative research in food safety includes pre- and post-harvest food microbiology, lactic acid bacteria for use as competitive exclusion and food borne pathogens, particularly Escherichia coli O157:H7; Salmonella spp. and non O157 Shiga Toxin-producing E. coli; the use of plant extracts as antimicrobials against food pathogens in meat and fresh produce; and research to clean meat grinders without completely disassembling them by using an antimicrobial ice.

• Expanding opportunities for the Oklahoma wine industry

  New market opportunities for Oklahoma wineries began Oct. 1, 2018, as a result of passing State Question 792 in 2016. The new law allows small Oklahoma wineries (less than 15,000 gallons per year) to sell and ship their wines directly to licensed restaurants and/or retail stores and other outlets. The alcohol content of those wines also can now be up to 15 percent.

   

  One major challenge for smaller producers of wines is to create products that can compete on the basis of both price and quality with larger, established brands. This can be a particular challenge when wine quality scores depend on abstract wine appreciation ratings that are bestowed by professional wine tasters. One way to help establish more concrete quality parameters for a wine is to test some of its various chemical properties. Testing certainly cannot take the place of sensory analysis, but it can augment the testing and provide a foundation for sensory judgements.

   

  FAPC continues to offer a series of wine analyses, including pH, total acidity, tartaric acid, color density, color hue, total phenols, reducing sugars, free SO2, total SO2, percent alcohol and dissolved oxygen. In 2018, 23 wines were tested from a total of 13 wineries. FAPC’s goal is to continue to help Oklahoma winemakers create quality assessment programs that are more concrete and expansive by giving them in-state access to a range of testing that would be difficult for individual wineries to conduct.

   

  In addition to testing and evaluating the quality of their wines, FAPC helps Oklahoma wineries and potential winery owners examine their business viability and identify market opportunities. For example, FAPC provides a downloadable, spreadsheet-based winery feasibility template that can help current and prospective winemakers evaluate the potential financial impacts of producing a higher-alcohol wine and marketing those wine products to various outlets.

   

  Overall, FAPC remains committed to assisting the Oklahoma wine industry to produce high-quality wines, grow their market share, and provide consumers with enjoyable, affordable and locally produced wines.

• Creating a niche market with organic and 'heirloom' wheat

  Since the 1700s, the United States has been an exporter of grain and flour. In the mid-1800s, there were 25,000 flour mills in the U.S., and by the 1900s, the number decreased to 13,000. During the 1960s, development of hopper rail cars made it more economical to ship bulk wheat instead of bulk flour, which shifted flour mills to more populated areas. During that time, wheat breeders began focusing on developing high yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties that need low inputs. The varieties that didn’t meet the standards were not further developed through the breeding programs and are now considered “heirloom” wheat.

   

  A new kind of bakery is appearing across America producing a craft product. These bakeries are using heirloom wheat to create breads that take on surprising flavors. To introduce these different flavors and connections to the wheat of the past, craft bakeries are popping up around the country. The locally sourced grain gives consumers a connection to the farms that produce the wheat. As a way to compete against the growing gluten-free industry, many traditional bakeries began discovering the unique flavors provided from forgotten heirloom wheats and incorporating the resultant flours into their products. Also, the “locavore food movement” and the desire to know the “story” of where the food is coming from has led to niche grain/flour markets.

   

  FAPC has acknowledged this trend and is helping to meet the need of craft bakeries and consumers looking to grind their own flour. For example, FAPC is assisting farmers such as Bob Baker, located in Alva, Oklahoma. Baker has begun the process of converting 3,000 acres of his wheat production to organic certification and is selling hard red winter wheat berries under the 4 Generations Organic brand. In 2018, he produced 1,000 acres under organic certification and will add the remaining 2,000 acres during the next two years. He is filling a niche market that craft bakeries are wanting. 4 Generations Organic wheat and flour is not only selling a niche product but also giving the consumers the connection to the farm they are looking to obtain.

   

  Consumer interest in heirloom wheat has driven not only a change in bakery trends but also research of modern wheat versus ancient wheat. FAPC and OSU researchers are trying to determine if 100 years of genetic improvement changed the composition and other properties of wheat. This includes researching the elastic properties of gluten in modern and ancient wheat, as well as differences in sequence levels of amino acids known to elicit the toxic reaction of gluten in celiac patients. Using the heirloom varieties as the baseline quantifies changes in protein or gluten content and in dough properties across six sequential generations of breeding for increased yield in bread.

   

  Wheat of the past may open up opportunities for the future.

• Turning an ecological nuisance into ‘green’ furniture

  It is a well-known fact Eastern red cedar is an important ecological problem in Oklahoma. Manufacturing value-added particleboard panels from this nuisance resource using a “green” adhesive made from modified starch would provide a potential solution to reduce the negative impact of such an invasive species.

   

  With this in mind, FAPC conducted research to evaluate overlaying characteristics of particleboard panels made from Eastern red cedar using a modified starch-based adhesive. Particleboard panels are mostly used as substrate for thin overlays to manufactured cabinets and other furniture units. Their surface quality plays an important role regarding durability during the lifetime of the product. Irregularities of the surface may show through the overlay during fluctuation of the relative humidity due to the hygroscopic behavior of wood-based materials. Usually, surface roughness of the panels is visually evaluated before and after the overlaying process of thin papers. This technique of evaluation can lead to inaccurate results.

  For this research, a stylus method, which yields objective numerical information on roughness of an engineered surface, was employed to quantify the surface quality of the samples as a function of humidity exposure. Samples were overlaid with melamine- impregnated thin paper and conditioned in a chamber having 55 percent and 92 percent relative humidity levels.

   

  Two roughness parameters, namely average roughness and mean peak-to-valley height obtained from a stylus-type profilometer, were used to quantify the surface characteristics of the overlaid particleboard samples manufactured using the modified starch-based binder. Such quantitative information on the surface quality of the panels as a function of humidity level can be used as a quality control tool to enhance the overall service life of particleboard panels.

   

  Data from the findings of this work provide quantitative information regarding the surface quality of such “green” panels and, therefore, can lead to better efficient utilization of these products during their service life. This research provides for Eastern red cedar particleboard panels bound with modified starch to be a possible solution to controlling the spread of this invasive species.