URBANA, Ill. – Nicki Engeseth has been named head of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at University of Illinois.

During her 23-year career at the University of Illinois, Engeseth has successfully held several administrative positions, including serving as interim head of FSHN on two occasions. She teaches courses in food chemistry, and is a highly regarded researcher with an excellent record of publications and grant acquisition.

URBANA, Ill. – Interest in nutrition and diet choices that could prevent the development of cancer is not new. With recent diet trends, the question of carbohydrate nutrition and cancer risk has been of special interest.

While there is evidence of nutrition’s role in decreasing risk of developing certain kinds of cancers, research in the area of what cancer patients should eat in the period after diagnosis to improve their prognosis is limited, especially in regards to carbohydrate nutrition.

Article submitted by Emely Lopez, doctoral student and research assistant, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition

A recent ACES alumnus and former International Graduate Grant recipient recently returned to campus to share his experiences with aspiring food scientists, specifically how he led his team to create the world’s very first hemp coffee creamer.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study in mice suggests that consuming the chemical compounds found in thermally abused cooking oil may trigger genetic changes that promote the progression of late-stage breast cancer.

Thermally abused frying oil – cooking oil that has been repeatedly reheated to high temperatures – may act as a toxicological trigger that promotes tumor cell proliferation,  metastases and changes in lipid metabolism, scientists at the University of Illinois found. They reported their findings in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

URBANA, Ill. – Sharon Donovan, a professor of nutrition and the Melissa M. Noel Endowed Chair in Nutrition and Health at the University of Illinois, has been appointed to the USDA’s 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S.

URBANA, Ill. – You may not find it on the list of typical “superfoods,” but bioactive compounds found in the pigment of purple corn are showing potential to prevent or improve complications related to Type 2 diabetes.

Students in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois are learning hands-on about food systems, starting from seed improvement and soil science to commercial food processing, as well as bioprocessing technologies for industry, thanks to new facilities and renovations across the ACES campus.

Dennis Humberto Pinto Padilla, a M.S. student in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition advised by Dr. Nicki Engeseth, used funds from an ACES international graduate grant to find optimal conditions for producing chocolate in tropical regions.

Pinto’s research focuses on a problem that plagues tropical regions with chocolate – the temperature of storage is often too high, resulting in rapid bloom formation and melting. His goal is to find low-cost, low energy-requiring strategies for temperature stability and therefore better chocolate production in these regions.

Construction on the Food Science and Human Nutrition Pilot Processing Plant (FSHN-PPP), which began in May 2016, was completed earlier this spring. Although primary construction is complete, gifts to defray the cost of the construction are still needed.

The facility has undergone a $3-million transformation, with new HVAC, utility, and electrical systems; improved food safety considerations; and the addition of a product development kitchen, food analysis lab, conference space, and more.