The Food Processing Suppliers Association (FPSA), McLean, Va., has released the prepared foods portion of the PROCESS EXPO UNIVERSITY educational program taking place at Chicago’s McCormick Place from Nov. 3-6. Offered in collaboration with 10 of the top university food science programs in the U.S., these sessions will take place on the PROCESS EXPO show floor throughout the event. Attendance is free for all registered attendees.

PROCESS EXPO UNIVERSITY’s prepared foods track will feature speakers from the University of California, Davis; University of Idaho, Boise; University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Session topics include:

• “The Science of Diced Tomato Processing”
• “FSMA Made Practical: Managing Compliance for New Regulations”
• “Designing Safe Food Processes”
• “Food Allergen Control Strategies”
• “Tomato Paste Processing Short Course”
• “Homogenization and High-Pressure Homogenization: From Food Safety to Nanotechnology”
• “The Application of Food Chemistry to Improvements in Food Processing”
• “Use of Microbial Modeling for Risk Assessment of Processes Deviations”
• “Extrusion Processing for Food and Feed Applications”
• “FSMA Made Practical: Managing Preventive Controls Regulations in Potato Processing Operations”

“The PROCESS EXPO program really speaks to the needs of our customers,” says Tim O’Brien, chairman of FPSA’s Prepared Foods Council and vice president of sales at Urschel Laboratories Inc., Valparaiso, Ind. “These schools have active extension programs through which they work with a wide range of food processors, gaining a good idea of the issues that these businesses face on a regular basis. We have been able to incorporate these topics into the show’s program and provide attendees with the lessons they can use to help their business.”

“Prepared foods is by far the most diverse segment that PROCESS EXPO exhibitors market to,” says FPSA president and CEO David Seckman. “Their customers produce condiments, soups, fresh cut, frozen foods, dehydrated foods and a variety of other processes and yet their interests are fairly straightforward. They are continually looking for new and alternative methods of production, new ways to assure food safety and technologies that can help them achieve ever greater efficiencies in manufacturing. That’s what PROCESS EXPO UNIVERSITY was created for.”

PROCESS EXPO 2013 is co-located with the International Dairy Show and the North American Meat Association’s (NAMA) Outlook Conference. Registered attendees will have open access to all three events. To register and for more information on these sessions and others visit www.myprocessexpo.com.