School of Food and Agriculture

VillageSoup advances talk on health benefits of wild blueberries March 17

VillageSoup advanced a talk by Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, a professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Maine, about the health benefits of wild blueberries. The talk will be held at noon March 17 at Merryspring Nature Center in Rockport, and is part of the center’s Winter Talk series. Admission is $5 or free for Merryspring […]

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Dumas shares expertise on Maine’s Bicentennial Food Podcast

Rob Dumas, University of Maine food science innovation coordinator and manager of the Dr. Matthew Highlands Pilot Plant, was a guest on Maine’s Bicentennial Food Podcast. Cherie Scott, founder of the culinary blog “Mumbai to Maine,” hosts the podcast that dives into the state’s food story — past, present and future. It showcases creative and […]

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Calderwood talks with media about wild blueberries 

Lily Calderwood talked with WABI (Channel 5) and News Center Maine at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Wild Blueberry Conference on Saturday in Bangor. “This is a time for the university to share with growers all the research-based education that we do,” said the University of Maine wild blueberry specialist and assistant professor of […]

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WABI covers Camire’s potato research, taste tests 

WABI (Channel 5) talked with Mary Ellen Camire, professor of food science and human nutrition, about potato research and taste testing in the Pilot Plant’s Sensory Evaluation Center. “Some of the traditional varieties need more pesticides or fertilizer, or are more prone to disease, so these new varieties are more robust and they may taste […]

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MIRTA 3.0 teams complete two-day boot camp

Four faculty-led innovation teams are in the third cohort of the Maine Innovation, Research and Technology Accelerator (MIRTA). The teams recently completed an immersive two-day boot camp designed to introduce them to all aspects of the commercialization process. The teams are: Salty Spoon, a smart spoon that can enhance flavor, led by Nimesha Ranasinghe, UMaine […]

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Healthline speaks with Camire about organic produce

Healthline spoke with Mary Ellen Camire, a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Maine, for the article “Don’t let a fear of pesticides stop you from eating fruits and veggies.” Studies show that the amount of pesticides found on conventional produce is very small and lower today than in the […]

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Graduate School announces 2020–21 Waldron, Hunter, Chase awardees

Ten doctoral candidates will each receive one of three 2020–21 awards: the Janet Waldron Doctoral Research Fellowship, the Susan J. Hunter Teaching Assistantship, and the Chase Distinguished Research Assistantship. These awards will support the students in their research and professional development. Janet Waldron Doctoral Research Fellowship Shelby Helwig, Psychological Sciences Frankie St. Amand, Interdisciplinary Studies […]

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French fries

New potato varieties have lower levels of probable carcinogen

Mary Ellen Camire has some good news about french fries. Fries made with the new potato varieties AF4296‐3 and Easton have much lower levels of a probable carcinogen than those made with the popular Russet Burbank variety, says the University of Maine professor of food science and human nutrition. Acrylamide is a probable carcinogen in […]

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Yahoo! Entertainment talks with Skonberg about seaweed as food source

Denise Skonberg, University of Maine associate professor of food science, was an expert source for Yahoo! Entertainment about alternative protein sources to feed the estimated 10 billion people who will populate the planet by 2050. “Seaweeds don’t require fertilizers, don’t require feed, they don’t require fresh water and they don’t require land. So those are […]

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