Solving Problems Through Research
What We Offer: Food, Nutrition, and Health
Virginia Tech agriculture, veterinary medicine, and human nutrition, food and exercise scientists conduct research that spans the continuum from producer to consumer. The result is practical solutions for safely producing, processing, and distributing nutritious foods and new knowledge about human and animal health. Researchers in psychology and engineering also address issues of health, such as encouraging healthy behavior.
The Center for Research in Health Behavior is a leader in developing preventive intervention strategies for helping people initiate and sustain critical health behavior changes. Research has focused on cancer and heart disease risk reduction and HIV risk reduction. Sponsors are the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.
Other faculty members, groups, and labs doing research related to food, nutrition, and health:
Center for Applied Behavior Systems
Department of Food science and Technology
Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise
Food Analysis Laboratory Control Center
Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics Center
Longer shelf life for cheese
Problem: Shredded cheeses can spoil before they can be consumed.
Solution: Improve packaging.
Virginia Tech faculty members in food science and technology conducted research to define the packaging and processing conditions needed to provide the longest shelf life possible. Research focused on the use of Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP), but also examined the use of approved food additives to control mold spoilage.
The resulting recommendations were adopted by the U.S. cheese industry and have markedly decreased the spoilage rate of cheeses.