The International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST) at the IUFoST World Congress, Shanghai, October 2008.

At the meeting of the Governing Council that preceded the Congress, the IAFoST Report for 2006-2008 was received and accepted.

On the morning of Sunday, 19 October, the IAFoST Executive Council met, including the incoming new Councillor, Prof Delia Rodriguez Amaya (Brazil). Arrangements for activities during the Congress were reviewed, and tasks for the future were considered, including updating the Executive Council and Fellows listservs, and updating the Fellows database.

At the World Congress Opening Ceremony on Monday, 20 October, the International Academy Fellows present and their partners were seated together in reserved seats at the front, and were recognised. Immediately following the opening addresses, the new Fellows of the International Academy who had previously been elected by postal ballot, to join the existing 120, were publicly inducted into the Academy by the President, Prof J Ralph Blanchfield. The 16 who attended were presented with their Certificates and the names of the 9 unable to be present were announced and would be sent their Certificates by post.

On Wednesday, 22 October, a joint Symposium of IAFoST with the French Academy of Technology and the Chinese Academy of Engineering was co-chaired by Prof J Ralph Blanchfield and Dr Junshi Chen (National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Entitled “Vision on the future ¡V Impacts of science and technology advances on the food chain on 2030”, the purpose of the symposium was to identify and discuss how the food chain (farm production, industrial manufacture, retail distribution, consumer behaviour) could be possibly influenced during the next 22 years by scientific and technological breakthroughs (biotechnology, nanotechnology, information and communication technology). The symposium was opened by Dr Pierre Feillet and closed by Prof J Ralph Blanchfield. Papers were given by IAFoST Fellows, Prof Sakarindr Bhumiratana, Prof Vic Morris, Dr Dennis Heldman and Dr V Prakash. A paper on Healthy Food was given by Dr Junshi Chen.

On the morning of Thursday, 23 October, following the Distinguished Lecture by Prof M S Swaminathan, the President presented him with his Academy Fellows Certificate.

The 5th Meeting and Luncheon of Fellows took place on Thursday, 23 October. Outgoing President, J Ralph Blanchfield, presented his Report. The new Fellows attending were presented with their Fellow lapel pins.

The outgoing President then invested the incoming President, Dr V Prakash, with the Presidents Jewel and lapel pin, and was in turn presented with a Past Presidents lapel pin.

For the International Academy Executive Council 2008-2010, the previous President Elect, Dr Vishweshwariah Prakash (India), automatically succeeds as President, and Prof J Ralph Blanchfield becomes Immediate Past President. As a result of election by the Fellows earlier in the year, Prof Daryl Lund (USA) becomes President Elect. The two additional elected members of the Academy Executive Council are Prof Dr-Ing Walter Spiess (Germany) (re-elected for a second term) and Prof Delia Rodriguez Amaya (Brazil). Ms Judith Meech is Secretary General to the International Academy.

The Executive Council meets face-to-face during World Congresses but business is progressed by listserv and telephone conference calls.

At the IUFoST General Assembly on 23 October the outgoing IAFoST President presented the IAFoST Report for 2006-2008. A copy of the Report can be accessed at http://www.iufost.org/international_academy/

J Ralph Blanchfield.

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