Page 6 - Impact - Spring 2021

IASB TEAM MEMBERS (L TO R): MILENA SAQUI-SALCES, GERALD SHURSON, ANDRES GOMEZ, PEDRO URRIOLA, CHRIS FAULK, CHI CHEN.
PROPOSING A “RETOAST” TO
LESS FOOD WASTE
A team of food science and nutrition students with a passion to eliminate food waste has developed an innovative, award- winning cookie snack called ReToast. Made
with 30 percent upcycled
ingredients from various
food waste products, it
includes bread scraps and brewers spent grain, a brewing industry byproduct.
These various wastes are used in the ReToast flour mix, which contains toasted bread scraps flour, spent grain flour and spent Kernza® flour. The product comes in recyclable packaging.
The team, led by PhD student Radhika Bharathi, was inspired to create a snack that is better for people and the planet, as about
40 percent of food produced in the U.S. gets wasted. Bread is the most eaten and ironically the most wasted food product, so the team wanted to promote sustainability by giving it a second chance.
“We collected leftover bread scraps from local bakeries and developed a self-curated quality process to make sure it is safe
and ready for use as a functional, nutritive ingredient for baking. I wanted to incorporate Kernza®, because it fits the theme of using sustainably sourced ingredients,” said Radhika.
Kernza® is a perennial grain crop with the potential to fight climate change. Radhika’s research includes strategies to improve the functionality and end-use characteristics of Kernza® flour.
In the creation of ReToast, Radhika emphasizes the importance of applying technical skills learned in the classroom to solving real-world problems. “Only then can we move toward making a positive change in society,” she said.
The team hopes to commercialize ReToast in the near future.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE INTERACTIONS
What happens when scientists in gastrointestinal physiology, metabolomics, microbiomics, functional genomics, and animal nutrition get together? You find real-world solutions to complex animal production challenges.
At the heart of these discoveries is the Integrated Animal Systems Biology (IASB) team at CFANS. With state-of-the art analytical methods in systems biology, IASB uses molecular biology, bioinformatics and data mining to uncover new information that can improve nutrition and management in commercial animal production systems.
“We’re using science to lead the way to a more sustainable future,” said Gerald Shurson, professor of swine nutrition in the CFANS Department of Animal Science and IASB team member. “We use different disciplines and platforms to break apart the biological responses occurring in the whole animal, then we bring the data together,” he said.
By integrating information from micro to macro levels, IASB defines cause and effect relationships that show how nutrients, feed additives, animal hygiene and environmental conditions are involved in improving animal productivity, efficiency and health.
“We’re taking animal science in a new direction by looking at the physiological, biochemical, gene expression and immunological pathways and processes involved in the interaction between an animal’s intestinal tract and the components of feed ingredients or additives in a holistic way,” said Shurson.
With its unique combination of molecular analytics and integration of data mined from a wide variety of sources, the team can
form a comprehensive assessment of animal performance and efficiency. “When we make a change in one area, we can see the different responses happening in the animal and note how they’re changing,” said Shurson. “We’re discovering why things happen the way they do, and that’s what our industry partners are looking for to improve production.”
CINNAMON SPICE FLAVORED RETOAST