The Nutter-Butter Professor

Dr. Aaron Brody is a food processing and packaging expert who has written several books and developed a number of products and patents. He's also an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia’s Department of Food Science and Technology, and President and CEO of Packaging/Brody Inc., a food industry consulting firm.

How did you enter the food industry?

While I was in school, I looked around and of the 20 courses offered, only one, called food technology, offered such a broad spectrum of disciplines: Chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, biology, thermodynamics, thermal engineering. Plus, as a child of the Depression, I knew everybody had to eat every day, so there would never be a Depression in the food industry. That’s a brilliant conclusion for 17-year old, huh?

Tell us about what you’re teaching.

I teach food packaging every fall at U.G.A. to undergraduates and graduates. I also teach food processing, food shelf life, food product development, essentials of food science and some marketing. And I teach at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, which has the largest food marketing department in the world.

What do you do in your consultancy role?

Anything and everything to do with food packaging, food technology, food marketing and food science. We do marketing and research studies, product analysis and development.  In every case, our objective is to increase microbiological safety and enhance quality.

Who are your clients?

That is proprietary. But they are major snack-food manufacturers, beverage manufacturers, equipment suppliers and packaging converters. And we’ve done a lot of work with the military and NASA.  

That sounds challenging. The astronauts going to Mars require reduced oxygen packaging. They want good quality food and something that links them to home. Domino’s isn’t going to deliver pizza. They demand it [good food]. They are not interested in concentrated pills. Food is not really nutrition; it is a social and psychological event. Remember when that Mercury astronaut had a corned-beef sandwich in his pocket?

How do you provide them with something they'll enjoy?

By developing methodologies and mechanisms to extend the quality shelf life of these products. Astronauts are 23 million miles from earth. They want mac and cheese like mama used to make.

What kinds of food are you working on for space travel?

We’re testing a bunch of stuff: ground beef casserole, applesauce, mushroom soup, chowder, peach yogurt, curry sauce with vegetables, chicken fajitas, hot and sour soup.  Nothing has preservatives.

What’s most challenging to package in space?

A Ruth’s Chris steak.

What about ice cream?

Extremely difficult.  NASA has said "no" to frozen food.

And here on Earth, what does your work mean to consumers?

We can prolong the shelf life of simple things, like juice, by reducing the oxygen in packaging so you don’t lose color or flavor.  

What’s the impact?

Look at the advancements we’ve made in the last 20 years, from glass to plastic—shelf life is six or eight months, not two years; the closure features; the convenience. Slowly and subtly quality is improving. And safety is extraordinary.

How different is food packaging in Europe compared to the U.S.?

Interesting question. It’s changed very much from when I spent a considerable amount of time there in the 1960s, '70s and '80s. They have something there we don’t have: industry-supported research institutes for food in England, Sweden and the Netherlands.  The U.S. still doesn’t have such a thing.

Can any of your advances mitigate starvation in developing countries?

A flat-out statement: Yes. In subsistence farming, 50-70 percent is wasted from the farm to the stomach. Simple packaging would save food from insects, animals, rain.

What’s been your most rewarding work?

Probably modified atmosphere. I hold the basic patent on fresh-cut packaging like bagged salad or stir-fry vegetables. There weren’t many papers published, but it gained huge commercial acceptance. It’s not some obscure academic research—it’s a major industry.  Just about every food service operation uses them.

By Suzanne Wright

The Sunday Paper