Research Results

Advancing Sustainable Food Processing Through Research and Innovation

The Sustainable Food Processing Alliance brings together researchers, educators, and students to investigate opportunities for improving sustainability throughout the food supply chain, with particular emphasis on food processing technologies, resource efficiency, environmental performance, and human nutrition.

Our research explores the relationships among food processing, energy and water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, food quality, economic viability, and social well-being. Through interdisciplinary and international collaboration, we seek to better understand sustainability challenges, evaluate emerging technologies, and identify practical solutions that can improve food systems.

The publications, presentations, and research activities highlighted here reflect the contributions of Alliance collaborators and their broader research networks. These efforts advance scientific understanding of sustainable food processing while helping connect research findings with education, industry practices, and future innovation.

Explore our research to discover how science, engineering, nutrition, and sustainability come together to address some of the most important challenges facing global food systems.

Research Topics & Scholarly Leadership

Editorial: Nutrition at the Crossroads: Food at the Intersection of Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability

Editorial: Nutrition at the Crossroads: Food at the Intersection of Health, Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability—Volume II

Published Papers

Potentialities and Limits of Some Non-thermal Technologies to Improve Sustainability of Food Processing

This review examines high-pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, membrane separation, and other technologies that may improve food preservation and resource utilization. It also highlights important tradeoffs, including the need to evaluate energy use and environmental impacts rather than assuming that alternative technologies are inherently more sustainable.

Overview of Some Recent Advances in Improving Water and Energy Efficiencies in Food Processing Factories

This review examines approaches for improving energy and water efficiency in food processing facilities, highlighting the importance of reducing resource consumption while maintaining effective manufacturing operations.

Higher adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH Diet) is associated with lower greenhouse gases and land use from protein foods

This study examines associations between adherence to DASH dietary patterns and environmental impacts associated with protein food choices, demonstrating how nutrition research can inform discussions about sustainable diets.