UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The construction of Penn State's new $45.7 million Food Science Building marks a substantive step forward in the university's efforts to advance food science and the state's food processing industry, according to Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff.

A recent groundbreaking ceremony was presided over by Robert Steele, dean of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, with remarks from Wolff, Penn State President Graham Spanier, Penn State Board of Trustees Chair Cynthia Baldwin, and John Floros, head of the Penn State Department of Food Science.

Wolff explained that the building will have an impact on Pennsylvania's food processing industry.

"Of [Pennsylvania's] agricultural exports, which are over a billion dollars a year, a little more than half of that is processed food," he said. "Certainly, having the food processing industry here and having that type of export market gives our farmers the ability to produce more products. So it all fits together. The new building is going to attract the brightest and the best students from around the world to Penn State."

The 130,000-square-foot Food Science Building, located at the corner of Curtin and Bigler roads on the University Park campus, will include modern teaching and research laboratories, classrooms and offices, plus expanded production and customer-service space for the Berkey Creamery.

Three specialized pilot plants will test research concepts for possible development at an industrial scale by food companies that choose to partner with Penn State. The building also will house the largest and most sophisticated dairy manufacturing plant associated with any academic institution in the country. The cutting-edge scientific and educational facilities will play a significant role in the state's food processing industry, Spanier said.

"Pennsylvania is home to a vast number of food processing and manufacturing firms with annual sales over $22 billion," he said. "Our College of Agricultural Sciences plays an integral role in maintaining safety in the production, processing, packaging, distribution and consumption of food in the commonwealth and beyond.

"With the largest undergraduate food science program on the East Coast, and the second largest in the country, this facility will allow Penn State to continue to produce graduates with the skills needed to keep one of Pennsylvania’s top industries thriving and to improve the health and safety of our population."

Even though the building is scheduled to be completed in June 2006, it has already begun to have an impact on the state's food industry, said Floros, professor and head of food science.

"During the last five years, the promise of the new building helped our department attract some of the brightest minds in food science to Penn State," he said. "The new building will continue to act as a magnet for the brightest students, the best faculty and the finest staff.

"During the last five years, we increased our undergraduate student population and became the largest program in the East; we doubled our Ph.D. program; and we increased our research expenditures, mostly through grants and contracts, by 500 to 600 percent."

The completed building will allow the food science department to build on its expertise in biomaterials science to better understand the functionality of food ingredients, including their health-related properties; focus on the systems biology of foodborne pathogens to improve their detection, tracking and control; and enhance the safety and security of our food supply.

The department also intends to increase its expertise at the consumer-product interface to better understand consumer behavior, support consumer health and wellness, and effectively contribute to reducing obesity.

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EDITORS: Contact John Floros at 814-865-5444 or jdf10@psu.edu.

Editors: For Photos Of The Groundbreaking, Contact Gary Abdullah At 814-863-2708 Or gxa2@psu.edu.

Editor/Writer: Gary Abdullah Office 814-863-2708 FAX 814-863-9877