The development of the Dairy NutriSols Consortium is being sponsored with a three-year Phase 2 award of $5 million from the NSF Convergence Accelerator Track J program to address the global issue of food and nutrition insecurity. Dairy NutriSols is working to provide sustainable solutions for the production of healthy products that are nutrient-dense and shelf stable. This convergent science team, led by Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Owen McDougal, includes the Food and Dairy Innovation Center here at Boise State, the University of Idaho, Utah State University, the University of Minnesota, Glanbia Nutritionals, Chobani, Daisy Brand, Food Physics, Agropur USA, Dairy West, and Ceres Dairy Risk Management.
Track J of the U.S. National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator program aims to help transform food systems across the nation to ensure access to healthy, safe and affordable food, as well as develop sustainable forestry and food practices that take climate, regeneration and waste reduction into consideration. This track involves a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and aligns with one of the USDA’s core priorities: to ensure that everyone in the country has consistent and equitable access to safe, healthy, and affordable food that is essential to optimal health and well-being.
One of seven multidisciplinary teams from the program, Dairy NutriSols is committed to enhancing nutrition security and quality across the dairy supply chain. The consortium will work to create processes that increase consistent product quality and improve production efficiency in dairy products by creating AI-based chemometric software and facilitating industrial adoption of PEF and extruder technology.
Read more about this global impact work in a recent Boise State news article about Dairy NutriSols, and in an article about Phase 2 on the NSF’s website.