The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Food Processing Center has a strong working relationship with ConAgra Foods. Two key ConAgra Foods staff members also serve as adjunct faculty at the UNL Food Science program, which is closely tied to the UNL Food Processing Center.

The mutually beneficial relationship was reignited under the leadership of ConAgra Foods CEO Gary Rodkin and UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman. The underlying concept is that I-80 is and should be a "knowledge highway," and importantly, a two-way street.

Rolando Flores, Director of UNL's Food Processing Center and head of the Food Science and Technology Department at UNL, has been a key link in the development of the partnership.

Gordon Smith, Vice President of Research, Quality and Innovation at ConAgra Foods, was appointed to the adjunct faculty of Food Science and Technology in 2008. Smith is responsible for utilizing science to drive differentiation into product innovation. He provides technical explanations and solutions for existing products and processes, using scientific expertise. Smith's work with the UNL Food Processing Center has focused on expanded development opportunities, and identifying potential joint research opportunities.

Last year, Smith joined a group of UNL faculty members on a trip to India to provide an industry perspective. Research can be more relevant to industry when researchers are better informed about industry's needs.

"ConAgra likes to involve people who are solid basic researchers that can bring new solutions to old problems," said Smith.

Elizabeth Arndt manages the research and development team for ConAgra Mills. An adjunct faculty member in Nutrition, Arndt has worked with both the Food Processing Center and the Nutrition Department to conduct many studies, including determining the effect of wheat origin on functionality and flavor in a pizza crust.

ConAgra Foods is sponsoring whole grain food consumption studies in schools using different grains to determine the best ways to increase children's whole grain consumption. The scientific research input into this project is helping to think through new product developments that will improve human health.

Both Smith and Arndt teach and recruit. In the past several months they have worked with two Ph.D. students who are also ConAgra staff members, and one master's student.

For the past two years, Smith's group at ConAgra Foods has been working with UNL researchers to explore the ecology of microorganisms in food production settings. Microorganisms can cause spoilage in production environments and understanding the origins of these problems is of tremendous interest to ConAgra Foods and the food industry as a whole.

UNL professor Andrew Benson, the W.W. Marshall Professor of Biotechnology in the Food Science Department and Director of the UNL Core for Applied Genomics and Ecology, is working with ConAgra, using some of the most advanced technologies in DNA sequencing and bioinformatics to solve the issue of what causes spoilage and how to prevent it.

Benson's work delves into fundamental questions about the ecology of microbes, making this a perfect project to engage industrial and academic scientists.

"The problem comes in knowing which organisms to look for and where to look for them," said Benson. "The new approach being pioneered in collaboration with Smith's ConAgra group bypasses this problem by harnessing the power of next -generation DNA sequencing technology to visualize traces of every microorganism present in the environment."

Benson's lab, along with Smith's group at ConAgra Foods, jointly developed all of the methodologies for extracting microorganisms and their DNA out of a multitude of sample types. The sample preparation process is now carried out at ConAgra Foods, allowing Benson's group to focus on what they do best — sequencing the DNA from complex combinations of microorganisms that are found in these samples and analyzing the massive amount of data to track movement of whole groups of organisms through different areas of a production plant.

"The industry currently does this by back-tracking after spoilage occurs. Our approach is very pro-active and will allow us to identify sources of problematic organisms and their traffic patterns in the plant," said Benson. "Only a few of the microbial species are really trouble-makers, but understanding how the ordinary microorganisms manage to find their way around production areas tells ConAgra Foods a lot about how to avoid events that lead to product loss."