7/21/99

Contacts:
Dennis Olson, Utilization Center for Agricultural Products, (515) 294-1055
Karen Bolluyt, Agriculture Information, (515) 294-3701
Renee Juhans, NASA, (202) 358-1712

ISU TO BE SITE FOR NASA CENTER TO IMPROVE FOOD IN SPACE AND ON EARTH

AMES -- NASA announced today that it has funded the establishment of the National Food Technology Commercial Space Center at Iowa State University.

Ten companies are partners or affiliates in the venture to develop high-technology foods and food-processing methods that are suitable for space travel. Foods and technologies developed at the new center also are expected to be useful for some markets on earth, said Dennis Olson, who heads ISU's Utilization Center for Agricultural Products (UCAP) and will direct the NASA center.

The NASA funding includes a planning grant of $300,000, an operating grant of $2.5 million for five years and a commitment of $1 million from the partner companies, most of which are based in Iowa. Iowa State investigators on the project include faculty and staff members in food science and human nutrition and UCAP.

"The Iowa Business Council worked with us on this proposal," Olson said. "The council helped us identify partners from the private sector. Part of our responsibility will be to bring new products into consumer markets and to help companies put new technologies to practical use. Our private sector partners will help us identify and reach potential markets," he added.

Tom Vilsack, governor of Iowa, has been talking about making Iowa the food capital of the world. He noted that building a research and development effort on a public-private partnership expands the impact of public investments.

"We've been talking about Iowa's being the food capital of the world. What better place for research on a new generation of foods that meet high standards of taste, nutrition, safety and convenience?" he said.

According to a statement released by NASA, extended habitation aboard the International Space Station requires that NASA provide astronauts with more palatable and more nutritious food. Other agency goals include decreasing the weight of items carried to the station and reducing on-board storage requirements and the amount of waste produced on the station.

Among the objectives described for the center are the development of processes and products for new convenience foods that can be stored at room temperature and of waste-minimizing processes for producing foods in space.

Partners with NASA and ISU in the project are Hy-Vee Inc., Kraft Foods Inc., Maytag Corp., and Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. Six other companies are affiliates. They are MidAmerican Energy Co., Meredith Corp., EnzyMed Inc., Grain Processing Corp., Alliant Energy and Equity Dynamics, Inc.

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