University of Aarhus becomes a new ESN member

The European Sensory Network is welcoming a new member: the Department of Food Science (AU-FOOD) at Aarhus University.

ESN Co-chair Martin Kern (left) and Professor Derek V. Byrne, Science team leader of Food Quality Perception and Society during a visit at the Department of Food Science at the Aarhus University in Denmark.

 

"We are very glad to have Aarhus University among our members”, says ESN chair Claire Sulmont-Rossé. "The department is known worldwide for its innovative contributions to food science and sensory science, and we see a lot of opportunities to combine our research."

Derek V. Byrne, head of the science team, Food Quality, Perception and Society (FQS) at AU-FOOD states that, "AU-FOOD joined ESN because our research goals closely align with the key aims of ESN, and the portfolio of our research projects fits well with the ESN research pillars." The Department of Food Science at the University of Aarhus has over 100 employees and is comprised of two research sites in Western Denmark, soon to be combined into a single state of the art new Food Institute building north of Aarhus city. It is part of the newly founded Danish Food Cluster, which brings together businesses, research institutions, and public authorities working within the food and agriculture sector in Denmark.

In particular, the AU-FOOD's research group Food Quality Perception and Society (FQS) will work closely with ESN. The group’s mission is to understand and improve the sensory properties of foods from a perception, psychology, and physiology perspective in order to stimulate the intake of healthy food and to increase the feeling of well-being.

The department’s facilities include professional trained and tested sensory panels, an ISO-approved sensory laboratory, consumer panels across demographics, GC-MS/GC-O/HPLC/LC-MS/NMR equipment to evaluate aroma and bioactive compounds and metabolites. Partnerships at AU-FOOD also provide access to capabilities in fMRI, EEG, endocrinology, nanoscience, psychology, and marketing, enabling the positioning of the science team in true multidisciplinary research as exemplified by FQS's existing project portfolio.