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thePeorian.com
M
ost of us expect our
phones, vehicles and
refrigerators to be
functional. But our food? “Func-
tional” isn’t a word we usually
associate with our food.
There is an entire research unit
focused on functional foods at
Peoria’s USDA Ag Lab (officially
known as the USDA Agricultural
Research Service’s National Cen-
ter for Agricultural Utilization
Research or NCAUR). Its goal is
to give existing foods additional
health-promoting or disease-
preventing functions by adding
new ingredients or increasing the
value of existing ingredients.
Following are some examples
of that work, and a bit of insight
into the people who are making
our lives better through more
functional foods.
Dr. George Inglett, research
chemist at NCAUR and one of
the foremost international experts
in food science and technology,
has been a pioneer in functional
food research. His inventions of
fat-replacing technologies use
materials derived from oats,
barley and soy to offer good taste
and many nutritional benefits.
These technologies have been
transferred into manufacturing
and use by commercial food
processors.
“
My father was a coal miner
in Southern Illinois. As a boy I
used to walk on a dirt road with
hot dust oozing between my
toes and wonder where this road
would go. I saved money for a
chemistry set and was the terror
of the neighborhood – you can’t
even buy chemistry sets like that
anymore. I was inquisitive and
curious; I wanted to study the
unknown. I worked hard, had
the fortune of serendipity, and it
took me around the world. Now I
know where that road went.”
Dr. Inglett and his wife live in
Peoria.
The Future
Dr. Mark Berhow, a research chemist at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research,
studies the effects of camelina on human health.
FUNCTIONAL
FOOD UNDER
STUDY AT THE
AG LAB
By Kate O’Hara
