Overview

The Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center (MDFRC) is 1 of 6 national dairy centers that help dairy, food and beverage manufacturers develop new products, ingredients, processes and introduce new packaging technologies. Our center is well-equipped with dairy processing and research facilities that we use to train students, provide technical assistance on product development, scale-up manufacturing operations, and transfer knowledge to industry.

You'll find information on our facilities and faculty members on this page.

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South Dakota State University - Institute for Dairy Ingredient Processing

The Institute for Dairy Ingredient Processing (IDIP) is a 13,000-square foot dairy processing facility that is connected to the new Davis Dairy Plant at South Dakota State University. Both plants are inspected on a quarterly basis by the South Dakota State of Agriculture. Together, these facilities focus on many aspects of dairy processing including milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream and butter. These plants are used for training and education and are available to industry personnel for experiments, training seminars, and product evaluation.

The IDIP facility conducts dairy ingredient commercialization studies to help expand the product range of dairy-based ingredients in domestic and international markets. It is equipped with a multi-stage low- and high-pressure membrane system; a multi-stage evaporation system; a multi-stage dryer; and sifting, dry blending and packaging capacity. The range of products include:

  • Whey powder
  • Delactosed whey
  • Whey protein concentrate-35
  • Whey protein isolates
  • Non-fat dry milk
  • Milk protein isolates
  • Casein concentrates
  • Native whey
  • Custom products

University of Minnesota - Joseph J. Warthesen Food Processing Center

The Joseph J. Warthesen Food Processing Center is located in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. It is a food production facility that is inspected by the State of Minnesota. Products can be sold and used in market research.

This facility is used for product research and teaching. It is available to industry to provide process and product development support, and evaluation of new processes and product lines.

Iowa State University - Center for Crops Utilization Research

The Center for Crops Utilization Research is located in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University.

Although CCUR is not a certified food production facility, the 35,000-square-foot pilot plant is available for wet and dry processing, fermentation and product recovery, food preparation, and consumer and sensory testing. CCUR focuses on new processes, products, and markets for corn, soybeans and other Midwest crops for research.

Name Position Contact info
Jayendra Amamcharla Center Director Web page
Peggy Lehtola Assistant Director
Kumar Mallikarjunan Associate Director Web page
Sonia Patel Dairy Food Application Scientist
Prafulla Salunke Associate Director Web page
Name Affiliation Expertise Contact info
Jayendra Amamcharla University of Minnesota Food Chemistry, Food Engineering, Food Processing Click here
Sanjeev Anand South Dakota State University Food Microbiology, Food Safety Click here
Donald Beitz Iowa State University Sustainability Click here
Andreia Bianchini University of Nebraska-Lincoln Food Processing, Food Safety Click here
Steve Bowden University of Minnesota Food Microbiology, Food Safety Click here
Terri Boylston Iowa State University Flavor Chemistry, Food Processing Click here
Byron Brehm-Stecher Iowa State University Food Chemistry, Food Safety Click here
Lakshmikantha Channaiah University of Missouri Food Safety, Sustainability Click here
Fernanda F G Dias University of Minnesota Food Chemistry, Sustainability Click here
Daniel Gallaher University of Minnesota Nutrition Click here
Ahmed R.A. Hammam Kansas State University Dairy Ingredients, Food Processing, Sustainability Click here
Pam Ismail University of Minnesota Dairy Ingredients, Food Chemistry Click here
Buddhi Lamsal Iowa State University Food Chemistry, Food Processing Click here
Kumar Mallikarjunan University of Minnesota Food Processing Click here
Aubrey Mendonca Iowa State University Food Microbiology, Food Safety Click here
Maneesha Mohan South Dakota State University Dairy Ingredients, Food Processing Click here
Muthu Muthukumarappan South Dakota State University Food Engineering, Food Processing Click here
Daniel O'Sullivan University of Minnesota Food Microbiology Click here
Gary Reineccius University of Minnesota Flavor Chemistry, Food Processing Click here
Roger Ruan University of Minnesota Food Engineering, Food Processing Click here
Prafulla Salunke South Dakota State University Dairy Ingredients, Food Processing Click here
Bongkosh Vardhanabhuti University of Missouri Dairy Ingredients, Food Chemistry Click here
Zata Vickers University of Minnesota Sensory Science Click here