481st Meeting of the SFC in Rutherford NJ

Society of Flavor Chemists meeting September 30, Rutherford NJ
About this Event

MEETING NOTICE

481st Meeting of the Society of Flavor Chemists, Inc.

Wednesday, September 30th, 2026

Rutherford, NJ

8:30am-6:00pm EST

Renaissance Meadowlands

801 Rutherford Ave, Rutherford, NJ 07070

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

8:00 – 10:00 am SFC Board of Directors Meeting

9:15 – 9:30 am Registration for Training Session

9:30 – 11:30 am Training Session on Natural Materials hosted by JD Vora

10:00 – 11:45 am SFC Board and Committee Chairs Meeting

11:30 – 1:00 pm Meeting Registration

12:00 – 1:00 pm Buffet Lunch

1:00 – 1:30 pm CSA: Joe Syrko, New Business Development & Account Manager- Isobionics

“How Biotech Is Complimentary to Nature”

1:30 – 2:10 pm Andrew Maust, PhD Candidate, University of Arkansas

“Sensory and Volatile Profile Characterization of Nontraditional Yeasts in Nonalcoholic Beer Production”

2:10 – 2:50 pm Aqsa Chatha, PhD Candidate, University of Illinois

“From Acetate to Aroma: Sustainable Process Flavor Generation from Microbial Consortia”

2:50 – 3:05 pm Break

3:05 – 3:45 pm Yashmita Grover, PhD Candidate, Pennsylvania State University

“Exploring Quinine–Salivary Protein Interactions as a Mechanism of Bitterness Modulation”

3:45 – 4:30 pm Swetha Sarangarajan, PhD Candidate, Ohio State University

“Beyond Sugars: Aroma and Chemical Contributors to Sweetness Perception in Specialty Coffee”

4:30 – 5:00 pm SFC Business Meeting (members only) –In person and via Zoom

5:00 – 6:00 pm Poster Session & Cocktail Reception

ATTENDEE INFORMATION

Meeting Registration: Online registration open now. Please go to the Eventbrite Link or SFC Website to register.

$150.00 Member / Non-member

$75.00 Retired/Emeritus/Student w/ID

Deadline for online registration is Friday, September 25th, 2026.

To attend this meeting virtually click the link below to register and attend the meeting on September 30th at 4:30 pm.

September 30 Zoom Business meeting link

Meeting/Hotel: Renaissance Meadowlands Hotel by Marriott

801 Rutherford Ave, Rutherford, NJ 07070

201-231-3100

Deadline for SFC rate is September 9th. Please use the following link for hotel reservations.

To attend this meeting virtually click the link below to register and attend the meeting on September 30th at 4:30 pm.

Agenda

🕑: 08:00 AM - 10:00 AM
SFC Board of Directors Meeting

Info: Meeting for the Board.

🕑: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
SFC Committee and Board meeting
🕑: 09:15 AM - 09:30 AM
Training Session Registration
Natural Materials Training Session
Host: JD Vora

Info: JD Vora of Cvista will host a training session designed for trainees and aspiring flavorists to strengthen their skills and gain a deeper understanding of natural flavor materials. The session will cover materials such as extracts, essential oils, concentrates, essences, and other natural molecules with content aligned with the SFC syllabus.

🕑: 11:30 AM - 01:00 PM
Meeting Registration
🕑: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Lunch Buffet
🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:30 PM
CSA: Isobionics - How Biotech is Complimentary to Nature
Host: Joe Syrko

Info: Essential oils have been extracted from fruits and plants for flavor use for millennia. However, key terpene flavor molecules are often low in abundance, requiring a large harvest for a small amount of product. Additionally, the extraction of essential oil often yields a complex mixture of terpenes that are difficult to separate and can be highly variable due to weather, location, season, extraction method and variety of plant. This leads to a volatile sourcing environment, with volumes and pricing also changing each harvest. An alternative to this approach is to produce the key components of essential oils by fermentation, in a process akin to brewing beer. By using fermentation, we can control the complete process which allows us to produce an identical product each time with a higher purity. Join us to learn more about how Biotechnology is helping to compliment nature.

🕑: 01:30 PM - 02:10 PM
Research Presentation: Nontraditional Yeasts in Non-Alcoholic Beer Production
Host: Andrew Maust, U of Arkinsas

Info: The demand for nonalcoholic beer (NAB) is growing, with nontraditional yeast strains emerging as valuable tools for brewers to craft distinct NABs. However, independent information about the performance of these commercially available yeasts remains limited. In this study, 11 nontraditional yeast strains were evaluated at two wort nutrient levels to assess their impact on beer chemistry, sensory attributes, and volatile profiles. Basic fermentation metrics were monitored, followed by descriptive sensory analysis and GC–MS/MS quantification of volatile compounds. Results revealed significant differentiation among yeast strains with unique aroma and flavor profiles driven by variations in ester production, fusel alcohol synthesis, and aldehyde reduction. These findings provide brewers with actionable insights to select yeasts that align with desired NAB characteristics, enabling the production of style-specific and high-quality NABs

🕑: 02:10 PM - 02:50 PM
Research Presentation: Sustainable Flavor Generation
Host: Aqsa Chatha, U of IL

Info: Harnessing microbial consortia originating from renewable carbon sources offers an eco-friendly, sustainable solution to produce process flavors. This study, for the first time, will provide fundamental knowledge on the release of flavor constituents from microbial biomass harvested from a non-conventional carbon source (acetate), which will offer an opportunity to substitute yeast extract or hydrolyzed vegetable protein in the food and flavor industry with a sustainable solution for the next generation of food.

🕑: 02:50 PM - 03:05 PM
Break
🕑: 03:05 PM - 03:45 PM
Research Presentation: Salivary Protein Interaction / Bitterness Modulation
Host: Yashmita Grover, Penn State

Info: Bitterness is an aversive taste that can limit the acceptance of nutritionally beneficial foods like vegetables. Its perception begins with the dissolution of bitterants in saliva before they can activate taste receptors. Saliva is composed of water, ions, and critically, proteins, which may interact with bitterants in the oral cavity. Salivary proteins could influence taste by interacting with either taste receptors or chemical stimuli; to date, most evidence comes from animal studies, leaving the contribution of salivary proteins to bitterness perception in humans incompletely understood. Here, we explored binding interactions between human salivary proteins and quinine as a step toward understanding their potential role in bitterness perception.

🕑: 03:45 PM - 04:30 PM
Research Presentation: Aroma and Chemical Contributors to Sweetness Perception
Host: Swetha Sarangarajan, Ohio State

Info: The demand for nonalcoholic beer (NAB) is growing, with nontraditional yeast strains emerging as valuable tools for brewers to craft distinct NABs. However, independent information about the performance of these commercially available yeasts remains limited. In this study, 11 nontraditional yeast strains were evaluated at two wort nutrient levels to assess their impact on beer chemistry, sensory attributes, and volatile profiles. Results revealed significant differentiation among yeast strains with unique aroma and flavor profiles driven by variations in ester production, fusel alcohol synthesis, and aldehyde reduction.

🕑: 04:30 PM - 05:00 PM
SFC Business Meeting

Info: Business Meeting for SFC Members

🕑: 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Poster Session and Cocktail Reception

Info: Cocktail hour featuring researchers with posters to discuss their work.