Regenstein, Joe Mac

Professor
My interests are in four areas: 1. fish and other flesh foods; 2. protein functionality; 3. waste management and sustainability; and 4. kosher, halal and other religious and ethnic foods. Although at times these have seemed to be very different interests, in recent years they have all come together through our work on fish gelatin (see the research focus) and are often combined in my outreach activities also (see the extension/outreach focus). These activities also actively inform my teaching activities (see the instruction focus).Committee, and the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council Technical Committee) and locally. Locally I have spoken on science and religion, and I am now working with Shared Journeys to develop a program in the Spencer Van Etten Middle School to introduce both ethnic and religious diversity.

research

research and scholarship focus

Our research focus has always been on fish waste management, i.e., how to best use the by-products of traditional fish processing. In recent years this has focused mainly on using skins for the production of fish gelatin. Fish gelatins can provide a set of functional proteins with interesting protein functional properties including a much wider range of melting points than traditional gelatins. This provides the possibility of designing new food products with new characteristics. In addition, most of these gelatins can be more easily certified as kosher and halal than beef and pork gelatins.

research areas

submitted impact statement

affiliations

faculty appointment in

member of graduate field

other Cornell affiliations

teaching

teaching focus

My focus has been on developing critical thinking skills, challenging authority, and problem solving. Over the years, I have been asked to participate in a number of different courses, either as the instructor or as a guest lecturer to raise issues with the students that may not normally be on their radar screen. Much of my teaching has moved from the traditional “science” course, to areas with wider implications in the social sciences.

teaches

service

outreach focus

The major focus of my outreach effort is through the Cornell Kosher and Halal Food Initiative. This program address industry, consumer, government/NGO and religious supervision groups with programs that meet their needs for both information and to develop improvements in the process of preparing and getting these foods to consumers. Through this work, I have become more involved in animal welfare issues both within the religious communities and beyond. In addition I continue to provide the only faculty participation in red meats, poultry, and fish. And I continue to work on environmental sustainability, particularly composting.

current professional activities

  • Member of                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            -American Chemical Society
    -Atlantic Fisheries Technological Conference (currently serving as executive secretary after many years on the executive board)
    -American Meat Science Association (including numerous committee assignments)
    -Institute of Food Technologists, and the Poultry Science Association
    -Food Marketing Institute (FMI)
    -National Council of Chain Restaurants’ Animal Welfare Committe Humane Farm Animal Care Scientific Committee 
  • Editor of IFT's Seafood (now Aquatics) Products Technology Group's Newsletter since 1982
  • Former Chair of IFT's Muscle Foods Division, IFT's Long-Range Planning Subcommittee, and its Central New York Section
  • Former scientific lecturer and a national councilor, Dr. Regenstein was a member of the Executive Committee (1993-1996)
  • Elected a Fellow of the Institute, 1995
  • Co-founder and first newsletter editor of IFT’s Religious and Ethnic Foods Division
  • First Guest Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology, 1983
  • Chair for Scientific Development for Research and Development Associates for Military Food and Packaging Systems, 1995-1996 M
  • Advisor to the Jewish Vegetarians of North America

event participant

background

educational background

  • B. A., Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell
  • M.S., Dairy Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Cornell
  • Ph.D., Biophysics (Muscle Contraction), Brandeis University, 1973

professional background

  • Held an appointment in the Waste Management Institute of Cornell's Center for the Environment
  • Serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Held an appointment as a Visiting Professor of Judaic Studies in the Department of Religion at the University of Rochester for 3 years
  • Visiting Professor of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin in the Department of Food Science

awards and distinctions

  • Received the Elizabeth Stier Humanitarian Award from IFT in 2000
Keywords: and noahide slaughter., animal welfare, aquaculture, composting, environmental stewardship, fish, fish gelatin, food chemistry, food science, food waste management, functional properties of food, gelatin, halal, humane slaughter, kosher, muscle foods, poultry, protein chemistry, protein functionality