Recently a few of our members and myself and the secretary attended the annual NZIFST conference and this year it was held in Palmerston north. We were fortunate to have with us several notable overseas speakers including Professor Selina Wang from the University of California, Davis, DR. Phillipp Meissner from Germany ((MaxRubner)and several eminent speakers from New Zealand. DR. Matt Miller has kindly put the presentations on the website. There were 6 Lipid papers at the recent NZIFST conference
A happy band of kiwis and overseas guests conducted a road trip from Auckland to Palmerston North to attend the NZIFST conference. En route we visited Hobbiton, which is a great experience for everyone even if you are not a long-time fan of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Ruth and I auditioned for Hobbit roles and made ourselves very comfortable in the well-structured hobbit hole of Bilbo Baggins.
Anyhow this has nothing to do with lipids, but we did sample hop natural remedies as a refreshing beverage. Marie Wong and Allan Woolf drove the minibus sedately down to Palmy leaving Auckland at 5.30 am, phew.
This responsibility was as well as Marie having the management of the research grant to combine the efforts of NZ scientists and our Research partners in USA and Germany. The presented papers (PowerPoints) are now posted on the oils and fatswebsite. Thanks to DR. Matt Miller.
Woolf-Avocado oil from Kenya – maximising yield and quality of cold-pressed avocado oil 
In my unbiased opinion, our six papers were jewels in the main event. Palmerston North was at its best in the sunshine and mild temperatures. The weather was remarkably good for mid-Winter. These six papers were as follows:
The pursuit of Quality-Selina Wang
Dr. Selina Wang is a chemist and an Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension at the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. Her work on the quality and purity of supermarket olive oil from 2009 to 2011 received
It led to the establishment of California olive oil standards in 2014.
Selina is a Professor at UC Davis, California. She is becoming famous for blowing the whistle on fraudulent oils being pushed in the USA (85% of all oils tested), ruining the market for genuine people. She was recently invited to give a talk to the Italian producers and the IOC, but we warned her about accepting an offer she cannot refuse and the risks of finding a horse’s head in her bed. Her presentation was excellent, and she happily fulfilled the 27 minutes allocated by the conference organizers.
In 2020, her research group published the first extensive study of commercial avocado oil quality and purity. Her mission-driven program focuses on applied research in
three key areas: (1) developing rapid analytical methods to assess food quality, purity, and nutrient density; (2) studying the impact of processing and climate change on food chemical composition; and (3) finding ways to valorize agricultural byproducts to enhance sustainability and improve human, animal, and planetary health.
Authenticity and contaminants- Dr. Philipp Meissner
Philipp is a scientist in Bertrand Matthaus lab In Germany… Philipp started at the Max Rubner-Institute, the federal research institute for nutrition and food, becoming head of the research group on the holistic use of oilseeds and fruits and collaborates closely with the groups of lipid authenticity and standardization. His research is on oil crop compounds and processing, especially rapeseed. This leads to scientific work on lipid-protein oxidation, oilseed protein utilization, and phenolic secondary plant metabolites.
Betrand was a key researcher in the initial and development/ identification and quantification of GE and MCPD esters in oils and fats. Philipp reviewed the criteria for authenticity of oils that claim to be genuine.
- → stigmastadiene
- → trans-fatty acids
- → polymeric triacylglycerols
- → fatty acid alkyl esters
- → pyropheophytin A
- → K270/
Results of the olive oil surveillance in NZ-Kirill Lagutin (Callaghan Innovation).
He has a long-standing interest in food fraud prevention and the development of analytical tools to protect food.
authenticity. He is leading several food integrity. Projects focusing on developing solutions to protect and promote food integrity among key stakeholders, including the food industry,
Sadly, Callaghan Innovation is being disestablished. Lucy Stewart, spokesperson for the Save Science Coalition, said the loss of hundreds of science jobs in the public sector in the past year was contrary to the Government’s stated goal of using science to fuel economic growth.
Kirill gave a very entertaining paper on the results of looking at some recent market retail olive oils using their developed technique of NMR.
Avocado oil from Kenya-Dr. Allan Woolf (Plant and Food Research)
This was a combined science paper and a wildlife documentary in the style of David Attenborough. Thoroughly entertaining and scientifically fascinating. It is sobering to see the harsh conditions of subsistence living in third world countries. Well done to Plant and Food and their scientists operating in these poor countries.
Plant & Food Research is now a group within the Bioeconomy Science Institute, formed on July 1, 2025. The new institute brings together Plant & Food Research, AgResearch, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, and Scion.
Extraction of edible plants in NZ-Professor Marie Wong, Massey University
Marie gave some highlights from her work on niche edible oils over the last 25 years. She is a recipient of the JC Andrews award and has many publications in this area along with supervising keen young food scientists at Massey. We all send Marie our deepest condolences on the passing of her mother in Wellington.
Refining edible oils – Dr. Angela Newton, Bakels Edible Oils
Angela is now a veteran of the processing field in NZ, currently leading the technology team at Bakels Edible Oils in Mount Maunganui. Bakels Edible Oils are now the leading processor in NZ and possible Australasia.
There were two excellent posters by Roy (Youwei) Wang, PhD student at Massey.
We all had a great trip; a great conference and scientific collaborations were strengthened.
A great shame about the demotivating and anti R&D process being conducted in NZ by this government and Massey University.
We wish all those affected by reorganisations the best of luck.