The Department of Food Science at Aarhus University is redoubling its efforts in the field of sensory and consumer perception of food with the appointment of 43-year-old Derek V. Byrne as Professor of Sensory and Consumer Science and leader of the research group Food, Metabolomics and Sensory from 1 March 2014.

Derek V. Byrne comes from a position as Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, where he is also vice-head of the Sensory and Consumer Science group at the Department of Food Science.

The newly appointed professor and research team leader specializes in research on the sensory properties of foods people eat and, most importantly, why they like to eat them. He specifically works with the importance of a food’s identity and its sensory uniqueness in relation to eating behavior, specifically from a cross-modal perspective thus looking at how the human senses interact in determining food perception.

From mind to mouth

- Consumers are bombarded daily and have much information about healthy eating at their disposal yet we continue to see an increase in obesity and diet related diseases. What is it, then, that is central to people not making more healthy eating choices? Lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyles are key in the proclivity of non-communicable diseases but also key are poor eating practices related to food’s sensory properties, especially in the areas of fat, salt and sugar. If a food does not taste good or fit into the diet we find it difficult to adapt to it, in particular if it is new and potentially healthier. To have impact in this respect, studying and understanding societal food choice and preference is central to addressing the global challenge of better human health and life quality in the future, states Derek V. Byrne and continues:

- The human senses are in themselves central to determining which foods consumers choose. However, it is also very important to understand the consumer’s mind in terms of eating behavior. When we talk about food taste we mean personal preference as much as the influence of taste and flavour. My goal with the new position of professor and head of the research group is to continue to create effective knowledge about what affects consumers’ tastes and food choices from the mind to the mouth. I am also very keen to transfer this scientific knowledge into practice to support the future food industry and help inform societal food policy aimed at improving eating practices per se, he says.

In addition to research, Derek V. Byrne has been very much engaged in teaching coordination at the University of Copenhagen and in the supervision of PhD students.

Island-hopping: Ireland to Zealand to Funen

Derek V. Byrne was born in the city of Cork in Ireland, and received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition from University College Cork in 1992  and 1995. In 1997 he went to Denmark and joined the sensory group in Copenhagen at its inception and received his PhD in sensory science from the university there in the year 2000. Subsequently, Derek V. Byrne did not release his grip at the university and was appointed assistant professor in 2001. Thereafter, in 2003 he became associate professor and in 2007 vice-head at the sensory and consumer science group.

He is now moving across the bridge to the Department of Food Science at Aarhus University. His base will be AU Aarslev, which is the department research centre on the island of Funen where research into sensory, consumer science and metabolomics are in very sharp focus.

Derek V. Byrne’s inaugural lecture entitled “Sensory and Consumer Science: From the ‘Mind to the Mouth’- a Future Perspective” will be held on 20 June, 2014 at AU Aarslev. 

For more information please contact:: Professor Derek Victor Byrne, Department of Food Science, telephone: +45 8715 8394, mobile: +45 2878 2840, email: derekv.byrne@agrsci.dk