Food Structure

History

Essential data

Title: Food Microstructure

Established: 1982

Place: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Publisher: Scanning Microscopy International, Inc. (SMI)

Managing Editor: Om Johari (SEM, Inc., AMF O'Hare, Illinois, USA)

Editor-in-Chief: Miloslav Kaláb (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

Published: 2 issues annually

Title change: Food Structure

Date: 1990

Published: 4 issues annually

Publication ceased: End of 1993, Vol. 12, No. 4.

Total issues published: 30

Total number of papers published: 386

Discipline: Microstructure of foods, feeds, and ingredients

ISSN: 1046-705X

Developments

Scanning Microscopy International, Inc. (SMI), AMF O'Hare, Illinois, USA, under the leadership of Om Johari organized international annual meetings of electron microscopists in biology, medicine and material science, and published the proceedings on glossy paper in the form of hard-cover issues.

In 1979, a Food Science section was organized by a group of scientists (S.H. Cohen, E.A. Davis, D.N. Holcomb, and Om Johari) at the SMI annual meeting held in Chicago. In preparation to establish a new scientific journal, D.N. Holcomb and M. Kaláb^[1] compiled in 1981 a book Studies of Food Structure^[2] consisting of papers on the subject published in other SMI volumes. The new journal entitled Food Microstructure was established in 1982. It accepted manuscripts on all kinds of microscopy and other techniques used to study the structure of foods, feeds, and their ingredients.

Editors: M. Kaláb (Editor-in-Chief), Om Johari (Managing Editor), and members, S.H. Cohen, E.A. Davis, and D.N. Holcomb.

Editorial Board had 16 members: W. Buchheim (Germany), R.J. Carroll (USA), C.L. Davey (New Zealand), R.G. Fulcher (Canada), D.J. Gallant (France), H.D. Geissinger (Canada), A.M. Hermansson (Sweden)^[3], R. Moss (Australia), Y. Pomeranz (USA)^[4], M.W. Rüegg (Switzerland), K. Saio (Japan), M.V. Taranto (USA), M.A. Tung (Canada), E. Varriano-Marston (USA)^[5], Vaughan (United Kingdom), and W.J. Wolf (USA)^[6]. Publication started with two issues annually at the subscription cost of $50.00 for US delivery and $55.00 elsewhere.

In 1990 with Vol. 9, the title had been changed to Food Structure at a suggestion by I. Heertje. Publication frequency was increased to 4 issues annually. The subscription rate was $80.00 for US delivery and $95.00 elsewhere. Editors: Joined by I. Heertje (The Netherlands), K. Sato (Japan), and W.J. Wolf (USA). Editorial Board expanded by new members: B.E. Brooker (UK), M. Carić (former Yugoslavia), R.G. Cassens (USA), V.E. Colombo (Switzerland), J.M. deMan (Canada), J.M. Faubion (USA), E. Kovács (Hungary), C.M. Lee (USA), D.F. Lewis (UK), P. Resmini (Italy), R.G. Swanson (USA), P.D. Velinov (Bulgaria), and S.H. Yiu (Canada).

In 1993, the number of editors was reduced to five (M. Kaláb as Editor-in-Chief, and S.H. Cohen, I. Heertje, D.N. Holcomb, and W. Wolf as members). Editorial Board: Outgoing members were replaced by D.E. Akin (USA), S. Barbut (Canada), D.B. Bechtel (USA), J.E. Charbonneau (USA), N. Garti (Israel), Á. Keresztes, and M. Rosenberg (USA). The annual subscription rate was increased to $100.00 for US delivery and $120.00 elsewhere.

End of 1993: Vol. 12, No. 4 was the last issue published and the flourishing journal was discontinued by the publisher without explanation. Manuscripts already accepted for publication were published without delay by Academic Press^[7] in Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und-Technologie/Food Science and Technology (lwt) (M.W. Rüegg, Editor-in-Chief). M. Kaláb had been co-opted to the lwt Editorial Board.

The annual international meetings were also discontinued and the food scientists active in structural studies (Food Structure and Functionality - FSF) were deprived of a meeting and publication forum. Following the resignation of M. Kaláb, Paula Allan-Wojtas^[8] as the new chairperson made an agreement with the American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS) which accepted FSF as a new section.

Food Microstructure/Food Structure published: • Research papers - new unpublished findings. • Review papers - an extended literature review and complete bibliography. Emphasis was placed on author's new unpublished findings and on an extended discussion. • Tutorial papers - an organized comprehensive review of all relevant published material as for a teaching lecture. • Technical tips - less than 1000 words. • Letters to the Editor - comments on papers already published in Food Microstructure/Food Structure.

Papers published: During the journal's existence (1982-1993), a total of 386 papers were publisheded: research: 279, reviews: 76, methods and tutorial papers: 31, dairy: 79, meat: 61, cereals: 53, legumes: 32, and other: 94.

Specific features

Reviewers' names were revealed to the authors and a minimum of 3 reviewers were asked for comments on each manuscript. A greater number of reviewers was used when the manuscript covered several unrelated disciplines.

The authors had a duty to respond to reviewers' comments and/or questions in writing in a section called Discussion with the Reviewers at the end of each paper.

The authors had an option to have the manuscript prepared for publication by Mr. Joe Staschke at SEM, Inc. at cost or, using model paper sheets, they were allowed to make the layout by themselves and, thus, to save on page charges. There was a charge for illustrations in color. The font sizes were limited to 10 or 12 pitch and all micrographs had to show micrometer markers or their widths had to be expressed in micrometers (µm).

Travel support of up to $500.00 was granted to authors from underdeveloped countries or those with insufficient means to present their manuscripts at the annual meetings. It was stipulated by the acceptance of the presentaton for publication.

In 2013, a new Food Structure journal unrelated to that by Scanning Microscopy International, Inc., was launched by Elsevier Publishers.