AVENA WEBINARS

Having worked in the UK baking industry for more than 17 years, Michelle has a wealth of experience in product development and formulation, process development, and sales. Travelling extensively, she has developed an appreciation of the differences in both product range and manufacturing capability in different markets.

After spending most of her career working in the chemical leavening sector, in 2019 she joined Avena Foods as Director of Sales and Business Development for the UK. She believes food manufacturers have a responsibility to make their products as nutritious as possible, and that making small changes to a wide range of products can have a positive impact on population health. Her goal is to work with gluten-free manufacturers to improve the nutritional profile of the products they offer.

Dr. Sharon Book is currently a Bakery Technologist for ICL Food Specialties in St. Louis, MO, where her work focuses on learning and sharing information about chemical leavening and baked goods.   Her interest in cereal chemistry began while conducting graduate research at the University of Minnesota.  Both her MS and PhD degrees examined wheat starch and gluten at the molecular level to understand their effects on conventional and microwave heated baked goods.  This background was utilized when Dr. Book began working for Monsanto investigating how to make bread without yeast; research that resulted in a patent.  She has extensive experience working in chemical leavening and with customers in a variety of bakery applications.  She has also conducted research to more fully understand the impact of leavening acids on the properties of tortillas, cakes and other baked products.  In addition to several patents, Dr. Book is the co-author of many peer reviewed trade journal articles and a book chapter.

Linda is a food industry consultant working in research and development for Avena Foods Ltd. She has 20 years of diverse industry experience and 30 plus years of research and development expertise. She has authored/co-authored 8 white papers, 10 book chapters, and over 60 peer reviewed research papers. Prior to joining Avena Foods, Linda was the Director of Special Crops, Oilseeds and Pulses at the Canadian International Grains Institute and was a Professor in the Department of Human Nutritional Sciences at the University of Manitoba. She received her Ph.D. in Food and Nutritional Sciences from the University of Manitoba.

Linda is a member of the Cereal & Grains Association serving on the Pulse Technical Committee and the recently formed Pulse Division. From 2016-2018, Linda also served as a guest editor for the association’s publication, Cereal Foods World.