Ms. Amanda Kinchla is an Associate Extension Professor at the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts. She received her Master’s degree in Food Science at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. PI-Kinchla has over fifteen years of industrial work experience with a focus in product development and food safety. She is now an Extension Specialist at the University of Massachusetts where she has built a Food Science Extension program that helps to provide technical support to the food industry (small and large-scale businesses). She is a long-standing member of the Massachusetts Food Policy Council, chairs several extension short courses and regulatory compliant food safety programs at UMass. Her current research is focused product development, food safety and food safety education to support the food industry. Her research has been funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Massachusetts Department of Agriculture, and the food industry. She has co-authored over 70 papers for journals, extension publications and conference proceedings.