About Me

Hi there! I'm Dr. Bryan Quoc Le, and I am a food scientist, food industry consultant, and author of the book, 150 Food Science Questions Answered (2020, Simon & Schuster). I earned my Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where I studied the biological effects of savory flavors from plant-based sources on mammalian cells.

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I currently serve as a Faculty Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at Pacific Lutheran University, where I am researching ways to valorize food and agricultural waste into sustainable fermentation feedstocks for the alternative protein industry. I also serve as a startup mentor for CoMotion Labs at the University of Washington, a Domain Expert for Carbon13, and as a Research Scholar at the Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship.

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Since graduating from my doctoral program, I've gone on to become a scientific advisor and consulting food scientist for a number of food companies, including Blue Diamond Growers, Lactalis, Sosa Ingredients, Trinchero Family Estates, The Good Food Institute (GFI), Satoria Agro, TurtleTree, Black Sheep Foods, and others. I completed a two-year study on converting agricultural sidestreams into alternative proteins in partnership with GFI, which can be found here.

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My consulting work has been recently recognized and I am proudly the recipient of the 2023 Food Science Consultant of the Year for the Global Vegan Awards, hosted by LUXlife Magazine.

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I am the inventor of the following patents: US20230138662A1, CA3142690A1

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I recently collaborated with the Dutch television show "Keuringsdienst van Waarde" to help produce the episode "Vissaus" (Season 20, Episode 18), where I offered consulting on the production of fish sauce, with two interview cameos for the episode at timestamps 11:50 and 19:40 (IMDb).

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I've been quoted by publications such as Scientific American, Forbes, Insider, HuffPost, PopSugar, Eat This, Not That!, Martha Stewart, and many others. I've also given seminars and guest lectures on alternative proteins and flavor chemistry for Microsoft, the UC Berkeley Sutardja Center (SCET), the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association (IDDBA), the Fermentation Science Institute, Cascadia Climate Action, and RAIN Incubator.

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Fun Facts: In my early 20s, I walked 2,000 miles from California to Louisiana over 6 months. I also briefly attended Stanford University for a fully-funded, joint Ph.D. program in the Department of Chemistry and M.S. program in the School of Medicine, before leaving the two programs to pursue other personal, academic, and professional opportunities that better aligned with my long-term goals.

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Currently, I'm living in the Pacific Northwest with my wife Yvonne and two dogs, Cupresidian and Rouxmina.