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Latest issue / 4 January 2012 / Alan F. Wolfschoon-Pombo, Research Principal, Cheese and Dairy Technology, Kraft Foods
The food industry, and within it the dairy industry, is experiencing a noticeable change. Novel processing technologies and sustainability are trendy terms. Also, the following concepts are under the same trend: efficient use of raw materials (increased yield), less waste generation, reduction of product losses during manufacturing and overall food chain, reduced utilisation of cleaning and disinfection agents, less energy and water consumption, distinct product quality, efficient packaging, shelf life extension, etc.
In the opinion of the author of this article, changes are good, provided we do not forget where we come from. In the past, we can find the foundations for the future. A wealth of knowledge was generated over the past 140 years since the establishment of the mass action law of Guldberg and Waage that allows us to understand the equilibrium of chemical reactions and with it basic (dairy technology related) reactions like milk acidification and neutralisation, concepts applied to the dairy practice by the dairy scientists Soxhlet and Henkel around 1884. The work of the early pioneers, like Arrhenius, van’t Hof, Pasteur and many others, allows us to understand the dynamics of the reactions taking place when heating milk, and with it, the basis of food processing and food safety. (more…)
Featured news, News / 7 November 2011 / GL Events
Founded in 1997, the CFIA Rennes is back on March 13th , 14th and 15th 2012 for a new edition that keeps all its promises and which is already nearly full.
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Issue 6 2010 / 15 December 2010 / Maria Ambrogina Pagani, Professor of Cereal Technology, University of Milan
Pasta, the Italian food par excellence, is one of the most interesting products obtained from wheat. Dried pasta has a long shelf-life before being cooked, thanks to its low water content and highly compact texture. Its macromolecules have exceptional hydrating capacities which enable it to increase its weight two-fold and acquire a palatable structure when cooked in boiling water while maintaining a high structural compactness. This property allows starch to be slowly digested, thus ensuring the product a low Glycemix Index despite its high carbohydrate content1. Pasta can then be combined in many different kinds of sauces to suit every taste and to remedy the deficiency of wheat regarding some essential amino-acids. (more…)
Issue 5 2010 / 5 November 2010 / Lilia Ahrné, Director of Department Process and Technology
Development, SIK and Ariette Matser, Senior Scientist Novel Processing, Wageningen UR, Food & Biobased Research
One of the goals of NovelQ is to facilitate and speed up industrial exploitation of novel technologies by carrying out extensive demonstration activities with real food products and industrial equipment in close collaboration with the food industry. A variety of activities have been undertaken during the lifetime of NovelQ demonstrating the advantages of novel processing and advanced heating with respect to product quality and shelf-life (Figure 1). (more…)
Issue 5 2010 / 4 November 2010 / Ariette Matser & Hennie Mastwijk, Wageningen UR and Diána Bánáti, Director General, Central Food Research Institute and Liesbeth Vervoort & Marc Hendrickx, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The overall objective of the EU FP6 NovelQ Integrated Project was to formulate strategic solutions for technical and basic research hurdles to enhance the development and successful demonstration of Novel Processing (NP) schemes. A parallel approach was chosen based on providing a sound scientific base and technology transfer.
The first approach has generated new insights for mechanistic and kinetic aspects on the impact of novel technologies on food safety and quality as a basis for process and product development. The second has led to integrated product and process development, and demonstration trajectories. It has also resulted in enhanced implementation of NP. (more…)
Issue 5 2010 / 4 November 2010 / Ulf Sonesson, Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK)
Food is indispensible to humans. Aside from the provision of energy and nutrients, it contributes to a range of important aspects of human life such as pleasure, cultural identity and heritage. At the same time, food accounts for a significant global share of total environmental impact and resource use. It is difficult to accurately quantify this impact, but estimates show that food chains globally account for 25 – 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, and food production occupies most of the available arable land. Agriculture is also the single largest user of water and has a tremendous impact on biodiversity. (more…)
Issue 5 2010 / 4 November 2010 / Nathalie Gontard, Valérie Guillard, Miguel Mauricio Iglesias, Stéphane Peyron & Sana Raouche
Joint Research Unit Agropolymers Engineering
and Emerging Technologies – UMR 1208 Montpellier
SupAgro, INRA and Salvatore Iannace, Institute of Composite and Biomedical Materials, National Research Council of Italy and Giuseppe Mensitieri & Ernesto Di Maio, Dept. of Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II
In the last few years, the fast development of novel processing methods for food preservation to improve safety, quality and shelf life of packaged foods gave place to important gaps of knowledge that must be filled in the area of suitable packaging materials. In particular, in the European Project NovelQ (more…)
Issue 5 2010 / 4 November 2010 / Edyta Margas & John Holah, Campden BRI and Alexander Milanov & Lilia Ahrné, SIK
The hygienic design of food processing equipment is a critical factor in determining the quality and safety of foods produced. It involves the selection of suitable materials of construction, their fabrication into a functional piece of equipment, the ability of constructed equipment to produce food hygienically and the maintenance of hygienic conditions throughout the equipment’s working life. There is a significant amount of guidance and information available on the principles of hygienic design for traditional food processing equipment (from the European Hygienic Engineering Design Group; www.EHEDG.org), but the nature of NP techniques such as High Pressure Processing (HPP) and Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) may impose other additional stresses on the equipment surfaces, their construction materials and their fabrication. (more…)
Issue 5 2010 / 4 November 2010 / Ariette Matser & Hennie Mastwijk, Wageningen UR and Milan Houška, Food Research Institute Prague
The implementation of a novel processing technology needs a science-based approach where product benefits initially demonstrated in a laboratory environment and the associated risks are used to predict enhanced quality when the technology is used in large-scale industrial operation. We discuss four novel technologies business cases developed for food application moving from laboratory to industrial-scale application. (more…)
Issue 3 2010, Past issues / 30 June 2010 / Huug de Vries, Project Coordinator, NovelQ
New Food editor Helen Difford spoke with NovelQ Project Coordinator Huug de Vries about the EU-funded integrated project. After five years, the project is drawing to a close and our October issue of New Food will incorporate the NovelQ project findings and what it means for the industry.
Huug, can you give some examples of applications of novel processing technologies?
“High pressure for pasteurisation applications has now being widely implemented for fruit juices, ham, seafood, tapas, etc. Also, the first pulsed electrical field equipment is available for pasteurisation of liquids and for extraction purposes. A first demonstrator for cold plasma disinfection is on the market. (more…)
Issue 2 2009 / 1 June 2010 / Christian James, Research Fellow, Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre (FRPERC) and Stephen J. James, Director, Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre (FRPERC)
The drive to maximise the storage and display lives of perishable foods has led to increasing interest in holding foods in the region between their freezing point and -12°C. This is a grey area in terms of much international legislation, since food is not usually considered fully ‘frozen’ until it is below -12°C and only considered ‘chilled’ above its freezing point. There is also a confusion of terms used to describe the states of foods and processes in this temperature region. The terms ‘super-chilled’, ‘deep-chilled’, ‘ultra-chilled’ or ‘partially-frozen’ are often used for foods held in this temperature region; the Japanese also use the term ‘Hyo-on’.
Confusingly, some in the food industry also use similar terms for chilled foods that are simply held below 0°C, or use the terms ‘super-chilling’, ‘deep-chilling’ or ‘hard-chilling’ for the process of using refrigerating temperatures below 0°C (also commonly referred to as ‘rapid’ or ‘ultra-rapid’ chilling). Where freezing occurs during the process before equalising at the required storage temperature, terms such as ‘crust-freezing’ and ‘partial-freezing’ may also be used. Crust-freezing is often used to aid the cutting of foods by making the outside of the product rigid and thus easier to cut. A more controlled process, whereby the whole of the product is at a uniform temperature where it has a substantial ice content for slicing or other forms of processing, is called ‘tempering’. To yet further confuse matters, some foods can be held significantly below their freezing point without freezing occurring (i.e. nucleation of ice crystals); this is usually referred to as ‘super-cooled’, ‘sub-cooled’, or ‘under-cooled’. (more…)
Issue 2 2010 / 12 May 2010 / Dr. Ian Roberts, Director of the Chocolate Centre of Excellence, Nestlé
Cocoa has always held a special status in society. It has evolved from being used to make a beverage featuring at sacrificial ceremonies, travelled via the conquest of the indigenous cultures of Meso-America to the Spanish Royal Court and through high society in France and Italy to find a more peaceful home in the Swiss Alps. It now provides pleasure to millions of consumers across the world on a daily basis.
The secret of the cacao (pronounced kah-KOW) tree was discovered 2,000 years ago in the tropical rainforests of the Americas. The discovery of consuming cocoa is attributed to the Classic Period Maya (250-900 AD). Cocoa was a central component of the culture of Meso-America featuring in Aztec and Mayan ceremonies and royal gatherings. Priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the gods and served chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies.
The cocoa was harvested from the trees in the depths of the rainforests (a far cry from the more organised cocoa farms of today), fermented, ground into paste, mixed with chillies and cornmeal and consumed as a bitter, highly spiced, frothy beverage. Today, in Mexico, this chocolate beverage culture continues to thrive, with less use of chillies, but a wide use of cinnamon and some sugar to mask the bitterness in products such as ‘ABUELITA’. The ceremony remains central to the preparation of the product and creates a focal point for the family, with the mother using a specially made wooden ‘molinillo’ (a type of whisk) to make the foam before serving her family. (more…)
Issue 1 2010, Past issues / 22 February 2010 / Sarah Krol, General Manager, Nonfood Compounds Registration Program, NSF International
The use of food-grade lubricants has revolutionised the food manufacturing process, making it possible to increase productivity, improve food safety and protect metal surfaces from corrosion and wear. They withstand extreme temperatures and can be designed for specialised applications. So what does the future hold for these Titans of the food production process?
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Issue 1 2010, Past issues / 22 February 2010 / Peter Bird, Marketing Advisor, Food Industry Machinery Lubricants, ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties
Recalls of food and beverage products due to contamination concerns have risen significantly over the last decade. Considering that recalled products can be devastating to a brand and potentially harmful to consumers, it is not surprising that the U.S. Food Processing 2008 Annual Manufacturing Trends Survey indicated that food and beverage processors’ number one concern is food safety, more so than energy, labour issues or environmental concerns.
This trend extends far beyond the United States, impacting regions all around the world. In today’s current global economic climate, food and beverage processors are under more pressure than ever to ensure the safety of their products, protect their brand reputation, enhance their company’s productivity and expand profit margins in the face of tightening economic times.
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Issue 1 2010, Past issues / 22 February 2010 / Holly Hughes, Charles Speirs & Sarah Chapman, Campden BRI
With consumers becoming more aware of what is in their diet, there is a growing interest in more ‘natural’ and healthy foods free from additives. The UK food industry is under increased pressure to simplify ingredient lists and remove ‘artificial’ additives from foods. The increasing popularity of the clean label movement within the EU is shown through data obtained by Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD). Between January 2008 and June 2009, the most popular claim made when launching new food and beverages was ‘no additives’ or ‘no preservatives’. This was found on 13,441 products1. In addition, 23 per cent of global food and drinks launches in 2008 featured ‘natural’ or ‘no artificial….’ claims2.
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