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16 November 2007 | By Susanne de Haar, TNO
Food production processes are continuously adapted under the pressure of marketing demands, the availability of new technologies, and to reduce production costs. However, poor awareness about critical aspects of new products and processes may lead to disappointing results. For example, spoiled or overprocessed products. “A structured process validation prevents such…
16 November 2007 | By Wolfgang Danzl and Gottfried Ziegleder, Fraunhofer IVV
Transparent plastic packaging is increasingly replacing traditional food packaging made of glass and metal. The advantages of transparent plastic packaging are; its low weight, low cost, design flexibility and the opportunity to present products in an attractive way. However, compared to traditional packaging made of glass, metal, aluminum-laminated films or…
16 November 2007 | By Sarah J O’Brien, Professor of Health Sciences and Epidemiology, University of Manchester
“Infectious intestinal disease occurs in one in five people each year, of whom one in six presents to a general practitioner.” So wrote Wheeler and colleagues in 1999 (Wheeler et al, 1999). This translated into 9.4 million people suffering from infectious intestinal disease (IID) annually, with around 1.5 million people…
16 November 2007 | By Lars Reinholdt, Danish Technological Institute
Freezing and chilling are the most widespread conservation methods in the food production chain. Refrigeration is generally gentle but it can often influence the quality of food products. The International Institute of Refrigeration estimates that out of the total worldwide agricultural production (incl. fish and seafood) of 5,500 million tonnes…
16 November 2007 | By Huug De Vries, Project Co-ordinator, NovelQ
The European Commission’s (EC) strategy in the past ten years has been changed from stimulating and supporting scientific projects in specific research areas towards more integrated research projects. The term ‘integrated’ refers to multi-disciplinary approaches to address and find answers for complex research questions. In 2000, the definition of the…
16 November 2007 | By Sarah Krol, NSF International
Of primary concern to today’s food manufacturers is the threat of food contamination resulting in regulatory enforcement, product recalls and consumer litigation. Food retailers and their branded suppliers fear instances of food contamination resulting in public notices, widespread food recalls, or even worse, consumer illness. Even before causation is demonstrated…
Leatherhead Food International (LFI) is a provider of scientific research, information and consultancy for the global food and drink sector. It is renowned for its comprehensive World Food Legislation services, applied Bioscience Research and Food Ingredient expertise. Paul Berryman gives an overview of LFI’s capabilities to develop innovative solutions to…
4 September 2007 | By Roland Ernest Poms, ICC – International Association for Cereal Science and Technology, Vienna, Austria – Coordinator of MoniQA
MoniQA is an EU funded Network of Excellence (NoE), which works towards harmonisation of analytical methods for monitoring food quality and safety in the food supply chain. The MoniQA NoE (Contract N0. FOOD-CT-2006-36337) is coordinated by the Vienna-based ICC (International Association for Cereal Science and Technology) and is set to…
4 September 2007 | By Jan Pedersen and Folmer D. Eriksen, National Institute of Food, Technical University of Denmark
One of the points in the discussion of genetically modified organisms (GMO) is the consumers’ right to choose between foods from GMO (GM-foods) and traditionally produced foods. This discussion has led to the EU regulation requiring labelling of GM food products made from GM plants. However, since it is difficult…
4 September 2007 | By Dr. Sam Millar, Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association
Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy offers users a rapid, non-destructive means of assessing a range of different food ingredients and finished products. Since its commercial development as a technique in the 1970s, it has been widely applied in a number of food sectors, particularly those related to cereal products. As instrumentation…
4 September 2007 | By Mike Rodd, Segment Manager Hygienic Processing, Bürkert Fluid Control Systems
The automation industry is constantly changing, and the pressure is stepping up for Bürkert Fluid Control Systems. The past year has been very busy for the company as they strive to keep ahead of the major trends in the food industry. Mike Rodd, Segment Manager Process Control, tells Suzanna Bailey…
4 September 2007 | By Stefan Toepfl and Volker Heinz, German Institute of Food Technology (DIL)
Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) applications can be utilised to achieve disintegration of biological tissues or microbes. Various applications have been identified such as improvement of mass transfer during extraction or drying as well as gentle food preservation. The first commercial applications of the technique have been achieved. By development of…
4 September 2007 | By Phillip Tong, Dairy Products Technology Center, California Polytechnic State University
Centuries ago, man observed that drying in the sun could naturally extend the shelf life of grains and other foodstuffs. Marco Polo, in the 13th century, is reported to have carried dried milk on his trips. Based on these observations man learned to commercialise this process for vegetables and later…
4 September 2007 | By Jim Crilly, Vice President Research & Development, Unilever Ice Cream Category
Fat and sugar are key nutrients in ice cream and very important as structural building blocks. But with consumers less keen on saturated fat and sugar in their diets, there is a greater need to utilise additional structure from the ice phase to maintain excellent sensory delivery.
4 September 2007 | By Julian Stocker, H J Heinz Co. Ltd.
Canning has been a valuable form of food packaging and preservation ever since Napoleon offered a prize for the invention of a method of preserving food for military campaigns. In the UK there are 4 billion food cans sold each year and in the enlarged EU the figure is more…
