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23 May 2007 | By Søren Aabo, Senior Scientist, Department of Microbiology and Risk Assessment, Institute for Food Safety, The Technical University of Denmark
The Danish swine industry produces more than 20 million slaughtered pigs each year. For many years most of the production has been exported, with England, USA and Japan being some of the most important markets.
23 May 2007 | By Judith Evans, Senior Research Project Manager, FRPERC (Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre), University of Bristol
Refrigeration is a vital part of modern food production. Without a means to cool and keep food cold, the quality and safety of food would be compromised and the sophisticated cold chain we are used to would not be possible. The whole food chain is underpinned by refrigeration from primary…
23 May 2007 | By Peter Wareing, Leatherhead Food International
Food packaging is traditionally required to have many functions: to contain and protect the food, to provide a surface for information labels, to add a distinct brand identity and to present the food attractively so that consumers will purchase it.
Titration is an analytical technique that is widely used in the food industry. It allows food manufacturers to determine the quantity of a reactant in a sample. For example, it can be used to discover the amount of salt or sugar in a product or the concentration of vitamin C…
23 May 2007 | By M. Federighi and N. Elmnasser, UMR-INRA 1014 SECALIM ENVN/ENITIAA;, F. Leroi, IFREMER, and A. & N. Orange, IUT
Food preservation implies that micro-organisms are inactivated or suppressed in order to enhance the safety and quality of the product. Alternative physical techniques aim to combine the stability and microbial safety of foods with a minimal loss of quality attributes. Because these techniques have little or no thermal effects on…
7 March 2007 | By Vegard H. Segtnan, Jens Petter Wold and Martin Høy, Matforsk AS, Norway and Jens T. Thielemann and Jon Tschudi, SINTEF ICT, Norway
Most solid foods are heterogeneous on one level or another. Minced meat or an intact piece of meat, for example, will have smaller or larger local regions that are almost pure fat, pure lean meat or pure connective tissue. For such heterogeneous foods the distribution of the local differences is…
7 March 2007 | By S. Monbaliu, S. De Saeger and C. Van Peteghem, Ghent University, Laboratory of Food Analysis
This article focuses on the main principle of the liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) determination of mycotoxins in foodstuffs. It also provides an overview of recent developments in mycotoxin analysis.
7 March 2007 | By Martin Whitworth, Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association
The colour and appearance of baked products are important quality attributes. Printed images of products are often displayed in production areas to illustrate the required appearance, but frequently provide a poor match to the actual product colour.Calibrated imaging methods are now available that enable accurate, consistent images to be taken…
7 March 2007 | By Dr. Mansel Griffiths, Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety, Canada
There are many naturally bioluminescent organisms existing in nature and the mechanisms whereby some of these creatures emit light have been fully characterised1. These include the luciferin-luciferase system of bacteria, insects (fireflies and click-beetles) and the jellyfish Aequorea victoria. In essence, bioluminescence involves the conversion of chemical energy into light…
6 November 2006 | By Bo Knudsen, Segment Manager, Alfa Laval Tank Equipment A/S
When deciding which tank cleaning equipment to purchase, it is important to consider hygiene along with criteria such as effectiveness and price. The very first EHEDG-certified rotary jet head is now on the market. Cleaning-in-place (CIP) based on tank cleaning equipment is finding its way into increasing numbers of reactors,…
6 November 2006 | By Nicoletta Sinelli, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Milano
The evaluation of shelf life of perishable foods is a key aspect of modern production and distribution. Food ‘freshness’ is one of the most required attributes by consumers and is strongly influenced by storage conditions – temperature abuse being one of the main factors affecting the shelf life (Labuza, 1982;…
6 November 2006 | By Marianne Jakobsen, Department of Food Science, Food Chemistry, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark
Marianne Jakobsen, Department of Food Science, Food Chemistry, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is widely used for the packaging of meat. In MAP, carbon dioxide (CO2) is primarily used due to its ability to inhibit the growth of a wide range of microorganisms (Farber…
6 November 2006 | By Bruce W. Moss, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute, Northern Ireland
When fresh food is purchased it may be possible to obtain a small sample for tasting, for example, cheese at a dairy counter. In the majority of cases, however, the only indicator of final eating quality is the appearance of the food. Consumers have associations based on previous experience, for…
6 November 2006 | By Graeme Jardine, Microbiology Laboratory Manager, RHM Group Ltd
Technological advances in the field of food microbiology are a common occurrence. A great deal of research and validation is put into improving established methodologies and utilising new rapid approaches to isolation and detection. However, established ‘conventional testing’ is still the main stay of most food microbiology laboratories with the…
11 August 2006 | By Riikka Salokannel, Design Manager, Oy Sinebrychoff Ab, Carlsberg Breweries
The requirement of all packaging is to protect, help with delivery, and pass on information about the product. This task must be achieved with the least amount of effort and as effectively as possible. There are millions of variations of making this possible and this article outlines some recent trends…
