Technology & Innovation

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Innovative freezing technologies for foods

6 September 2012 | By Stephen J. James & Christian James, Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre, Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education

Freezing is a well-established food preservation process that produces high quality nutritious foods that offer the advantage of a long storage life. However, freezing is not suitable for all foods and freezing does cause physical and chemical changes in many foods that are perceived as reducing the quality of the…

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Hygienic design of pumps: an EHEDG perspective

5 September 2012 | By Maxime Chevalier, EHEDG Member

Historically, maintaining the hygiene of a food process required a complete or partial disassembly and manual cleaning of every component (Cleaning out of Place: COP). The 1950’s saw the development of a method to clean the equipment without dismantling (Cleaning in Place: CIP) with the benefit of better repeatability, reduced…

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Extrusion of precooked pasta

1 May 2012 | By Mian N. Riaz, Head Extrusion Technology Program, Food Protein R&D Center, Texas A&M University and Brian Plattner, Process Engineering Manager, Wenger Manufacturing Co

Pasta is a common source of carbohydrates in our diet today. Production and consumption of pasta products vary depending on the region of the world and culinary traditions within a society. Italy ranks as the highest consumer of pasta in the world at nearly 26 kilograms per capita, which is…

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In a nutshell: Mario Becker, Sartorius Group

6 September 2011 | By Mario Becker, VP Marketing and Product Management, PAT & Automation, Sartorius Group

Founded in 1870, the Sartorius Group is an international leading laboratory and process technology provider focused on the biopharma, pharma and food and beverage industries. In their strategy to help customers efficiently implement complex lab and production processes, Process Analytical Technology (PAT) is an essential contribution to process and quality…

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Open innovation and technology scouting

13 May 2011 | By Simon Woolford, Jasper Peters & Matt Hogan, Mars

Open innovation has grown as a topic of interest over the last few years – the phrase is broad and ambiguous enough that many people have claimed its importance for doing business in the new millennium, while at the same time drawing very different meanings from the term. Chesborough coined…

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DRIED PASTA: A global food

15 December 2010 | By 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…

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Hygienic design of novel processing equipment

4 November 2010 | By 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…

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An interview with Brian McKenna, President of EFFoST

26 August 2010 | By Brian McKenna, EFFoST

Currently serving his second term as President of EFFoST, the European Federation of Food Science & Technology, Brian McKenna sat down with New Food editor Helen Difford to talk about the group. Brian, can you give some insight into who and what EFFoST is?

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High-Pressure and Pulsed Electric Field: What do the consumers think?

12 May 2010 | By Nina Veflen Olsen (Nofima Mat) and Anne-Mette Sonne (MAPP)

New products and processing techniques are continuously being developed within the food industry. While food scientists may focus on the technical novelty and applaud the progress of science, consumers are often more conservative and sceptical about changes. From earlier experiences with gene modification and irradiation, we have learnt that advantages…

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The food & beverage industry is wasting taxpayers’ money and ignoring the wishes of consumers

14 October 2009 | By Huub Lelieveld, Executive Committee, Global Harmonistaion Initiative

Despite the fact that preservation of food is essential to ensure that we have food during winter times, for several decades, consumers and consumer organisations have shown an aversion against the most-applied traditional preservation methods: the addition of chemical preservatives, such as sorbic acid, and the use of heat to…

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Ohmic heating in the food industry

1 June 2009 | By Antonio Vicente (Assistant Professor at the University of Minho)

For food processing applications, ohmic heating may be defined as a process where an electric current is passed through the food with the main purpose of heating it. Under these circumstances, heat is internally generated due to the food's electrical resistance1 and this simple fact is responsible for the particular…

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Potential benefits of micro and nanotechnology for the food industry: does size matter?

3 December 2008 | By Kathy Groves, Principal Microscopist, Leatherhead Food International

Nanotechnology is an emerging science. Its implementation in the food and drink industry is predicted to grow rapidly due to the benefits it can bring for both industry and the consumer in terms of structure and texture control, health benefits, and safety and quality.

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Nanotechnology in the food industry

3 December 2008 | By NF

Applications of nanotechnology in the food industry mean different things to different people and this influences the perception of benefits and risks of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is not a discrete area, but rather a broad spectrum of applications concerned with the rational modification of food structures at the molecular or macromolecular…

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Innovation directions

13 June 2008 | By Francesco Pantò, Roberto Ranieri and Renzo Rizzo, R&D, Barilla G. e R. Fratelli

Pasta is recognised as a family menu staple because it offers a number of unique benefits that other foods do not, such as a broad taste appeal, the versatility of usage, the convenience of preparation and being an inexpensive alternative to other main entrees.

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Hygienic pump design

13 June 2008 | By Tadeusz Matuszek, Gdansk University of Technology

In this article, a glimpse of theory and basic information regarding the pump data assumptions, together with the hygienic features of its elements, has been considered. It has been stressed that the main criteria for the decision taken with respect to the practical application of the variety of hygienic pump…