New Food Issue 3 2019

It is very hard to find someone who doesn’t enjoy eating ice cream, but modern-day consumers are demanding healthier, lower-calorie products that taste just as good as their calorific equivalents. The dairy foods industry is investing heavily in research that explores alternative techniques and formulations to reduce the sugar content of dairy products. 

According to many research centres, consumers are demanding a much wider choice of reduced-sugar ice cream, yoghurt and flavoured milk products on the market. As overconsumption of sugar can contribute to a variety of cardiovascular, weight and dental problems, health organisations must be pleased at the efforts being made in this area to find healthier alternatives that still offer the authentic flavours that consumers desire.

In our Dairy In-Depth Focus on page 10, MaryAnne Drake, Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences of the Southeast Dairy Food Research Center at North Carolina State University, takes a closer look at sugar reduction techniques, and highlights why it’s important for dairy manufacturers to understand research and consumer responses when designing and producing acceptable products. 

Also in the In-Depth Focus on Page 15, Cornell University colleagues Sarah Johnson and Syed Rizvi explain why an energy-efficient, novel machine for flash-freezing liquid foods is an important modern technique that promotes fresh and clean-label foods; particularly suited for ice cream production. 

As the popularity of ice cream and other dairy products increases, the food industry must respond to consumer demands and utilise modern-day techniques to develop ever-better products. 

Included in this edition:

• LEADERS’ SERIES
  Lisa Moon, President & CEO, The Global FoodBanking Network
• BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY – The key to combatting supply chain fraud
  Rob Chester, UK Managing Director of Food, NSF International
• INTERVIEW 
  Ricardo Santin, Executive Director, ABPA
• INFANT FORMULA – A whole new way of approaching infant formula
  David Boulanger, Senior Vice President Operations, Danone Specialized Nutrition
• DAIRY – On-demand, flash-freezing of ice cream
  Sarah Johnson and Syed Rizvi, Cornell University
• PROCESSING – Pioneering the Jackfruit food craze
  Dan Staackmann, Founder & President, Upton’s Naturals
• FOOD SAFETY – Naturals in food: facts, myths and perceptions
  Scientists Martin Rose, Taichi Inui, Molra Dean and Jane Parker