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Articles

Bottling operations

13 May 2011 | By Gareth Godley, Bottling Team Leader, MolsonCoors Brewing Company

As a nation, the way in which we enjoy alcoholic beverages is changing. We drink more at home, when we eat we favour wine and with the current squeeze on disposable income, we are putting more emphasis on low prices in our purchasing decisions. Traditional pubs are closing at an…

New EHEDG Subgroup on Conveyor Systems

3 March 2011 | By Jon J. Kold, Regional Chairman EHEDG Denmark and Chairman of the EHEDG, Subgroup Conveyor Systems

A new guideline for the hygienic design of conveyor systems will be based on solid Danish and European experiences with hygienic design of conveyor systems to be used in the food industry. In January 2011, the newest EHEDG Subgroup Conveyor Systems became active at a large kick-off seminar, which took…

Controlling Microorganisms: Problems at the food safety / risk manager interface

3 March 2011 | By Olivier Cerf, Professor Emertius, Alfort Veterinary School

The present approach to food safety relies upon implementation of good hygiene practices and the application of HACCP principles against hazards in food. In use for some time almost everywhere around the world, these principles are mandatory in many countries and familiar to the European food industry. Now, a new…

Food Grade Lubricants: Invest now, save in the future

3 March 2011 | By Jessica Evans, NSF Nonfood Compounds, Registration Manager, NSF

On 4 January 2011, United States President Barack Obama and Congress passed the Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernisation Act into law. This measure reflects a significant change in the United States food safety laws. This legislation mandates preventive measures by growers, processors and distributors, providing for increased inspections…

Monitoring the shelf life of minced beef meat using NIR and MIR spectroscopy

3 March 2011 | By Nicoletta Sinelli and Ernestina Casiraghi, DiSTAM, Department of Food Science and Technology, Università degli Studi di Milano

The meat processing industry has shown an increasing demand for fast and reliable methods to determine product quality characteristics during the last few decades. Traditional quality analyses based on chemistry and microbiology have several drawbacks, the most significant of which are low speed, use of chemical products, high manual dexterity,…

PCR technologies for the detection of pathogens in the food industry

3 March 2011 | By Geraldine Duffy, Head of Food Safety Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre

Food safety is critically important to the public health of the consumer and the economic sustainability of the agri-food sector. The consumer wants assurance that food is safe and for the food industry the economic implications and loss of goodwill associated with a food poisoning incident or scare has increased…

Microstructure characterisation of processed fruits and vegetables by complementary imaging techniques

3 March 2011 | By Adrian Voda, Jaap Nijsse & Gerard van Dalen, Unilever Research & Development and Henk Van As, Wagningen University and John van Duynhoven, Unilever Research & Development & Wagningen University

The assessment of the microstructural impact of processing on fruits and vegetables is a prerequisite for understanding the relation between processing and textural quality. By combining complementary imaging techniques, one can obtain a multi scale and real-time structural view on the impact of processing on fruits and vegetables. Fruits and…

Specific migration of plasticisers coming from closure gaskets: The LC-MS direction

3 March 2011 | By Michele Suman, Food Chemistry and Safety Research Manager, Barilla Food Research Labs

PVC gaskets seals are used for packaging many food commodities (e.g. sauces, vegetables in oil, baby food) in glass jars with metal twist closures, preventing microbiological contamination and providing an easy opening at the same time. The plastisols consist of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) usually containing 25 – 45 per cent…

EHEDG European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group News from EHEDG

15 December 2010 | By Juliane Honisch, EHEDG Secretariat

Founded in 1989, the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG) is a consortium of equipment manufacturers, food industries and research institutes as well as public health authorities. From then to now, the group has come a long way. The principal goal of EHEDG is the promotion of safe food…

Re-adhesion of bacterial spores during CIP procedures

15 December 2010 | By Christine Faille, INRA, UR638 Interface processes and hygiene of materials

Cleaning In Place (CIP) procedures have to ensure hygiene in food processing lines by the complete removal of bacteria from surfaces. However, a significant number of residual microorganisms are often still observed following CIP. At INRA, we put forward the hypothesis that some of the detached micro-organisms might re-adhere downstream.…

The decentralised alternative for steam control valves

15 December 2010 | By Bürkert Fluid Control Systems

New Food editor Helen Difford spoke to Bürkert Fluid Control Systems’ Steam Segment Manager and New Food blogger Greg Sutcliffe regarding Bürkert’s new ELEMENT range of process control valves.

Food Safety Knowledge: The Coca-Cola Food Safety Conference… A collaborative initiative

15 December 2010 | By Marc Cwikowski, Senior Manager Commercialisation – Global Quality and Product Integrity, The Coca-Cola Company

In December 2009, The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) held a food safety conference in Shanghai. This was a landmark event for our Company and for the entire food and beverage industry. It involved capability building at all steps in our supply chain, including suppliers and sub-suppliers, and it embraced sharing knowledge…

Nestlé confectionery Journey with colours

15 December 2010 | By Steve Tolliday, Principal Product Technologist, Nestlé Product and Technology Centre

Colour in food is important. It is one of the drivers for the consumer in selecting specific foods and when combined with flavour and texture, adds to the overall enjoyment of the consumption of food. Historically, confectionery has been full of bright, exciting colours to ensure its appeal to the…

Methods to evaluate enzyme performance

15 December 2010 | By Sarab Sahi, Principal Research Officer, Baking & Cereal Processing Department, Campden BRI

Enzymes are widely used in the cereals industry to improve processing performance1 and product quality in a range of food products. Industrial baking in particular uses microbial enzymes as processing aids to improve dough properties as well as to improve product quality and shelf-life, and is an area where there…

Ensuring global food safety through multi-residue monitoring of pesticides

15 December 2010 | By Gerry Broski, Food Safety Director, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Renzo Boni, Laboratory Manager, Conserve Italia

There are currently over one thousand recognised pesticides utilised in the production of foodstuffs worldwide, with the requirement for pesticide usage growing as consumer demand for food at a low cost and out of season increases. With pesticides such as lindane and carbendazim linked with cancer, fertility problems and hormone…