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Testing the effectiveness of packaging sterilisation: Truth or faith?

30 June 2010 | By Jan Bruecklmeier, Senior Aseptic Specialist, Nestlé

The effectiveness of packaging sterilisation devices in an aseptic filling system is often tested during start up and validation of the system. Some publications even classify the different aseptic filling systems with their average logarithmic reduction rate (ALR). According to different publications, the testing seems to be quite easy and…

Scoring goals for sustainable development

30 June 2010 | By Andy Wales, Global Head of Sustainable Development, SABMiller

As one of the world’s largest brewers, with brewing interests and distribution agreements across six continents, SABMiller takes its responsibilities seriously, especially when it comes to sustainable development. In 2009, the company announced its intentions to reduce its fossil fuel emissions on its beers by fifty per cent per litre…

Creating Shared Value in food manufacturing: Nestlé’s experience

30 June 2010 | By José Lopez, Executive Vice President, Nestlé S.A for Operations & Global Business Excellence

As the world’s leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness company (CHF 110 billion sales in 2008), Nestlé recognises that for its business to be successful and sustainable in the long term, it must create value for its shareholders and for society. With this, we need to move beyond more ‘generic’ principles…

Packaging for customers, consumers and the environment

30 June 2010 | By Jay Gouliard, Vice President Global Packaging, Unilever

Unilever is one of the leading suppliers of fast-moving consumer goods, with products on sale in over 170 countries. Our portfolio of foods, home and personal care brands is trusted by consumers the world over. On any given day, two billion people use our products. Unilever business and brands have…

A new vision

30 June 2010 | By David Pendlington, Sustainability Agriculture Programme Coordinator, Unilever

In November 2009, Unilever launched a bold new company vision to inspire people to take small, everyday actions that can add up to make a big difference for the world. Our aim is to double the size of its business while reducing its overall environmental impact. This new vision recognises…

Food Standards Agency research into consumers’ use of country of origin labelling on food

30 June 2010 | By Jane Ince, Policy Advisor, Food Standards Agency

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) undertook research in 2009 on consumer use of country of origin labelling. The findings were published on 14 January 20101. The work reveals some interesting facts about how much this labelling is used in practice and about how, for meat and meat products in particular,…

Mycotoxins in food: An update for 2010

30 June 2010 | By Catherine Entwisle, Leatherhead Food Research

Since biblical times, the toxic response caused by ingestion of mycotoxins, the secondary metabolites of moulds, has had a significant impact on the health and welfare of human and animal populations. Since the early 1960’s, a wealth of knowledge about mycotoxigenic fungi, such as Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium, and their…

The benchmark in quality for dehydrated food products

30 June 2010 | By Daniel Donhowe, Expert Engineer, Nestlé PTC Marysville

Freeze drying is considered the benchmark in quality for many dehydrated food products. But is it worth the higher cost compared to cheaper air drying technologies such as spray or fluid bed drying? Freeze drying is a process that usually provides several benefits over competing technologies, such as improved flavour…

NovelQ’s contribution to a wide application of novel processing technologies

30 June 2010 | By Huug de Vries, Project Coordinator, NovelQ

New Food editor Helen Difford spoke with NovelQ Project Coordinator Huug de Vries about the EU-funded integrated project. After five years, the project is drawing to a close and our October issue of New Food will incorporate the NovelQ project findings and what it means for the industry.

Partnership with fishing industry proves a winner

30 June 2010 | By Toyota Material Handling

The harsh working environment of Norway’s fish production industry means that forklift trucks must be built to the highest order to survive and thrive. Enter Toyota Material Handling Norway. Strictly speaking, Fjordlaks Aqua AS (Fjordlaks means ‘Fjord Salmon’ in Norwegian) should not really be called Fjordlaks at all. It neither…

-2°C to -12°C, not chilled but not frozen

1 June 2010 | By Christian James, Research Fellow, Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre (FRPERC) and Stephen J. James, Director, Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre (FRPERC)

The drive to maximise the storage and display lives of perishable foods has led to increasing interest in holding foods in the region between their freezing point and -12°C. This is a grey area in terms of much international legislation, since food is not usually considered fully ‘frozen' until it…

Five measures for sustainable, financially sound processing

1 June 2010 | By Dr Peter de Jong, Arjan van Asselt, Dr Martijn Fox & Dr Coen Akkerman, NIZO Food Research

In the food industry, it is possible to use new breakthrough technologies to create a more sustainable production process combined with a substantial decrease of production costs. However, the development of these technologies requires a significant investment of time and money. The latter, in particular, is difficult to secure these…

Using LC-MS to study the fate of food ingredients in the human body

12 May 2010 | By Christian H. Grün & Hans-Gerd Janssen, Unilever Research and Development, Advanced Measurement & Data Modelling

The human body is designed for effectively extracting nutrients from the food we eat. The nutrients provide the body with energy, but in addition, they also provide the building blocks for cell growth. More recently, it has also been realised that specific food ingredients can be associated with a direct…

Safety assessment of industrial strains, starters and probiotics

12 May 2010 | By François Bourdichon, Food Safety Centre, Danone Corporate

Probiotics are used to bring health benefits to consumers through foods and are defined as "live micro-organisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host[Ref 18]." Commercialised all around the world since the early 1920's, mostly focused on Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus genera, in the last…

Foreign body detection and identification

12 May 2010 | By Dr. Mike Edwards, Microscopy Section, Campden BRI

Consumer complaints regarding foreign bodies are a constant problem for virtually all food companies, and so their prevention and control should be high on the list for all Quality and Technical Managers. The effective management of prevention and control of foreign bodies requires attention to many parts of the business,…