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Detection of irradiated foods

16 November 2007 | By Eric Marchioni, Univerité Louis Pasteur

Food irradiation is gaining interest in light of the increasing incidence of foodborne diseases in the last few decades. It efficiently reduces the populations of pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria, Campylobacter, E. coli 0157:H7, and also of parasites and insects[1-2]. The process has been endorsed by the World Health Organization…

Will cocoa ever dissolve in water?

16 November 2007 | By Dr I.Bodnár, Dr H.Rollema, M.Laats, H.Bernaert, Barry Callebaut, NIZO food research

Chocolate, in its various forms, is the ultimate pleasure food for many customers. New chocolate flavoured products are constantly being developed such as drinks, dairy, ice-cream, and desserts with greater taste and greater convenience.

Structured approach reduces production costs

16 November 2007 | By Susanne de Haar, TNO

Food production processes are continuously adapted under the pressure of marketing demands, the availability of new technologies, and to reduce production costs. However, poor awareness about critical aspects of new products and processes may lead to disappointing results. For example, spoiled or overprocessed products. “A structured process validation prevents such…

UV protection for packaged foods

16 November 2007 | By Wolfgang Danzl and Gottfried Ziegleder, Fraunhofer IVV

Transparent plastic packaging is increasingly replacing traditional food packaging made of glass and metal. The advantages of transparent plastic packaging are; its low weight, low cost, design flexibility and the opportunity to present products in an attractive way. However, compared to traditional packaging made of glass, metal, aluminum-laminated films or…

Surveillance of foodborne disease in the United Kingdom

16 November 2007 | By Sarah J O’Brien, Professor of Health Sciences and Epidemiology, University of Manchester

“Infectious intestinal disease occurs in one in five people each year, of whom one in six presents to a general practitioner.” So wrote Wheeler and colleagues in 1999 (Wheeler et al, 1999). This translated into 9.4 million people suffering from infectious intestinal disease (IID) annually, with around 1.5 million people…

Freezing of food and new equipment developments

16 November 2007 | By Lars Reinholdt, Danish Technological Institute

Freezing and chilling are the most widespread conservation methods in the food production chain. Refrigeration is generally gentle but it can often influence the quality of food products. The International Institute of Refrigeration estimates that out of the total worldwide agricultural production (incl. fish and seafood) of 5,500 million tonnes…

NovelQ contributes to Europe’s innovation strategy

16 November 2007 | By Huug De Vries, Project Co-ordinator, NovelQ

The European Commission’s (EC) strategy in the past ten years has been changed from stimulating and supporting scientific projects in specific research areas towards more integrated research projects. The term ‘integrated’ refers to multi-disciplinary approaches to address and find answers for complex research questions. In 2000, the definition of the…

A key factor in food safety: food grade lubricants

16 November 2007 | By Sarah Krol, NSF International

Of primary concern to today’s food manufacturers is the threat of food contamination resulting in regulatory enforcement, product recalls and consumer litigation. Food retailers and their branded suppliers fear instances of food contamination resulting in public notices, widespread food recalls, or even worse, consumer illness. Even before causation is demonstrated…

MoniQA – A new EU-project towards the harmonisation of analytical methods for monitoring food quality and safety in the food supply chain

4 September 2007 | By Roland Ernest Poms, ICC – International Association for Cereal Science and Technology, Vienna, Austria – Coordinator of MoniQA

MoniQA is an EU funded Network of Excellence (NoE), which works towards harmonisation of analytical methods for monitoring food quality and safety in the food supply chain. The MoniQA NoE (Contract N0. FOOD-CT-2006-36337) is coordinated by the Vienna-based ICC (International Association for Cereal Science and Technology) and is set to…

Identification of genetically modified foods – problems and unsolved questions

4 September 2007 | By Jan Pedersen and Folmer D. Eriksen, National Institute of Food, Technical University of Denmark

One of the points in the discussion of genetically modified organisms (GMO) is the consumers’ right to choose between foods from GMO (GM-foods) and traditionally produced foods. This discussion has led to the EU regulation requiring labelling of GM food products made from GM plants. However, since it is difficult…

Using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for the non-invasive assessment of food

4 September 2007 | By Dr. Sam Millar, Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association

Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy offers users a rapid, non-destructive means of assessing a range of different food ingredients and finished products. Since its commercial development as a technique in the 1970s, it has been widely applied in a number of food sectors, particularly those related to cereal products. As instrumentation…

Industry Insight: Stepping up the pace

4 September 2007 | By Mike Rodd, Segment Manager Hygienic Processing, Bürkert Fluid Control Systems

The automation industry is constantly changing, and the pressure is stepping up for Bürkert Fluid Control Systems. The past year has been very busy for the company as they strive to keep ahead of the major trends in the food industry. Mike Rodd, Segment Manager Process Control, tells Suzanna Bailey…

Pulsed Electric Field processing of foods

4 September 2007 | By Stefan Toepfl and Volker Heinz, German Institute of Food Technology (DIL)

Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) applications can be utilised to achieve disintegration of biological tissues or microbes. Various applications have been identified such as improvement of mass transfer during extraction or drying as well as gentle food preservation. The first commercial applications of the technique have been achieved. By development of…

An evolution of technology, products and applications

4 September 2007 | By Phillip Tong, Dairy Products Technology Center, California Polytechnic State University

Centuries ago, man observed that drying in the sun could naturally extend the shelf life of grains and other foodstuffs. Marco Polo, in the 13th century, is reported to have carried dried milk on his trips. Based on these observations man learned to commercialise this process for vegetables and later…