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Genomics in microbial food quality and safety

29 July 2005 | By Jos van der Vossen, Frank Schuren and Roy Montijn, TNO Quality of Life, The Netherlands

The food industry is assisted optima forma when a clear and rapid insight could be given into the presence and behavior of microorganisms in ingredients, processing, final product and health. A clear insight regarding the microbiology of food products and production is essential for prediction and management of food quality…

Responding to traceability needs

29 July 2005 | By Dr Robert Madge, President, IDtrack

Consumers fear the food they eat. These fears have grown as food production and processing has become more industrialised and food sources more distant. The scale and impact of food scares in recent years – from mad cow disease to dioxins and most recently Sudan I – have fuelled the…

The basis for a common approach

29 July 2005 | By Bo Boye Busk Jensen, FBE, BioCentrum-DTU, Hilde Cnossen, Jacques Kastelein, TNO Quality of Life and Roland Cocker, Cocker Consulting

Research continues in the area of hygienic engineering and design, particularly in innovative techniques using safe construction materials to develop functional as well as easily cleanable equipment for handling, processing and packing foodstuffs. This is the motivation behind the work of the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG), which…

Magnetic Resonance Imaging for cereal products

3 May 2005 | By John van Duynhoven and Gerard van Dalen, Foods Research Centre, Unilever R&D, Vlaardingen (NL), Ales Mohoric and Henk van As, Wageningen University and Research Center (NL), Pedro Ramos Cabrer, Utrecht University (NL) and Klaas Nicolay, Utrecht University (NL) and current affiliation Eindhoven University of Technology

How does the microstructure of a food product behave during processing? And what events take place during the shelf life of food products? New developments in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) enable cereal food technologists to address such questions within the context of product innovation. In the food industry, pressure to…

Monitoring energy at United Biscuits

3 May 2005 | By Dr Rob Rolston, Thermal Process Development Manager and Geoff Townsend, Process Technology Controller, United Biscuits Ltd

We are all increasingly aware of the rising cost of energy – both personally and professionally – and the need to conserve it. However, accurate measurement of energy is equally important for the effective control of our heating and cooling processes, as well as the consistency and quality of the…

Spanish flavour for latest seminar

3 May 2005 | By Ellen Moens-Go Yanko, Office Manager, Secretariat, EHEDG

Integrated approach Guideline development work is now clustered into four coherent groups: a) Principles b) Equipment and Components c) Processing, Services and Utilities d) Training and Education Each cluster consolidates related topics, elements, equipment and processes that were previously dealt with by the 20-odd separate subgroups. This approach facilitates cross-referencing…

Traditional and modern biotechnology

3 May 2005 | By Annika Wilhelmson, Anu Kaukovirta-Norja and Silja Home, VTT Biotechnology

The brewing industry has changed from local, small breweries to global companies and fully automated plants. Our knowledge on biological processes of the barley-to-beer chain and tools to control the process and product quality, benefit from the development of basic sciences and engineering. Beer has been brewed for thousands of…

Evaluating chocolate blends

3 May 2005 | By S.J. Millar and A.G. Hall, Baking and Cereals Processing Department, Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association

Chocolate is widely appreciated globally as a luxury food. Although its introduction to Europe and the rest of the world occurred some 500 years ago, the cocoa bean had been recognised as a highly significant plant in South America for thousands of years prior to that – having been cultivated…

The benefits of automated pathogen testing

3 May 2005 | By Eric Maucci, Food Hygiene Technical Manager, Laboratoire Inter-Départemental des Analyses Laitières (LIDAL)

Renowned for its ‘postcard’ lake-side setting surrounded by snow-capped mountains, the beautiful French town of Annecy is perhaps less well known as the home of famous regional raw cows’ milk cheeses, such as Reblochon and Tomme. Controlling the quality of these cheeses and the raw milk used to produce them,…

A closer look

3 May 2005 | By Mandy Drabwell, Commissioning Editor, New Food

The UK cheese market is now worth £1.7 billion per annum and, despite being a very mature product that’s already consumed in 98 per cent of UK homes, its growth shows little sign of slowing. The whole category is being driven forward by a wide range of domestic manufacturers producing…

The evolution of ice cream technology

3 May 2005 | By Sabina Burmester, Andrew Russell and Deryck Cebula, Ice Cream Global Technology Centre, Unilever R&D Colworth, U.K.

The process used for commercial ice cream manufacture has changed little in the past 75 years – since the first continuous scraped surface freezer was introduced in the 1930s. In recent years, however, several key technological developments have taken place in the way ice cream is manufactured and these are…

LC-MS/MS for safer seafood

3 May 2005 | By Kevin J. James, Mary Lehane, Brett Hamilton, Ambrose Furey, PROTEOBIO, Mass Spectrometry Centre for Proteomics and Biotoxin Research, Department of Chemistry, Cork Institute of Technology

Toxin contamination has forever been the curse on shellfish production worldwide. Dr Kevin J. James demonstrates how new technology can protect the health of shellfish lovers. PROTEOBIO is at the forefront of food-borne biotoxin research in Europe and specialises in the development of novel methods to address the complex questions…

Prolonged shelf life of MAP fish

3 May 2005 | By Anlaug Ådland Hansen, Dept. of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences and Thomas Eie, Dept. Of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Matforsk AS, Norwegian Food Research Institute, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) of fish extends the shelf life of high quality products at low temperatures by inhibiting bacterial growth, oxidative reactions and unwanted components such as TMA (trimethylamine). CO2 is the most important gas used in MAP because of its negative effect on bacterial growth. An initial alteration…

Sterilisation – only better

3 May 2005 | By Wouter De Heij and Robert Van den Berg, Agrotechnology and Food Innovations b.v., Ludo Van Schepdael, Solico b.v., Hans Hoogland, Unilever Research Vlaardingen and Harmannus Bijmolt, Resato International b.v.

Increasing microbial safety and extending the shelf-life of packed food and other products sensitive to microbial spoilage is often performed by relatively slow thermal processes. The adverse effects of the corresponding heating periods can be decreased by using technologies that put a vast amount of energy into the product quickly,…

Understanding the needs, meeting the challenge

3 May 2005 | By Mandy Drabwell, Commissioning Editor, New Food

Pressure from consumers has forced manufacturers to take greater care and be even more accountable for their products. This requires assurance at every level of the supply chain and particularly within the factory. Mandy Drabwell investigates how food grade lubricant manufacturers are playing their part in meeting the challenge. All…