Posts Tagged ‘new technology’

Research Focuses on Controlling Noroviruses in Foods

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

At the Thursday morning scientific session 244 The Emerging Viral Threat: Novel Processing Technologies to Control Norovirus in Foods, researchers from several universities discussed various ongoing studies to inactivate norovirus in foods. These studies are being funded by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Noroviruses are very different than bacteria, said Doris D’Souza, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Univ. of Tenn.-Knoxville. They are intracellular parasites, persistent in the environment, resistant to mild processes, and are infectious at low doses. Noroviruses can be transmitted fecal to oral, through contaminated food/water, and person to person. The primary foods of concern are shellfish, raw fruits and vegetables, and ready-to-eat foods. About 5.5 million cases of norovirus-related illness occur annually in the United States. D’Souza’s work involves thermal inactivation studies of human virus surrogates.

Jennifer Cannon, Ph.D., Univ. of Georgia, discussed her work on hurdle technologies to reduce the risk of norovirus in meat processing and retail operations. The goal of the research is to improve food safety, maintain product quality, and develop technologies that are economically feasible for use in food processing plants, noted Cannon. She reviewed studies on the use of electrolyzed oxidizing water (low pH) and a levulinic acid for reducing norovirus on food processing surfaces and on food handler gloves.

Shyam Sablani, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Wash. State Univ., presented an update on the pilot-scale 915 MHz single-mode microwave pasteurization system, which should be available for testing by the end of the year. Some of that testing will involve thermal destructive kinetics of selective viruses.

Haiqiang Chen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Univ. of Delaware, presented data on the use of nonthermal processes to inactivate human surrogate noroviruses. Research has shown that lower temperature high-pressure processing performed better than higher temperatures in inactivating the surrogates. In a study on high-pressure processing of blueberries, virus-inoculated blueberries in a buffer solution were more sensitive to the pressure treatment than dry blueberries.

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Comparing Alternative Processing Methods in Tomatoes

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

BY DAVID DESPAIN

Whether in a salsa, on a pizza, or in a salad, tomatoes are best enjoyed by consumers when they’re perceived as fresh. The downside to traditional heat treatment in tomatoes and any other fresh foods to kill bacteria is the resulting degradation of “freshness” characteristics and quality. 

Fresh food producers have a number of alternatives to conventional thermal processing at their disposal. However, there have been few studies that evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these options on specific fresh food products such as diced tomatoes or tomato purees.

Now, a USDA-NRI-funded study involving Ohio State University in partnership with North Carolina State University, University of California-Davis, and the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center compared four alternative processing technologies on a single food source: tomatoes. On Wednesday, June 27, scientists presented data from the study to industry professionals at the 2012 IFT Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.

The methods evaluated and discussed in the session included ohmic, continuous flow microwave, batch-type microwave, and high-pressure processing. The study’s results were unique because they offered a side-by-side comparison of advanced thermal and the most significant nonthermal processing methods.

The study’s data revealed only minor differences from the alternative or nonthermal technologies. All were effective in reducing the target organism Bacillus coagulans. There were few differences noted in terms of content of phenolics, organic acids, and color profiles. As for sensory and nutritional characteristics, semi-continuous flow microwave offered better retention of vitamin C while high-pressure processing helped to better retain “fresh” characteristics.

Were the study’s results meaningful enough to purchase an expensive piece of machinery?

“I don’t think so,” said Patrick Dunne of the Combat Feeding Program and Consumer Research Team, U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research. However, he added, a problem with the study was the choice of evaluating tomatoes. For example, he said, if the study had evaluated, say guacamole, perhaps it would have revealed a very different picture, where high-pressure processing would be strongly preferred over the advanced thermal processing methods.

Sadir Sastry, of Ohio State University, agreed that the study had limitations that made it difficult to truly glean whether or not one process was more advantageous over another. There were several variables involved, he said, and the choice for an alternative process must ultimately be left up to the discretion of the food scientists involved in a specific fresh food application.

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Anthocyanins: Not Just a Colorful Facade

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

What makes blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, and blackberries so rich in color? The answer is anthocyanins. Because of their rich hues of red, purple, and blue, anthocyanins are used as food colorants to produce some of the more popular food colors in the food and beverage industry. Anthocyanins are flavonoids, so in addition to their ability to provide a spectrum of intense hues, they have a wealth of antioxidant properties that researchers are beginning to explore.

Strawberry, Blueberries, Blackberry, Cranberries

During the session “Anthocyanins: A Colorful Array of Health-Promoting Properties” on Wednesday morning, June 27, speakers presented epidemiological studies that seem to prove that anthocyanins exhibit health-promoting benefits against chronic inflammatory diseases. Seven hundred anthocyanins have been identified in nature, but not all of them have the same properties or behave the same way. According to speaker Elvira de Mejia, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, certain anthocyanins were demonstrably effective in reducing at least two biomarkers for inflammation: nitric oxide and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Nitric oxide is associated with many diseases, including cardiovascular disease; COX-2 is associated with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Other epidemiological evidence also demonstrates the effectiveness of anthocyanins’ anti-inflammatory action. In the real world, however, the effectiveness of anthocyanins against disease may not be realized.

Speaker Taylor Wallace, Council for Responsible Nutrition, pointed out that only 3% of Americans follow the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for consumption of vegetables and fruits, the primary dietary sources for anthocyanins. This means the intake of anthocyanins by U.S. consumers is very low and perhaps accounts for the high incidence of cardiovascular disease among Americans. Despite the fact that studies indicate anthocyanins can lower levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and glucose in the blood, Mary Lila, The Ohio State University, offered a caution: Such studies rely on concentrated doses of anthocyanins, and the potency of anthocyanins is often diluted during processing and preserving. In addition, the bioactivity of any one phytochemical compound is often dependent on the many other compounds present in plant foods.

So until researchers learn more about the interactions of anthocyanins and other phytochemicals in plant foods, the best practice is to maintain a diet rich in whole vegetables and fruits for a healthy lifestyle.

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Website Aids U.S. Partnerships with Netherlands Food Industry

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

At a Tuesday evening reception hosted by the Netherlands Office for Science and Technology, the Royal Netherlands Embassy and the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (booth 1641/1741) unveiled a new website, www.HollandFoodPartner.com, that provides American businesses a portal to investment opportunities, trade information, and the latest developments in food and nutrition research in the Netherlands.

The agro-food industry is the largest contributor to the Dutch economy, responsible for 10% of the Dutch GPD and 21% of exports from the country. The value of Dutch agro-food exports to the U.S. is more than $2 billion.

The food chain in the Netherlands is vast, extending from new seed and ingredient development to processing and packaging. This large community of industrial and academic players has led to a dynamic, research-intensive sector that has spurred many new innovations focused on sustainable production and foods with additional health benefits. In addition, the Dutch food sector works hard to increase animal welfare and food safety, as well as to understand better the interaction between behavior and nutrition.

Examples of some of these exciting new developments are featured on the new website. Some of the innovations involve products that slow digestion or have a reduced fat content, machinery that packages vegetables so they stay fresher longer, and more efficient greenhouse technologies. The site is a source of information for American industries and research institutes looking to identify investment opportunities and partnerships within the Dutch agro-food cluster.

The site emphasizes how the Netherlands is a leader in sustainable agriculture and environmentally friendly and energy-efficient greenhouses; provides innovative solutions for sustainable livestock practices; has developed food and ingredients that lower the amount of salt, sugar, and fat in food, making it easier for consumers to combine good taste with a healthy and convenient meal; and is an expert in developing superior textures and flavors for nutritious foods.

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Packaging for Novel Processing Technologies

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

To meet consumer demand for safe, more fresh-like foods with increased product shelf life, several nonthermal (e.g., high pressure, pulsed electric field) and advanced thermal (e.g., microwaves, Ohmic heating) have been developed as alternative technological solutions for food preservation. The use of these technologies has opened up exploration of unique materials and novel packaging technologies to withstand the processing conditions and ensure the safe shelf life of the foods. In addressing a similar need for extending safe product shelf life with commodities such as berries, novel antimicrobial packaging systems are being developed that can eliminate mold and adventitious pathogens simultaneously.

Session 240 Case Studies in Packaging for Novel Processing Technologies, which takes place on Thursday morning from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Room N111, provides case studies for the commercialization of innovative laboratory discoveries across a spectrum of packaging systems and cross-cutting applications in processing technologies by high pressure processing, microwaves, and chlorine dioxide for fresh produce. Presentations will provide insightful scientific analysis of packaging barrier properties of innovative packaging materials in response to high pressure processing and microwave sterilization and their crucial role in preserving the quality and safety of foods over product shelf-life. An innovative antimicrobial packaging system currently based on a novel chlorine dioxide-producing chemical system invented by the Army and recently licensed to commercial industry will be highlighted.

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The Technological Harvest

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

The world’s population is slightly more than 7 billion people. Feeding such a large number of individuals requires innovative agriculture and crop technologies. Session 211, “Food and Nutritional Benefits from Sustainable New Crop Technologies,” will feature presentations that focus on the impact of new technologies on the global food supply. Crop technologies help achieve sustainability goals by increasing the yield and value realized by farmers around the globe. New technologies are being used to develop foods that could be favorable to consumer health. Such foods might have improved nutritional profiles, including increased essential amino acids and reduced saturated fat.

The benefits of crop technologies are not limited to harvests with improved nutritional profiles crops with higher yields. Scientists assert that innovative agricultural technologies can be used to enhance food security and reduce applications of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Speakers Cathleen Enright, Ross Welch, and David Jackson will discuss the success and potential of crop technologies on Thursday, June 28, at 8:30 a.m. in room N114.

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The Bacteria in Beef That ‘Don’t Behave’

Tuesday, June 26th, 2012

BY DAVID DESPAIN

Beef producers have become quite successful at detecting and preventing contamination of E. coli 0157:h7 in their raw beef products—that’s thanks to years of experience after the Shiga toxin-producing bacterial strain (STEC) was first declared as an adulterant in raw beef in 1994.

However, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has now expanded the adulterant list to include six non-0157 strains (026, 045, 0103, 0111, 0121, and 0145). The new rule had producers and scientists at the IFT Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 26, warning that these bacteria “don’t behave” like you’d want them to.

“With 0157, we’ve had years and years of testing. We haven’t had those years of experience in the lab with these,” said food safety and public health professor Mindy Brashears of Texas Tech University.

The rule, in place as of June 4, 2012, (an extension from March 5, 2012), was in response to an October 2009 citizen’s petition. According to research microbiologist Christopher Sommers, the petition came after recent outbreaks and a CDC study that showed that these “big six” accounted for more than 70% of non-0157 STEC infections from 1983 to 2002.

A couple of companies—Costco and Beef Products Inc. (BPI)—already have food safety systems in place for non-0157 STEC strains. Director of food safety and quality assurance at BPI, Craig Letch, said that the company developed a system using “robust sampling” (n=167) and has spent well “over a million dollars” in outsourcing 100% of the testing for non-0157 STEC strains. Costco Wholesale’s program for testing for non-0157 STEC strains has been in place since June 2010, according to director of food safety and quality assurance Christine Summers.

“Obviously, we don’t want to make any of our customers sick,” she said, noting that the company produces about 160 million pounds of ground beef annually.

However, she added that there are problems with the rule. “There is a diversity of STECS. It would be beneficial to identify the virulence genes that cause human illness. Knowledge needs to be gathered.”

Despite challenges, Brashears is optimistic that the methodologies are sure to continue to improve as testing progresses and more baseline data is collected. Ultimately, she said, interventions pre- and post-harvest will be key to reducing STECs and protecting the beef supply. 

The FSIS has issued methodology for detecting the “big six” at www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/mlg_5b_02.pdf.

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Repositioning Food Products for Health

Monday, June 25th, 2012

The food industry has made huge strides in innovating and repositioning products for health. Speakers will review selected industry examples of strategic corporate portfolios focused on health, the role of innovation approached through technology and product acquisition, product formulation, and brand positioning. The session will also include an in-depth review of contemporary concepts and tools for innovation in the food industry.

Session 018 Food Industry Innovation for Health will take place Tuesday morning from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Room N114. Speakers include Nancy Childs, Ph.D., Professor of Food Marketing, Saint Joseph’s Univ.; Lorraine Niba, Ph.D., Business Development Manager, Global Nutrition Springboard at Ingredion (formerly Corn Products Intl.); and Hamsa Thota, Ph.D., President, Innovation Business Development Inc.

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Space-Age Culinary Delicacies

Monday, June 25th, 2012

As space exploration becomes more ambitious, finding better ways to nourish astronauts while they are in space has become imperative. During Session 025, “NASA Food System Challenges: They Are Out of This World,” speakers will discuss the challenges of developing nutritious food for astronauts who have extended missions in space. Not only will NASA missions gradually extend in duration, but they could involve large numbers of people or perhaps include prolonged stays on extra-terrestrial surfaces. Food scientists are exploring innovative food systems that would best meet the needs of each mission.

For example, food scientists along with space mission planners must determine whether providing crew members with prepackaged food provisions would be the best option for a mission to Mars or having the crew grow food plants as part of a biodegenerative food system. A biodegenerative food system, such as fresh-grown crops and bulk packaged ingredients for a mission to Mars, would be a departure from the prepackaged food systems currently consumed during NASA space initiatives. More importantly, would such a food system provide adequate nutrients and be easy to sustain and prepare. In addition, food scientists are adapting high-energy electron-beam irradiation as an advanced form of non-thermal food processing to serve NASA’s space food program. Speakers Michele Perchonok, Suresh Pillai, Jean Hunter, and Maya Cooper will explore these issues and more on Tuesday, June 26, at 10:30 a.m. in room N109.

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Food Safety & Quality Aspects of Nonthermal Hurdle Technologies

Monday, June 25th, 2012

Renowned speakers from outstanding research institutions in Australia (Commonwealth Sci. & Industrial Research Org.), Canada (Univ. of Guelph), Germany (German Inst. of Food Tech.), and the United States (Ohio State Univ., Cornell Univ.) will deliver presentations on HPP, PEF, ozone, light energy, and irradiation. Process-specific parameters for the different treatment methods featured in the combined approaches—for instance, pressure, time, temperature, energy input, electric field strength, and irradiation dosage—will be discussed, as well as environmental or product parameters, such as the reduction of the microbial load and achievable shelf life stability, retention of the nutritional content, enzymatic activity, sensory attributes, and possible changes of physico-chemical characteristics.

Session 067 Nonthermal Hurdle Technologies: Food Safety and Quality Aspects will take place on Tuesday afternoon from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Room N109.

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What’s New! products/services address top food industry needs

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

In order to be successful in the competitive food industry, it is necessary to stay on top of the newest advancements in technology and ingredient innovation. Instead of spending days calling your contacts and googling, attend the 2011 IFT Food Expo where 900+ companies will be showcasing innovative ingredients, instruments, equipment and services. And this year, IFT has made it easier to the new products and services being introduced and IFT11. Hundreds of new products will be identified with an attention grabbing yellow “What’s New!” logo.

At the Food Expo, “What’s New!” floor stickers will help exhibitors with featured products stand out. Products labeled with the “What’s New!” logo will also be included in the new downloadable application. Annual Meeting & Food Expo attendees will even be able to use the mobile app to vote for the best new products from participating companies. In addition, products labeled with the logo will be featured on IFT Live’s homepage and listed within the tabbed section in the printed Program and Exhibit directory available on-site.

Check out just some of the products and services you can expect to find at this year’s Food Expo in the following popular categories:

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New Equipment, Technology

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Although equipment and technology sometimes takes a backseat to new product introductions, none of the new products would exist without the advances in equipment and technology. This year’s Food Expo show floor will abound with exciting new equipment and technology that will enable the advancement of food product development in the coming years:

  • Alpha M.O.S.’ (booth 4108) IRIS Visual Analyzer (electronic eye) analyzes complex food and packaging products. Upon measuring qualitative and quantitative attributes, the IRIS can be used in product development and at-line quality control.
  • C.W. Brabender Instruments Inc.’s (booth 5100) new Farinograph-AT has advancements that center around the automatic water dosing system which eliminates the potential for operator error during the addition of water to the flour in the mixer measuring head. The new model offers a higher torque range which is better suited when investigating various speed profiles and calculating missing energy for new applications including chocolate, chewing gum, cheese, meat, fish, full formula dough, etc.
  • Crystal Chem Inc.’s (booth 3905) Lateral Flow Kits are qualitative assays for the determination of milk, egg, wheat, and buckwheat proteins in both raw and processed foods. The kits have a sensitivity of as low as 5 ppm and are fast and easy to use.
  • Fluid Imaging Technologies Inc.’s (booth 4754) FlowCAM with Front-Fill Illumination particle imaging and analysis system is the world’s first to feature bidirectional front and back lighting which illuminates the surfaces of opaque particles and reveals their true colors and textures. Replacing two-dimensional, black silhouettes with shapely, three-dimensional images, the FlowCAM Front-Fill Illumination combines both bright field and dark field microscopy in a single unit.
  • Matcon’s (booth 3759) Flexi Batch Micro Formulation System is an automatic formulation machine for very small components of a recipe—typically up to 10 kg with accuracy of about 4 g. Multiple raw ingredients are stored in easily detachable polyethylene bottles which are moved to a single dosing point on a rotating carousel, then dosed according to recipe requirements.
  • Rudolph Research Analytical’s (booth 4101) J457 Refractometer has several innovations for the food industry: smart measure system reports prism cleanliness, totally free operation where sample loading and cleaning is automatic, and detection of improper sample loading. The refractometer has a wide measuring range making it capable of measuring materials like essential oils and food chemicals.

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Armfield’s FT174X Processing System

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Armfield Processing System Heat treatment previously used specific heat exchangers for specific products. Due to the ever more demanding marketplace, flexibility is needed to allow for different products to be tested on different processes. The system offers multiple heating and cooling options for liquid products of varying viscosity by using plate heat exchangers, tubular heat exchangers, direct steam injection, or a combination of all three.

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