VAT I S U P DAT E

FoodProcessing
Vol. 3 No. 119 n Jan - Mar 2014
ISSN 0971-5649

Apprise yourself with the latest technological innovations

Highlights
lFood quarantine processes in Philippines
lSafety standards for packaged drinking water in India
lNew method to test halal meat authenticity
lNew dietary fiber to address fiber intolerance
lScientists invent method to increase cooking oil life
lNew fibre rich breakfast drink
lBiodegradable molding material for food packaging
lSolar-powered driers for food processing units

VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

The Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), a subsidiary
body of ESCAP, was established on 16 July 1977 with the objectives: to assist the
members and associate members of ESCAP through strengthening their capabilities to
develop and manage national innovation systems; develop, transfer, adapt and apply
technology; improve the terms of transfer of technology; and identify and promote
the development and transfer of technologies relevant to the region.
The Centre will achieve the above objectives by undertaking such functions as:
n Research and analysis of trends, conditions and opportunities;
n Advisory services;
n Dissemination of information and good practices;
n Networking and partnership with international organizations and key stakeholders; and
n Training of national personnel, particularly national scientists and policy analysts.

The shaded areas of the map indicate ESCAP members and associate members

Cover Photo
Advanced food packaging equipment
(Credit: GEA Food Solutions GmbH, Germany)

CONTENTS
Vol. 3 No. 119

Jan - Mar 2014

VATIS* Update
Food Processing
is published 4 times a year to keep the
readers up to date of most of the
relevant and latest technological
developments and events in the field of
Non-conventional Energy. The Update is
tailored to policy-makers, industries and
technology transfer intermediaries.

INTHENEWS

Website:http://www.techmonitor.net

STANDARDS/REGULATIONS 7

Nepal retains spot as third largest producer of gingerIndia approves

modified mega food park schemeFDI in Indian food processing sector
Food quarantine processes in PhilippinesThailand to organize food safety
rapid response teamIndia setup plan for promotion of food processing
industriesFood processing gizmos in PhilippinesCashew exports to reach
$1.8 billion in Viet NamPhilippines develops baby food blendsPineapple
juice sales gain in Thailand
Safety standards for packaged drinking water in IndiaPakistan to establish
national food safety regulatory authorityChina to evaluate genetically
modified food

Editorial Board
Mr. Michael Williamson
Mr. Nanjundappa Srinivasan
Dr. Satyabrata Sahu
Dr. Krishnan Srinivasaraghavan

SAFETY/QUALITY CONTROL

Faster biosensor to detect food pathogensNew method to test halal

meat authenticityA laser sensor to identify Salmonella bacteriaSafer
infants food through high-pressure thermal sterilisationNon-destructive
methods to assess the quality of foodMicrowave pasteurization improves
food safety

INGREDIENTS 10
ASIANANDPACIFICCENTRE
FORTRANSFEROFTECHNOLOGY
Adjoining Technology Bhawan
Qutab Institutional Area
Post Box No. 4575
New Delhi 110 016, India
Tel: +91-11-3097 3700
Fax: +91-11-2685 6274
E-mail: postmaster.apctt@un.org
Website:http://www.apctt.org

New enriched food for infants immunityBioavailability of healthful

components in foodNew dietary fiber to address fiber intoleranceNew
sea salt ingredient cuts sodium in baked foodsNew fruit paste for baked
productsA natural food sweeter

PRESERVATION 12
Scientists invent method to increase cooking oil lifeEco-friendly shelf-life
extender Enhanced anti-cancer benefits of broccoliRFID-based solutions
for tracking foods shelf-lifeGenetically modified tomatoes with double the
shelf-lifeExtending the shelf-life of food products

BEVERAGES 14
The designation employed and
the presentation of material in the
publication do not imply the
endorsement of any product, process
or manufacturer by APCTT.

This publication has been issued without

formal editing

* Value Added Technology

Information Service

Energy saving juice pasteurization processAcerola-acidified coconut

water concentrateNew fibre rich breakfast drinkResearchers develop
antioxidant rich oranges

PACKAGING 15
New packaging technology revives Australian beet industryRecyclable
packaging that will save eggsInnovative packaging solutions for confectionery
industryOYSTAR to present innovative packaging solutions at Interpack
Biodegradable molding material for food packagingNew ozone packaging
extends grape, tomato shelf-life

MACHINERY/EQUIPMENT 17
Solar-powered driers for food processing unitsNew sensor-based optical
sorting systemThe next generation heating technology

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

18

TECHEVENTS

18

IN THE NEWS
Nepal retains spot as
third largest producer
of ginger

India approves
modified mega food
park scheme

Nepal retained the position of the

worlds third largest producer of ginger after India and China for producing 255,208 tonnes of ginger in
2012. According to the statistics of
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations,
output jumped 17.99 percent in
2012. India and China were the top
producers with output amounting to
703,000 tonnes and 462,500 tonnes
respectively. The stats show that
Nepals ginger output share of world
production stood at 12.18 percent.
Nepals share of ginger production
in South Asia is 21.39 percent.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, India, has approved

modifications in the mega food
park scheme guidelines of infrastructure development for food
processing. The move is expected
to benefit 6,000 farmers/producers
directly and about 25,000 farmers
indirectly. According to the Ministry
of Food Processing and Industries,
the estimated investment in each
project will be about Rs. 100 crore
in common facilities and will leverage an additional investment of
about Rs. 250 crore. The expected annual turnover of each park
will be Rs. 500 crore and in each
project, about 30 food processing
units are expected to be setup.

There has also been an increment

in the ginger production area in Nepal. According to the FAO, Nepals
land under ginger farming has increased to 20,256 hectares in 2012
from 19,081 hectares in 2011. Increased production is due to swelling market demand for this spice,
said Pradeep Maharjan, Executive
Director at Agro Enterprise Centre of the Federation of Nepalese
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). Ginger prices have
risen more than two times this year.
Maharjan added that demand for
ginger would continue to grow for
the next five years as large numbers of people around the world
had recognized its potential. Ginger is mostly used by the Ayurveda
pharmaceutical industry particularly in India and more than 98
percent of Nepali ginger goes to
the southern neighbour. Besides,
it is used for making jam, jelly,
candy and sauce, among other
products. Nepal earned Rs. 1.33
billion from ginger exports in the
last fiscal from Rs. 507 million in
the previous fiscal.
Source: http://www.ekantipur.com

The infrastructure development

scheme for mega food parks, aims
at providing modern infrastructure
facilities for food processing industries along the value chain from
farm to market. According to the
scheme, ownership and management of the mega food park vests
with a special purpose vehicle
(SPV) in which organized retailers,
processors and service providers
may be the equity holders or there
may be an anchor investor along
with its ancillaries, associated companies and other stakeholders.
The modification aims at changing the nature of the SPV and the
criteria of maximum 26% equity by
the state government/state government entities/co-operatives has
been removed. Anchor investor in
the SPV holding majority stake,
with or without other promoters of
the SPV, will be required to set up
at least one food processing unit in
the park with an investment of not
less than Rs. 10 crore, the ministry
said. However, state government/
state government entities and co-

4 VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

operatives applying for projects

under the scheme, will not be required to form a separate SPV and
set up processing units in the park.
Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

FDI in Indian food

processing sector
India recorded foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Indian food
processing sector for about 17
per cent (which is the highest for
the decade), between April-October 2013. However, Jayprakash
Meena, joint secretary, Ministry of
Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), India, stated that it is poised to
grow, and investments by foreign
companies are likely to grow in
the coming years. In 2012-13, the
foreign investment in Indian food
processing companies was $401
million, and the average FDI in the
sector in the eleven year-period up
to March 2012 was $117 million.
However, according to the department of industrial policy and
promotion, the overall FDI in India has declined by 15 per cent
year-on-year to $12.6 billion in the
first six months of this fiscal year.
Indias economic growth slowed
to five per cent, the decades lowest in 2012-13, and averaged 4.6
per cent in the first half of the current fiscal year. But this has not
deterred multinational food companies from making investments
in India, Meena added.
Many multinational companies
(MNC) have invested in Indias
food processing sector. In the
past six months, MNC like Hindustan Unilever Ltd, PepsiCo India
Holdings Pvt Ltd, Cadbury India
and Nestle India Ltd., have announced significant investments
in the country. Meena said. The
ministry also launched a website
recently for the foreign investors to

In the News
provide them information related to
locating joint venture partners and
expediting regulatory approvals.
Source: http://www.fnbnews.com

Food quarantine
processes in
Philippines
The Philippines government has
struck a partnership with the World
Banks private investment arm for
the improvement of inspections
and quarantine procedures for various food products imported into
the country every year. Apart from
saving millions of dollars through
the elimination of redundant and
unnecessary processes, the partnership is expected to help ensure
the safety of food that local businesses buy from overseas.
The World Banks International Finance Corp. (IFC), has advised the
Department of Agriculture, which
worked to streamline its trade
practices. The five-year partnership, wherein the IFC would help in
the implementation of international
best practices for inspections of
food products the country imports
and food commodities it exports.
The move is expected to improve
food safety, benefit some 1,500 agribusinesses and save around $12
million because of reduced costs in
complying with import and export
safety requirements, IFC said.
The firm said it would also help the
department set up an online system for sharing data about risks
found in agri-fishery products that
affect humans, plants and animals.
The program will help reduce the
cost of compliance with quarantine
requirements and provide aroundthe-clock, real-time access to
import and export trade data for
better risk management and trade
analysis. The quality of the countrys food products has been a con-

stant issue for exporters. In 2012,

China cited health reasons for
Beijings imposition of restrictions
on bananas imported from the
Philippines. Local banana exporters, however, attributed Chinas restrictions to the ongoing territorial
dispute it has with the Philippines.
Source:
http://www.business.inquirer.net

Thailand to organize
food safety rapid
response team
The Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, is preparing to organize a
Food Safety Rapid Response Team
in the hopes of being a model for
other countries in the ASEAN region. Mrs. Jongkol Wittayarungreungsri, Director of Bureau of Food
Safety Extension and Support
(BFSES) in the Ministry of Public
Health, said the ministry is now developing a food safety surveillance
system in cooperation with the
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Commerce
and the Provincial Administrative
Organization in all provinces.
Food safety of the Ministry of
Health will be managed at national and ASEAN regional level
in accordance with Thailands food
management strategies. This is
to ensure that consumers will eat
clean food to ensure good health
and to eliminate contaminants
that cause diseases. For example, each year it has been found
that there have are more than 1
million patients who suffer from
diarrhea. Long-term diseases like
cancer can also be caused by the
accumulation of chemicals from
food eaten over a long time.
The Food Safety Rapid Response
Team (FSRRT) is a rapid response
unit located in every province. It
will start operating this year in

Thailand. For the first time and

the hope is that it will be a model
for other ASEAN countries in controlling and preventing problems
quickly and efficiently.
Source: http://www.pattayamail.com

India setup plan for

promotion of food
processing industries
The Ministry for Food Processing
Industries, India, has allocated a
sum of Rs. 5,990 crore under various schemes for promotion and
development of the food processing sector. This sector has high potential for employment generation
and optimal utilisation of perishable farm produce such as vegetables and fruits. Infrastructure
development activities, including
setting up of mega food parks, integrated cold chains and abattoirs,
gets Rs. 2,800 crore.
The National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP), launched in this
Plan itself, gets Rs. 1,850 crore.
The rest, Rs. 1,340 crore, will be
spent on other activities such as
strengthening of institutions, quality assurance and standardisation,
technology upgradation and human resource development in the
sector. In the year (2013-14), Rs.
708 crore has been allocated, out
of which Rs. 247 crore will go towards infrastructure development.
Source:
http://www.business-standard.com

Food processing
gizmos in Philippines
The Department of Science and
Technology (DOST), Philippines,
has unveiled locally-developed
equipment that will make local
food processors more productive.
Developed by DOSTs Industrial
Technology Development Institute

VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

In the News
(ITDI), said equipment are part of
the science departments High Impact Technology Solutions (HITS)
that support the growth and competitiveness of the countrys small
and medium enterprises.
This program has several objectives First, DOST wanted to substitute the imported with locally
designed, developed and manufactured equipment, said DOST-ITDI
Director Nuna Almanzor. Second,
DOST would also want to increase
local technologies and to help our
SMEs, including those in the metals
industry, and ultimately lower the acquisition costs of these equipment.
DOSTs Project Management Engineering Design Service Office has
designed the equipments while
the Metals Industry Research and
Development Center was commissioned to fabricate the prototypes.
On the other hand, DOST-ITDI provides performance testing for the
equipment. DOSTs Food Innovation Centers aim to make the Philippines food manufacturing industry competitive with other ASEAN
countries at the onset of the ASEAN
Economic Integration in 2015.
Source: http://www.dost.gov.ph

Cashew exports to
reach $1.8 billion in
Viet Nam
At a conference on the purchase
and import activities of raw cashew
held in Ho Chi Minh City on February 26, the Viet Nam Cashew Association (Vinacas) predicted that the
Vietnamese cashew sector expects
to pocket 1.8 billion USD from exporting 180,000 tonnes of nuts in
2014. Vinacas set a target of buying 350,000 tonnes of raw cashew
nuts from domestic farmers while
importing another 650,000 tonnes
from West African, East African and
Southeast Asian countries this year.

Association President Nguyen Duc

Thanh said that Viet Nams agricultural exports, including cashew
nuts, continue facing barriers created by its major importers, such
as the Food Safety Modernisation Act of the US Food and Drug
Administration. He suggested the
State design policies to encourage businesses to invest more in
cashew processing and produce
auxiliary products, diversifying
foodstuffs to serve both domestic
and foreign markets.
In the first two months of 2014, Viet
Nam shipped abroad an estimated
28,000 tonnes of cashew nuts totaling $169 million, representing a
year-on-year decrease of 0.1 percent in volume but a rise of 2.4 percent in value. The US, China and
Holland are Viet Nams largest importers, consuming 26.17 percent,
20 percent and 9.84 percent of the
countrys exports, respectively.
Source: http://www.vietnam.vnanet.vn

Philippines develops
baby food blends
In the Philippines, the 2008 National Nutrition Survey (NNS) conducted by the Food and Nutrition
Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology
(FNRI-DOST) revealed that one
out of five preschool children is
underweight and one out of 25
preschool children is severely
underweight. Although the prevalence of undernutrition has been
decreasing among preschool children from 1989 to 2011, the Philippines must achieve a 6.6 percentage point reduction in 2015 to meet
the Millennium Development Goal
(MDG) target of reducing in half
the proportion of undernourished
preschool children to 13.6 percent.
Guided by its mandate of diffusing knowledge and technologies in
food and nutrition, and providing

6 VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

S&T services to relevant stakeholders, the FNRI-DOST has

developed two nutritious complementary food blends that would
help address undernutrition. The
technology behind the food blends
is suited for mass production in a
small-scale level and is perfected
in an efficient and continuous manner with an assurance of a uniform,
acceptable, and safe final product.
The technology transfer strategy involves tapping small and medium
entrepreneurs or local government
units and non-government organizations for feeding programs. Recently, Long Live Pharma, a local
manufacturer, adopted the technology. With the commercialization and availability of these food
blends in the market and in various
feeding programs, it is not impossible for Filipino children to become
well-nourished in the near future.
Contact: Dr. Mario V. Capanzana,
Director, Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Department of
Science and Technology, Bicutan,
Taguig City, Philippines. Tel: +6302-837-2934, +63-02-837-3164;
E-mail: mvc@fnri.dost.gov.ph.
Source: http://news.pia.gov.ph

Pineapple juice sales

gain in Thailand
Thailand has recorded a slight
upturn of 0.39% in its exports of
pineapple juice concentrate in
2013 to 136,853 tonnes, despite
declines in sales to each of its top
four markets. Shipments to the
leading destination of the Netherlands - which is known for being a
key transhipment hub dipped by
nearly 1% to 50,031 tonnes, while
those to the US were 9% down
at 20,697 tonnes. Sales to Italy
plunged by 40.3% to 7,302 tonnes,
while those to Australia eased by
6.4% to 6,573 tonnes.
Source: http://www.agra-net.com

STANDARDS/REGULATIONS
Safety standards for
packaged drinking
water in India

Pakistan to establish
national food safety
regulatory authority

China to evaluate
genetically modified
food

The Bureau of Indian Standards

(BIS), India, has formulated two
new standards IS 14543 for
packaged drinking water (PDW)
and IS 13428 for packaged natural mineral water (PNMW). These
standards, which specify the quality parameters for the respective
water sold in packaged form, are
under mandatory BIS certification
as per the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, under
which No person shall manufacture, sell or exhibit for sale, packaged natural mineral water and
packaged drinking water, except
under the BIS standard mark.

The Ministry of National Food

Security & Research (MNFSR),
Pakistan, is in process of establishing National Food Safety,
Animal and Plant Health Regulatory Authority with an objective to
enhance export of Pakistani food
items as per food safety standards required by the importing
countries. Government in collaboration with the stakeholders is in process to improve the
level of compliance to food safety
standards, officials said.

China is working on an evaluation

system for genetically modified
(GM) food in order to assess its
impact on the environment and human health. Mr. Niu Dun, a member
of the Chinese Peoples Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
National Committee, said that because of public doubts being aired
about GM safety, China is implementing strict labeling provisions
so that all genetically engineered
agricultural products that are sold
in stores carry a GM logo.

Government has taken various

measures to comply with Economic Commissions Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Standards
(SPS) which includes modernization of laboratory services of Marine Fisheries Department (MFD).
MFDs Microbiology and Chemical
Labs have also been internationally accredited to comply with the
food safety standard of importing
countries. Improvement of fishing
vessels, hygiene practices and
strengthening of fishery products
production chain supervision and
harmonization of standards is also
in consideration.

China has never allowed any

other GM agricultural products
to be planted by farmers or commercialized domestically except
GM cotton and papaya, Niu said.
The new evaluation and labeling
systems will create a safer market
environment for Chinese consumers. According to a report by the
Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences in February, China planted almost 4 million hectares of GM
pest-resistant cotton in 2013. The
variety has many advantages, one
being the capability to increase
production per unit by 10 percent,
as well as reduce insecticide use
by 60 percent.

BIS will ensure compliance of the

standards of PDW and PNMW
manufactured by its licensees
through a well-defined certification
scheme, wherein regular surveillance will be done of the licensees
by factory inspections and drawing
of samples from the factory and the
market, and their independent testing to check the conformity of the
product to relevant Indian Standards. If such licensees are found not
meeting the parameters prescribed
in the relevant Indian Standards,
actions like warning, stop marking,
expiry of licenses and cancellation
of licenses will be taken.
Depending on the seriousness of
default and/or frequency of recurrence of failures or unsatisfactory
operations of the licenses. The implementation of the FSS Act and
Regulations rests with the states
and Union Territories (UTs) governments. Accordingly, samples are
drawn by state/UTs governments
and action will be taken against the
offenders, in cases where samples
are found to be non-conforming.

Officials said four boats modified

as modular boats and around 200
fishermens boats have been modified. Besides, a Food Irradiation
Facility at Lahore and Hot Water
Treatment Plant in Karachi have
also been established by Pakistan
Horticulture Development and Export Company in collaboration of
the stakeholders for treatment of
the horticultural products. Vapor
Heat Treatment Plant has also
been imported from Japan for
processing of mangoes to be exported to Japan.

Source: http://www.fnbnews.com

Source: http://www.app.com.pk

The country also cultivated more

than 6,000 hectares of GM papaya last year. Although China
achieved its 10th bumper harvest
year in 2013, the nation has faced
declining arable land amid urbanization, bad weather and pollution
from fertilizers and pesticides. To
improve the output of agricultural
products, China raised its investment in GM technology development and offered subsidies for
major grain-producing areas and
farming cooperatives.
Source: http://www.ecns.cn

VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

SAFETY/QUALITY CONTROL
Faster biosensor to
detect food pathogens
Researchers at Rice University, the
United States, working with scientists in Ireland and Thailand, have
created a biosensor that will make
it easier for the food processing
industry to check a faster detection
of dangerous pathogens. A study
on the discovery has appeared in
the American Chemical Society
journal Analytical Chemistry. The
process appears to outperform
tests that are now standard in the
food industry that can take days
to culture colonies of salmonella
bacteria as proof, or to prepare
samples for DNA-based testing.
The Rice process delivers results
within minutes from a platform that
can be cleaned and reused. The
technology can be customized to
detect any type of bacteria and to
detect different strains of the same
bacterium, according to the researchers. The diving boards are
a set of microcantilevers, each of
which can be decorated with different peptides that have unique binding affinities to strains of the salmonella bacteria. When a peptide
catches a bacterium, the cantilever
bends ever so slightly, due to a mismatch in surface stress on the top
and bottom. A fine laser trained on
the mechanism catches that motion
and triggers the alarm. The system
is sensitive enough to warn of the
presence of a single pathogen.
The idea springs from research
into the use of microcantilevers by
Sibani Lisa Biswal and lead author
Jinghui Wang. Biswal was prompted to have a look at novel peptides
by Nitsara Karoonuthaisiri, head
of the microarray laboratory at the
National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Thailand. Karoonuthaisiri and her team
had isolated bacteriophage viruses
associated with salmonella through

biopanning and phage display. Later, the Rice lab compared the peptides performance with commercial
antibodies now used for salmonella
detection and found the peptides
were not only more sensitive but
could be used in a multiplexed cantilever array to detect many different kinds of salmonella at once.
Source: http://www.
canadianmanufacturing.com

New method to test

halal meat authenticity
Scientists at the University of
Munster, Germany, along with AB
SCIEX, the United States, a global leader in analytical technology,
have developed a new method to
detect traces of pork and horsemeat in halal meat, including beef,
chicken and lamb, amid the recent
controversy over the horsemeat
scandal in Europe. The method
published in the journal Agriculture
and Food Chemistry, uses liquid
chromatography and tandem mass
spectrometry to detect a number of
biomarker peptides that are specific to pig and/or horse.
It allows food-testing laboratories
to test products for traces of pork
and horse meat quickly and easily. The mislabelling of meat products sold for human consumption
has serious implications from
safety and ethical perspectives.
With recent news stories of pork
and horse meat contamination in
different parts of the world, a renewed need for specialised testing of the food supply has rapidly
arisen. This new finding is an effort to help serve the interests of
Muslim and Jewish communities,
in particular, that together make up
approximately 23 per cent of the
global population.
We are continuing our AB SCIEX
tradition in partnering with experts

8 VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

in industry and academia to develop analytical tools that solve

big problems. The halal testing
method is a new tool that effectively addresses the safety, religious, ethical and dietary concerns
of consumers who avoid products
with pig and horse meat, said Vincent Paez, at AB SCIEX. Scientists at AB SCIEX are continuing
to look into other similar areas of
ethical concern, including detection of gelatin that has come from
species such as beef and pork.
Source:
http://www.financialexpress.com

A laser sensor to
identify Salmonella
bacteria
Researchers at Purdue University,
the United States, have developed
a laser sensor that can identify
Salmonella bacteria grown from
food samples about three times
faster than conventional detection
methods. Bacterial rapid detection
using optical scatter technology
known as BARDOT (pronounced
bar-DOH), the machine scans
bacteria colonies and generates
a distinct black and white fingerprint by which they can be identified. BARDOT takes less than 24
hours to pinpoint Salmonella.
BARDOT allows us to detect Salmonella much earlier and more
easily than current methods, said
Arun Bhunia, a professor who collaborated with Daniel Hirleman to
create the machine. This could ultimately help provide safer food to
consumers. Salmonella is a major
foodborne pathogen that causes
salmonellosis, a type of food poisoning with symptoms of diarrhea, fever
and abdominal cramps. Salmonellosis can be fatal in young children,
the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Safety/Quality Control
(FDA) has a zero-tolerance policy
for Salmonella in food products.
To test BARDOTs ability to identify
Salmonella, the researchers grew
bacteria from rinses of contaminated chicken, spinach and peanut
butter on agar plates for about 16
hours. After the plates were covered with tiny spherical colonies
of bacteria, they placed each plate
inside BARDOT and scanned the
colonies. BARDOT identified Salmonella bacteria with an accuracy
of 95.9 percent. Current Salmonella detection methods can take
72 hours to yield results and often
require artificial alteration of the
bacteria colonies. But the BARDOT
system identifies bacteria colonies
by using light to illuminate their
natural characteristics, preserving
the colonies for later study. The machine can be operated with minimal
training and used in locations with
limited resources, Bhunia said.
Source: http://www.phys.org

Safer infants food

through high-pressure
thermal sterilisation
Food scientists from the Technische
Universitt, Berlin, Germany, have
developed a processing method that
reduces furan levels. Furan is a carcinogen that results from heat treatment techniques such as canning
and jarring. Although current furan
levels in food are far below what the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) deems to be harmful. Treating
baby food puree with high-pressure
thermal sterilisation (HPTS) instead
of conventional thermal processing
showed a reduction of furan.
The researchers said that HPTS
may offer an alternative form of
processing that still delivers highquality products. HPTS could offer
a double benefit in terms of food
safety and quality, and could be
useful for additional food systems

as well. The processing method

can also reduce other food processing contaminants such as
acrylamide, HMF and MCPD-esters. Additional research is needed
to validate these findings and help
implement this promising technology in the food industry, the scientists said. The researchers study
of HPTS has been published in the
journal Food Science.
Source:
http://www.foodprocessing.com.au

The challenge is that as many food

items such as, fruits and vegetables vary markedly in size, surface
texture and colours classification
based on surface colour is often
associated with low classification
accuracy. The research question
was whether field peas infested
with beetles reflected light differently compared to field peas without internal beetle infestations,
Nansen said.
Source: http://www.phys.org

Non-destructive
methods to assess the
quality of food

Microwave
pasteurization
improves food safety

Scientists from the University of

Western (UWA), Australia, are developing rapid and non-destructive
ways to assess the quality of food
that will deliver significant benefits
to industry. The research approach
is similar to how infrared thermometers are used to detect fever in
humans or animals by converting
information about the colour of the
skin into a prediction of the internal
body temperature. Associate Professor Christian Nansen, from the
UWA is looking at how the same
technology can be used to class
food products.

A group of engineers led by Juming Tang, at Washington State University (WSU), the United States,
has developed a novel microwaveassisted pasteurization system that
can semi-continuously process 8- to
20-oz. pre-packaged chilled meals.
This marks an important milestone
in a research program funded by a
$5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of
Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant
awarded in 2011 to WSU and partners across the country.

With this technology, food items

moving down a conveyor belt can
easily be tagged by an infra-red
scanner, and fast computers can
quickly analyse the imaging data
and determine whether or not a given food item needs to be rejected,
or whether it needs to be diverted to
the cargo bin for lower-grade food
items. Nansen said. Using imaging
technology to develop quality control systems for unprocessed and
processed food items is a rapidly
growing and expanding research
area which includes detecting and
quantifying defects in grains, fruits
and vegetables, pesticide residues,
and meat quality.

WSU has established pilot-scale

capacity, whereby Tang and his
colleagues can work with food
companies to adapt the technology to a producers needs and then
manufacture production equipment
via a third party, making the system
scalable for industrial production,
said Tang. WSU anticipates licensing this technology to its start-up,
Food Chain Safety, for commercialization in the coming months.
According to Tang, the 915 MHz
microwave-assisted pasteurization
process significantly improves upon
traditional thermal pasteurization,
offering food producers a more efficient means of making foods safe
while retaining consumer appeal.
Source: http://www.news.wsu.edu

VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

INGREDIENTS
New enriched food for
infants immunity
Developed by Arla Foods Ingredients, Denmark, the Lacprodan
OPN-10 supports feeding babies
in their immune development.
Lacprodan OPN-10 is made from
the whey protein osteopontin, a
bioactive component associated
with the maturation of the infant
immune system. Osteopontin is
found in high concentrations in
human milk about 138mg per litre but in much lower concentrations in bovine milk (about 15mg
per litre). This means infants fed
regular formula have a limited intake compared with their breastfed
counterparts.
Researchers from Fundan University Hospital, China and the
University of California, the United States, conducted a doubleblind randomised clinical trial in
which Chinese infants aged between one and six months were
fed either regular infant formula
or infant formula supplemented
with Lacprodan OPN-10, with
both groups compared with a
reference group of breastfed
babies. The results showed that
the babies who were given infant formula supplemented with
Lacprodan OPN-10 experienced a similar number of days
of fever to those fed breast milk,
and a reduced number of days
of fever compared with a control
group fed ordinary infant formula.
The study also demonstrated that
Lacprodan OPN-10 is safe for
use in infant formula.
Lotte Neergaard Jacobsen, Nutrition Scientist at Arla Foods Ingredients said, The development of
Lacprodan OPN-10 is part of the
quest to create infant formula that
is more like breast milk. The results from this clinical study show
that we have moved a step closer

to achieving this. Experts at Arla

Foods Ingredients have developed
and patented the purification of osteopontin from cows milk and its
application in infant and follow-on
formulas, making it possible to
create products with the same
concentration of osteopontin as
breast milk.
Source:
http://www.arlafoodsingredients.com

Bioavailability of
healthful components
in food
Food scientist Hang Xiao at the
University of Massachusetts,
the United States, has recently
received a four-year, $491,220
grant to study the biochemical
fate of nanoemulsion-based food
delivery systems in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, hoping to reshape them and enhance the absorption of beneficial food components encapsulated in delivery
systems. This project, supported
by the National Institute of Food
and Agriculture (NIFA), will focus
on manipulating the structure and
composition of nano-emulsion
delivery systems to modify the
fate of encapsulated nutraceuticals in the gastrointestinal tract
(GI tract) to enhance their bioavailability.
In the last decade, knowledge has
been advancing about how to effectively deliver beneficial components in food. This research will
allow us to direct the assembly of
nano-emulsion droplets to create
characteristics that will dictate how
they are digested and absorbed,
Xiao explained. This would be a
model for nutraceutical delivery
in a wide range of food products.
Someday prepared foods may
help lower our risk of cancer, for
example.

10 VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

Specifically, using both cell culture and animal models, Xiao

and colleagues will design lipid
nanoparticles at three stages.
From nano-emulsion droplets
containing nutraceuticals, to
mixed micelles and finally to chylomicrons. The scientists want to
influence the size and composition of chylomicrons, because
these characteristics dictate the
fate of nutraceuticals encapsulated in the chylomicrons. Certain sizes and compositions are
better able to deliver nutraceuticals to the lymph system, which
protects nutraceuticals from being
cleared by the liver. This will enhance bioavailability of flavonoids
and other beneficial compounds
to the body, potentially offering
health benefits.
Source: http://www.phys.org

New dietary fiber

to address fiber
intolerance
Dr. Ali Keshavarzian, a gastroenterologist at Rush University
Medical Center, and Bruce Hamaker, a carbohydrate chemist at
Purdue University, the United
States, have developed a designer dietary fiber with an added potential prebiotic effect which
may eliminate the side effects
of current treatment for Irritable
Bowel Syndrome (IBS) that affects 10-20 percent of the population, disproportionately women.
The collaboration led to the development of the new product,
a natural starch derived from a
mixture of seaweed and starch in
which the release of starch fiber
in the gastrointestinal tract can be
delayed, slowed and controlled to
occur in the colon, rather than in
the stomach and upper intestine.
This new product prevents the discomfort and bloating associated

Ingredients
with current fiber therapies, while
getting our new fiber into the colon
and specifically distal colon where
traditional fiber products typically
do not reach and where many diseases of colon-like cancers develop. We wanted to create a fiber
with a slow rate of fermentation to
avoid rapid expansion of the gut
and thus decrease the likelihood
of common side effects of conventionally used fibers like bloating,
said Dr. Ali Keshavarzian.
The fiber is also designed to produce a high level of a short chain
fatty acid, butyrate in order to promote gut health and to have a socalled prebiotic effect for it to be
a supplemental treatment for IBS.
The fiber is a targeted, controlledrelease fiber that travels through the
large intestine to be fermented by
bacteria in the entire colon including
the descending [distal] colon where
colon cancer, diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis and irritability commonly
occur. The fiber can be designed
to target different locations. This
enables the bacteria in the large
intestine to receive important nutrients from the fiber, which promotes overall gut health. Contact:
Ms. Rawan Abbasi, Rush University
Medical Center, 1653 W. Congress
Parkway, Chicago, Illinois 60612,
USA. Tel: +1-312-942-3644; E-mail:
Rawan_I_Abbasi@rush.edu.
Source:
http://www.rush.edu

New sea salt

ingredient cuts
sodium in baked foods
Salt of the Earth Ltd., Israel, has
introduced a new sea salt ingredient designed to help food manufacturers reduce sodium in bakery
products such as bread, breakfast
cereal and snacks. It is available
in formats to allow for a range of

28% to 66% sodium reduction in

formulations.
The main challenge in sodium
reduction is the aftertaste of salt
substitutes, said Aliza Ravizki at
Salt of the Earth. We conducted
numerous trials of different mineral
sources to solve this problem and
finally came up with a tasty, propriety blend of sea salt sourced from
the clear waters of the Red Sea
and potassium chloride derived
from the Dead Sea. Sea salt contains most of the trace minerals
needed for the body. Salt of the
Earths low-sodium sea salt ingredient enables food manufacturers
to reduce the sodium in a formulation, without any negative effect
on taste.
Source:
http://www.bakingbusiness.com

New fruit paste for

baked products
Taura Natural Ingredients, Belgium, has developed a range of
real fruit pastes for baked goods
and snack products. The pastes
are made using Tauras Ultra Rapid
Concentration (URC) technology
which involves a unique process
of concentrating the taste and texture of fruit into pieces, flakes and
pastes. As well as being free from
artificial colours, flavours and preservatives the pastes offer a shelflife of up to 12 months. The pastes
have been designed to provide a
range of technical benefits when
used in baked applications including bake stability, and also offer
low water activity in dry product
environments.
Our new pastes are a great way
for food companies to add flair and
fruit goodness to bakery products.
Made from real fruit, with no artificial additives, they look, taste and
smell delicious and provide a host

of technical benefits that make a

bakers life easier and promise
superb end-products every time,
said Bartolo Zame, head of sales.
Tauras URC fruit pastes are Halal and Kosher certified as well as
100% vegetarian.
Source: http://www.foodmag.com.au

A natural food sweeter

Researchers from the University
of Florida (UF), the United States,
have revealed that they have pinpointed the exact compounds in
strawberries that give the fruit its
sweet flavour. Strawberry breeders at the university are currently
researching ways to create more
flavourful varieties of the fruit, and
hope to eventually use those compounds to make processed food
naturally sweeter eliminating
the need for artificial sweeteners,
and significantly lessening sugar
content.
Following extensive biochemical
testing and the hosting of consumer taste panels, the researchers identified 30 compounds within
strawberries that consumers love.
They also identified six volatile
compounds that add to consumers perception of sweetness in a
strawberry independent of any
type of sugar contained in the
fruit. Michael Schwieterman, a researcher said, in addition to enabling food manufacturers to make
processed food naturally sweeter
in the future, the groups plant
breeders are already employing
the findings to create consumerpreferred flavours now. When we
find these specific volatiles, it will
help us produce cultivars that we
know have a good chemical profile and should be perceived as
much sweeter, with better flavour,
Schwieterman said.
Source: http://www.foodmag.com.au

VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

11

PRESERVATION
Scientists invent
method to increase
cooking oil life
A team of scientists from University of Sargodha (UoS), Pakistan, have invented a method to
increase the shelf-life of cooking
oil up to one year. Currently, the
shelf-life of cooking oil is only four
months after which it becomes
dangerous to use, said Prof. Dr.
Muhammad Akram Chaudhry,
Vice Chancellor at UoS. However
experts from UoS have achieved
a milestone in foodsciences to increase the shelf-life of edible oil.
Dr. Akram said that they were in
contact with a number of cooking
oil processing industries to ink
agreements with them to sell the
technology on commercial basis
and also increase earning for the
university. Scientists of the UoS
Agricuture College also were
working on many other projects,
which would not only increase the
income of the university but also
benefit the nation in agriculture,
industrial and medical sciences.
Source:
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Eco-friendly shelf-life
extender
A team of scientists from CMS
Technology, the United States,
has developed ProduceShield,
an environmentally friendly, U.S.
Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
certified generally recognized safe
product that can respond to the
growing instances of foodborne
outbreaks. It relies on a positively
charged, cationic carrier technology that remains stable in cold and
hot temperatures and can be used
in wide-ranging environments,
said Harley Langberg, Operations
Director.

Unlike
other
washes,
ProduceShield does not have to be
rinsed after application, and firms
that have been using chlorine for
more than 20 years are beginning
to look for alternatives, especially
as new federal food-safety regulations are coming down the pike
from the FDA, said Langberg, adding that the product is an effective
weapon against E. coli, Salmonella
and Listeria. ProduceShield can be
used on the farm as part of its postharvest spray before product is sent
to processors or supermarkets. In
supermarkets, it can be applied to
protect against spoilage and bacteria from the handling of produce.
Kennesaw State University (KSU),
the United States, has successfully integrated ProduceShield into
its food program that serves 7,000
meals a day. Known as a leader in
food safety and sustainability efforts, the school was recognized
in 2013 by the National Restaurant
Association with its Innovator of
the Year Award. In the meantime,
the company has contracted with
a food-safety research institute to
conduct further tests on its new
technology, and it plans to ramp
up marketing in the retail sector
and extend the marketing reach
to seafood, poultry and plastics.
Source: http://www.producenews.com

Enhanced anti-cancer
benefits of broccoli
Researchers at the University of Illinois, the United States, have found
an inexpensive way to prolong the
vegetables shelf-life. Jack Juvik, a
crop sciences researcher, explained
that the combined application of two
compounds, both natural products
extracted from plants, increased the
presence of cancer-fighting agents
in broccoli while prolonging the
post-harvest storage period. We
had figured out ways to increase the
anti-cancer activity in broccoli, but

12 VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

the way we figured it out created a

situation that would cause the product to deteriorate more rapidly after
application, Juvik said.
The researchers first used methyl
jasmonate (MeJA), a non-toxic
plant-signal compound (produced
naturally in plants) to increase the
broccolis anti-cancer potential,
which they sprayed on the broccoli about four days before harvest. When applied, MeJA initiates
a process of gene activity affiliated
with the biosynthesis of glucosinolates (GS), which are compounds found in the tissue of broccoli and other brassica vegetables
(such as cauliflower, cabbage and
kale). Glucosinolates have been
identified as potent cancer-preventative agents because of their
ability to induce detoxification enzymes, such as quinone reductase
(QR), that detoxify and eliminate
carcinogens from the human body.
During this process, MeJA also signals a network of genes that lead to
plant decay by inducing the release
of ethylene, so the researchers
tried using the recently developed
compound 1-methylcyclopropene
(1-MCP), which has been shown
to interfere with receptor proteins
in the plant that are receptor-sensitive to ethylene. Like MeJA, 1-MCP
also is a non-toxic compound naturally produced in plants. Its very
cheap, and its about as toxic as
salt. It takes very little to elevate all
the desirable aspects. Its volatile
and disappears from the product
after about 10 hours, Juvik said.
Source: http://www.agriview.com

RFID-based solutions
for tracking foods
shelf-life
A team of researchers from University of Florida, the Florida Polytechnic University (Florida Poly) and
Georgia Institute of Technology and
technology company Franwell, the

Preservation
United States, have described how
RFID technology, in conjunction
with algorithms they developed,
can be used to track the temperature conditions of rations, and calculate the spoilage rate and therefore shipment schedule. The U.S.
Department of Defense (DOD) is
reviewing the results of a two-part,
five-year research project conducted by members of academia and
RFID industry to study the tracking
of food rations destined for military
troops, and the shelf-life based on
storage and transportation conditions of those rations.
The project aimed at determining
whether software along with temperature sensors and RFID technology
could be employed to monitor the
varying environmental conditions to
which rations have exposed, and to
revise expiration dates accordingly.
By doing so, the system could also
then instruct staff as to which items
should be shipped to troops, where,
to ensure nothing spoils or expires.
The solution poses potential benefit not only for the military but also
for the commercial market. Thats
due to the fact that an RFID-based
system, and software interpreting
sensor-based data from that system, could ensure the conditions of
perishable items are tracked and
their movement to retail stores is
modified according to those conditions, thereby ensuring fewer items
spoil or must be discarded before
they reach the consumers plates,
said Ismail Uysal, Director at USF
RFID Center for Applied Research
at the University of South Florida
(USF), the United States.
Uysal said, the study has proven
that technology is capable of enabling the military or the commercial
food industry to better ensure products are not wasted. And that is not a
small problem. According to a paper
published in 2009 by researchers
affiliated with National Institutes of
Health (NIH), as much as 40 percent
of food in the United States ends

up not in consumers kitchens, but

discarded in large part due to
spoilage somewhere in the supply
chain, or as a result of conditions
in the supply chain. Researchers
used off-the-shelf temperaturesensing tags and readers, and developed software with an algorithm
developed to identify the expected
expiration (spoilage) date of a food
product based on the conditions it
was exposed to. The software approach, Uysal explained, differentiates between a static shelf-life identified by an expiration date (the date
stamped on a food ration based on
optimal storage conditions) and a
dynamic shelf-life that changes according to the items conditions.
Source: http://www.rfidjournal.com

Genetically modified
tomatoes with double
the shelf-life
A study by the researchers of the
John Innes Centre, the United
Kingdom, has revealed that tomatoes could be made tastier and
stay fresh for twice as long. Adding
a compound high in antioxidants,
anthocyanin, to purple genetically
modified (GM) tomatoes can more
than double the shelf-life of the
worlds most popular fruit from 21
days to 48 days and the natural pigment slows down the over-ripening
process that leads to rotting and
softening creating a better taste.
In the study for journal Current Biology, anthocyanins were found to
slow down the over-ripening process that leads to rotting and softening achieving a tomato with a
long shelf-life and full flavour. The
researchers also found the purple
tomatoes were also less susceptible to one of the most important
post-harvest diseases grey mould
caused by Botrytis cinerea. However conventional tomatoes can now
be screened for their antioxidant
capacity, with those found to be

highest in antioxidant compounds

used as parental lines for breeding.
Professor Cathie Martin said,
Working with GM tomatoes that
are different to normal fruit only
by the addition of a specific compound, allows us to pinpoint exactly
how to breed in valuable traits. Our
research has identified a new target for breeders to produce tomato
varieties that are fuller in flavour,
and so more appealing to consumers, and more valuable commercially due to increased shelf-life.
Source: http://www.freshplaza.com

Extending the shelflife of food products

Developed by Taura Natural Ingredients, Belgium, the Ultra Rapid Concentration (URC) technology concentrates fruit purees and blends to
below 10% moisture in less than 60
seconds. Though, it is not the absolute moisture content that decides
whether ingredients can be used
successfully in tricky applications. At
room temperature, water molecules
move from the surface of a food to
the atmosphere and back again until
they reach equilibrium.
The reason why water activity is
such a critical parameter for food
manufacturers varies depending
on the application. In cereals, for
example, fruit pieces need to exhibit the same water activity as
the other components in order to
prevent the cereal flakes from going soggy and the fruit pieces turning hard. In baked fruit-filled bars,
cakes or cookies, the fruit paste
must have the same water activity
as the surrounding product to prevent moisture and colour leaching
into the rest of the bar. More generally, ensuring that fruit ingredients
have the correct water activity can
prevent shelf-life problems.
Source:
http://www.foodprocessing.com.au

VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

13

BEVERAGES
Energy saving
juice pasteurization
process

Acerola-acidified
coconut water
concentrate

Tetra Pak, Sweden, the world

leader in food processing and
packaging solutions, has announced the introduction of a new
juice pasteurization process that
saves up to 20% on energy consumption, bringing cost and environmental benefits for customers.
The new process, which is suitable
for high-acid juices, improves efficiency by reducing the temperature of the second pasteurization
process from 95C to 80C, without compromising the quality of
the juice produced.

Coconut water supplier iTi Tropicals, the United States, has developed a new coconut water concentrate acidified with acerola. The US
brand assessed lemon juice, lime
juice and other fruit acidulants,
before it settled on acerola concentrate after discovering that the
cherry-like fruit blends well with
coconut water without imparting
a characteristic citrus taste.

Juice pasteurization is conducted

in two steps. The first pasteurization, commonly conducted
immediately after the juice is
squeezed, deactivates enzymes
and kills microorganisms. Prior to
the filling, another pasteurization
is conducted to destroy microorganisms developed during bulk
storage. This second process is
usually conducted at a temperature of 95C for 15 seconds. With
new technologies introduced by
Tetra Pak, the temperature of this
process is brought down to 80C
for juices with a pH level at or below 4.2.
Micael Simonsson, manager Centre of Expertise at Tetra Pak,
said, We are excited by this new
development, as it reduces energy
consumption and therefore helps
our customers improve their bottom line in an increasingly competitive market. At the same time,
extensive tests show that the new
process has no impact on the quality of the juice produced, be it in
terms of taste, nutrition, storage
stability or visual appearance.
Source:
http://www.packagingeurope.com

Acerola contains high levels of vitamin C and works with iTis coconut water concentrate to produce a
100% all-natural juice concentrate.
This special juice concentrate
blend has a high volume dilution
factor of over 17.8, which means
that one volume of concentrate
blend can be reconstituted with
16.8 volumes of water to achieve
single-strength 100% juice in accordance with US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) guidelines.
Source: http://www.foodbev.com

New fibre rich

breakfast drink
Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing,
Australia, has created a new milk
alternative FibreStart, which is
said to provide consumers with
one third of their daily fibre intake
in each 250ml serve. The drink is
a blend of milk, almonds and plant
fibres, offering a nutty flavour that
boasts a high level of both insoluble and solute fibre.
Sanitariums general manager for
marketing, Daniel Derrick said that
the beverage was created in response to market research (Newspoll) which found that one fifth of
the population believed that they
were not getting enough fibre. We
want to provide an easy option for

14 VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

Australians to get the fibre they

need and feel the benefits of this
essential nutrient, said Derrick.
FibreStart is also low in fat, and
is an excellent source of dietary
fibre. Our bodies need insoluble
and soluble fibre, and this new
product contains both; insoluble
fibre which helps keep things moving, plus soluble fibre which helps
nourish your digestive system.
Source: http://www.foodmag.com.au

Researchers develop
antioxidant rich
oranges
Researchers from the Spanish National Research Council
(CSIC), have created an orange
cultivar with a variety of potentially beneficial traits, including
higher beta-Carotene in the pulp
and a flowering period of just four
months. The team conducted a
lab study to develop the oranges,
in conjunction with the Valencian
Institute of Agricultural Research
and technological company CSIC
Biopolis, with results published in
the journal Plant Biotechnology.
In essence, laboratory processes
created a plant that takes less time
to produce fruits that obtain a higher
content of beta-Carotene. From a
technical standpoint, this development involved transforming sweet
orange plants to block the expression of beta-carotene 3-hydroxylase, which is an enzyme involved
in converting beta-Cartone to xanthophylls; a trait responsible for
giving an orange color. Meanwhile,
the researchers overexpressed
gene regulator CsFT, which is key
in speeding up flowering. A CSIC
spokesperson confirmed that while
the process involved is classified as
genetic modification (GM), no new
genes have been inserted.
Source: http://www.freshfruitportal.com

PACKAGING
New packaging
technology revives
Australian beet industry
OneHarvest, one of Australias
largest fruit and vegetable growing companies has licenced innovative British technology to
reinvigorate the nations beetroot
industry. The once flourishing
industry has taken a number of
hits in recent years from cheap
imported product, cannery closures and the exit of major processor Heinz. Entrepreneur Dick
Smith made a concerted effort to
save the industry by purchasing a
canned crop of beetroot in 2012,
only to be forced into a public
giveaway when supermarkets
refused to stock them.
OneHarvests Love Beets, however may just prove to be what the
industry needs. Unlike the traditional forms sliced, cubed and
canned beetroot that many Australians are used to, Love Beets
are fresh-cooked baby beetroot
that are packed into a vacuumsealed pouch. Beetroot is an
iconic Australian flavour and the
market has traditionally been with
the beetroot in vinegar, sugar and
basically cooked stewed in a
can. With Love Beets, the beetroot is taken as a completely fresh
baby beetroot thats peeled, nothing added and then thats placed
into a vacuum-packed pouch and
cooked in the pouch. Love Beets
will be stocked in major supermarket retailers around the country as
early to mid 2014.
Source:
http://www.foodmag.com.au

Recyclable packaging
that will save eggs
Tesco, the United Kingdom, has
successfully trialed recyclable
plastic packaging that will save

more than a million eggs from

going to waste each year. At the
moment Tescos free range eggs
are sold in pulp cartons and if an
egg breaks in transit it can seep
through the box and damage other
packs beneath it. But now the supermarket is trialing a recyclable
plastic packaging made from recycled plastic drinks bottles. If an
egg breaks then the seepage can
be contained in one pack.
Tesco has trialed the new 12 egg
packaging in nearly 200 stores
served by depots in the Livingston area in Scotland and in the
Belfast area in Northern Ireland.
Tesco technologist Lee Gray said,
We know that plastic packs reduce food waste now we have
a pack that will reduce food waste
and offer customers a more environmentally friendly packaging
solution.
If used across all our free range
egg range then it will save on average more than one million eggs
each year that would otherwise
be going to waste. The results
of the trial are very positive and
we hope to be able to roll out the
packaging by the end of the year.
Other benefits are that the new
cartons will take up less space
during transportation as well as
less shelf space in store and will
also decrease CO2. Tesco is working with a third party supply chain
consultancy firm to measure this
benefit. Contact: Tesco Press Office, the United Kingdom. Tel: +440-1992-644645.
Source:
http://www.worldpressonline.com

Innovative packaging
solutions for
confectionery industry
Loesch Verpackungstechnik GmbH,
Germany, is working towards

claiming its global leadership in

the packaging machinery market
at Interpack 2014 in Dsseldorf,
Germany, 8-14 May. The systems provider will unveil innovative and leading-edge complete
solutions for the confectionery
industry. LoeschPack continues
to set standards for the industry
with its refined, customer-centric
service solutions and the centrepiece of this development is the
technical centre inaugurated directly adjacent to the production
facilities in 2014, where existing
and prospective customers can
test packaging machines and
train their staff.
At Interpack, LoeschPack will unveil the latest generation of the
LTM-DUO two-stage fold wrapping machine in the corporate
design, combined with a flexible
display cartoner. The machine
features great product, size and
packaging style flexibility, gentle handling of the product and
the use of bio-polymer foil. The
refined twin station machine
with outstanding overall performance thus sets new standards
for packing chocolate bars. We
create samples and carry out
test runs with original materials also in customer formats.
The generated data is used to
analyse the cost-effectiveness
and feasibility of our customers
highly specific projects, said Andreas Graf, Managing Director of
LoeschPack.
Source:
http://www.packagingeurope.com

OYSTAR to present
innovative packaging
solutions at Interpack
The OYSTAR Group, Germany,
will display several innovative
packaging solutions for a variety
of applications at the Interpack

VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

15

Packaging
2014 in Dsseldorf, Germany.
OYSTAR has expanded its product portfolio in the lower-to-midlevel output range with an ergonomic FFS machine for mini-portions and cups. Users will benefit
from its compact construction and
ergonomic operation. At only six
meters long and 1.3 meters wide,
the system can be integrated into
any production hall without claiming too much space. The cup web
is transported at a comfortable
height of one meter, making the
visual inspection of the work process easier for operators.
The FFS machine can handle up to
35 strokes per minute depending
on format and product characteristics; for example, with 30-up format
63,000 mini portions are produced
per hour. Even smaller capacities
such as 14,000 cups per hour can
be produced on the machine. In
addition, the diversity of dosing
systems makes the machine suitable for a broad range of applications for all liquid and pasty food
and dairy products. It can handle
all thermal plastic and sealable
materials, including PET and PP
for the bottom web. The technical
design also makes it possible to
use thinner packaging materials,
to fill products of differing consistency with the exact volume and
placement at minimized waste.
Contact: OYSTAR Holding GmbH,
Lorenzstrasse 6, 76297 Stutensee,
Germany. Tel: +49-7244-747-0;
Fax: +49-7244-747-299; E-mail:
info@oystar-group.com.
Source:
http://www.packagingeurope.com

Biodegradable
molding material for
food packaging
Ahlstrom Corporation, Finland,
a global high performance fiberbased materials company, has de-

veloped Ahlstrom NatureMold, a

new biodegradable molding material for food packaging. This innovative and patent-pending product
can be used for a range of food
applications, which provides a
range of features that benefit food
processors and their brands. Key
benefits includes heat resistance
(up to 220C/428F), easy release,
high wet strength, and the superior
grease resistance.
In addition, Ahlstroms new molding
material offers superior branding
and differentiation properties with
the possibility to watermark or dye
Ahlstrom NatureMold with a range
of hot food contact approved colors.
True to Ahlstroms commitment, NatureMold helps to advance sustainability. Ahlstrom NatureMold is
produced from renewable resources with FSC(TM) certified pulp. It is
the environmentally friendly alternative to molds and trays made from
plastic or aluminum.

veloped a new method to improve product quality and extend

shelf-life of tomatoes and table
grapes harnessing the mould and
germ-killing power of ozone. The
company has prototyped a rapid,
safe system that turns some of
the oxygen inside sealed packaging into ozone, a short-lived but
very effective germicide. Plasma
generated by a retractable device held briefly against the surface of a plastic package splits
the bonds between oxygen molecules (O 2) inside the packaging
which then reform as ozone (or
O 3). The ozone interacts rapidly
with the mould, fungi or bacteria
on the packagings contents, destroying them without adversely
affecting the products taste. Any
residual ozone naturally returns
to its original oxygen state a
short time after.

New ozone packaging

extends grape, tomato
shelf-life

The products effectiveness as a

mould-killer has been shown in
laboratory trials to improve the
quality of fruit, by reducing the
number of individual fruits that
start going mouldy, and can extend the packaged products total
shelf-life by many days. The company has demonstrated they can
extend the shelf-life of packaged
tomatoes based on the number
of mould free packs versus a control from 5 to 20 days. A similar
improvement was obtained with
trials on table grapes. Anacail
Chief Scientist Dr. Hugh Potts
said, Were very excited about
the application of this technology to packaged fruit. Its safe
and easy to use, and it doesnt
require any chemical additives
the mould reducing effect comes
directly from the activated oxygen
via our plasma head. Contact: Ian
Muirhead, Anacail Ltd, E-mail: ian.
muirhead@anacail.com.

Scientists at Anacail, London,

the United Kingdom, have de-

Source:
http://www.freshplaza.com

The Ahlstrom NatureMold

product line has great performance especially because of
its grease resistance and easy
release. The coloring and watermark options allow significant
brand differentiation. Its sustainability credentials are compelling
as all the materials are from renewable sources as well as biodegradable, explains Omar Hoek,
EVP, Food. Contact: Brian Oost
(VP Marketing), Liisa Nyyssnen
(VP Communications), Ahlstrom,
Finland. Tel: +33-474-573-673,
+358-10-888-4757.
Source:
http://www.ahlstrom.com

16 VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

MACHINERY/EQUIPMENT
Solar-powered driers
for food processing
units
The Department of Green Energy
Technology, Pondicherry University, India, has chipped in with an
invention that could be used by a
variety of food processing units,
and hopefully create livelihood for
many people. Associate Professor
A. Sreekumar has now perfected
two solar-powered vegetable and
fruit driers that can be used in a
variety of industries including fisheries and agriculture.
The idea behind both the driers is
the same, to use the power of the
sun to dry out the fruits, vegetable,
fish or meat that is placed inside it.
The first drier harnesses the solar
energy and converts into hot air. The
ideal temperature to dry out agricultural produce is around 65 degrees
Celsius. Using a mesh-like material
to capture the suns heat, the hot air
that is generated is pumped into the
drier box using a motor. The capacity of the machine can be improved
with larger solar panels, but with the
current size, they are able to heat
the air up to 90 degrees Celsius and
provide around 500 cubic meter of
hot air per hour.
The advantage of this kind of
drier is that since the produce
being dried out does not come
in direct contact with the sun, the
colour of the vegetable, fruit or
other produce does not change.

Solar-powered driers developed by

Pondicherry University, India

The second type of solar-powered

drier is a more crude, but can be
used in home-based industries as
well, since it costs only around Rs.
30,000 to build.
Source: http://www.thehindu.com

New sensor-based
optical sorting system
At the annual event, organised by
the California League of Food Processors, on 19-20 February, the
United States, TOMRA Sorting Solutions, Belgium, featured one of
its latest advancements in sensorbased optical sorting of diced and
small fruits and vegetables. The
flexible and accurate Iris II offers a
high-performance sort and grade,
based on quality, size and for food
safety.
Jim Frost, Product Manager, TOMRA Sorting Food, said The Iris II
is a high capacity, low maintenance sorter which operates with
gentle handling. It uses top and
bottom sensor banks to view each
individual object in flight using a
combination of light-emitting diode
(LED) illumination in the visible
and Near Infra-Red (NIR) spectral zones, and charge-coupled
device (CCD) cameras to perform
targeted spectroscopy with 1mm
precision.
This advanced system views and
analyzes visible and invisible attributes such as colour, shape,
blemishes and foreign material.
The first grade produce gently
passes through the machine while
defected produce is redirected into
a stream by intelligent air nozzle
ejectors, with precision and accuracy. The Iris IIs benefits for
customers includes labour reductions as high as 80%, throughput
increases of up to 25%, a faster
pack, increased yield and low operational costs. Contact: TOMRA
Sorting Food, Romeinse Straat 20,

3001 Leuven, Belgium. Tel: +3216-396-396; Fax: +32-16-396-390;

E-mail: info@bestsorting.com.
Source: http://www.
foodprocessing-technology.com

The next generation

heating technology
Developed by SPX, the United Kingdom, the innovative APV Cavitator
is a modular process technology
which offers breakthrough benefits
for heating liquids without scale
build-up as well as provides solutions for many of the most difficult
mixing and dispersing challenges
for food and beverage processing.
The APV Cavitator is based on
technology exclusively licensed
from Hydro Dynamics for sanitary
applications. SPX has extensively
tested and enhanced the Cavitator design for maximum performance at its Innovation Centre
in Silkeborg, Denmark. Named
for the powerful effects of shockwaves produced from the collapse
of controlled cavitation bubbles,
the APV Cavitator works by taking
a fluid into the machine housing,
where it is passed through a controlled cavitation field created by
the reactors spinning rotor.
The unique design uses the intense force of cavitation in a controlled manner, rather than typical impellers or blades to process
materials, increasing the mass
transfer rate. Additionally, the cavitation effects are achieved without
damage to metal surfaces. The
APV Cavitator can be considered
a next generation offering and a
paradigm shift in the mixing industry where process intensification,
acceleration and the replacement
of batch processing with continuous processing are necessary to
compete in a global economy.
Source: http://www.worldbakers.com

VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

17

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

TECH EVENTS

Novel Food Preservation and

Microbial Assessment Techniques

21-23 May
THAIFEX - World of food ASIA 2014
Bangkok,
Contact: Office of Agriculture and
Thailand 
Industrial Business Development
Department of International Trade
Promotion, Ministry of Commerce,
44/100 Nonthaburi 1 Road, Bang Kra Sor,
Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand
Tel: +66-2507-8357-9
Fax: +66-2547-4268
E-mail: thaifex@ditp.go.th
Web: http://www.thailandfoodfair.com

Demand for minimally processed foods has resulted

in the development of innovative, non-thermal food
preservation methods, such as high-pressure sonication, ozone, and UV treatment. This book presents
a summary of these novel food processing techniques. It also covers new methods used to monitor
microbial activity, including spectroscopic methods
(FT-IR and Raman), molecular and electronic noses,
and DNA-based methods.

Ohmic Heating in Food Processing

Ohmic Heating in Food Processing covers several
aspects of Ohmic heating: science and engineering,
chemistry and physics, biochemistry and nutrition,
quality and safety, and development and technology,
both basic and applied. It describes the importance of
Ohmic technology and how to implement it in practice,
addressing basic theory, principles, and applications.
Divided into nine sections, this volume covers the
basics of Ohmic heating, including a historic overview
and fundamental principles; electrical conductivity, its
importance, factors that influence it, and data modeling; biological effects of electricity on foods and food
components, including microorganisms, enzymes,
proteins, carbohydrates, and fats; and Ohmic heating behavior and design parameters.

Solid State Fermentation for

Foods and Beverages
Although one of the oldest microbial technologies used
in food processing, solid-state fermentation (SSF) had,
until recently, fallen out of favor. However, based on a
series of established mathematical models, new design concepts for SSF bioreactors and process control
strategies have been proposed, allowing SSF technology to reach new levels. Solid State Fermentation for
Foods and Beverages covers these new technologies
and their application to food and beverage production.
The book systematically describes the production
of solid-state fermented food and beverage in terms
of the history and development of SSF technology
and SSF foods, bio-reactor design, fermentation
process, various substrate origins and sustainable
development.
For the above three books, contact: CRC Press, Tel:
+44-123-540-0524; Fax: +44-123-540-0525; E-mail:
book.orders@tandf.co.uk

18 VATIS UPDATE: Food Processing n Jan-Mar 2014

19-21 Jun
The 15th Malaysian International Food
Kuala Lumpur, & Beverage Trade Fair
Malaysia
Contact: Sphere Exhibits Malaysia
Sdn Bhd
7-3, Subang Business Centre, Jalan
USJ9/5Q, 47620 Subang Jaya, Selangor
Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Tel: +6-03-8023-2600
Fax: +6-03-8023-3750
E-mail: info@sphereexhibits.com.my
Web: http://www.mifb.com.my
22-24 Aug
Pro Food Pro Pack & Agbiz 2014
Colombo,
Contact: Lanka Exhibition & Conference
Sri Lanka 
Services (Pvt) Limited
4th Floor, Automobile Association
Building, No. 40, Sir Mohamed Macan
Marker Mawatha, Colombo-03,
Sri Lanka
Tel: +94-11-239-0560-62
Fax: +94-11-239-0563
E-mail: nirodha@saexhibitions.com
Web: http://www.profoodpropack.com
24-26 Sep
9th Edition of Annapoorna World of
Mumbai,
Food India
India
Contact: Mukhtar Pathan
Project Management
Koelnmesse YA Tradefair Pvt. Ltd., India
Tel: +91-40-6559-4411
Fax: +91-40-6668-4433
E-mail: m.pathan@koelnmesse-india.com
Web: http://www.worldoffoodindia.com
15-17 Oct
Fi Asia Indonesia
Jakarta,
Contact: Ms. Georgina Smith
Indonesia Marketing Director
Tel: +31-20-409-9514
E-mail: georgina.smith@ubm.com
Web: http://www.foodingredientsglobal.com
22-25 Oct
Ho Chi
Minh City,
Viet Nam

The 14th Viet Nam Intl Food

Processing Industry Exhibition
Contact: Ms. Tracy Chang, Ms. Gina Chou
Chan Chao Intl Co. Ltd.
3F, No. 185, Kangchien Rd., Neihu Dist,
Taipei, Taiwan (Province of China)
Tel: +886-2-2659-6000
Fax: +886-2-2659-7000
E-mail: exfdp@chanchao.com.tw
Web: http://www.vietnamfoodtech.com

PUBLICATIONS from APCTT

PERIODICALS

(Free access at www.techmonitor.net)

q Asia Pacific Tech Monitor (4 issues/year)

(e-version)

VATIS Update (4 issues/year)

m Biotechnology
(e-version)
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(e-version)
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(e-version)
m Ozone Layer Protection # (e-version)
m Waste Management
(e-version)

BOOKS

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and Nepal)

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Volume 1: How to Guide & Quick reference materials
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300.00

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Developing Countries of the ESCAP Region, 1998

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500.00

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800.00

40.00

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and the Pacific
m Volume 1: Big Countries and Developed Economies, 1999
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