A Learning Based Precool Algorithm for Utilization of Foodstuff as Thermal Energy Storage

Abstract — Maintaining foodstuff within predefined temper-ature thresholds is important due to legislative requirements and to sustain high foodstuff quality. This is achieved using a refrigeration system. However, these systems might not be dimensioned for hot summer days or possible component per-formance degradation. A learning based algorithm is proposed in this paper, which precools the foodstuff in an anticipatory manner based on the saturation level in the system on recent days. The method is evaluated using a simulation model of a supermarket refrigeration system and simulations show that thermal energy can be stored in foodstuff to cope with saturation in refrigeration equipment. Additional hardware or a system model is not required, making it easy to implement the method in existing systems. I

Three Pillars of Novel Nonthermal Food Technologies:Food Safety, Quality, and Environment

This review gives an overview of the impact of novel nonthermal food technologies on food safety, on quality, and on the environment. It confirms that research in this field is mainly focused on analyzing microbial and/or chemical aspects of food safety. However, recent research shows that in spite of various food safety benefits, some negative (quality oriented) features occur. Finally, this paper shows the necessity of analyzing the environmental dimension of using these technologies

Power Management for Energy Systems

The thesis deals with control methods for flexible and efficient power consumption in commercial refrigeration systems that possess thermal storage capabilities, and for facilitation of more environmental sustainable power production technologies such as wind power. We apply economic model predictive control as the overriding control strategy and present novel studies on suitable modeling and problem formulations for the industrial applications, means to handle uncertainty in the control problems, and dedicated optimization routines to solve the problems involved. Along the way, we present careful numerical simulations with simple case studies as well as validated models in realistic scenarios. The thesis consists of a summary report and a collection of 13 research papers written during the period Marts 2010 to February 2013. Four are published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and 9 are published at international peer-reviewed scientific conferences

Future challenges to microbial food safety

Despite significant efforts by all parties involved, there is still a considerable burden of foodborne illness, in which micro-organisms play a prominent role. Microbes can enter the food chain at different steps, are highly versatile and can adapt to the environment allowing survival, growth and production of toxic compounds. This sets them apart from chemical agents and thus their study from food toxicology. We summarize the discussions of a conference organized by the Dutch Food and Consumer Products Safety Authority and the European Food Safety Authority. The goal of the conference was to discuss new challenges to food safety that are caused by micro-organisms as well as strategies and methodologies to counter these. Management of food safety is based on generally accepted principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points and of Good Manufacturing Practices. However, a more pro-active, science-based approach is required, starting with the ability to predict where problems might arise by applying the risk analysis framework. Developments that may influence food safety in the future occur on different scales (from global to molecular) and in different time frames (from decades to less than a minute). This necessitates development of new risk assessment approaches, taking the impact of different drivers of change into account. We provide an overview of drivers that may affect food safety and their potential impact on foodborne pathogens and human disease risks. We conclude that many drivers may result in increased food safety risks, requiring active governmental policy setting and anticipation by food industries whereas other drivers may decrease food safety risks. Monitoring of contamination in the food chain, combined with surveillance of human illness and epidemiological investigations of outbreaks and sporadic cases continue to be important sources of information. New approaches in human illness surveillance include the use of molecular markers for improved outbreak detection and source attribution, sero-epidemiology and disease burden estimation. Current developments in molecular techniques make it possible to rapidly assemble information on the genome of various isolates of microbial species of concern. Such information can be used to develop new tracking and tracing methods, and to investigate the behavior of micro-organisms under environmentally relevant stress conditions. These novel tools and insight need to be applied to objectives for food safety strategies, as well as to models that predict microbial behavior. In addition, the increasing complexity of the global food systems necessitates improved communication between all parties involved: scientists, risk assessors and risk managers, as well as consumer

SusOrganic - Development of quality standards and optimised processing methods for organic produce - Final report

The SusOrganic project aimed to develop improved drying and cooling/freezing processes for organic products in terms of sustainability and objective product quality criteria. Initially, the consortium focused on a predefined set products to investigate (fish, meat, fruits and vegetables). Contacting participants in the fruit and vegetable sector showed that there is only little perceived need for making changes for the improvement of the processes. At the same time, it became clear that hops and herb producers (drying) face several challenges in terms of product quality and cost of drying processes. Therefore, the range of products was extended to these products. The results of a consumer survey conducted as part the project showed clearly that consumers trust in the organic label, but also tend to mix up the term organic with regional or fair ­trade. Further, the primary production on farm and not the processing is explicitly included in the consumers’ evaluation of sustainability. Appearance of organic products was found to be one of the least important quality criteria or attributes regarding buying decisions. However, there are indications that an imperfect appearance could be a quality attribute for consumers, as the product then is perceived to be processed without artificial additives. Regarding drying operations, small scale producers in the organic sector often work with old and/or modified techniques and technologies, which often leads to an inefficient drying processes due to high energy consumptions and decreased product quality. Inappropriate air volume flow and distribution often cause inefficient removal of the moisture from the product and heterogeneous drying throughout the bulk. Guidelines for improvement of the physical setup of existing driers as well as designs for new drying operations, including novel drying strategies were developed. Besides chilling and freezing, the innovative idea of superchilling was included into the project.The superchilled cold chain is only a few degrees colder than the refrigeration chain but has a significant impact on the preservation characteristic due to shock frosting of the outer layer of the product and the further distribution of very small ice crystals throughout the product during storage. Super­chilling of organically grown salmon eliminated the demand of ice for transport, resulting in both, a reduction of energy costs and a better value chain performance in terms of carbon foot printing. This is mainly due to the significantly reduced transport volume and weight without the presence of ice. The product quality is not different but the shelf life is extended compared to chilled fish. This means that the high quality of organic salmon can be maintained over a longer time period, which can be helpful,e.g. to reach far distant markets. The same trend was found for superchilled organic meat products such as pork and chicken. The consortium also developed innovative noninvasive measurement and control systems and improved drying strategies and systems for fruits, vegetables, herbs, hops and meat. Those systems are based on changes occurring inside the product and therefore require observation strategies of the product during the drying process. Through auditing campaigns as well as pilot scale drying tests it has been possible to develop optimisation strategies for both herb and hops commodities, which can help reduce microbial spoilage and retain higher levels of volatile product components whilst reducing the energy demands. These results can be applied with modifications to the other commodities under investigation. The environmental and cost performance of superchilling of salmon and drying of meat, fruit and vegetables were also investigated and the findings indicated that both superchilling and drying could improve sustainability of organic food value chains especially in case of far distant markets. An additional outcome of the project, beyond the original scope was the development of a noninvasive, visual sensor based detection system for authenticity checks of meat products in terms of fresh and prefrozen meats

Monitoring cold chain logistics by means of RFID.

Every day, millions of tons of temperature sensitive goods are produced, transported, stored or distributed worldwide. For all these products the control of temperature is essential. The term “cold chain” describes the series of interdependent equipment and processes employed to ensure the temperature preservation of perishables and other temperaturecontrolled products from the production to the consumption end in a safe, wholesome, and good quality state (Zhang, 2007). In other words, it is a supply chain of temperature sensitive products. So temperature-control is the key point in cold chain operation and the most important factor when prolonging the practical shelf life of produce. Thus, the major challenge is to ensure a continuous ‘cold chain’ from producer to consumer in order to guaranty prime condition of goods (Ruiz-Garcia et al., 2007).These products can be perishable items like fruit, vegetables, flowers, fish, meat and dairy products or medical products like drugs, blood, vaccines, organs, plasma and tissues. All of them can have their properties affected by temperature changes. Also some chemicals and electronic components like microchips are temperature sensitive

Biscuit contaminants, their sources and mitigation strategies: A review

The scientific literature is rich in investigations on the presence of various contaminants in biscuits, and of articles aimed at proposing innovative solutions for their control and prevention. However, the relevant information remains fragmented. Therefore, the objective of this work was to review the current state of the scientific literature on the possible contaminants of biscuits, considering physical, chemical, and biological hazards, and making a critical analysis of the solutions to reduce such contaminations. The raw materials are primary contributors of a wide series of contaminants. The successive processing steps and machinery must be monitored as well, because if they cannot improve the initial safety condition, they could worsen it. The most effective mitigation strategies involve product reformulation, and the use of alternative baking technologies to minimize the thermal load. Low oxygen permeable packaging materials (avoiding direct contact with recycled ones), and reformulation are effective for limiting the increase of contaminations during biscuit storage. Continuous monitoring of raw materials, intermediates, finished products, and processing conditions are therefore essential not only to meet current regulatory restrictions but also to achieve the aim of banning dietary contaminants and coping with related diseases

Capillary electrophoresis determination of non-protein amino acids as quality markers in foods

Non-protein amino acids mainly exist in food as products formed during food processing, as metabolic intermediates or as additives to increase nutritional and functional properties of food. This fact makes their analysis and determination an attractive field in food science since they can give interesting information on the quality and safety of foods. This article presents a comprehensive review devoted to describe the latest advances in the development of (achiral and chiral) analytical methodologies by capillary electrophoresis and microchip capillary electrophoresis for the analysis of non-protein amino acids in a variety of food samples. Most relevant information related to sample treatment, experimental separation and detection conditions, preconcentration strategies and limits of detection will be provided.Universidad de Alcal

Microbial fermentation in an in vitro model of colonic fermentation with different foods

[EN] The interaction between diet and gut microbiota, and ultimately their link to health, has become the focus of huge research showing that diet and lifestyle have a strong influence on the gut microbiota. That is why there is a growing interest in resolving questions about the relation between the gut microbiome and host metabolism. The human intestine is densely populated by trillions of microbial symbionts. The symbiotic gut microbiota helps nutrient absorption through the fermentation of dietary fibre, provides protection from invading pathogens and helps to develop and regulate the immune system. However, the mechanisms underlying interactions between diet, gut microbiome and host metabolism are still poorly understood. Here, we discuss how meta-omics datasets can be obtained through an in vitro model model of colonic fermentation in order to study how the food that is consumed can shape the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota. In order to analyze microbial community structure, tools and approaches such as next generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rRNA amplicons and bioinformatic analysis are used. The study will be performed with bread that will be digested and then submitted to an in vitro fermentation process with fecal inocula from healthy Spanish adults from Granada. In the end, the influence of bread on the structure of the gut microbiota from different types of fecal samples will be evaluated, as well as the variability of the microbioal taxonomy, composition and alpha and beta diversity when fecal samples are analyzed before and after fermentation and before and after a freezing treatment at -80 Cº. Our results suggest that despite a loss of bacterial groups that alters the microbial composition, freezing the samples before fermentation is not a serious problem because the effect of fermentation on the samples remains significant in terms of richness, diversity and abundance of the main bacterial groups. This will be studied in line with the main objectives of a larger project (Stance4Health) of developing a personalised nutrition system that optimizes gut microbiota metabolism.[ES] La interacción entre la dieta y la microbiota intestinal, y finalmente su vínculo con la salud, se ha convertido en el foco de una gran investigación que demuestra que la dieta y el estilo de vida tienen una gran influencia en la microbiota intestinal. Es por eso que hay un interés creciente en resolver las preguntas sobre la relación entre el microbioma intestinal y el metabolismo del huésped. El intestino humano está densamente poblado por billones de simbiontes microbianos. La microbiota intestinal simbiótica ayuda a la absorción de nutrientes a través de la fermentación de la fibra dietética, proporciona protección contra patógenos invasores y ayuda a desarrollar y regular el sistema inmunológico. Sin embargo, los mecanismos subyacentes a las interacciones entre la dieta, el microbioma intestinal y el metabolismo del huésped aún no se conocen bien. Aquí, discutimos cómo los conjuntos de datos meta-ómicos se pueden obtener a través de un modelo in vitro de fermentación colónica para estudiar cómo los alimentos que se consumen pueden dar forma a la diversidad y composición de la microbiota intestinal. Con el fin de analizar la estructura de la comunidad microbiana, se utilizan herramientas y enfoques como la secuenciación de la próxima generación (NGS) de los amplicones del ARNr 16S y el análisis bioinformático. El estudio se realizará con pan que se digerirá y luego se someterá a un proceso de fermentación in vitro con inóculos fecales de adultos sanos españoles (Granada). Al final, se evalua influencia del pan sobre la estructura de la microbiota intestinal de diferentes tipos de muestras fecales, así como en la variabilidad de la taxonomía microbiana, la composición, y la diversidad alfa y beta cuando las muestras fecales se analicen antes y después de la fermentación y antes y después del tratamiento de congelación a -80ºC. Nuestros resultados sugieren que a pesar de la pérdida de grupos bacterianos que altera la composición microbiana, congelar las muestras antes de la fermentación no es un problema grave debido a que seguimos vienod el efecto de la fermentación en las muestras en términos de riqueza, diversidad y abundancia de los principales grupos bacterianos. Esto se estudiará de acuerdo con los objetivos principales de un proyecto más grande (Stance4Health) de desarrollar un sistema de nutrición personalizado que optimice el metabolismo de la microbiota intestinal.Nacher Albiach, P. (2019). Microbial fermentation in an in vitro model of colonic fermentation with different foods. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/125065TFG