Modelling volume change and deformation in food products/processes: An overview

Volume change and large deformation occur in different solid and semi-solid foods during processing, e.g., shrinkage of fruits and vegetables during drying and of meat during cooking, swelling of grains during hydration, and expansion of dough during baking and of snacks during extrusion and puffing. In addition, food is broken down during oral processing. Such phenomena are the result of complex and dynamic relationships between composition and structure of foods, and driving forces established by processes and operating conditions. In particular, water plays a key role as plasticizer, strongly influencing the state of amorphous materials via the glass transition and, thus, their mechanical properties. Therefore, it is important to improve the understanding about these complex phenomena and to develop useful prediction tools. For this aim, different modelling approaches have been applied in the food engineering field. The objective of this article is to provide a general (non-systematic) review of recent (2005–2021) and relevant works regarding the modelling and simulation of volume change and large deformation in various food products/processes. Empirical-and physics-based models are considered, as well as different driving forces for deformation, in order to identify common bottlenecks and challenges in food engineering applications.Fil: Purlis, Emmanuel. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Cevoli, Chiara. Università di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Fabbri, Angelo. Università di Bologna; Itali

A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Australian Supermarkets’ Corporate Social Responsibility Commitments to Public Health: The Case of Supermarket Own Brand Foods

This PhD examined Australian supermarkets’ corporate social responsibility commitments that impact public health, and evidence of practical application, by analysing the contribution of supermarket own brand foods to Australian within-store food environments. A mixed-methods approach was used because so little was known about the topic. Findings from the eight included studies show how Australian supermarkets exert power over the food system and impact public health by the decisions they make

Modelling Volume Change and Deformation in Food Products/Processes: An Overview

Volume change and large deformation occur in different solid and semi-solid foods during processing, e.g., shrinkage of fruits and vegetables during drying and of meat during cooking, swelling of grains during hydration, and expansion of dough during baking and of snacks during extrusion and puffing. In addition, food is broken down during oral processing. Such phenomena are the result of complex and dynamic relationships between composition and structure of foods, and driving forces established by processes and operating conditions. In particular, water plays a key role as plasticizer, strongly influencing the state of amorphous materials via the glass transition and, thus, their mechanical properties. Therefore, it is important to improve the understanding about these complex phenomena and to develop useful prediction tools. For this aim, different modelling approaches have been applied in the food engineering field. The objective of this article is to provide a general (non-systematic) review of recent (2005–2021) and relevant works regarding the modelling and simulation of volume change and large deformation in various food products/processes. Empiricaland physics-based models are considered, as well as different driving forces for deformation, in order to identify common bottlenecks and challenges in food engineering applications.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimento

Exploring the impact of food product reformulation on population food choice and diet quality

Background Poor dietary habits have been recognized as playing a major role in non-communicable diseases. To improve population dietary intake, governments use food reformulation policies aimed at improving the nutrient profile of foods. This thesis aims at understanding how populations and individuals respond to the reformulation of foods. Methods Two types of data were used to analyse responses to food reformulation in the UK. The National Diet and Nutrition Survey was used to study the changes in dietary intakes following salt and fibre reformulations. Panels of household purchase were used to study households’ responses to sugar reformulation. Adjusted time trends were used to study changes over time. A decomposition method was used to understand how changes in the nutrient density of foods consumed or purchased can be explained by changes in consumer demand for, and supply of, foods. Results Food reformulation was linked to improved dietary intake or purchase. These improvements were rather small, but similar across socio-demographic groups. The different decomposition analyses showed that the change in the nutrient density of foods purchased or consumed came mostly from supply-driven effects. Changes in consumer choices had a marginal mean effect, except in the presence of a tax. Further, the extent to which households consumed reformulated products did not influence their change in sugar purchases. Lastly, stronger incentives such as taxes were more effective in promoting reformulation than voluntary initiatives. Conclusions Reformulating foods leads to improved dietary intake. Despite being small, these improvements are not negligible and don’t widen existing disparities. Taxing unhealthy products produced a change in consumer food choices, while it did not happen in the absence of such taxes. Given the gap between current and recommended dietary intake, policies to incentivise reformulation should be used alongside other policies aimed at improving food choices at the population level.Open Acces

Agrarian Change and Peasant Prospects in Haiti

Haiti is one of the poorest and most severely hunger-stricken countries in the world (GHI 2013). Its contradictions are jarring: although Haiti has the largest relative agrarian population in the Western Hemisphere and relatively less land inequality than the rest of the region (Smucker et al. 2000; Wiens and Sobrado 1998), it is extremely food insecure. Almost 90 percent of the rural population lives below the poverty line (FAO 2014; IFAD 2014), and Haiti relies on food imports for 60 percent of national consumption (OXFAM 2010). Some scholars argue that the spread of commodity relations, persistent rural class differentiation, and dispossession mean that most peasants can no longer reproduce themselves outside of markets, having been transformed into petty commodity producers with many households depending upon some degree of off-farm earnings (Bernstein 2001; Araghi 1995). Others, however, claim that ‘de-peasantization’ is far from inevitable, and stress that peasants continue to persist with varying relations to markets, still constitute a large share of humanity, and are actively fighting to defend their livelihoods (Ploeg 2009; Borras and Edelman 2008; McMichael 2006). At the broadest level, this dissertation explores contemporary struggles facing Haitian peasants in the belief that while they face extremely adverse circumstances, their continuing decline is far from inevitable. On the contrary, this dissertation is premised on the conviction that improving the livelihoods of peasant farmers is fundamental to reducing poverty and food insecurity in Haiti. More specifically, the papers in this dissertation explore various key aspects of Haiti’s agriculture and food system, including dietary aspirations, an intensifying agro-export push, and competing visions for rural development in the wake of the disastrous 2010 earthquake. Individually and collectively, considerable attention is given to some of the enduring legacies of the colonial period, and the interconnections between race, class, and food, while being sure to situate the cultural dimensions of peasant problems in their political economic context. This includes focusing heavily on the role played by dominant ‘development’ actors in Haiti (the foreign donor community; NGOs; the state; transnational corporations; domestic agribusinesses and merchant elites) and their relations with peasants in the post-earthquake period. The foundation of this dissertation is extensive field research conducted between November 2010 and July 2013 in a commune in Haiti’s Artibonite Department, the most important food producing part of the country. Field research involved a range of qualitative methods, including interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. My hope is that this dissertation offers a rich, deeply grounded contribution into some of the most crucial issues influencing agrarian change and food security in Haiti today, and provides valuable insights into agrarian change and peasant livelihoods and struggles in Haiti and beyond

From agriculture to arteries: a sociological-relational analysis of the food industry, diet, health and class

This thesis challenges accounts of individual choice and responsibility where food consumption is concerned, beginning with a critique of government policies to address the health effects of over-consumption of food. Whilst research from psychology and economics has acknowledged the role of habit and automaticity in some behaviours, including eating, the resulting theory of behavioural economics and its operationalisation as ‘nudge’ theory does not directly address class differences. I argue that sociological analysis can do so, and discuss the trajectory of social class in social theory in recent decades, bringing together the insights of several theorists to challenge both Giddens’s concept of reflexivity and postmodern notions of consumerism as an equalising force. I demonstrate that social theory can provide a solid underpinning to behavioural economics, and at the same time show the weakness of its policy applications to healthy eating. Given the relative inattention to the structures that shape dietary ‘choices’, in comparison to the study of behaviour, this thesis examines the nature of the food supply and traces how the food industry develops, markets and sites food, and the ways in which it engages, often interactively, with a highly segmented society. The production and targeted supply of processed foods of varying quality contributes to problematic food consumption, particularly among those of lower social status. This phenomenon is further evidenced by an epidemiological review outlining the food-health-class link. Subsequently, I conduct the first sociological analysis of food industry texts (representing food science, product development and marketing), revealing how actors within these disciplines articulate their role, function and concerns regarding current practice. A critique of marketing emerges from both practitioners and marketing academics, and I apply this and an expanded sociological critique to the role of the food supply in diet-related ill health, in which a social gradient is strongly apparent

Challenging Big Food Sustainability: Dietary Change and Corporate Legitimacy in the Agrifood Landscape

Growing awareness of the environmental, health, and social impacts from the foods we eat has meant renewed attention on the concept of 'sustainable diets'. The sustainable diets literature, to date, has focused on the environmental impact of meat and dairy, and the potential for environmental improvements from individual dietary change. However, given increased consumption of ultra-processed foods (formulations of industrial ingredients made to be convenient, palatable and profitable) along with their environmental and health impacts, it is important to also examine the role of the corporations that manufacture these foods in debates around sustainability. The world's largest food and beverage manufactures, collectively known as "Big Food" corporations, are the primary makers of ultra-processed foods and are working extensively frame themselves as having a legitimate role in the food system through a variety of corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. This thesis examines three questions. 1) What sustainability strategies are Big Food companies pursuing to claim legitimacy? 2) How do insights from the literature on the global governance of food and the environment help us understand Big Food companies' choice of sustainability strategies? 3) What are the policy implications of Big Food sustainability strategies for achieving sustainable diets? To answer these questions, the research examined sustainability reports, policies, and positions of the eleven largest food and beverage manufacturers globally. The thesis identifies three main strategies connected to sustainable diets that make up part of the larger sustainability activities of these companies. First, as a portion of their CSR, firms engage a variety of 'scientized' data and discourses to measure and discuss their sustainability performance. Second, responsible sourcing has become a strategy of all corporations in the sector, based on the assumption that sustainably-sourced ingredients will make a product sustainable when it reaches consumers. Finally, product-portfolio management ensures that companies have varied portfolios that increasingly feature products deemed environmentally-friendly and healthy. After the strategies were identified, the thesis applied an analytical framework that outlines key political and economic characteristics of the global agrifood landscape that matter for global environmental politics of food. This analytical framework was used to analyze how these features enable corporate actors to make legitimacy claims about the work they are doing and their role in future food security and sustainability. The research from this dissertation illuminates the policy implications of the sustainability strategies being implemented and the governance context in which they are established. First, Big Food companies are pursuing narrow visions of sustainability that may obfuscate issues and their linkages in the food system. Second, the features of the agrifood landscape, as well as unique characteristics of the sustainable diets debate, enable these corporate actors to tie their legitimacy claims to their corporate sustainability work to establish themselves as part of the solution to challenges in the food system. Finally, these strategies, articulated in this context of fraught food politics and sustainable diets debates, protect corporate growth and mitigate risk, partially by downloading risk and responsibility onto the most vulnerable actors in the food system. The intention behind recent conceptualizations of sustainable diets - established at a 2011 scientific symposium - was to bring forward a holistic vision of the food system that recognizes the interconnected nature of human health and ecosystems. However, the interpretation of the concept through corporate sustainability raises important questions about the legitimacy of Big Food corporations and their role in the future of food security and sustainability

7th International ISEKI-Food Conference: next-generation of food research, education and industry. Book of abstracts

As part of its mission, ISEKI-Food Association establishes and maintains a network among universities, research institutions, and companies in the food chain in addition to working to ensure that food studies are of high quality. However, we must also begin planning how to gear science, education, and the food industry to meet the needs of future generations as well as how to contribute to the sustainability of our planet by these food actors. In light of this, the 7th International ISEKI-Food Conference, which had as main theme “NEXT-GENERATION OF FOOD RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY”, focused on future challenges in education on food science and technology, in research activities related to processing, quality and safety, packaging of foods and in societal engagements in the field divided in three main sections: EDUCATION: CHALLENGES OF EDUCATION IN A CHANGING WORLD; RESEARCH: NEXT GENERATION OF FOODS; and SOCIETY ENGAGEMENT: SOCIETY AND FOOD INDUSTRY. The conference was dedicated to all food actors, creating bridges among them. The delegates had the opportunity to exchange new ideas and experiences face to face, to establish business or research relations, and find global partners for future collaborations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio