Feeding the Recovery: FoodDrinkEurope leads the way

30th Anniversary Congress of FoodDrinkEurope, Brussels, Belgium, 17 - 18 October 2012FoodDrinkEurope represents Europe’s food and drink industry and has as its members 25 national food federations, 26 European food sectors and 19 companies. Its mission is to facilitate the development of an environment in which all of Europe’s food and drink companies, whatever their size, can meet the needs of consumers and society, while competing effectively for sustainable growth (www.fooddrinkeurope.eu/) FoodDrinkEurope evolved from the CIAA (Confédération des Industries Agro-Alimentaire de l’EU, which was established in 1982 and became FoodDrinkEurope in 2011.Deposited by bulk impor

Fracture Testing of Cream Cracker Biscuits

A modified shear press fitted with a 70 × 3 mm perspex blade proved satisfactory for measuring the resistance to fracture of cream cracker biscuits. The results indicated that biscuit orientation in relation to the fracture edge had a bearing on the fracture force obtained. Tests on five commercial cream cracker brands showed statistically-significant different resistance to fracture between the brands and some packs also showed high within-pack variation in fracture resistance. Over-baked cream crackers were more resistant to fracture than under-baked ones.Deposited by bulk impor

A lunch box for tomorrow: Outcomes from the EFFoST annual meeting 2012, Montpellier, France

EFFoST Annual meeting 2012, Montpellier, France, 20 - 23 November 2012The 2012 European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST) conference took place in Montpellier, France on 20e23 November. Emphasis was on connecting the integrated (broad) and the specialised (disciplinary) views on food to promote health, food security and sustainability for all. The role of EFFoST in this development was stressed via its linking to circa 100,000 agrifood persons in 40 countries and through (a) three food research journals, (b) young scientists group, and (c) industry platform focussing on small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). EFFoST is currently creating a European Academy of Food Engineering with the European Federation of Chemical Engineers. The conference had 21 invited lectures, 45 other oral presentations, 243 posters and over 300 attendees. The oral sessions corresponded to the food production, environmental impact and economic competitiveness themes as did the poster sessions. The Conference Chair (Professor Nathalie Gontard) welcomed the delegates and explained why priority in food science must focus on reducing food waste and on connecting holistic and disciplinary food research. This was followed by four plenary lectures. A presentation on food research in the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) and in Horizon 2020 indicated that the last call for project proposals in the former was published in July 2012 and that the latter which spans 2014-2020 will be simplified in terms of the administrative burden for both those submitting new research proposals and for those successful in receiving funding. Horizon 2020 will focus on four areas, (a) excellent science, (b) industrial leadership, (c) societal challenges, and (d) on coupling research to innovation. It has a budget of €4.6 billion for the bio-economy area (which includes food) compared with €1.9 billion in FP7. A Unilever speaker stressed the company’s commitment to source all agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020 and to reduce environmental impact via a sustainable food chain. A third paper discussed 'right foods to right nutrients' as related to stunted growth. On a global basis 26% of adults are stunted and a 'good lunch box' approach is needed. The fourth paper described integrated and specialised research approaches to food at INRA.Deposited by bulk impor

Colour and its measurement in Foods

The three main aspects of food sensory quality are appearance, sense of feel or texture and flavour. Of the three, appearance characteristics are probably the most important and the saying 'We eat with our eyes' is very true in most cases. Appearance factors can be subdivided into a number of areas: colour, gloss, shape, size, defects, oiliness, viscosity, etc. Colour is very important in food and is used to judge the quality, maturity and age after harvest of many foods. Leafy vegetables are expected to be a fresh green colour, carrots should be a deep orange, strawberries and meat a bright red, tomatoes yellow-red to red and pastries a nice golden brown . . Consumers often demand colours in foods that are not natural to the foods themselves and consumers in different countries have different colour preferences.Deposited by bulk impor

RTD needs and opinions of European food SMEs

The needs and opinions of European food SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises) in relation to RTD (research and technological development) was obtained in 1994 via two questionnaires issued in 16 European countries. This survey was part of the ongoing 17-country FLAIR-FLOW EUROPE project which was conceived at The National Food Centre and is co-ordinated from there. Food SMEs, and especially then very small companies,are key players in the industrial fabric of Europe and their voice must be heard in relation to their RTD needs, and also their opinions on the content of current and future EU food research programmes. European research his shown that SMEs are the 'engines' of Europe's changing economy (European Commission, DGXII, RTD-Info, April 1995, No. 9, p. 2). SMEs, and especially micro-firms are the main source of new jobs while high-tech SMEs create twice as many innovations per employee than large companies. It is stressed that the findings presented from this survey must not be interpreted rigidly but in a broad and general way.Deposited by bulk impor