Food innovation and Food Science

Multidisciplinarity

Darunee Edwards

11 June 2019

Thai Food

Popularity due mainly to delicate blend of all sensory

attributes of each dish:

– Great flavor, taste, color and decoration

– Safety and quality

– Healthy and nutritious

– Great variety of dishes

– Service minded and fast service

– Value for money

– Reflect the wisdom and culture of Thai nation

Thai-ness

• Keen on food preparation techniques

• Variety of taste with medicinal herbs for health

• Prefer combinations of salt, sweet, sour and spicy hot ➔ Klom Kluom

• Local wisdom belief in food and friendship

• Uniquely situated in Asia with abundant natural resources

• Lifestyle revolves around food and meals → hundreds to

thousands of different dishes

• One of most diversified cuisines with local, Indian, Chinese, Portuguese, French, Vietnamese, Burmese and Indonesian influences

• Provide food varieties to cater any tourist nations

Local Wisdom in Selection of Food Ingredients

Food Trends

Low calorie food and drink > sweeteners, stevia, fat replacer

Low salt food > sodium replacer, spices

Functional Food > fortified food

Personalized food > aging and aged society

Natural conscious coloring > children food, candy, fruit juice

Natural flavoring > wide product range for food products

Delicious is still key

Food Security : challenge of feeding 9.6 billion by 2050

3 main challenges :

✓ Meet demand for food from rapidly increasing and more

affluent global population

✓ Do so in environmentally and socially sustainable ways

✓ Ensure that world’s poorest people do not go hungry

World Food Trends- 1

Competition is severe and slow down in economic growth. There is a need to:

• Streamlining or modernizing operation by automation to offer quick and easy processing

• tackling food loss and food waste by making use of all parts of any raw material to achieve zero waste and introduce the 3Rs concept: reduce, reuse, recycle

• Strictly in compliance with food safety management system

• Up-to-date with consumer tastes and health trends

• Understand both industry and market trends

World Food Trends- 2

Competition is severe and slow down in economic growth.

There is a need to:

• Flexible in processing lines to cater new product

development with the science based system

• Fundamentally global: new wave of international cuisines

through consumer curiosity and exposure to international food and flavor e.g., fermented vegetable, traditional charcoal grill, more ingredients of medicinal herbs

• Experience dichotomy: exploration for new and complimentary experiences: calorie intake from meals, indigenous dishes

Importance of Food Industry/Business

• Agriculture-based nation

• Value creation from agri-produce

• Food innovation, more varieties of foods

• Control of food safety and food quality

• Healthy society

• Wealthy society

• Food security and health security

• Job creation

• Tourism

Challenges and Trends for Food Manufacturers

To stay survive:

➢ A must in food safety and quality

➢ Implement productivity tools

➢ In trend with nutrition and health

➢ Effort in consumer tastes

➢ Clean and green processing

➢ Reduce food loss and food waste by introducing

3Rs concept (reduce,reuse, recycle)

➢ Modernise manufacturing machineries

➢ Enough skilled manpower

Consumer Trends

Consumer’s preferences varies from place-to-place but the basic needs are:

– Safety and quality

– Great flavor, taste, and display

– Healthy and nutritious

– Great variety of food

– Attractive packaging design and product protection

– Convenience in preparation

– Value for money

– Clean and green production

– Easily access of the preference meal

Food Value Chain

Food Supply Chain

ManagementFarming system(GAP/CoC)

Pre-harvest &Post-harvest

Manufacturing(GMP/HACCP)

Consumer / Market

Transportation

Plant/Animal breed

Breed

Farming

Harvest

Processing

Packaging

Transportation

Consumer/market

Packaging

Food Value Chain/Food System

Disastrous if

• Environmental contamination

• Lack of safe food preparation facilities

• Limited knowledge in food safety and food regulations

• Limited financial to support the operation

• Limited understanding of productivity, costing and finance

• Limited knowledge of consumer preference

• Limited awareness in mass or social communication

• Poor public health in food control direction and policy

• Poor social conditions

Food Safety and Quality

o Food safety is a global issue

o Consumption of wholesome foods, good quality and safety and right nutrition is one of the basic human rights

o There are widespread food safety risks and unsafe food incidents in different parts of the world

Food can become unsafe due to several reasons

Why food not safe!-1

Emerging foodborne illnesses problems

Change in pathogens through adaptation by natural selection

Dietary habits of preference and practices and cultural beliefs may be the causes

Food trade of plant and animal origin is increasing rapidly and contributed to the spread of foodborne problems to new areas

Food can become unsafe due to several reasons

Why food not safe!-2

Economic and technical development of new food, new production system or new environmental changes increase opportunities for contamination due to lack of knowledge from food handlers and an increase in mass catering

Poverty and pollution, environmental contamination

Poor social conditions and lack of safe food preparation facilities

Food can become unsafe due to several reasons

Why food not safe!-3

Travel and migration of millions of people crossing borders can spread disease rapidly to new environment

Poor hygiene practice of food handlers of street food and the improper storage of raw ingredients esp. meat and seafood items

Inappropriate time and temperature in processing

Improper cleaning and sanitizing

Contamination and cross contamination

Why food safety is a must for any food enterprise?

Consequence of producing unintentionally or intentionally

unsafe food:

• consumer gets sick

• Government authority intervene in this incident

• Ruin business and may end up with bankruptcy

• Ruin national reputation if it is a serious incident

Food safety and quality management system

➢ Food safety is an extreme important tool for any food enterprise!

➢ Food quality and safety management system is a preventive tool, it is to reduce chance of producing poor or lower than standard food!

➢ Well trained staff is key to achieve the goal of producing safe food!

Benefits of Food Safety and Quality Management System

➢ Processing of safer food >> lower business risk

➢ Clients satisfaction >> reputation and brand value

➢ Staff knowledge and skill >> better productivity

➢ Less production cost >> less utilities expense, less waste, less error

➢ More business opportunities

➢ Higher profitability

➢ Compliance with national and international regulations

Food Innovation

Innovation:

- A solution that is new and more effective and efficient

- A highest stage of human adaptation to change

- Components of Innovation:

1. technological advancement

2. application of such technology

3. economic value

Innovation

➢ creation of better or more effective products, processes,

services, technologies or ideas that are accepted by markets,

governments, and consumers

New food product

➢ product not previously manufactured by a company and

introduced by that company into its marketplace or

➢ The presentation by a company of an established product perhaps

in a new form or into a new market previously explored by that

company

Productivity

operation to maximize profit, to increase revenue and/or

to reduce cost

Input Process Output

Sustainability

food business must be innovative, socially relevant,

economically profitable and environmentally friendly

i.e., these are aspects to food industry sustainability

Food Spoilage and Food deterioration

Definition: decomposition or deterioration of food to undesirable

conditions from internal and external factors of food by

➢ microbiological contamination: slimy, watery, rotten, toxin

➢ chemical reaction and contamination: browning, rancid, protein denature, loss of vitamin and minerals,

➢ Physical reaction and contamination: phase separation, precipitation, softening not crispy, surface dryness

➢ Moisture

➢ Temperature

➢ Time

➢ Oxygen or light

➢ Physical stress

Food processing and preservation-2

Some processing technologies:

➢ Thermal processing or an application of heat

➢ Low temperature processing

➢ Drying processing

➢ Preservation and food additives

Food processing and preservation-6

Application of food additives:

➢ Vinegar (acetic acid) >> pickling, lower pH

➢ Salting (sodium chloride) >> bacon, fermented fish, salty taste

➢ Sulfur dioxide >> wine

➢ Sodium nitrate/nitrite >> fermented sausage

➢ Yellow 6 >> candy, pastries, sausages

Food processing and preservation-10

Food additives: safety issues

➢ More than 3,000 compounds recommended by FDA as food

additives and have GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status

➢ Each country has its own set of rules

➢ Still concern as to their harmfulness

➢ New additive must go through rigorous risk assessment:

hazard identification and characterization, exposure assessment,

risk characterization, and risk management to control hazardous

conditions

Shelf life study-1

Objective:

➢ To prolong the length of food product to remain usable and to fit

for consumption

➢ To meet consumer expectation: color, odor, flavour, texture,

appearance, nutrition and safety

➢ To maintain quality and safety of food products within the time

period, the recommended storage time and temperature, and

transportation condition

Shelf life study-2

Benefits:

➢ Less chance of product recall

➢ Process control

➢ Product consistency

➢ Consumer satisfaction

➢ Growth of business

Shelf life study-3

Principles:

➢ Understand your product: characteristics, safe for consumer

➢ Knowledge of factors influencing quality and shelf life of

food product

➢ Important factors based on food standards, food laws,

competitors and consumers

HR : Bachelor in FST Syllabus (4 year program)

- Fundamental science: maths, computer

science, statistics, chemistry, biology, etc.

- Core FST: food microbiology, food chemistry,

food processing, food engineering, food

quality and safety management systems,

QA, food laws and regulations

- Relevant FST: cereal science, meat science, fish

science, fermentation, nutrition, food business

administration, economics, marketing, etc.

Roles of Graduate in Food Science and

Technology

- Conversion of agricultural produce to food and feed

- Understand national and international regulations

for food standards, food safety and food quality

- Compliance with regulations for quality and safety systems

- Ensure safe food products reach consumers in good

condition

- Implement hygienic and food safety management systems

- Compliance with regulations for quality and safety systems

- Increase productivity at all levels of food value chain

- Reduce food loss and food waste thru innovation

- Concern with environmental impact

- Develop new products to meet consumer demand

- Ensure safe food products reach consumers

in good condition

- Aim for well trained and educated HRs in FST to run operations

Conclusion : Best Practice for Food Industry

Conclusion : “Food Safety ”

• safe food with excellent quality for health is a must!

• must not be compromised in funding, research and knowledge dissemination

• networking and partnership must involve policy makers, agri-food producers/farmers, food manufacturers, distributors, retailers and the general public

A sound food safety management system is one that identifies, evaluates and controls hazards in food safety, by taking a systematic and preventive approach by anticipation and prevention not by end-product inspection and testing

Need for science-based information

Take home messages!

• What would happen to the existing world population if there were no agro-food business?

• We do have food processing manufacturers!

What if we did not have well professional food scientists/technologists?

Who would look after food safety and new food products?

What would be the health of our populations?