pat in large-scale dairy processing · melamine-tainted milk scandal in china. after a number of...

www.newfoodmagazine.com Issue 2 · 2013

PAT in large-scaledairy processingTristan Hunter, Technical Manager –

Strategy, Fonterra Co-operative Group

Identifyingthresholds andassessing the

risk of foodallergens

René Crevel, Science Leader,Unilever Safety & Environmental

Assurance Centre

Flavours: whenperformance and packagingare no longercompatible Martina Lapierre, Flavour Technologist, PepsiCo

Water-oil-water emulsion DHA in Water

What does healthy taste look like in 2013?

Discover us at Booth 25061 at Vitafoods 2013, or visit www.leica-microsystems.com and search for TCS SP8 CARS

Quality of emulsion Emulsions and foams demand precise structural information. Assess

durability, stability and degradation over time.

Nano-bio activity Food ingredient development demands in-depth insight for

absorption and bio-activity. Assess droplet size and distribution within quality control of novel formulations.

Control the changes Use real-time or time lapse to monitor the interplay

between your food ingredients.

Distribution, number, diameter, live 3D and time-lapse of lipids. Discover the Leica TCS SP8 CARS.

Leica TCS SP8 CARSLooking forward to your d iscover ies

See a healthy future Consider the systems you need in your ongoing drive towards reduced fat AND an excellent and sustained taste experience.

Microscopy, and the more specialised and high-end confocal microscopy, are

well-established and accepted methods in life sciences. This technique is now

gradually being applied to research in food chemistry, food technology and in

the quality control of both disciplines. On the one hand, food analysis is still

based on chemical or physical techniques, which are not able to visualise the

characteristics of food samples but solely show a few, often isolated, aspects

of specimens. On the other hand, the focus of interest in food science has

meanwhile changed and is now increasingly concentrating on structures and

morphology of ingredients. This applies to the investi -

ga tion of whole samples as well as for dynamics

of lipid or water compounds in various types of

food, which require more detailed information on

these structures.

Scientists aim at improving the quality, stability and

durability of food. Therefore, they need to analyse

the micro- and macrostructures of substances,

e.g., chocolate, ice cream or dairy products, or the

migration of lipids or water during food processing or storage. The conjunction

of subjective properties such as texture and taste with an objective property

that can be visualised yields new information about products and new insights

into their structures.

CARS (Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering) is an innovative microscope

technique that visualises the characteristic intrinsic vibrational contrast of

molecules. The Leica TCS SP8 CARS uses this new optical method to analyse

samples without any disruption of elemental characteristics. Specimens require

neither labelling nor staining. This is a crucial advantage over conventional

techniques that usually require altering characteristics of lipids and do not

reflect the natural properties of these molecules under natural conditions.

CARS successfully overcomes these drawbacks.

The combination of CARS technology and the new

Leica TCS SP8 (A) confocal platform constitutes a

fully integrated imaging system. The Leica TCS SP8

CARS offers easy and turn-key operation to gain

quick and reliable results and highly resolved

imaging at submicron resolution. The acquired

images yield structural information on internal

properties such as lipid composition or water

distribution in food samples. In consequence, the

topology of lipids, their properties and distribution in a specimen can be

visualised, e.g. DHA in water (B). In a time lapse experiment, migrations in food

samples or solutions containing lipids can be monitored over time, e.g. multiple

emulsions of the water-in-oil-in-water type (W/O/W) (C). The goal of this

application is the investigation of sizes, phase transitions and the distributions

of the various shapes on the micrometre scale.

With the TCS SP8 CARS system, Leica Microsystems offers a fully integrated

confocal imaging platform with visible, multi-photon and CARS capabilities and

comprehensive upgrade options for the upcoming challenges in food research.

About Leica MicrosystemsLeica Microsystems is a world leader in microscopes and scientific instruments.

Founded as a family business in the 19th century, the company’s history was

marked by unparalleled innovation on its way to becoming a global enterprise.

Its historically close cooperation with the scientific community is the key to

Leica Microsystems’ tradition of innovation, which draws on users’ ideas and

creates solutions tailored to their requirements. The company is represented

in over 100 countries with 12 manufacturing facilities in seven countries, sales

and service organisations in 19 countries and an international network of

dealers. The company is headquartered in Wetzlar, Germany.

Visualisation of food components without preparation

New insights in food withLeica TCS SP8 CARS Microscopy

A: TCS SP8 CARS – the CARS turn-key solution with full functionality of a multi-dimensional confocal platform.

B: Docosahexaenacid acquired with two different imaging techniques. Green partsare docosahexaenacid acquired with the CARS technique at 816 nanometres /1064 nanometres. Red parts are water acquired as reflection image at 488nanometres. The figure shows an overlay of the two images.

C: Visualisation of a multiple emulsion of the water-in-oil-in-water type (W/O/W): theCARS image displays CH2 symmetric stretches at 2845 cm-1, characteristic for lipids.Courtesy of Institute of Bioprocess Engineering and Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Applied Sciences Mittelhessen

Imagine that you could visualisethe characteristic properties offood samples without affecting

their natural properties. How much more and new

information would you gain?

Dr. Stefanie DegenharttProduct Manager Confocal MicroscopyLeica Microsystems, Am Friedensplatz 3, 68165 Mannheim, [email protected]

Stefanie Degenhartt, Product Manager Confocal, Leica Microsystems in Mannheim, finishedan apprenticeship as biological technical assistant before studying molecular biology inHeidelberg. She acquired her Ph.D. at the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Heidelberg. After several years of working as a freelancer in the field of consulting, she joined LeicaMicrosystems in 2006 where she first was part of the support team. As a Product Manager,Stefanie Degenhartt is responsible for Leica TCS SP8 CARS, Leica HCS A, TCS SPE, TCS LSIand Periphery for Confocal Systems.

Dairy madesimple.Life is complicated enough. So make

it simpler — with the new solutions for

process automation from Bürkert —

designed with the needs of the dairy

industry in mind, featuring a hygienic

design, easy cleaning and simple

operation. A complex automation task

can therefore become simplicity

itself in a matter of seconds.

Perfect for high process yields

and your peace of mind.

8681 control head:

A star in our system. It simply

keeps everything under control.

We make ideas flow.

www.burkert.com

newfoodwww.newfoodmagazine.com 3 Volume 16 | Issue 2 | 2013

No responsibility can be accepted by Russell Publishing Limited, the editor, staff or any contributors for action taken as a result of the information and other materials contained in our

publications. Readers should take specific advice when dealing with specific situations. In addition, the views expressed in our publications by any contributor are not necessarily those

of the editor, staff or Russell Publishing Ltd. As such, our publications are not intended to amount to advice on which reliance should be placed. We therefore disclaim all liability and

responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by any reader, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents. Published April 2013

New Food is proud to be affiliated with EFFoST,

The European Federation of Food Science &

Technology, a non-profit association that federates

food science and technology organisations in Europe.

*Half price subscriptions to New Food are available

to all EFFoST members. Contact Karen Hutchinson

[email protected] for further details.

INTRODUCTION

A food manufacturer, processor or supermarket’s worst

nightmare is a food scandal. From food fraud to

contamination, the immediate effect on sales is

painfully apparent, not to mention the lasting effects

of a bad reputation, perhaps evidenced best by the

Peanut Corporation of America. The company was

forced to shut down after being pinpointed as the

source of a massive Salmonella outbreak in the US

between 2008 and 2009.

Back in 2008, New Food reported on the

melamine-tainted milk scandal in China. After a

number of criminal prosecutions and resignations, not

to mention bankruptcy for the Sanlu Group, the state-

owned Chinese dairy products company at the heart of

the scandal, it appeared that the industry had moved

on. However, it has recently transpired that Danone,

the manufacturer of Aptamil and Cow and Gate infant

milk powder, has had to introduce a sales cap of these

products in supermarkets in the UK due to a surge in

demand from China, and released a statement

saying “We understand that the increased demand is

being fuelled by unofficial exports to China to satisfy

the needs of parents who want Western brands for

their babies.”

Five years on from the melamine scandal in

China, it appears that China has not forgotten the

scandal or regained trust in the infant formula industry

in their country, preferring foreign-made brands,

particularly sourced from Australia and the UK. Tesco,

the UK supermarket that was one of the most heavily

hit by the horsemeat food fraud revelations, has seen

its market share stay below 30 per cent, a level it last

fell below over eight years ago. While the company

will surely hope that this level increases soon, China

is a leading example of consumers neither forgiving

nor forgetting. For an in-depth look at whether we

can prevent another horsemeat scandal, please turn

to page 19, where the NSF Consulting Group discuss

what the food industry needs to do to revise their

food safety approach.

Dr. John HolahHead, Food HygieneDepartment, Campden BRI

Huub LelieveldExecutive Committee, Global HarmonisationInitiative

Dr. Bryan HanleyDirector Scientific Discovery,Wm. Wrigley Jr

Yasmine MotarjemiFood Safety Advisor

Huug de VriesDirector, IATE

Brian McKennaEmeritus Professor of Food Science, UCD andPresident, EFFoST

Karina BadalyanYerevan State University

Kata GalicFood Technology andBiotechnology, University of Zagreb

Supriya VarmaScientist, Frito-Lay (PepsiCo)

François BourdichonFood Safety Microbiologist, NestléResearch Center

Dirk NikoleiskiProduction Protection &Hygienic Design KFE, Kraft Foods R&D

The New Food Editorial Board

FounderIan Russell

Managing DirectorVivien Cotterill-Lee

EditorHelen Bahia

Senior Publications AssistantKaren Hutchinson

Group Sales DirectorTim Dean

Publications ManagerClaire Singleton

Production Manager Brian Cloke

Front Cover ArtworkSteve Crisp

New Food is published bi-monthly (six times per annum) and is available bysubscription at £90.00 for a year whichincludes on-line membership access. Back issue copies can be requested at £15.00 per copy.

Subscription enquiries [email protected] or Telephone +44 (0) 1959 563311

New Food is published by: Russell Publishing Ltd, Court Lodge, Hogtrough Hill, Brasted, Kent, TN16 1NU, UKTelephone: +44 (0) 1959 563311 Fax: +44 (0) 1959 563123Email: [email protected]

ISSN 1461 - 4642Copyright rests with the publishers.All rights reserved©2013 Russell Publishing LimitedRegistered Office as above.Russell Publishing Ltd, is registered as a Limited Company in England, Number 2709148 VAT Number GB 577 8978 47

New Food can guarantee its circulationis 13,594 (for the six issues distributedbetween 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012).The publication is ABC audited. This is an independent verification that our circulation is genuine.

Printed by:

Join us on LinkedIn:http://linkd.in/NewFoodMag

Follow us on Twitter:http://twitter.com/NewFoodMag

Independent auditwatchdog service forprinted publications

The aftereffects of a food scandal

Supported by

3 INTRODUCTIONThe aftereffects of a food scandalHelen Bahia, Editor

6 EVENTS

7 NEWSBITES

9 EHEDG: FOREIGN BODYIDENTIFICATIONForeign body complaints in thefood and drink industryMike Edwards, Microscopy Section, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Campden BRI and EHEDG affiliate

33 PROCESS ANALYTICALTECHNOLOGYPAT in large-scale dairy processingTristan Hunter, Technical Manager - Strategy, Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd

37 SENSORY SCIENCESeeing the future through the eyes of your consumers: new perspectives from consumer and sensory sciencesNathalie Martin, Consumer and Sensory Science Group,Nestlé Research Center

43 TOTAL PROCESSING ANDPACKAGING 2013

44 NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCEThe new frontier in foodomics: the perspective of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopyFrancesco Capozzi, Foodomics Laboratory, Department of Agro-Food Science and Technology,University of Bologna

60 ALLERGENSFood allergy: identifyingthresholds and assessing the risk to consumersRené Crevel, Science Leader, Unilever Safety &Environmental Assurance Centre

64 DRYING & ROASTINGThe complexity of coffee processing

67 FREEZINGFrozen dough and bread: the activities of water and ice crystalsGuo Chen, Project Researcher, Condensed Matter Physics and Jan Swenson, Professor of Physics,Chalmers University of Technology, Roel Van der Meulen, R&D Manager, Lantmännen Unibake Benelux and Sofie Villman (Karlsson), Scientific Project Manager,Lantmännen R&D

72 IN A NUTSHELLWith Sofie De Lathouwer, Marketing Director FoodManufacturers Western Europe, Barry Callebaut


Contents

13 MEAT PROCESSINGSUPPLEMENTFeaturing articles from LarsKristensen, NSF ConsultingGroup and Fred van de Veldeand Marijke Adamse, and wepreview IFFA 2013

49 COLOURS &FLAVOURSSUPPLEMENTFeaturing articles from Colette Jermann at CampdenBRI and Martina Lapierre atPepsiCo and we look atVitafoods Europe 2013

This issue of New Food is sponsored by Bürkert Fluid Systems

Bürkert’s products have a wide variety ofapplications and are used in a number of industries, such as hygienic processingand water treatment.

The front cover illustration depicts BürkertFluid Control Systems’ Robolux multi-portdiaphragm valve, suitable for food anddairy applications.

Bürkert Fluid Control Systems

Christian-Bürkert-Straße 13-17

D-74653 Ingelfingen, Germany

Phone: +49 (0)7940 10-0

Fax: +49 (0)7940 10-91 204

Email: [email protected]

www.burkert.com

newfoodVolume 16 | Issue 2 | 2013 6

IFFA 2013Date: 4 – 9 May 2013Location: Frankfurt, Germany

t: +49 69 75 75 0

w: www.iffa.messefrankfurt.com

Bakery Congress 2013Date: 5 – 6 May 2013Location: Vancouver, Canada

e: [email protected]

w: www.baking.ca/congress

Fi IstanbulDate: 7 – 9 May 2013Location: Istanbul, Turkey


w: http://fi-istanbul.ingredients

network.com

Vitafoods Europe 2013Date: 14 – 16 May 2013Location: Geneva, Switzerland


w: www.vitafoods.eu.com

IAFP’s EuropeanSymposium on Food SafetyDate: 15 – 17 May 2013Location: Marseille, France


w: www.foodprotection.org/

europeansymposium/

Listeria control measuresDate: 17 May 2013Location: Chipping Campden, UK


w: www.campdenbri.co.uk

Building a RegulatoryStrategy for MarketingFood Supplements in EuropeDate: 30 May 2013Location: Hotel Bloom,

Brussels, Belgium


w: www.eas.eu/Event/54

Total Processing &Packaging ExhibitionDate: 4 – 6 June 2013Location: Birmingham, UK


w: www.totalexhibition.com

FADS 2013 Date: 6 – 8 June 2013Location: Beijing, China


w: www.fadschina.com

SNACKEX 2013Date: 12 – 13 June 2013Location: Gothenburg, Sweden


w: www.snackex.com

Sustainable Packaging for the Food and Drink IndustryDate: 18 June 2013Location: Chipping Campden, UK


w: www.campdenbri.co.uk

ICFSN 2013: InternationalConference on FoodScience and NutritionDate: 8 – 9 July 2013Location: London, UK

w: www.waset.org/conferences/

2013/london/icfsn/index.php

2013 Annual Trend and Development ofNutraceuticals & FunctionalFood Short CourseDate: 28 – 30 July 2013Location: Texas A&M University


w: www.foodprotein.tamu.edu/

separations/scfunctional.php

IAFP 2013Date: 28 – 31 July 2013Location: Charlotte, NC, USA


w: www.foodprotection.org/

annualmeeting/

ICoMSTDate: 18 – 23 August 2013Location: Izmir, Turkey


w: www.icomst2013.org

ICBFE 2013Date: 24 – 25 August 2013Location: Singapore


w: www.icbfe.org

8th NIZO Dairy ConferenceDate: 11 – 13 September 2013Location: Papendal, The Netherlands


w: www.nizodairyconference.com

International Dairy ShowDate: 16 – 18 September 2013Location: Minneapolis, USA


w: www.dairyshow.com

IMS Symposium. Future Industrial Meat ProductionDate: 23 – 24 September 2013Location: Copenhagen, Denmark


w: www.dti.dk/services/

ims-symposium-2013/33073

May 2013 June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

If you have a diary event you

wish to publicise, send details to

Martine Shirtcliff at:

[email protected]

EVENTS


NEWSBITES

Zilpaterol is a powerful beta adrenergic agonist that has been developed as a growth promoter

for cattle leading to enhanced weight gain and carcass yield. Of particular concern is the use of

beta agonists prior to slaughter as this poses a risk to the consumer and may result in consumer

toxicity. Zilpaterol is typically administered as Zilpaterol Hydrochloride. It is readily absorbed

and eliminated via the urine.

Randox Food Diagnostics have recently released a Zilpaterol ELISA and Zilpaterol only

biochip array. Both test for the semi-quantitative determination of Zilpaterol in

beef tissue samples with an LOD of 0.08ng/ml and cross reactivity of 100 per cent for both

in Zilpaterol.

The Zilpaterol ELISA aims to give a range of benefits including a fast, reliable, analytical

method to detect the presence of Zilpaterol. If performing the test using duplicate wells, this kit

has the ability to analyse 40 samples.

The Zilpaterol array is designed for use on the Evidence Investigator which utilises our

patented Biochip Array Technology, some benefits of this technology include:● Cost effective screening● Increased volume testing with high throughput● Rapid testing with a quick method. www.randoxfooddiagnostics.com

Corona extreme: the newspectrometer system foragribusiness from Carl ZeissThe idea behind creating the Corona

extreme was to allow the measuring sensor

to become a core component of the process.

In order to accomplish this, the extreme

conditions under which processes run were

regarded as the normal environment for the

spectrometer system in practice – and not

just for short term use, but for the entire

product life cycle. For the Corona extreme,

this concept was so successful that it gave

the system its name.

The integrated measuring head and the

compact design incorporating a sapphire

flange guarantees protection of the sensor

at the interface with the material flow. The

Corona extreme is designed to withstand

shock values which exceed governmental

standards. With 50 g shock resistance, it by

far exceeds all other systems and is ideally

suited for daily use in the field.

The layout of the other environmental

parameters has also been designed in

accordance with the possible applications.

This means that Corona extreme can

precisely produce measurement data in

temperatures ranging from –15 to +50°C

in both moist and dusty conditions.

The spectrometer system is protected

from supply voltage fluctuations and may

be easily connected to a vehicle’s on-board

power supply. Due to its excellent optical

design, the Corona extreme can also be

used in labs. The spectrometer features

fibre free, high energy illumination with

outstanding optical properties and internal

referencing. Within the Corona product

family, the instrument calibration may be

transferred from one measurement system

to another.

www.zeiss.com/corona-extreme

The new Corona extreme

Semi-quantitative determination of Zilpaterol in beef tissue samples

Advancedanalytics helpingmanufacturersreduce processfailures, improveyields and qualityWith the need to reduce costs and improve product

safety and sustainability, powerful tools traditionally

used by analytical groups are being transferred to the

plant floor, resulting in less failures, less variability,

higher yields and higher quality.

Multivariate data analysis (MVA) is the

investigation of many variables simultaneously, to

understand the relationships that may exist between

them. Multivariate data analysis methods have been

around since the 1960s, but until recently were

primarily used in laboratories and technical groups,

rarely being applied to production processes.

Today, this is changing as manufacturers looking

for a competitive advantage realise that the masses of

data collected during production operations offer

great insights to improve product development and

process performance. Because manufacturing

processes are typically highly multivariate in nature –

i.e. a large number of variables which are usually

interactive – they require multiple measurements to

fully understand them, yet most Statistical Process

Control (SPC) systems rely on Univariate methods

which only look at single variables, one at a time.

Univariate statistics tend to fail when analysing

complex systems because they cannot detect

relationships between the variables, often the cause

of process upsets.

Multivariate analysis tools allow manufacturers

to better understand process behaviour and

implement more robust control strategies. This

enables them to run processes closer to limits,

use lower cost components, reduce energy use,

reduce cycle time, minimise waste and rework.

Manufacturers who have adopted these tools can

quickly see improvements in their operations and on

their bottom line.

Brad Swarbrick, Vice President of Business

Development at CAMO Software, explains, “We

worked with a food manufacturer who had a quality

problem which they could not identify the cause of

using their SPC tools. After analysing the data with

multivariate methods, they worked out what the issue

was and adjusted their process accordingly, saving

them around EUR 1 million per year in scrap, rework

and energy costs alone.”

CAMO’s solutions allow multivariate models to

be developed by Technical Service groups or

CAMO’s consultants, and then applied to real-time

production processes. The solutions can be used

standalone to analyse off-line data, connected to

databases or scientific instruments such as

spectrometers, or integrated with control systems for

use by process operators.

www.camo.com


NEWSBITES

iQ-Check™ Prep automation system:your new real-time PCR work benchfor food pathogens testingIn a continuous effort to optimise food pathogen testing through Real-Time PCR solutions,

Bio-Rad Laboratories is pleased to announce the launch of iQ-Check Prep, an automated system

that will carry your enriched sample to the CFX96 Deep Well™ real-time PCR system on its own.

Molecular solutions have a longstanding relationship with food quality control laboratories.

The perception is, however, that molecular diagnostic solutions are cumbersome, time consuming,

prone to operator errors; yet molecular solutions are becoming the gold standard in food pathogen

testing, simply because more emerging pathogens (such as STEC) are described by international

regulators in molecular terms and cannot be truly diagnosed by other non-molecular methods

(ELISA, for example).

Bio-Rad Food Science is now removing this perception. You can now adopt molecular

solutions for the diagnosis of food pathogens with confidence, full transparency and traceability.

The iQ-Check Prep automated system will prepare your enriched sample for real-time PCR with

no bias and perfect reproducibility. Once the PCR plate is ready, the operator will simply load it

onto the Bio-Rad real-time PCR system.

All easy DNA extraction protocols, AFNOR (ISO 16140) and AOAC approved, have already

been extended with the use of the iQ-Check Prep system. Bio-Rad has made this solution as easy

as it can be.

www.foodscience.bio-rad.com

Food TechInnovation Portalgoes onlineAfter four years of hard development work and

compilation of a wide range of data, the Food

Tech Innovation Portal was launched to the

public on 1 May 2013. The portal offers

descriptions of technologies, including amongst

others, their working principle, processing

parameters and applications. Furthermore, these

technologies are linked to related open

accessible infrastructure. This way, the

technologies can be tested without buying

the equipment. Technologies and infrastructures

are linked to contacts of experts working in

the respective field. As an additional feature, the

portal offers general information regarding

the innovation process from pre-feasibility to

market launch including technical, legal,

financial, marketing and management aspects.

The portal is created in Wikipedia style,

allowing a continuous update and extension of

entries. Content quality is guaranteed by a

review process organised by the portal

developers. The portal is accessible free-of-

charge. However, certain functions are available

only after registration for the Associated

Membership Platform. Associated members are

able to enter their own profiles to use the portal

as networking platform.

The intention of the portal is to provide a

central address with bundled information for

people interested in open innovation. This way,

the implementation of new technologies in the

food sector should be increased and support

especially the competitiveness of small and

medium-sized companies.

The Food Tech Innovation Portal has

been developed within the EU-funded Net-

work of Excellence ‘HighTech Europe’,

comprising 22 companies and institutes

(www.hightecheurope.eu).

www.foodtech-portal.eu

Nestlé named one of the world’s top 10 most reputable companiesNestlé has been named one of the top 10 most

reputable companies in the world in the annual

‘Global RepTrakTM 100’ study. The company

achieved ninth place in the study, which is

designed to understand how organisations build

trust and support with the general public

worldwide. It is the first time Nestlé has ranked

in the top 10, moving up three places from last

year to become the highest scoring food and

beverage company in the 2013 study. More

than 55,000 consumers from the world’s

15 biggest economies were interviewed for the

study by the reputation management consultancy

Reputation Institute.

“Nestlé has a strong reputation with

consumers around the world,” said Kasper Ulf

Nielsen, Executive Partner at Reputation

Institute. “Consumers trust, admire and are

willing to support Nestlé because the company is

seen to deliver on expectations within all seven

dimensions of reputation; from high quality

products to fair business practices, good social

responsibility and strong financial results. The

leading companies work with reputation as an

integrated part of their business and Nestlé is a

good example of the business benefit a strong

reputation can give if managed well.”

www.nestle.com

Hanna Instruments launches redesigned mini titrators for wine analysisHanna Instruments is pleased to announce the release of two new mini

automatic titrators designed specifically for wine production. The new

titrators, HI 84500 and HI 84502, are designed to measure sulphur dioxide

(SO2) and total acidity, parameters essential in the art of wine making.

These units replace HI 84100 and HI 84102 and feature a high

precision piston dosing system with dynamic dosing and compact, space

saving footprint. They also feature automatic stirrer speed control, a

graphic mode with exportable data and a Good Laboratory Practices

(GLP) feature which allows users to view calibration data.

“Hanna Instruments understands that small variations in acidity and

sulphur dioxide content can have a significant impact on the overall

quality and stability of wine,” said Paul Fabsits, Vice President of Global

Business Development for Hanna Instruments. “The more accurate the

instrumentation, the more consistent the results will be. By incorporating

a new precision piston style dosing system and an algorithm for dynamic

dosing, we have been able to take an already accurate product and

improve it significantly.”

In addition to performing titrations, these units provide the added

benefit of doubling as an mV/ORP meter (HI 84500) and a pH/mV meter

(HI 84502). This added usability gives users the ability to consolidate

some of their processes, saving time and money.

Hanna’s new mini titrators are available through any of our

40 international locations. These offices provide Hanna customers with

local service, support and training and are part of Hanna’s goal to provide

an exceptional customer experience.

www.hannainst.com

Publicity surrounding food issues, such as glass

contamination incidents, concerns about

Listeria, Salmonella and other micro-organisms

in a range of foods, and more recently the

presence of horsemeat in products labelled as

beef have left consumers very aware of the

safety and quality of their food. This has been

encouraged by increased coverage in the media

of consumer rights, and the growth of social

media where consumers can publicise their

complaints without having to interest the

press or television. The development of an

increasingly litigious society and no-win no-fee

law companies is a further factor. Therefore,

any measures that can be taken to lessen the

incidence of foreign bodies in foods are

important to food manufacturers, retailers and

enforcement authorities. Foreign bodies must

be accurately and cost-effectively identified in

order to respond to consumer complaints to

ensure that measures are taken to prevent a

recurrence where appropriate and to build

a database of complaints to help in the rapid

identification of new and emerging trends.

A foreign body may be defined as some -

thing that the consumer perceives as being

alien to the food1. The perception of the con -

sumer is important, since not all foreign bodies

are in fact alien to the food, though all have the

potential to give rise to a consumer complaint.

Hence, foreign bodies can range from items that

are demonstrably alien to the food, such as

pieces of glass, metal or plastic; through items

that are related to the food, such as fragments of

bone in meat products; to part of the food itself,

such as lumps of starch in a sauce. The potential

range of possible foreign bodies is therefore

virtually limitless.

Methods used in foreign

body identification

Methods used in the identification of foreign

bodies are taken from a wide variety of

disciplines ranging from metallurgy to biology

and forensic science. Knowledge of, or access to

information about a wide range of different

materials is required in foreign body identi -

fication. Edwards2 gives a general introduction

to foreign body identification, whilst a detailed

review of analytical methods for a wide range of

foreign body types is given by Edwards3.

Extraneous Vegetable Material

Extraneous vegetable matter (EVM) such as

fragments of leaf or stalk are frequently found to

be the cause of complaints in vegetables such as

peas or beans or fruit such as raisins or sultanas.

Woody material from the centre of carrot or

parsnip roots or from cabbage stems can result

from root crops overwintering or from the use of

older cabbages. Examination of the structure

under a light microscope, coupled with staining

reactions to show the distribution of compo -

nents such as cellulose, lignin or starch and

comparison with published drawings or

authentic material, will often lead to a positive

identification. Fragments of true wood from

broken boxes or pallets may often be identified

by their softwood structure and sometimes the

presence of paint. Fragments of hardwood are

frequently found to be pieces of tree branch or

twig, probably inadvertently harvested from the

hedgerow at the edge of a field.

Insects and other invertebrates

Most food companies dealing in a broad range

of food products, but particularly those involved

with fresh produce, regard complaints about

insects as one of the most important foreign

body problems. One of the main reasons for

this is the difficulty of detecting and removing

insects on a production line, particularly in

fresh produce.

Whether the insect is a crop or storage

pest specifically associated with the product,

or simply an incidental contaminant, its accu -

rate identification is crucial to the correct

identification of the source of the problem. This

work is generally carried out under the light

stereomicroscope, with reference to published

keys and descriptions and, where possible,

authentic reference samples. Field pests and

storage pests are generally well studied

and documented, and so their habits and

requirements are well known, as are suitable

control measures.

Other invertebrates, particularly spiders,

slugs and snails are also occasionally harvested

accidentally with field crops, and may therefore

be reported as foreign bodies. Small marine

animals are sometimes accidentally caught

with seafood, particularly bottom-feeders such

as prawns.

Vertebrate animals as foreign bodies

Small animals, or parts of animals, are relatively

rare as foreign bodies, but have great potential

for bad publicity. Small rodents such as field

Foreign bodies form the biggest single cause of consumer complaints received

by many food and drink manufacturers, retailers and enforcement authorities.

The accidental inclusion of unwanted items may sometimes occur in even the best-

managed processes. Foreign bodies in foods are therefore quite rightly a matter of

concern to all food manufacturers and retailers.

Foreign body complaints in the food

and drink industryMike Edwards

Microscopy Section, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Campden BRI and EHEDG affiliate


EHEDG: FOREIGN BODY IDENTIFICATION

mice or voles, or occasionally lizards, frogs or

toads, will occasionally get accidentally

harvested with field crops. Rodent infestations

in food storage or production areas may also

result in contamination, although in this case

the contamination is most likely to be with

droppings from the animals, where hairs from

the animals can help in positive identification.

However, small animals, particularly rodents, are

also sometimes the subject of deliberate

contamination, either in the supply chain or by

the consumer, because of their potential for bad

publicity for the food company concerned. It is

therefore particularly important in these cases to

gather all possible information about the

circumstances of the find and to examine

the animal remains in detail for evidence as to

how and when it died and whether or not it is

likely to have been processed with the product.

As with invertebrates, identification is generally

a matter of physical examination with reference

to published keys and other information.

DNA analysis

Where only parts of an animal are involved,

identification may be more difficult, and here

the use of DNA analysis and comparison of

results with published sequences is a method

with great potential. If DNA can be extracted

from the sample, a vast and growing amount of

data is now available which may allow the

animal or plant to be identified at least to a

group level if not to species. Where human

samples such as hair are to be traced to a

particular individual, a specific problem is

obtaining suitable reference samples from all of

the likely sources. Samples also vary in the ease

with which DNA can be extracted from them.

A further difficulty is the potential for cross-

contamination with DNA from the food in which

the foreign body was found, or from those who

may have handled the sample after discovery.

Hairs and fibres

Hairs and fibres may originate from a range of

sources. Animal hairs, including human, are

recognised by the presence of scales on the

outer surface, and the different patterns of

scales, together with other features such as the

structure of the central medulla, may be used to

identify the species of origin. The presence of

human hair may be an indicator of poor hygiene

practices on a food production line, but may

equally well originate from accidental contami -

nation by the consumer. The presence of rodent

hair may be an indicator of rodent infestation at

some point in the food chain. Woollen fibres may

have originated from clothing. Vegetable fibres

may originate from sacking or twine, or possibly

from compost used in growing crops. These are

usually identified by their structure under the

light might microscope. Artificial fibres can

be recognised by their microscopic structure

when viewed in cross-polarised light, and

can be identified in the same way as plastics

using FT-IR spectroscopy.

Plastic materials

With increasing use of plastics in everyday

applications and the difficulty of detecting them

on-line, many food companies regard plastics as

one of the most important causes of foreign

body complaints. Sources include food pack -

aging materials, plastic sacking or twine used in

packing the raw materials, and parts of piping or

machinery can sometimes find their way into

products as a result of breakages. However,

fragments of consumer equipment are also

common sources, with pieces of kitchen equip -

ment such as food mixers being especially

common. Complainants often mistake clear



www.toximet.com

Proper control of food safety is a major globalissue. An exponential increase in food exportsover the last 40 years and increase in regulationsaround the world drives the demand for foodsafety testing methods. As the route to markethas become more complex, methods are requiredthat can be used at any point in the global supply chain.

ToxiMet has developed a platform tech -nology that can be used by non-scientists and can

be applied to the analysis of many substances infood safety and quality. The first application is theaccurate detection of mycotoxins. Current testingmethodologies are a compromise between speed with low cost and accurate but high-priced alternatives. Techniques that offer arelatively fast and cost effective test suffer from alack of accuracy. They produce many falsepositives and are not able to provide preciseresults at the low limits of detection required bystringent regulations, such as those in force in the EU. Accurate methods that can provideresults compliant with regulations, such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography(HPLC), are unfortunately very costly and requirehighly experienced technicians to run and inter -pret the tests.

“Working with HPLC is difficult, time-consuming and also very expensive’’, says ElhamFarajpour, Quality Control Manager at CapIndustries. ‘‘The ToxiQuant system, being veryfast and easy to use has completely changed theway we work. From making the slurry to gettingresults takes 40 minutes which is very helpful in

allowing us to make decisions quickly. This has,in-turn, had a significant impact on storage and shipping times. The cost saving is realised acrossthe whole business”.

Advanced, globally proven mycotoxintesting from farm to fork

colourless plastic fragments for glass, and in

some cases, these result from the substitution of

plastics such as Perspex for glass, for safety

reasons. Of the various methods for identifying

individual polymers, the best is FT-IR spectro -

scopy, and with Attenuated Total Reflectance

(ATR) sampling, the method is completely non-

destructive, allowing further investigation of the

foreign body being examined.

Metals

Despite the widespread use of magnets and

metal detectors on food production lines, a wide

range of metal fragments are still reported from

food products, although they are often very

small. Energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis is a

quick and non-destructive method which can

be used for analysis of all metals, usually carried

out in a scanning electron microscope. The type

of metal involved is usually an important

indication of the source of the problem. Pieces of

wire are particularly difficult to detect on-line

and pieces of broken sieve, fragments of

electrical wire from repairs, either in the factory

or the consumer’s home may be found. Pieces of

metal from the manufacture of can ends are a

particular problem because the ends are

stamped out of a flat sheet of metal, leaving

behind a relatively fragile fretwork of waste

metal, and a key feature in their identification is

often the type and distribution of lacquer on the

surface(s). Pieces of aluminium from baking

trays, scraped from the surface by mechanical

contact, are sometimes found. Similarly,

fragments of stainless steel from food

machinery are sometimes reported, and the

precise composition of these steels can be

helpful in identifying the source of the problem.

A source of metal fragments which is related

strongly to either hard foods such as biscuits or

crusty bread, or to sticky foods such as toffee, is

dental fillings. Metal dental posts, used to secure

large fillings or crowns, are also found, with or

without the relevant filling or crown. Other

dental samples, such as tooth fragments, or

temporary crowns made of polycarbonate

or polymethylmethacrylate, also occur.

Glass

Fragments of glass reported from food products

are amongst the most important of foreign

bodies, because of the emotive impact on the

finder, the reputation of glass fragments for

causing injury and hence the potential for bad

publicity. However, most glass fragments

reported as foreign bodies result from accidental

contamination in the consumer’s home rather

than from raw materials or the factory produc -

tion line. Food companies will generally have ‘no

glass’ policies to keep all sources of glass well

away from production lines, whereas once the

food product reaches the consumer’s kitchen or

dining table, not only is there glassware in the

vicinity, but glassware is being used in direct

contact with food. It is therefore not surprising

that most glass contamination originates from

the consumer’s own home.

Domestic glassware

Ordinary domestic glassware such as drinking

glasses or sweet dishes may occasionally be

broken in use. Glass fragments reported from

products heated by the consumer in an oven or

microwave often include a high proportion of

‘heat resistant’ glass from the rims of domestic

items such as bowls and casseroles. The rims of

casseroles often have a characteristic chunky

profile, and frequently carry burnt-on food from

previous use and scratch marks as a result of

contact with the lid of the casserole. Slivers

broken from the rims of bowls are also common.



www.foodradar.com

The Food Radar sensor system is designed foremulsions and pumpable products and has the unique capability of detecting, not only thedenser foreign bodies, but low density foreignbodies such as wood, rubber, hard and softplastic, fruit stones and extraneous vegetablematter. The system is equally suited for detectingglass, metal and stones with the detectableparticle size being dependent on the homogeneityand composition of the respective food product.

The Food Radar system is applicable to avarious numbers of food segment such as baby -food, fruit preparation, table sauces, seasonings,dressings, soups, pasta sauces, wet cookingsauces, tomato processing, ready meals bases andprocessed cheese.

The Food Radar system is presently operationalon four continents serving several major globalproducers. We have a fully equipped pilot plantin Gothenburg, Sweden where our customers cantest the systems capability to detect foreignbodies in their own products.

Food Radar Systems AB Box 5401, SE - 402 29 Göteborg, SwedenTel: +46 (0)31 301 22 38 (office)Tel: +46 (0)70 - 420 56 06 (mobile)Email: [email protected]

Examples foreign bodies detected by Food Radar Systems

The Food RadarA new detection technology for ‘invisible’ foreign bodies

The Food Radar System1. Operator panel. 2. Rejection unit. 3. Buffer pipe. 4. Sensor unit.

Wood Alufoil Rubber Hard plastic Soft platic Silicon Cherry pit

“We find this technology veryinteresting for helping to eliminatelow density foreign matter, inparticular plastics, thereby furtherensuring the quality of the productwe deliver to our consumers,”says Michael Philp, EuropeanProcess Improvement Manager H.J. Heinz.

Finally, the identification can be confirmed by X-ray microanalysis,

which will show the characteristic elemental composition of a heat-

resistant glass.

Objects frequently mistaken for glass

Examples of salt and also sugar crystals, often added by the consumer

themselves, being mistaken for glass are surprisingly common.

Another material often mistaken for glass is Struvite or Magnesium

Ammonium Phosphate, a clear, colourless crystalline material

occasion ally found in canned fish products such as salmon, tuna or

crab, which is formed during the canning process. Other objects

frequently mistaken for glass include glass-like minerals such as

quartz and other silicates, and clear colour less plastics such

as Perspex, polycarbonate or polystyrene.

Other foreign bodies

The possible range of foreign bodies is almost limitless, and only a

small range can be considered here. Stones, sand and soil may be

incorporated when soil-based crops are harvested, as well as other

debris in the soil. Many parts of food processing machinery and

packaging have the potential to become foreign bodies, as do a wide

range of ordinary house hold objects. Medical tablets and capsules

are occasionally reported, but these usually result from accidental

contamination by the com plainant themselves. A range of chemical

methods can be used to identify the active ingredient(s) in such cases,

but if the item is complete, a computer database of tablets and

capsules is an invaluable aid to rapid and accurate identification.

newfoodVolume 16 | Issue 2 | 2013


Mike Edwards trained as a plant pathologist and has headed the Microscopy

Section at Campden BRI since 1987. The prime responsibility of the

Microscopy Team at Campden BRI is the identification of foreign bodies that

have been reported in food products. This work uses a wide range of

microscope techniques, including light and scanning electron microscopy,

X-ray microanalysis and FT-IR microscopy. Research and development work is

also carried out on food structure and texture, product development support,

troubleshooting food packaging issues of all kinds, and investigations of micro-organisms on

food and machinery surfaces. Mike has also worked on surveys of tin in canned food products and

on lead and cadmium in food. Prior to joining Campden BRI, Mike carried out microscopy research in

plant pathology and plant physiology at the University of Aberdeen.

Biography

1. Edwards, M. (ed.) (2004a). Detecting foreign bodies in food. Cambridge:Woodhead Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1 855737299

2. Edwards, M. (2004b). Identifying foreign bodies. pp. 282-296 in Edwards, M.(2004) Detecting foreign bodies in food. Cambridge: Woodhead PublishingLtd. ISBN 1 855737299

3. Edwards, M.C. (Ed.) (2005). Guidelines for the identification of foreign bodiesreported from food. Second edition. Guideline No. 4. Campden BRI, ChippingCampden, UK

References

• Edwards, M.C., Stringer, M.F. and the Breakdowns in Food Safety Group (2007).Observations on patterns in foreign material investigations. Food Control 18773-782

• Gaze, R.R. and Campbell, A.J. (2004). GMP, HACCP and the prevention of foreignbodies. pp 14-28 in Edwards, M. (ed.) (2004). Detecting foreign bodies in food.Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1 855737299

• George, R.M. (Ed.) (2004). Guidelines for the prevention and control of foreignbodies in food. Second edition. Guideline No. 5. Campden BRI, ChippingCampden, UK

• Marsh, R.A. and Angold, R.E. (2004). Identifying potential sources of foreignbodies in the supply chain. pp. 3-13 in: Edwards, M. (2004) Detecting foreign bodies in food. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1 855737299

Further reading


SUPPLEMENT

Meat Processing

SPONSORS

© rt

em /

Shut

ters

tock

.com

15 Pork quality andcarcass chilling

19 Can we prevent anotherhorsemeatscandal?

25 Enhancing the perceivedsaltiness of meat products

27 IFFA 2013Preview

What Bear discovered:

Steel belts from Berndorf Band are reliable, hygienic and easy to clean

Berndorf Band GmbHA-2560 BerndorfAustriaPhone: (+43)2672-800-0Fax: (+43)[email protected]

Detailed information atwww.berndorf-band.at

The smooth surface of steel belts avoids the

reached easily thus limiting the amount of required aggressive chemicals.

For you this means:

strictest hygienic requirements reduced consumption of water and

cleaning agents time saving cleaning process

From muscle to meat

At slaughter, the blood and the oxygen it

carries are drained from the muscles, and

this changes the muscles’ energy product-

ion system from mainly aerobic, based on

oxygen, to anaerobic, without oxygen.

Also, the muscle protein turnover system is

active for some time after slaughter. So

even though the animal as a whole is dead,

the biochemical processes in the muscles

continue to function several hours and

days after slaughter. The rates of two

specific biochemical processes have a

major impact on the final meat quality,

namely glycolysis and protein degradation.

The glycolysis results in a decreased muscle pH

from above seven in the living animal to below

six the day after slaughter in the majority of

muscles in the pig carcass. Protein degrada-

tion is a part of the muscle growth and

repairing system in the living animal, and the

process is thought to be accelerated after

slaughter which eventually leads to what is

known as meat tenderisation.

Both processes (glycolysis and protein

degradation) are driven by enzymes, and since

the activity of enzymes is dependent on muscle

temperature – high temperature, high activity –

chilling rates of carcasses have a major impact

on these biochemical processes and thereby the

final meat quality.

Effects on meat quality

Chilling can have an effect on nearly all

meat quality parameters through the effect

on the rate of glycolysis and the rate of

protein degradation. Thus, drip loss, purge loss,

PSE, tenderness and meat colour are known

Chilling of hot carcasses is an important process in the meat production chain, and

the rate of chilling especially has a major impact on meat quality, chill loss, shelf-life

and microbial safety. The carcass temperature just before chilling is normally in the

range of 39 – 40°C, and the goal is to reach approximately 5°C 20 to 24 hours after

slaughter when the carcasses usually are cut and boned. Air is generally used to

remove heat from the surface of the carcasses, and the rate of chilling is controlled

by both air speed and air temperature, the latter going from below -20°C in

quick chilling tunnels to above 0°C in conventional, slow, batch chilling systems.

In spray chilling systems, the evaporation of water sprayed onto the surface of the

carcasses helps to remove heat from the carcass. This article will focus on the effect of

pig carcass chilling on meat quality.

Pork qualityand carcass chilling

Lars Kristensen

Section Manager, Danish Meat Research Institute


MEAT PROCESSING SUPPLEMENT©

Nat

alia

Myl

ova

/ Shu

tter

stoc

k.co

m

Table 1 Effect of chilling rate on eating quality, colour, drip from loin and chill loss from whole carcasses

Slow chilling Fast chillingBatch process Quick chilling tunnel4°C, 0.3 m/s -18°C, 3 m/s Sign.

Tendernessa 9.4 6.0 ***

Juicinessa 8.4 8.5 n.s.

Meat colour, palenessb 57 49 ***

Drip loss, % 1.7 2.6 *

Chill loss, % 2.7 1.1 ***

a: Sensory scale from 1 to 15 where 15 is ‘very tender/juicy’

b: Colour L* value

n.s.: non-significant (p > 0.1); *: p < 0.05, **: p < 0.01; ***: p < 0.001

to be affected by chilling and especially the

rate of chilling.

The results presented in Table 1 (page 15)

are from an internal DMRI trial set up to compare

very slow chilling with fast chilling. Slow chilling

was obtained by using a traditional batch

process and fast chilling by using a quick chill

tunnel process followed by equalisation in a

chill room. One major advance of using fast

chilling is the low chill loss that is obtained by a

part freezing of the carcass surface during the

tunnel process. This reduces the evaporative

loss dramatically and is the main reason for

the difference observed in chill loss between the

slow and fast process.

The eating quality parameters were

determined in the loin, and tenderness was also

highly affected by the chilling rate with less hard

and tenderer meat using the slow process. The

positive effect on tenderness can be explained

by an increased rate of protein degradation in

the loin due to a slower drop in muscle

temperature in the slowly chilled carcasses.

The meat colour expressed as paleness of

chops from the loin was also highly affected as

meat from slowly chilled carcasses had higher

values. The higher paleness value of slowly

chilled meat is explained by an increased protein

denaturation caused by a faster pH decline

after slaughter1. The faster pH decline is a result

of the enzyme driven glycolysis that is kept at a

higher rate due to a higher muscle temperature

for a longer period after slaughter. Protein

denaturation leads to increased gabs between

neighbouring myofibrils in the meat which gives

rise to more light being reflected from the meat

surface, and this results in a paler appearance of

the meat2. In extreme cases, the combination

of high muscle temperature and low pH can give

rise to the quality defect known as PSE (Pale,

Soft, Exudative)3,4 that sometimes can be found

in the inner part of the ham and loin from slowly

chilled carcasses.

In the literature, drip loss is also reported to

be affected by chilling rate – the slower the

chilling, the higher the drip loss5-7; however,

drip loss has also been reported not to be

affected by chilling rate8-10 and as presented in

Table 1 (page 15), very slow chilling can even

give rise to lower drip loss compared with fast

chilling. These apparently inconsistent results on

the effect of chilling rate on drip loss from the

loin are explained by the very complex nature

of drip loss formation. At least three factors

are known to influence the amount of drip loss

from meat:

� Final pH of the meat. High final pH gives rise

to low drip loss and is the main reason why

DFD (Dark, Firm, Dry) has a very low drip loss

and a dry surface

� Protein denaturation, which is increased

when the pH drop is fast and the chilling is

slow and gives rise to high drip loss and a

paler colour

� Protein degradation increases the meat’s

ability to hold water. High temperature

increases protein degradation so the

slower drop in muscle temperature in

the slowly chilled carcasses decreases the

drip loss formation.

Thus, as the final pH of the meat used to

determine drip loss in Table 1 (page 15) was

almost identical (pH 5.5) using the two chilling

rates, the lower drip loss from the slowly

chilled carcasses in Table 1 (page 15) is


MEAT PROCESSING SUPPLEMENT

Figure 1 The principle of stepwise chilling (QCT = Quick Chill Tunnel)

© Sergey Lavrentev / Shutterstock.com

Table 2 Effect of stepwise chilling on eating quality, colour, drip and chill loss

Stepwise Controlchilling Quick chill tunnel Sign.

Tendernessa 9.5 6.9 ***

Juicinessa 10.3 9.8 **

Meat colour, palenessb 57 54 n.s.

Drip loss, % 3.0 4.1 †

Chill loss, % 1.7 1.1 **

a: Sensory scale from 1 to 15 where 15 is ‘very tender/juicy’

b: Colour L* value

n.s.: non-significant (p > 0.1); †:p < 0.1; *: p < 0.05, **: p < 0.01; ***: p < 0.001

‘‘Protein denaturation leads toincreased gabs between neighbouring

myofibrils in the meat which gives rise to more light being reflected

from the meat surface’’

explained by increased protein degradation, which is consistent with the

high tenderness obtained when using very slow chilling. The higher

paleness score of the meat indicates a higher protein denaturation in the

slowly chilled carcasses; however, in this case the protein degradation

‘overrules’ the protein denaturation effect on drip loss.

Stepwise chilling – a new concept

From the results presented above it seems that slaughterhouses have to

construct or adapt their chilling procedure based on the parameters that

are of the highest importance to them. If a low chill loss and no PSE is of

major importance, a high chilling rate is to be used, however, if high eating

quality is of major importance a slower process has to be used. Since all

parameters are often preferred by most slaughterhouses, a compromise in

the chilling process is chosen that gives a rather low chill loss, low risk of PSE

and without major negative effects on eating quality and drip loss.

In recent years, a new concept of chilling called stepwise chilling has

been presented11,12. This new concept combines the positive effects known

from quick chill tunnels with the positive effect found using the traditional

slow batch chilling process.

The principle of stepwise chilling is illustrated in Figure 1 on

page 16. The first part of the chilling process should be as fast as possible.

Besides reducing the chill loss, fast chilling also reduces the rate of

glycolysis and thereby the rate of pH decline, which results in low drip loss

and low risk of PSE in the fully equalised meat. When the core temperature

of the loin reach 10 – 15°C, the chilling process is halted, and the carcass is

tempered in a chill room at a constant temperature for six hours. During

this period, the relatively high muscle temperature gives rise to an increased

rate of protein degradation which accelerates the tenderisation process and

decreases drip loss formation. After the tempering period, the carcasses are

exposed to fast chilling again to reach equalisation temperature.

The results shown in Table 2 (page 16) are from an internal DMRI trial

in which stepwise chilling was implemented at a commercial

slaughterhouse with a tempering period of six hours at 10°C. The

eating quality parameters tenderness and juiciness were both positively

affected by stepwise chilling. The results on especially tenderness are

confirmed by similar studies11,12. In a test on tenderness, comparing the

effect of traditional ageing in a chill room with the effect of stepwise

chilling, it was found that stepwise chilling produces tenderness

improvements in the meat equal to two to four days of ageing in a chill

room12. The paleness of the meat was not affected which also was shown by

Therkildsen et al.12. However, Rosenwold et al.11 observed more paleness in

meat from stepwise chilled carcasses. Thus, dependent on the setup of the



Figure 2 Bacterial number before chilling and two days after slaughter. Different superscripts differ significantly12

fast chilling part, stepwise chilling might have an

effect on meat colour.

Most surprisingly, the drip loss seems to be

positively affected by stepwise chilling with

lower values and thereby a better water holding

capacity of the meat. The effect on drip loss is

supported by other studies11,12 and is expected to

lead to lower purge loss in retail packed meat

and lower thaw loss from frozen meat.

The higher temperature in the tempering

period of stepwise chilling may raise some

concerns about product safety and shelf-life

due to possible increased microbial growth

during tempering. This issue has been tested,

and as shown in Figure 2 on page 17, the effect

on microbial growth is actually negative

compared with a standard quick chill tunnel

process. Thus, no negative effects on shelf-life

and food safety using stepwise chilling are to be

expected. The lower plate count using stepwise

chilling is caused by a reduced moisture level on

the carcass surface in the tempering period, and

this is also the explanation for the higher chill

loss using stepwise chilling.

As presented above and compared to a

standard quick chill tunnel process, the new

concept of stepwise chilling offers the possibility

of a dramatic increase in eating quality, less

problems with purge and thaw loss and the

same low risk of PSE. A disadvantage of

the stepwise process is the minor increase in

chill loos; however, this can be minimised with

an at-site optimisation of the fast chilling

procedure and the tempering conditions12.

A future perspective – PAD chilling

The currently used technology for pig carcass

chilling is based on evaporation of moisture

from the carcass surface, which is removed by

the use of an air flow around the carcass. The

energy consumption using this technology

increases exponentially with the chilling rate;

thus, faster chilling rates – higher energy

consumption, cost and environmental impact.

An alternative principle of removing heat

from the carcass is by direct contact with a cold

surface where the heat is removed by

conduction. An example of this is dipping a

hot carcass into cold water. The heat will then

be removed by conduction and not by evapora -

tion. This direct contact is much more

efficient compared with evaporation and is the

principle behind the idea of PAD chilling that

DMRI has proposed13.

The idea (Figure 3) is to substitute the

tunnel chilling process with the pad chilling

process where the refrigerant gets into close

contact with the carcass through a pad

incorporated in a PAD chilling unit. The chilling

pad is subdivided in channels in which the

refrigerant circulates. After chilling, the carcass

has to equalise. It is anticipated that chilling in

accordance with this principle will have

considerable advantages compared with other

chilling methods in that the process will be up to

30 per cent faster. Chilling of cuts and whole

carcasses can be differentiated which provide an

extra possibility for optimisation of the

meat quality. Chill loss is expected to be very

low (0.1 – 0.2 per cent), and the energy

consump tion about 50 per cent lower compared

with quick chill tunnels. The time for temp -

erature equalising is also expected to be

shorter due to the absent need for inter -

changing of energy between the thick and thin

parts of a carcass.

At the moment, PAD chilling has not been

developed to a level where it can chill a whole

carcass. However, applications for chilling of

different bi-products have been developed and

tested. DMRI is very interested to partner up

with risk willing companies that are interested in

this new innovative approach for chilling pigs

with the aim of developing the future concept of

hot carcass chilling.



1. Warriss, P. D. and S. N. Brown. 1987. The relationships

between initial pH, reflectance and exudation in pig

muscle. Meat Science 20:65-74

2. Offer, G., P. Knight, R. Jeacocke, R. Almond, T.

Cousins, J. Elsey, N. Parsons, A. Sharp, R. Starr, and P.

Purslow. 1989. The structural basis of the water-

holding, appearance and toughness of meat and

meat products. Food Microstructure 8:151-170

3. Briskey, E. J. 1964. Etiological status and associated

studies of pale, soft, exudative porcine musculature.

Advances in food research 13:89-178

4. Offer, G. and P. Knight. 1988. The structural basis

of water holding in meat. Pages 172-243 in

Development in meat science, Vol 4. R. A. Lawrie ed.

Elsevier Applied Science, London.

5. Juárez, M., W. R. Caine, I. L. Larsen, W. M. Robertson,

M. E. R. Dugan, and J. L. Aalhus. 2009. Enhancing

pork loin quality attributes through genotype,

chilling method and ageing time. Meat Science

83:447-453

6. Chen, H., X. Dong, Z. Yao, B. Xu, S. Zhen, C. Li, and X.

Li. 2012. Effects of prechilling parameters on water-

holding capacity of chilled pork and optimization af

prechilling parameters using response surface

methodology. J. Anim Sci. 90:2836-2841

7. Rybarczyk, A., A. Pietruszka, T. Karamucki, and B.

Matysiak. 2013. The impact of carcass chilling

techniques on the quality of pork. Fleischwirtschaft

International 4/2012:56-58.

8. Josell, Å., G. von Seth, and E. Tornberg. 2004.

Sensory and meat quality traits of pork in relation to

post-slaughter treatment and RN genotype. Meat

Science 66:113-124

9. Rees, M. P., G. R. Trout, and R. D. Warner. 2003. The

influence of the rate of pH decline on the rate of

ageing for pork. II: Interaction with chilling

temperature. Meat Science 65:805-818

10. Springer, M. P., M. A. Carr, C. B. Ramsey, and M. F.

Miller. 2003. Accelerated chilling of carcasses to

improve pork quality. J. Anim Sci. 81:1464-1472

11. Rosenvold, K., U. Borup, and M. Therkildsen. 2010.

Stepwise chilling: Tender pork without

compromising water-holding capacity. J. Anim Sci.

88:1830-1841

12. Therkildsen, M., L. Kristensen, S. Kyed, and N.

Oksbjerg. 2012. Improving meat quality of organic

pork through post mortem handling of carcasses:

An innovative approach. Meat Science 91:108-115

13. Damgaard, O., Borup, U. 2007. Differentiated

chilling improves meat quality. Fleischwirtschaft

International 4/2007: 22-23

References

Lars Kristensen is the Manager of the

Meat Technology Section at the Danish Meat

Research Institute (DMRI) which is a part of

Danish Technological Institute. The section’s

competences cover the effect of various

factors in the ‘Farm to Fork’ chain on raw and

processed meat quality. Lars Kristensen

started his professional career with an apprenticeship as a

butcher, and for that reason he has an extensive practical and

applied knowledge concerning meat and meat products. Regarding

his academic career, he has a PhD in Meat Science and Technology

and is a former Associated Professor in that field at University

of Copenhagen.

Biography

Figure 3 PAD chilling

‘‘The new concept of stepwise chillingoffers the possibility of a dramatic

increase in eating quality, less problemswith purge and thaw loss and the

same low risk of PSE’’

Is this a one off major criminal conspiracy that

has been broken? Are measures already in place

by and large sufficient and proportionate to the

risk? Apparently not – as the horsemeat scandal

is still unfolding in Europe, we simultaneously

see high profile measures to combat seafood

fraud in the US.

Seafood products are also under heavy

scrutiny following the discovery of contami -

nation in supply chains and products being

fraudulently mislabelled. Oceana, a large

international advocacy group, recently released

a study which found that 33 per cent of the

1,215 fish samples it collected from 674 retail

outlets in 21 states were mislabelled according

to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

guidelines. Oceana reported that they found

seafood fraud everywhere they tested. Of the

most commonly collected types of fish, snapper

and tuna had the highest mislabelling rates

across the country at 87 and 59 per cent,

respectively. While 44 per cent of all the retail

outlets visited sold mislabelled fish, sushi venues

had the worst level of mislabelling at 74 per cent,

followed by other restaurants at 38 per cent and

then grocery stores at 18 per cent.

A new Act has been introduced, the Safety

and Fraud Enforcement for Seafood (SAFE

Seafood) Act with further companion legislation

announced to fight the growing problem of

fraud by ensuring that seafood sold in the

US is tracked from boat to plate, while providing

more information to consumers at the point

of purchase.

Fraud is high value with relatively low

penalties for criminals and favoured by the

inherent weaknesses that lie within the food

industry’s complex supply networks.

So the evidence appears to point to the fact

Food fraud on an international scale is a reality – current preventive measures are not

working and new techniques and tools are needed to address the problem, say

experts. The recent revelation of large-scale and criminal food fraud involving the

adulteration of processed meat products with horsemeat has cost the market,

directly and indirectly, millions of Euros in costly product withdrawals, loss of sales

and brand reputation, source and supply issues, consumer nervousness and lack of

trust – all-in-all, potentially several years of costly misery and rebuilding of market

positions for a number of global manufacturing, catering and retail brands.

Can we prevent anotherhorsemeat scandal?


MEAT PROCESSING SUPPLEMENT: FOOD SAFETY

© A

lexk

ava

/ Shu

tter

stoc

k.co

m

that food fraud is increasingly endemic, routine and happening all the time

– driven by the huge financial incentives for criminals and favoured by the

complexity and non-transparency of the supply and distribution networks.

A tonne of beef mince has a value of about EUR 2500 whereas a tonne

of horse meat is worth about EUR 800, so a 200 per cent profit is available.

Taking the example of the Swedish company Findus, it used Comigel, a

French company, to make its processed meals in Luxembourg. Comigel

sourced the meat from Spanghero in the south of France who employed an

agent in Cyprus. The Cyprus agent used another agent in the Netherlands

which sourced its meat from an abattoir in Romania. Why has this

happened? At least in part because buyers seek to drive down the cost of

ingredi ents ... and maybe not asking enough questions about how it’s

obtained. The scope for criminal adulteration or contamination at any step

of the distribution network can easily be seen.

An added pressure is the moves that individual countries are making to

safeguard the health of their own citizens. Italy, Romania’s largest buyer of

fresh horsemeat, banned imports because of bovine tuberculosis. In 2007,

the US banned horse slaughter, resulting in horses being shipped to

Mexico for slaughter – with the result that imports of horsemeat to the EU

increased from EUR 1.3 million in 2006 to EUR 11.8 million in 2007 and EUR

21.4 million in 2010. It doesn’t take much to imagine where it all went.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. In retro spect, the issues are clear but

how can this knowledge be used to prevent future recurr ences? The history

of financial fraud illustrates that criminals will always find new doors to

open when one slams behind them.

Malcolm Kane, consultant and expert in criminal food fraud, former

Head of Food Safety at Sainsbury’s and currently part of the NSF Consulting

Group Fraud team says, “A good starting point for any ‘food issue’ is to

research the available RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed)

database.” RASFF was set up by the European Commission to provide food

and feed control authorities with an effective tool to exchange information

about measures taken responding to serious risks detected in relation to

food or feed. The aim is that this exchange of information helps Member

States to act more rapidly and in a coordinated manner in response to a

health threat caused by food or feed. “It is quite clear from this RASFF list

that over the past year, there have been sufficient examples of dubious

practices in the meat trade to alert any diligent technical manager in that

trade. This points to regular monitoring of RASFF as being an essential tool

in every technical manager’s job description.”

However, while mislabelling is clearly a potential threat to

human health – opening the door for potentially harmful adulterants

and contaminants to be consumed by the public, the reality is

inevitably more complex. Misrepre senta tion is not always a public health

issue, but it is a high value criminal issue and does have a big effect on

consumer confi dence and is therefore a significant brand protection issue

for the industry.

On 28 February, the European Serious & Organised Crime Conference

was held in Brussels. The conference was hosted by the British Chamber of

Commerce in Belgium, supported by the EU Commission and with

commercial partners BAT and IBM and spon sored by European Crop

Protection. Ned Kingcott, a Government Administration expert, attended

and reported the evidence presented there about the scale and

sophistication of criminal fraud. International gangsters are making huge

amounts of money in all fields where they can make big money quickly

(including from drugs, cyber crime and child exploitation). This gives them

the power to pay for highly sophisticated means of evading law

enforcement. “Apparently they have even created a ‘black space’ on the

internet allowing communications that cannot be accessed by law

enforcement,” says Mr Kingcott.

A key message at the conference was the importance of industry

input into anti-crime activity. The current budgetary restrictions of

This report is essential reading for all senior managers in the food industry with responsibility for the integrity of their product supply chain.

It maps out in detail the issues and provides a clear plan of action for your business.

Price: Eur 1500. Bespoke reports also available.

For more information or to register your interest in receiving a report (no obligation) please contactthe NSF Consulting Group on:



© E

dwar

d N

/ Sh

utte

rsto

ck.c

om

EU and national law enforcement agencies are

impacting significantly on the regulatory

abilities to combat crime and the role of industry

in supporting their activity was stressed. The EU

bodies concerned with serious organised crime,

INTERPOL and OLAF (European Anti-Fraud

Office) are all of this opinion.

David Edwards, Managing Director of the

NSF Consulting Group, firmly believes that

industry is better placed to combat fraud than

the enforcement agencies are and yet the

current industry safety systems and practices are

outdated and inadequate to deal with a rapidly

changing brief and new due diligence demands

that increase almost daily.

Why is it that the industry’s current

traceability and inspection systems

appear to be failing?

According to Malcolm Kane, there has been a

systemic failure of the management systems,

risk assessment and controls to an extent that

surprises even those who have worked within

the industry or have been closely involved in it.

Part of the issue is the EU law on traceability.

Every company must show due diligence by

being able to trace their product back to

the previous step in the supply ‘chain’ and that

previous firms in the ‘chain’ have done the same.

Whilst retailers would like to claim complete

transparency along their whole supply chain, in

reality this is often not the case because there is

too much reliance on a paper documentation

trail whilst there is relatively little physical

product inspection or process verification

during the audit process. The immediate

response to the horsemeat scandal has been on

the one hand to introduce more inspections and

on the other hand to tighten up procedures for

auditing processes and for the detailed

compilation and verification of product

specifications to ensure that products are safe,

PROVIDING THE BEST FOOD SAFETY SERVICE IN THE INDUSTRY

Reduced labour costs Fast sample turnaround time

Simple sample preparation Consolidates testing

Quality reassurance Overall productivity improvements

The Evidence Investigator

The extensive range of Randox Food Diagnostics Multiplex and ELISA tests includes:

Range of wine testing kits also available for the wine and beverage industries

Sulphonamides Chloramphenicol Tetracycline Nitrofurans Streptomycin TylosinQuinolones Beta Lactam Anthelmintics Synthetic Steroids Beta Agonist Clenbuterol

Ractopamine Boldenone Stanozolol Trenbolone Nandrolone Corticosteroids Zeranol

FOOD DIAGNOSTICS

Randox Food Diagnostics, 30 Cherryvalley Road, Crumlin, County Antrim, BT29 4QNT +44 (0) 28 9442 2413 F +44 (0) 28 9445 2912 E [email protected] I www.randoxfooddiagnostics.com


© Karram

ba Production / Shutterstock.com

‘‘Part of the issue is the EU law on traceability’’

Bio-Rad Laboratories • Food Testing

• Reliable walk-away automation for real-time PCR testing

• Increased confidence with improved reproducibility

• Designed to handle all major food pathogens

• Real-time PCR now accessible to everyone

Start, Run, ReadiQ-Check™ Prep Solution

www.foodscience.bio-rad.com

The Bio-Rad PCR Solution, Your Solution

iQ-Check™ Prep System, CFX96 Deep Well™

and iQ-Check™ Kits

legal and accurately describe the nature and origin of all raw

materials and ingredients used.

The established standards available for the auditing of food

businesses both nationally and internationally, such as the BRC

Global Standard for Food Safety, the International Food Standard (IFS)

and FSSC 22000, have become an accepted entry level requirement

for suppliers of own label food products to the major retailers but

many large retailers have now introduced much higher standards of

audit, such as the NSF IAT (Integrity and Traceability) audit standard,

which monitors manufacturer’s traceability and integrity controls

much more rigorously and to provide assurance and confidence that

such controls are being suitably managed.

Nevertheless, such measures can never totally deal with the

criminal intent to defraud. Investigations and enquiries can help

identify the causes and the culprits after the fact but they do not

necessarily equip the industry to proactively identify and mitigate

future risks. These simple and linear responses are unlikely to provide

adequate protection.

The number of regulatory and industry product inspections has

increased dramatically since the scandal broke, and in the words of

David Edwards, “The more inspection, the more discovery.” This has

happened before, as the history of the 2003 – 2007 Sudan 1

carcinogenic red dye contamination scandal illustrates. However, as

Edwards says, inspection is costly – you cannot inspect everything all

the time. Ultimately, only the big players would be able to bear the

cost of more burden some inspection regimes, potentially leading to

market contraction and loading more costs onto consumers.

Indeed, EC legislation does not necessarily support an intensive

inspection regime in the present circumstances. The available

informa tion to date shows that there are authenticity issues and

there may be a health risk, but the most likely health impact would

be as a result of Bute contamination, so this would not necessarily

justify the wholesale testing and withdrawal of beef and beef

derivative products.

Jenny Morris, a food safety expert who managed food safety at

the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, comments that the

horsemeat fraud has raised concerns about the adequacy of food

legislation to deter criminals. “In particular,” she says, “there are

questions about traceability requirements and whether or not they

are fit for purpose in the global food supply network that operates

today. A review and rethink is necessary which among other things

should consider any barriers to proactive information sharing

between industry and regulators. It is only by strengthening our

systems that we will be better placed to defend ourselves against

criminals seeking easy ways to make money.”

Some believe that the systems for regu latory implementation

and enforcement in the developed countries are outdated and no

longer fit for purpose. A source says “There is a real need to update the

way controls are planned, coordinated and followed through. We

have non-consolidated information systems, fragmented databases

and insufficient risk analysis. The developing countries have better

systems than us in some instances.”

How can the industry work smarter?

In the opinion of the expert food fraud working group put together

newfoodwww.newfoodmagazine.com Volume 16 | Issue 2 | 2013

FOOD SAFETY

Stability in performance, durability of operations, essential ingredients for achieving business goals.

ANDEROL® has the proven expertise to face challenges, resulting in increased and consistent plant efficiency, reduced labour and material costs, providing you with flexible and customized solutions for all your lubrication needs. Offering full reliability with our extensive range of H1 food grade lubricants, our specialization in gas compression and vacuum applications, serving industries all around the world.

A constant aim for improvements and solutions is the core of our business.

Rise to the occasion with us!

by the NSF Consulting Group under the

chairmanship of Terry Babbs, formerly Group

Ethical Trading Director at Tesco, there is

requirement for more joint working between

the food industry and the regulatory authorities

and enforcement agencies, and the industry

needs better data, improved analysis and new

tools, and improved understanding of the

underlying scientific, economic and cultural

issues. This expert group which includes leading

academics, food safety practitioners and supply

chain experts will be reporting urgently on

specific measures that can be taken.

“We need to address three areas,” says

Malcolm Kane. “Food law and enforcement, risk

assessment, management control systems and

audit, and public recall. Management leadership

and better training and accreditation of auditors

are required to recognise fraud issues, as are

smarter risk quantification and management

processes, improved principles for the random

sampling and testing of product, and the

coordination and immediate central publication

of the details and results of public recalls.” The

implications for criminal law and civil claims also

need to be looked at closely.

Looking to the future, the industry needs

not just the input of industry technical experts,

but to draw on expertise from further afield,

using scientists, academics, mathematicians and

psychologists to develop proactive, multi-

disciplinary approaches that bring together a

combination of new technologies, powerful

data analysis and models drawn from inside and

outside the food industry.

In the field of data analysis, the requirement

is for better faster accurate information. The

RASFF database contains huge amounts of

information, but the difficulty has been to mine it

and analyse it in a meaningful and timely way to

identify trends and patterns. Professor Declan

Naughton at Kingston University in the UK is

helping to develop new network analysis tools

that can digest enormous amounts of data such

as these global food alerts, to rapidly identify a

global picture of potential pressure points and

where the point of transgression and control are

to be found globally. In this way, patterns of

transgression can be traced as they emerge.

Similar systems could be used to analyse supply

and distribution networks in product recalls.

Also at Kingston University, Professor

Andrea Petroczi is working on new and versatile

research tools that can be used to estimate the

prevalence of fraudulent or transgressive

behaviour such as rule breaking or illegal

activities. These could for example be applied

in a food safety situation around labelling or

food handling.

Development work is continuing apace and

new techniques are coming on stream all the

time. This has undoubtedly been given a sharp

impetus by recent events. What is clear is that

nothing will be the same again. The face of food

safety has changed and everyone in the industry

has to sit up and revise their approach as

traditional food safety mechanisms are no

longer fit for purpose.


This article was produced by the NSF

Consulting Group with contributions from

Malcolm Kane, food safety consultant, Terry

Babbs, consultant, Ned Kingcott, consultant,

Jenny Morris, CIEH, Declan Naughton,

Kingston University, Andrea Petroczi,

Kingston University, and David Edwards,

NSF Consulting Group.

For more information contact Lesley

Thompson, Head of Marketing, NSF

International on +44 (0) 1993 885684 or

[email protected]

‘‘Development work is continuing apace and new techniques are coming

on stream all the time’’

Excessive consumption of salt contributes to

today’s high rates of cardiovascular disease and

various other chronic conditions. The current

salt intake in the West is well above the

recommended daily intake in food of six grams.

Bread, processed meat products and cheese are

the three most important food categories in

terms of salt consumption. A sodium reduction

target of 50 per cent has been proposed for

meat and processed meat products. Because

sodium plays several roles in meat, simply

reducing the sodium content is accompanied by

a loss of firmness, less intense saltiness,

reduction in the flavour profile and a shorter

shelf-life. Because these factors ultimately

influence consumer acceptance, there is a need

for strategies that minimise the side-effects of

reduced sodium content.

Three main approaches are proposed in

order to compensate for the reduction of

sodium in meat products: (1) The use of salt

replacers / alternatives; (2) the use of flavour

enhancers which enhance the saltiness of

products and natural flavourings which

reinforce the association with salt; and (3)

optimising the physical form of salt to give a

stronger salty taste (inhomogeneous distribu -

tion of salt in the product). Combinations of the

first and second approaches have been

successfully used by NIZO in cheese and meat

products1. The strategy developed by the Top

Institute Food and Nutrition and NIZO food

research focuses on enhancing saltiness by

changing the structure of processed meat

products. Recent research has shown that

moisture release from a model gel system

enhances the sweetness of the product2.

The authors used whey protein gels in which

moisture release was varied independently of

fructose content. Moisture release was defined

as the amount of fluid that can be pressed from

the product – a phenomenon that occurs

when the gels are chewed. Sensory evalua-

tion of the gels showed that increasing the

amount of serum from three to 12 per cent

increased the perceived sweetness of the gel

by 20 per cent; as a result, the fructose content

could be reduced considerably without

changing the taste2. Moisture release is related

to the perception of wateriness and juiciness of

model gel systems3. Again mixed whey protein

polysaccharide gels served as the model system

to establish relationships between the micro -

structure of food products and their perception4.

Because juiciness is an important characteristic

of (processed) meat products, we focused on

reducing salt content in sausages by increasing

the moisture release, and hence the juiciness

of these products.

Sausage preparation

The aim of the experimental set-up was to

develop a series of sausages that varied in salt

content and moisture release but not in texture.

Moisture release was controlled by adding

different types of polysaccharide to the sausage

mixture (i.e. 0.3 per cent methyl cellulose or

0.3 per cent gellan gum). Figure 1 shows that,

independent of salt content (between 0.8 and

1.8 per cent), the variants containing methyl

cellulose showed low moisture release (average

Meat products, including sausages and processed meats, are among the top three

product categories that contribute to the high salt intake in the modern Western diet.

Within the framework of the Top Institute Food and Nutrition (TIFN), researchers at

NIZO food research has developed a strategy for reducing salt by enhancing the salt

perception in processed meat products (cooked sausage) by increasing their juiciness.

Specially developed sausages with increased moisture release were perceived

as juicier and saltier. The associated reduction in salt ranges from 15 per cent to

40 per cent, depending on the salt content of the sausage.

Juiciness enhances the perceived saltiness of meat products

Fred van de Velde and Marijke Adamse

TI Food & Nutrition & NIZO food research



Figure 1 Moisture release of the cooked sausagevariants with low moisture release (green) and highmoisture release (blue)

0.3 per cent; comparable with that of comm -

ercial sausages under the same experimental

conditions). The variants with gellan gum

showed high moisture release (average 3.7 per

cent). A small difference in the firmness of the

sausages was observed between the variants

with high and low moisture release. Analysis of

the salt content of the various sausages revealed

only slight differences between samples with

high and low moisture release.

Salt perception

A trained QDA (Quantitative Descriptive

Analysis) panel analysed the sensory properties

of the sausages. The panel members agreed on

the use of three sensory characteristics to

describe the sausages: saltiness, firmness and

juiciness. As with the texture assessments,

sensory firmness was slightly higher for the

sausages with low moisture release than for

the variants with high moisture release. In

accordance with the moisture release assess -

ments and independent of salt concentration,

the sensory juiciness of the sausages with

high moisture release was higher than that of

their counterparts with low moisture release

(Figure 2). The difference in sensory juiciness

was not as marked as for the moisture release

determined instrumentally. In addition, the

sensory juiciness of the variants with low

moisture release depended on the salt content.

Juiciness increases with increasing salt

content. The relationship between moisture

release and sensory perception in cooked saus-

age is more complex than in the model system of

whey protein gels containing polysaccharides2.

The sensory scores for saltiness showed

that the sausages with high moisture release

were perceived as significantly saltier than the

variants with low moisture release (Figure 2).

The degree of increase in salt perception, as a

result of moisture release, increased as the

salt content decreased. This is consistent

with the fact that enhancing effects are

generally more marked at low concentrations of

tastants2,5. However, it may also be a result of the

fact that the juiciness of processed meat

products depends on the salt content. In the

samples with high moisture release, juiciness

is determined by moisture release. In the

samples with low moisture release, juiciness is

determined by the ability of the meat to bind

water, which is influenced by the salt content.

The perception of juiciness for the low-serum

variant (at 1.8 per cent added NaCl) is only

slightly lower than for the corresponding high-

serum variants, while the difference in perceived

juiciness at 0.8 per cent added NaCl is greater

(Figure 2).

Sausage variants displaying high moisture

release in instrumental analysis are perceived as

juicier and saltier than the corresponding

variants with low moisture release. The salti-

ness of sausage is therefore enhanced by the

release of moisture during chewing and

the accomp anying juiciness. This enhancing

effect is greater at low salt levels than at higher

salt levels. Figure 3 shows the saltiness of the

sausage variants as a function of the measured

salt content of the sausages. At all levels,

saltiness is greater in the high-moisture variants

than in the low-moisture variants.

Significant salt reduction in meat

products is possible

The saltiness of sausage is enhanced by

moisture release and the accompanying

juiciness. The perceived enhancing effect is

greater at low salt levels than at higher salt

levels. The perception of juiciness in processed

meat products is a combined result of the

amount of serum extracted from the meat

during chewing (unbound water) and the ability

of the muscle tissue to retain water (bound

water). This study has shown that a relative salt

reduction of 15 per cent to 40 per cent is

possible with this technology developed by TIFN

and NIZO food research.



Fred van de Velde is Group Leader of the

NIZO Protein Centre and Project Manager

Protein and Ingredient Functionality.

NIZO food research is an independent

research company. The Protein and Ingredient

Technology group is responsible for innova -

tion in ingredient functionality. The core

expertise is tailoring the functionality of proteins. Fred studied

organic chemistry at the Delft University of Technology. He joined

NIZO food research in 2002 after a post-doc position within the

Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences. He is expert on food

microstructure and its relationship with mechanical properties and

sensory perception.

Marijke Adamse is a scientific assistant at the department Flavour

and Texture at NIZO food research. She joined NIZO food research in

1981. Marijke’s work has focused on food products and expended the

last 30 years from dairy products to the whole food segment,

including meat and processed meat products. Marijke is a ‘hands-on’

person experienced in different techniques (e.g. rheology,

microscopy, particle size distribution). She handles projects from lab-

scale to pilot plant productions.

Biographies

1. http://www.nizo.com/news/latest-news/38/salt-

reduction-achieved-in-meat-and-cheese/

2. G. Sala, M. Stieger & F. van de Velde (2010) Serum

release boosts sweetness intensity in gels. Food

Hydrocolloids, 24, 494-501

3. L. van den Berg, T. van Vliet, E. van der Linden,

M.A.J.S. van Boekel F. van de Velde (2008) Physical

properties giving the sensory perception of whey

proteins/polysaccharide gels. Food Biophysics, 3,

198-206

4. F. van de Velde, H.J. Klok, T. Laundon, E.A. Foegeding

(2011) The role of microstructure in texture

perception. New Food (2011 issue 2) 53-56

5. M.W.J. Noort, J.H.F. Bult, M. Stieger & R.J. Hamer

(2010) Saltiness enhancement in bread by

inhomogeneous spatial distribution of sodium

chloride. Journal of Cereal Science, 52, 378-386

References

Figure 2 Sensory juiciness (left) and salt perception (right) of the cooked sausage variants with low moisture release(green) and high moisture release (blue)

Figure 3 Saltiness as a function of the salt content ofthe cooked sausage with low moisture release (green)and high moisture release (blue)

New hall concept

IFFA 2013 will be distinguished by a new,

optimised hall concept. For the first time, the fair

will occupy both levels (11.0 and 11.1) of the

new Hall 11. There, key international players

from the packaging, supply facilities, measuring

and weighing technology will present their

innovations. Additionally, exhibitors from the

processing and cutting segment will be located

in Hall 11.1. As in the past, companies from the

slaughtering, dismembering and processing

segment will be positioned in Halls 9.0 and 9.1.

The focus in Hall 8.0 will be on processing.

Thanks to this new structure, visitors will find the

complete range of machines and equipment

concentrated in the western part of the

Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre.

IFFA focuses on the trends in the

meat-processing sector

Safety, hygiene, traceability, automation and

sustainability are important subjects for the

meat-processing and supplier industries. In

particular, ever greater significance is accruing to

the question of sustainability. Many ideas

and solutions for the efficient use of energy and

resources have already been implemented

in many parts of the meat-processing and

packaging technology sector, and IFFA offers

an up-to-the-minute overview of them. The

machines and equipment to be seen in Halls 8, 9

and 11 cover the entire spectrum – from

slaughtering, via processing, to packaging.

Suppliers of ingredients, spices, additives,

casings and packing materials (Hall 4.0) are

important partners for butchers and industrial

meat-processing companies. Besides product

safety, a good feeling for consumer trends is vital

in this field. One of the main subjects in the

sector is clean labelling, i.e., the reduction or

exchange of declarable additives, allergens and

artificial aromas. Additionally, the trend to

‘Walking Food’ describes the lifestyle and eating

habits of younger target groups, for which the

spice industry offers suitable concepts – not just

for characteristic spicy sauces but also for

appealling take-away packaging.

The range of exhibits to be seen in Hall 4.1

offers an overview of the latest products

and trends for the butcher’s shop with

innovations from the fields of measuring and

weighing technology and packaging, not

to mention new solutions for purchasing

foodstuffs, furnishings and protective

clothing, as well as quality, service, catering

and party-service concepts. Important

subjects for butchers include regionalism,

energy efficiency, hygiene, convenience

and away-from-home sales. Regionalism

has developed into a major trend with

numerous consumers rediscovering their

region in this age of increasing globalism, and

giving preference to regional products

and economic activity.

Food safety scandals, recalls of food stuffs,

the outbreak of an epizootic disease – are topics

that are frequently in the media spotlight and

have a high priority in the public conscience.

Questions of food safety, quality assurance and

traceability play an ever more important role in

the meat industry. Traceability is more than just

an important tool for risk management. It also

plays a part in consumer protection and supply

chain improvement including the equipment

used for this.

All events that are associated with the

production of fresh and cooked meat

products must be recorded in detail. This is the

only way to guarantee seamless traceability.

This process begins with the animals’ birth and

continues through their rearing and fattening,

slaughter and processing and all stages of

transport and storage to the presentation

of the products in the shelves and refrigerated

display cases. It requires modern information

technology, intelligent sensors and vision

systems, chemical quick tests, continuous

recording of process data including soft-

ware capable of the complete documentation

of all processes.

At IFFA leading manufacturers will show

products and solutions of the future for every

stage of the traceability process.

Measure, regulate, control

The ‘Quality & Safety Tested’ mark is the focus for

innovation in the product segment of ‘Measure,

Around 950 exhibitors from 47 countries will present their innovations at IFFA –

The number one event for the meat industry – in Frankfurt am Main from 4 to 9 May

2013. With new products covering the entire process chain, they will occupy 110,000

square metres of exhibition space, an increase of six per cent compared to the

previous event. Organiser Messe Frankfurt expects around 58,000 trade visitors from

all around the world.

IFFA 2013 on course forexpansion – more exhibitionspace and a new hall concept


ShowPREVIEW Date: 4-9 May 2013 · Location: Messe Frankfurt, Germany

Regulate, and Control’. This ranges from X-ray

control systems and checkweighers, to metal

detectors including data capture and quality

control equipment, and NIR (near infrared)

spectroscopy for quick analysis of the fat, protein

and water content in meat so as to eliminate the

time taken to prepare test samples.

Presently the packaging of fresh and cooked

meat products using MAP (modified atmos -

phere packaging) is very popular. Above all, it

requires that the packaging is impermeable to

the protective gas. Faulty seals can result in

leakages and so to aroma and flavour loss or

even to premature deterioration of the produce.

Consequently, in the case of MAP gas measure -

ment devices for quality control are essential.

Suppliers will showcase equipment for random

sample measurement in the laboratory in

addition to systems for offline measurement and

for in-line process control in production.

Tagging and identifying

Animal breeders must mark cattle, pigs, sheep

and goats with ear tags which are printed with

details of the member country of the EU, federal

state, administrative region, county, munici -

pality and business from where the animal

originates. Before slaughter it is necessary to also

include the traceability code of the abattoir. Ear

tags (barcode tags) and animal passports are

sufficient for living animals. However post

slaughter these markings can no longer be used

for identification.

In this case, efficient labelling systems make

it possible to clearly identify every cut of meat or

complete batches. The systems comprise

printers and barcode scanners in addition to

electronic identification using RFID (Radio

Frequency Identification). The latter in particular

are becoming increasingly important due to

their versatility in terms of process automation

and process control. It will be some time before

all the possibilities of RFID technology are fully


SHOW PREVIEW: IFFA 2013

Find InfraLab on NDC’s stand F34 in hall 9.1, or visit www.ndc.com/meat for further details

NDC adds collagen to its range of meat measurements

At IFFA 2013, NDC will be exhibiting thelatest version of its popular InfraLabBenchtop Meat Analyzer.

In addition to fat, moisture andprotein measurements, the latest InfraLabadds collagen to its measure ment capa -bilities. A four-component InfraLab takesjust 10 seconds to measure a single samplefor all parameters, which gives significanttime and resource cost savings.

Developed from the outset for theprocess, as well as the QC laboratory, theInfraLab requires minimal operator skillsin routine use. Its robust, easy-to-cleanhygienic design makes it ideal for themeat further processing industry, wherebatch release, quality assurance andprocess profitability rely on accuraterepeatable measurement data.

InfraLab is secure too, requiringuser log in via its intuitive colour touchscreen before use. For each sample, a

user name, customer reference, time anddate values, measurement results andstandard deviations are recorded. Datacan be exported conveniently via the USBport to a spreadsheet or other program.Ethernet connectivity enables networkand LIMS integration.

NDC Infrared Engineering LtdBates Road, Maldon, Essex CM9 5FAUnited Kingdomt: +44 (0)1621 852244e: [email protected]: www.ndc.com/meat

Berndorf Band GmbH – one of theleading suppliers of steel beltsEach steel belt from Berndorf Band is tailor-made to

meet customer’s requirements exactly. An endless

production method is used to ensure perfect tracking,

uniform flatness and belt straightness. A further

important criterion of steel belts is the corrosion

resistance. Therefore, Berndorf Band pays special

attention to the selection of material. Berndorf Band

steel belts are made to match extreme mechanical and

thermal stress which makes them the ideal solution

for processes like baking, cooling, deep-freezing,

steaming or drying.

Both process and conveyor belts can be

provided with vee-ropes and / or product retaining

strips. A special bonding method ensures perfect

adhesion of vee-ropes and product retaining strips

within operating temperatures ranging from -60°C to

+ 100°C. As a standard material for vee-ropes, nitril

rubber is used. For low temperature applications and

for retainers which are in direct contact with

processed food, Berndorf Band recommends using

natural rubber, while retaining strips for bake oven

belts are made from silicone rubber.

Berndorf Band’s worldwide service net places

high emphasis on response time and quality work. To

guarantee accountability, all service work is

performed by certified technicians. The Berndorf

Band training centre in Austria makes sure that

all Berndorf Band service specialists worldwide

are trained in the latest work techniques at

regular intervals.

Berndorf Band is a reliable partner for a huge

number of steel belt users, no matter if small and

independent or multinational. Some of the most

important OEM producers of steel belt machinery

also count on Berndorf Band.

www.berndorf-band.com

www.ammeraalbeltech.com

uni ECB Belts for Reducing your Cleaning Costs

uni ECB takes cleanability one step further in optimising hygiene on meat processing lines.

With the patented uni Snap Link design – a pinless belt. The pinhole and the pin inside are unaddressed hygiene issues on all modular belts available on the market today.

By removing the pin and pinhole, a major bacteria trap is eliminated. The dummy hinges absorb impact and drive the belt using the markets most cleanable sprocket engagementsystem.

Visit us at

IFFA 2013

Hall 9.1,

no. C89

Frankfurt am Main,

Germany

4 - 9th May 2013

exploited, but the expectation is that it will offer

advanced future solutions in the areas of stock

management and intralogistics with respect to

the identification and traceability of pallets,

E2 crates or products packed in trays.

Food safety, quality assurance and trace -

ability are the topics trending at IFFA 2013.

New product development is targeted to

coincide with the IFFA, it being the first time

new products are presented to an international

trade audience.

Hygiene and hygienic design:

the key to improved food safety

More than ever before, safety, quality and hygiene

are top priorities in the meat-processing sector.

Consumers expect and demand safe products

made using perfectly hygienic methods. At IFFA

trade visitors can obtain a complete overview of

the latest innovations in the field of hygiene

technology and future developments.

Hygiene begins with the personal cleanli -

ness of employees and their protective clothing,

gloves and equipment, as well as the clear

separation of personnel and production areas.

The broad spectrum of hygiene equipment to

be seen at IFFA includes disinfectant basins,

hand wash basins for contact-free washing and

disinfecting, sole and boot cleaning machines,

knife sterilisation basins, soap dispensers, waste-

paper baskets and towel dispensers.

Parts of machines, conveyers and other plant

components that come into contact with

products must be cleaned of any product

residuals sticking to them and disinfected at


Steel belt conveyors for enhancedhygiene and reduced cleaning costsSandvik Process Systems, the world’s largest

producer of stainless steel belts, will showcase the

hygienic and economic benefits that this technology

can bring to meat processors and others further along

the supply chain.

Visitors to Sandvik’s stand (Hall 9.1, Stand

F63) will be able to see a fully operational food

conveyor that showcases the design features required

for food-quality conveying, including endless belt

and ease of cleaning.

Research carried out by Finnish food laboratory

VTT Expert Services Ltd has shown that bacterial

build-up on meat conveyors can be reduced by

upgrading to a stainless steel conveyor. And with

hygiene, safety, quality and compliance high up on

everyone’s agenda, the inherent cleanability of a

stainless steel belt is convincing many processors to

take a fresh look at Sandvik’s systems.

As a flat, smooth, hard and inert conveying

medium, steel belts can be cleaned and sanitised using

heat, pressure, brushes, detergents or chemicals. Quick

and easy cleaning enables the highest standards of

hygiene to be maintained and offers a number of other

benefits too. Low water consumption and reduced use

of cleaning chemicals or detergents means lower costs

and less impact on the environment, while faster

cleaning results in less downtime.

The inherent strength of the material also means

it is more resistant to knife or bone damage, and

therefore less likely to suffer cuts where microbes

can develop.

While meat conveying will be the main focus of

the stand, Sandvik will also highlight applications for

its belts in other areas of meat processing – including

freezing – and across the broader food industry where

its versatile products are used for everything from

baking and cooking to steaming and drying.

Senior management and specialist engineers

will be on the stand throughout the fair to provide full

details of Sandvik’s design, engineering and

installation services.

www.sandvik.com

Visitors to Sandvik’s stand will be able tosee a fully operational food conveyor thatshowcases the design features requiredfor food-quality conveying

regular intervals. Most of this work is still done

manually, which is time consuming, expensive

and not always completely reliable. Therefore,

more and more users are turning to automatic

CIP (Cleaning-in-Place) and SIP (Sterilisation-in-

Place) systems. In common with many other

fields, the trend is towards robot-based

processes. However, with or without robots, the

automatic cleaning systems can be adjusted to

meet individual requirements and thus achieve

optimum and, above all, reproducible results.

In this connection, extremely precise automatic

dosing systems guarantee a more efficient use of

cleaning agents, which in turn helps reduce the

burden on the environment, conserve resources

and cut costs on the procurement and waste-

disposal sides.

The cleanliness and ease with which meat-

processing machines and plant can be cleaned is

also a question of design. Thus, simplicity is the

key principle of hygienic design (HD) and

the aim is to avoid undercuts of all kinds

and open seams, in which product residuals

can catch and form ideal breading grounds for

micro organisms. For the same reason, open

screw holes, Allen or Torx screws, etc. are not

permitted. Corners and transitions must be

smooth, free of joints and cleanly rounded off.

The surfaces of covers or sensor housings in

spraying or wet areas should be inclined at an

angle of at least three degrees to avoid any

traces of water remaining on them. Steeper

gradients ensure a faster run-off and should,

therefore, be used whenever possible.

Additionally, it should be possible to clean all

parts that come into contact with the product

without having to remove them from the CIP or

SIP systems.

Investments in hygienic design pay off

Food processing and packing lines not based on

hygienic-design principles have no future in the

market because the risks and costs in terms of

potential production losses, recall campaigns,

recourse claims and image loss are too great.

Therefore, to invest in HD represents excellent

insurance and is worthwhile in terms of both

production and economic efficiency. Hygienic -

ally designed machines and plant offer none or

significantly fewer opportunities for product

residuals or contamination to take hold. Fewer

deposits means less cleaning effort, which in

turn saves cleaning agents, water, steam and

energy. In a nutshell, hygienic demand increases

the productivity of machines and plant and,

against the background of growing demand for

convenience food and small or individual packs

generated by the increasing number of single

and two-person households, this aspect is

growing continuously in significance. The

changed pattern of demand has resulted in

smaller batch sizes and increased product

variety for food retailers and packaging

companies. In turn, this means more frequent

changes of product and cleaning for the

production companies. Thus, to be able to

operate profitably under these circumstances,

companies must minimise the change-over and

cleaning times – in other words, HD is a must.

Trade visitors can see the latest innovations

and trends in the field of hygiene technology at

IFFA 2013. Around 950 exhibitors, including all

market leaders, will present new products for

all stages of the meat-processing chain. Thanks

to the new layout of the fair, the complete range

of machines and plant is now concentrated in

Halls 8, 9 and 11, in the western section of

Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre. There,

visitors can see the latest high-tech solutions for

firms of all sizes – from artisan operations to the

meat-processing industry.

Automation for greater productivity

and food safety

Automation in the meat-processing industry is

an important issue. It ensures greater energy

efficiency as well as productivity and quality. In

addition, it improves hygiene conditions and

relieves staff of the heavy physical work.

Industrial robots are increasingly proving to be

the key to effective solutions as opposed to

costly specialised mechanical approaches.

Sortation conveyors and sorting robots

Sortation conveyors work by presorting the

goods and temporarily storing the weighed

fillets in buffer compartments or interim diverts.

Since each buffer compartment requires

individual checking for number and weight,

this means, as well as complex and costly

mechanical systems, the use of a lot of

measuring and control technology. Once the

target weight and number have been reached in

the buffer storage boxes, the latter drop the

products via a trap onto the conveyors beneath,



Ammeraal Beltech – One Stop Belt Shop in the meat industryAmmeraal Beltech is a global belting company and a true ‘One Stop Belt Shop’

that is able to provide components, services and solutions for processing

and conveying products. Our success is the control of the full value chain

(development, manufacturing, fabrication, sales, distribution and service) and

the close co-operation with our customers and other partners in the wide area of

meat applications.

The company has extensive know-how and expertise, particularly in the meat

industry, and provides a wide product range for any application e.g.:

uni ECB – easy clean modular belt

uni ECB is developed in close co-operation with slaughterhouses and has

the unique design to meet the demands regarding hygiene and food safety.

● Reduces cleaning costs

Soliflex PRO – homogenous positive drive belt

This well-balanced concept allows for easy cleaning, reducing total cleaning costs

in perspective of time, water and cleaning agents.

● Avoids fibre contamination

● Easy and fast cleaning

● Self-tracking

● Scraper friendly

Self-tracking belts

The Ammeraal Beltech self-tracking belts reduce costs, offer conveying benefits

and can improve the overall reliability.

● Quick installation/replacement time

● User friendly

● Increased lifespan

For more information, please visit us at IFFA 2013 – Hall 9.1, no. C89

www.ammeraalbeltech.com

Soliflex PRO Belt and uni-chainsECB Modular Belt

which then take them to the packing line, where there is always a

relatively large amount of manual work to be done.

Sorting robots make it possible to build compact robotic units for

weighing, sorting and packaging according to pre-determined

weights. In addition, they allow rapid changes of format and mixed

mode operation. ‘Mixed mode’ here refers to the parallel packing of

e.g. chicken fillets in trays according to a fixed weight and the

simultaneous packaging of ‘bulk ware’ in larger boxes for bulk packs.

The result is that ‘cells’ of sorting robots with three delta robots can

fill trays or boxes in any ratio required. The first two robots pick out

the best-fit fillets and fill the trays for the fixed weights with them; the

third puts the rest into boxes for the ‘bulk packs’.

To summarise the technology: at the entrance to the ‘robot cell’,

one or more belt scales weighs the fillets on their way from the cutting

room. Then the conveyors pass the fillets under a detector which

determines their weight, exact location and orientation. From these

data, depending on the weight in each case, a sorting algorithm

calculates the instruction set for both conveyor belt and robots.

The entire gamut of new automated solutions relating to the

processing and packaging of meat and sausage products will be

showcased by the exhibitors at IFFA.



For further information on IFFA 2013, please visit: www.iffa.com

GEA High Velocity Freezer(HVF) celebrates itsEuropean premiere at IFFAAt the International Trade Fair for the Meat-Processing Industry (IFFA),

GEA Refrigeration Technologies will present its GEA High Velocity Freezer

range (HVF) of impingement freezers for the first time at a European

exhibition. The freezer is based on impingement technology and is

outstandingly effective for freezing hamburger patties and other flat

products, as well as for crust-freezing various other food products. The GEA

HVF uses new uniquely designed high-velocity air jets to effectively break

the insulating boundary layers around the product and to quickly reduce the

temperature at the outer layer. The freezing process consequently takes place

10 to 15 per cent faster than with existing impingement freezers, which

minimises dehydration loss. Users profit from enhanced product quality,

reduced cell damage and longer shelf lives of the food products. The GEA

HVF has a modular configuration and is also available with two conveyor

belts whose speed can be separately adjusted.

“GEA generally invested time and development work into improving

the freezing dynamics to produce better results, increase yield, and allow

faster and more complete freezing – while using less energy,” said Robert

Laflamme, President of GEA Refrigeration Canada Inc.

Please visit GEA Refrigeration Technologies at IFFA (the International

Trade Fair for the Meat-Processing Industry), from 4 – 9 May 2013, at the

fairgrounds in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Hall 8.0 / Stand D06

www.gea.com

The new GEA high-velocity impingement freezer (HVF)from GEA Refrigeration Technologies

GEA Process Engineering

GEA Process Engineering unites deep-rooted insight in food and dairy processing with technological edge to supply complete state-of-the-art process lines. A GEA Niro powder plant fulfills the strictest demands for food safety, product quality, plant efficiency and sustainable production.

That is how we have become the leading supplier of process technology to the dairy industry worldwide.

GEA Process Engineering A/SGladsaxevej 305, DK-2860 Soeborg, DenmarkTel: +45 39 54 54 54, Fax: +45 39 54 58 [email protected], www.gea.com

engineering for a better world

Complete Powder Plants for the Dairy Industry

Until recently, much of the pharmaceutical

literature seemed to focus on PAT as an

aspirational goal with more emphasis on

the benefits of PAT rather than case studies

of commercial implementations. However,

the evolution of continuous manufacturing

processes within pharmaceutical manufact-

uring appears to have triggered a marked

change in emphasis lately. At the recent

IFPAC 2013 meeting in Baltimore, some large

pharmaceutical companies presented examples

of PAT and real-time release systems currently

applied to continuous commercial manufactur -

ing lines. Advanced Process Control (APC) tools

were described as being a logical extension, or

perhaps even an integral part of online PAT

systems. The ramifications for large-scale dairy

manufacturing are intriguing. Continuous

processing is routine and APC is reasonably

common, so does this mean PAT may be ‘the

next big thing’ for quality management in dairy?

For Fonterra, the answer is a cautious yes. But the

pharmaceutical industry has been on the PAT

journey for almost a decade, so the challenge for

dairy is to accelerate the learning process and

carefully manage the initial resource invest-

ment required to develop working solutions.

Fonterra’s approach has been to consider PAT

as an extension of its long-standing APC

programme, and expedite new solution

development by engaging high-quality external

research resources.

New Zealand has a population of

4.45 million people, 31 million sheep and

6.5 million dairy cattle. Primary production is a

key part of the economy, generating 69 per cent

of all export earnings in the year ended June

20102. The largest export sectors are dairy

products followed by meat and wool. There has

been a significant transformation occurring

within New Zealand farming with sheep

numbers declining by 50 per cent and dairy

cattle numbers increasing by 50 per cent since

19813. Consequently, many new dairy factories

have been constructed during this period.

Processing companies have often pursued

business models that are based on economies of

scale in order to reduce costs and overcome our

geographic isolation from key international

markets. As a result, New Zealand has a fleet of

modern, world-scale plants, particularly for

milk powder production. The arable local

climate allows farmers to use grass-based

pastoral grazing systems and capitalise on a

low feed-cost to milk-price ratio. This reduces

on-farm costs but introduces a strong

seasonality to production with milk volumes

(Figure 1, page 34) and composition changing

significantly over a season. This has knock-on

effects for factories which must contend with

this level of variability yet still produce

consistent product for global customers

throughout the season.

Advanced Process Control plays an import -

ant role in Fonterra by increasing process

efficiency and maintaining product consistency

in the face of input variation. The first APC

project commenced in 1995 when a prede -

cessor dairy co-operative New Zealand

Dairy Group began working with Pavilion

Technologies to develop an model predictive

control solution for a local milk powder plant.

This relationship has continued despite

significant changes; Fonterra was formed in

2003 following a succession of dairy industry

mergers, and Pavilion Technologies was

Open any magazine aimed at the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and there

are regular references to Process Analytical Technology (PAT). There has been a

significant focus on this area ever since publication of the US Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) report in 20041

encouraging the pharmaceutical industry to

adopt PAT. Touted benefits include process optimisation, improved product

consistency, reduced downgrade and even real-time release of product to market.

PAT inlarge-scale

dairy processingTristan Hunter

Technical Manager – Strategy, Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd


PROCESS ANALYTICAL TECHNOLOGY

© Madlen / Shutterstock.com

acquired by Rockwell Automation in 2007.

Advanced Process Control solutions are widely

deployed across Fonterra’s manufacturing

facilities and are considered an integral part of

the way we build and operate plants. These

tools actively manipulate operating conditions

in order to counter input variation and sub -

sequently optimise operating conditions.

Annual financial benefits from the APC

programme are significant. An internal

engineering team develops, deploys and

supports APC solutions for Fonterra plants

across Australasia. We have identified several

success factors including:

� Solutions must be robust and behave in a

predictable fashion even when used

outside the standard operating region

� Complex tools must be intuitive for pro -

duction staff to use, with a strong emphasis

on clear user interfaces

� These technologies must establish a strong

value perception with production staff or

they will not be used

� On-going financial benefits must be visible

to management across the business.

The sustained success of the APC programme

makes it a logical foundation for a PAT initiative

within Fonterra’s manufacturing operations.

However, it is known from experience that

developing new real-time solutions involves a

significant resource commitment. Prototype

solutions must be developed within an

acceptable timeframe and demonstrate

quantified benefits that align with company

strategy. Internally, the solution must be

sufficiently generic to be efficiently rolled out

across multiple plants in order to maximise

the benefits from the initial development

investment. This requires specialist resources

who can translate a concept into a prototype

and ultimately a packaged solution. Despite

having a high level of interest in PAT, it was

not practical for Fonterra to develop a new

tranche of quality-focused real-time tools solely

using internal resources. A different approach

was required if the business was to adopt the

PAT paradigm.

The Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) is a

New Zealand government-industry initiative

that invests in significant programmes of

research and innovation to boost the economic

growth and sustainability of New Zealand’s

primary, forestry and food sectors. There are

currently 12 PGP programmes underway, one of

which is titled ‘Dairy industry of New Zealand:


Figure 1 New Zealand – Triennal overview of milk production Copyright: DCANZ / cial.it


Transforming the Dairy Value Chain’. The

Dairy PGP programme has a total value of

approximately USD 140 million over seven years,

with around half of the funding coming from the

New Zealand Government4. The programme

covers a range of areas including on-farm

practices, large-scale food processing and

supply chain optimisation. A significant part of

this funding is being used to support capability

development in the area of PAT for dairy

processing. This is being achieved through the

establishment of a research programme

between Fonterra and the Industrial Information

and Control Centre (I2C2), a research consortium

established by academics in the University

of Auckland and Auckland University of

Technology. This work focuses on developing

new prototype tools and demonstrating their

success in a production environment, whilst

leveraging the experience and infrastructure of

the existing APC programme. The Dairy PGP has

reduced the entry hurdle, allowing Fonterra to

begin building capability and ultimately

develop a sustainable PAT programme within its

manufacturing operations.

Taking an Advanced Process Control

programme centred on yield and capacity and

extending it to include quality may seem like an

incremental step, even trivial, but this not

necessarily the case. Process optimisation

(maximising plant rate and yield) is focused on

continually pushing towards known limits.

The opportunity gap is easy to quantify on a

minute-by-minute basis and define as an

objective function to be minimised. However,

quality management is about identifying and

managing exceptions and deviations. Such

events are intermittent and data are inevitably

sparse. The financial benefits of exception

avoidance cannot immediately be quantified,

since this only becomes apparent in longer term

performance metrics.

The natural approach in this situation is to

look at PAT implementations in other industries

for guidance. Validated environments tend to

focus on sophisticated measurement tech -

nologies for ingredient assessment (detect

adulterants, classify and confirm ingredients

being added) and in-line process measurement

for product assessment (e.g. batch endpoint

detection). Significant effort is then put into

developing accurate models representing

relationships between the main input and

output parameters. This usually requires an

extensive series of designed experiments which

introduce specific process variation to establish

statistically valid correlations between the

various parameters. This level of instrumentation

and model development is time consuming and

expensive. Processing plants in lower value

commodity industries such as dairy typically


Process Analytical Technology

MPAFT-NIR Lab Spectrometer

Designed to provide maximum fl exibility, the Multi Purpose Analyzer MPA is ideal for the at-line method development and routine QA/QC work in the laboratory.

MATRIX-FFT-NIR Process Spectrometer

The online spectrometer MATRIX-F allows contact and non-contact measurements in reactors, blenders, pipes, bypasses and even over conveyor belts.

F T-NIRInnovation with Integrity

Today, many companies are not only striving to manufacture high quality products, but also increase production effi ciency by installing the analytical systems directly into their production plants. This improves process verifi ability and process under-standing and gives the company the opportunity to optimize material use, run-time of machines and quality of the products up to real-time-release.

Bruker´s spectroscopical technology based on modern FT spectrometers can be used at a lot of different process steps and offer high amount information to gain better process knowledge. The robust design of all spectrometers enables usage in tough conditions in production plants with very low maintenance costs/times.

Contact us for more details: www.bruker.com/optics

Process optimisationis focused on

continually pushingtowards known limits

have fewer expensive in-line product measure -

ments. Whilst Fonterra’s modern, large-scale

plants are well instrumented, most measure -

ments assess processing conditions (e.g.

temperature, pressure and flow) rather than

product attributes. In this situation, the large

amount of input variability discussed earlier

can actually be useful since, with the right

mathematical tools, it becomes possible to

automatically capture a detailed history of the

specific processing conditions for each unit of

product. The number of designed experiments is

substantially reduced and may not be required

at all. From there it is possible to identify

relationships between measured inputs and

product properties determined using routine off-

line lab measurements. This real-time approach is

based on applying mechanistic and engineering-

centric thinking rather than a traditional PAT /

chemometric mind-set. It leverages our current

APC capability and mitigates the perception that

PAT increases operating costs by requiring

additional in-line instrumentation and extensive

plant trials. The phrase ‘Real-Time Quality’ has been coined to represent

Fonterra’s dairy PAT initiative. Work is currently focused on developing a set

of quality-focused real-time tools for production staff. Particular emphasis

is being placed on methods for presenting and visualising information

from sophisticated data analysis techniques in a clear and meaningful way

that prompts suitable action by the operator. Logically, some outputs from

these new tools may be incorporated into existing Advanced Process

Control systems. At this point, developing predictions of microbial growth

within the plant are not in scope since there are already well-resourced

food safety management programmes in place.

In summary, Fonterra is taking the first steps on its PAT journey.

We have established a strong relationship with an external research group

and are pursuing a structured work plan that has been reviewed and

endorsed by international experts. Most importantly, we have developed a

PAT paradigm called Real-Time Quality which is tailored to the

characteristics of the dairy industry and leverages Fonterra’s internal

strengths. There are many challenges ahead but there is confidence of

success provided we continue to critique contemporary PAT thinking to

identify paradigms that suit our needs.

DA 7250 SD

Accurate NIR Meat analyzer



Tristan Hunter completed a doctorate in Chemical and Process Engineering at

University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He managed the Fonterra Advanced Progress

Control team for more than three years and currently holds the role of Technical

Manager – Strategy. He co-ordinates the overall technical direction and adoption of

new automation and process control technologies.

Biography

1. FDA (2004), PAT — A framework for innovative pharmaceutical development,

manufacturing, and quality assurance. Rockville, MD, U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services. Food and Drug Administration Center for Biologics Evaluation

and Research

2. Statistics New Zealand (2010), Global New Zealand – International trade, investment,

and travel profile: Year ended June 2010, Wellington: Statistics New Zealand

3. Statistics New Zealand (2012), National Accounts (Industry Benchmarks): Year ended

March 2010, Wellington: Statistics New Zealand, ISSN 2324-190X

4. http://www.mpi.govt.nz/Portals/0/Documents/agriculture/assist-funding/pgp/

media-bkgrd-dairy.pdf

References

The phrase ‘Real-Time Quality’ has been coinedto represent Fonterra’s dairy PAT initiative

Our research aims to promote healthy eating

behaviours while optimising the overall con -

sumer satisfaction with the product experience.

We know that people don’t adopt healthy eating

behaviours if they lose satisfaction, so our

approach consists in identifying and combining

drivers of healthy eating behaviours and of

satisfaction. Overall satisfaction includes not

only the sensory pleasure but also optimising

other product characteristics such as the

satiating properties. The different components

of the scientific journey we started a few years

ago to reach the abovementioned aim can be

summarised in the two following chapters and

illustrated in Figure 1, page 38).

The move to more realism

To move closer to consumers experience in

their everyday life, sensory and consumer

scientists work together to propose experi-

ments involving representative consumers,

products and contexts. They also use, adapt and

pioneer the development of approaches

and tools that are more relevant to better

understand consumers’ needs and set the

scene for future consumer research. Using

this approach, we apply measures that go

Sensory and consumer sciences have evolved quite a lot over the past decade. Our

ambition during this period has been to pioneer some of these changes to fully

incorporate the challenge of better understanding the drivers of food pleasure,

intake and satisfaction. Some of these changes are very close to the predictions

recently discussed by Meiselman1. They include the move beyond the laboratory to

more realistic environments, the use of representative subjects and samples, the use

of more representative and direct measures of consumer behaviour, more health and

wellness, measuring beyond liking. The objective of the current paper is to illustrate

the development and application of these new approaches to get a better insight

of the whole consumer experience and to propose to the consumers healthy and

pleasurable food experience.

Seeing the future through the eyes of your consumers: newperspectives from consumerand sensory sciences

Nathalie Martin

Consumer and Sensory Science Group, Nestlé Research Center


SENSORY SCIENCE

© N

este

c Lt

d, N

estlé

Res

earc

h Ce

nter

beyond liking and give access to consumers’

unarticulated needs.

First of all, recruiting representative con -

sumers means moving away from convenience

samples of consumers who are primarily

recruited because of their ease of access and

availability. This is a more challenging task than

considering the pool of students from the local

university that may be very easy to recruit but

may not reflect the consumer target of interest.

It is important to consider product usage

when recruiting consumers to enable seg -

menta tion into low / medium / high users of the

product category. Consumers can also be

segmented based on socio-demographic

information such as age, gender and location.

Psychographic criteria such as involvement,

dietary restraint, neophobia, sensation seeking

as well as need states are also more often con -

sidered. Recruiting representative consumers

can also translate into testing with children,

elderly or patients who represent a market for

many products. Focusing on specific popula -

tions requires the development of tailored

approaches that are methodologically relevant

and ethically acceptable.

Second, it is important to consider the

representativeness of the products being tested.

Moving from unbranded products to branded

and packaged products put into context can

provide additional useful information. Blind

tests such as discriminative or descriptive

testing, classically used by sensory scientists, will

remain the gold standard when the focus is to

highlight intrinsic sensory differences. However,

testing branded products in their packaging

more closely reflects the actual consumer

experience and incorporates expectations that

are built during the early stages of the product

experience (product choice, packaging handling

and opening).

Third, sensory and consumer sciences are

evolving to include more realistic choice and

consumption contexts. Fewer consumer tests

are being performed in very controlled

laboratory environments, and consumers are

increasingly free to interact with the product

over time using Home Use Tests where there is

less control of the products and consumption

situation, but the experience is more repre -

sentative of real-life. In an effort to design a

testing environment that balances controlling

test variables and the reality of the consumer

experience, we have built a space dedicated to

study consumers in a controlled way that is

closer to their everyday environment in our

Research Center. This test environment enables

researchers to control the factors under

investigation such as the products tested

and the consumption context in which the

consumer interacts with the product, while also

allowing the freedom to experience the product

in a natural environment. The researcher is then

free to observe how consumers interact with the

products and one another. The Consumer

Research Space (CRS) is a flexible environment

that can be modified to reproduce a super -

market, a standard kitchen for a European

household, a living room area or an office

environment to provide different contexts for

the product that is being evaluated.

Measuring beyond liking

Measuring liking is one of the traditional tools in

a sensory and consumer scientist’s toolbox.

However, over the years it has become apparent

that even liked products fail and so we have

further evolved the question to include more


SENSORY SCIENCE

Figure 1 Different steps of the scientific journey from standard measure of perceptions and liking on a bite or sip of product to the dynamics of perception, liking, emotions,behaviours over the whole product experience

than just ‘sensory’ liking. Liking is not the only

driver of food choice and many other dimen -

sions of the product experience can contribute

to overall consumer satisfaction. In recent years,

we have explored other consumer benefits

beyond liking, with a special focus on the

sensory drivers of perceived naturalness2 and

perceived refreshment3,4. The measurement of

emotions in food has also emerged as a growing

field in recent years as it is of great interest for

designing foods that are not only liked, but

that also generate an emotional connection

between the consumer and, for instance, the

nutritional message carried by the product

and the brand. In the beginning there was

no consensus definition, or common list of

emotions5 to draw from, so scientists have built

their own lists, drawn from consumers, for

different product categories6. We have meas -

ured emotions related to specific products7 at

different stages of the product-user interaction.

In addition, we have examined emotions in

different consumer target populations that

traditionally have been much less studied

than adults, such as primary school children

consuming beverages8,9. This latter study shows

that it is possible to measure consumption

related emotions in children with question -

naires. These include a restricted number of

emotional attributes such as the SAM com-

posed of three dimensions (valence, arousal,

dominance) or the DES reduced to five

dimensions (Interest, Joy, Disgust, Shyness

and Surprise). This approach has facilitated

discrimination between products based on their

emotional impact and is helpful, for instance, to

propose healthy products 'cool' for kids.

Previous approaches have mainly used

questionnaires and one-to-one interviews,

which have been a mainstay for decades to

collect information on consumers’ likes,

dislikes, needs, desires and wants. They require

consumers to express themselves and rely on

what consumers are willing or able to tell us

about their product experience. They provide

information on explicit needs, reasons for

preference and choice. But people don’t always

say what they mean and they don’t always mean

what they say. They may not be aware of things

they do without explicit knowledge. They use

rational information but are also influenced by

different unconscious processes that are not

captured by traditional approaches. To ensure

we capture the complexity of these needs

and to better understand consumer food

dreams, hopes and aspirations, we have

opened ourselves to other approaches to

understand both explicit (stated) and implicit

(unarticulated) desires of consumers. Among

these, we developed quantitative behavioural

measurements to be able to tap into un -

expressed consumer needs and truths. Our

approach complements the traditional ethno -

graphic qualitative approach, largely used by

our marketing colleagues. Ethnography consists

of studying people’s actions in everyday

contexts. It is a holistic approach that includes

observing people in natural settings. Data

acquisition is made by the ethnographer who is

present during the observation is carried out

and interpretation (no quantification, no use of

statistics) is qualitative10. This qualitative

approach is largely used to collect insight on

what consumers do when purchasing and

consuming a product. To go a step further, we

have moved towards a quantitative assessment

of behavioural observations as proposed by

ethology11 to understand what drives consumer

behaviours and also to examine how behaviours

may impact other variables of interest such as

emotions, satiation and intake. This approach

provides an objective database of product

experiences that can be used by subsequent

researchers for further exploration and

supplementation. It primarily consists of filming

consumers in a natural environment and in

analysing their videos through behavioural

coding techniques that are validated inde -

pendently by several coders. The coding

describes the main types of behaviours associ-

ated with a particular product experience and

context, where the frequency of occurrence,

duration and sequence of key behaviours are

recorded and quantified to produce an ‘etho -

gram’. The resulting quantitative variables can

then be analysed statistically and be interpreted

in terms of significant difference in patterns of

behaviours between products, contexts or

consumers. These differences can subsequently

be related to product features (i.e. physical

properties, composition, nutritional message,

brand information), to consumer characteristics

(i.e. sensory, cognitive factors, individual traits)

or to features of the context (i.e. purchase

context, consumption context, meal occasion)

and bring unique information on the drivers and

impact of specific behaviours.

In adults, such an approach gives results

that are very complementary to the informa-

tion that can be collected through self-report.

For example, analysing the different behaviours

of consumers while eating different solid

foods or a complex meal provided insight on the

oral processing parameters (i.e. number of

chews, bites, swallows, exposure time in mouth)

driving satiation and food intake12,13. In other

studies, we have extended the behavioural

measurements to the whole consumer

experience and been able to identify key

behaviours associated to specific sensory

properties and emotions. In the context of

developing healthy food without compromising

pleasure, this approach will ensure that the

sensory impressions created by the different

elements of a product (packaging, content)

are incorporated in the entire design process

and contribute to an emotionally engaging and

memorable product experience.

Sensory and consumer research has

previously relied heavily on self report of

subjective feelings to inform insight, but there

are also consumers groups from whom self

report is very difficult or simply impossible to

collect. This is the case for babies and young

children, for whom behavioural measurements

can add valuable insights. For example, we have

successfully developed recommendations to

promote healthy feeding and cues to help

mothers detect early signs of satiation in their

child by analysing the changes in facial

expressions and behavioural changes in babies

during food consumption14. We also apply

similar behavioural measurement approaches to

study toddlers and parents and examine how

mother-child interactions impact the develop -

ment of healthy eating behaviours and a healthy

diet. We have investigated the impact of

engaging older kids in cooking activities to

examine related behaviours and emotions

(of the child and of the parents), with a view to

promoting healthy eating habits, particularly in

relation to increasing vegetable intake. With this

innovative approach, consumer science assures

the scientific base for guidance on sound

feeding and the development of healthy eating

habits and hopes to generate positive change in

an increasingly obesogenic food environment.

The move to a dynamic perspective

of the whole consumer experience

with the product

Identifying and optimising the sensory drivers of

liking remains a key step in product develop -

ment. Until quite recently, we used only static

approaches to understand the difference in

SENSORY SCIENCE


liking between products. The intensity of

sensory attributes was recorded in a single,

time-averaged response integrating all the

possible sensory changes that occurred during

the product consumption. These perception

scores were then linked to liking scores also

recorded in a single, time-averaged response of

liking. These measures were done most of the

time on one bite or one sip of the product, and

the data generated was treated as an absolute

value that represented a quantitative intensity.

However, what we noticed over time was that

two products with quite similar sensory

profiles could be liked quite differently by

the target consumers. For this reason, we

started to look at alternative approaches to

understand the drivers of liking and con -

sumption to better inform product design

and go beyond sensory liking. This creative

process led us to study the dynamic sequence

of events that occur during consumption,

from first bite through to completion of the

product. We evolved our static momentary

measures into dynamic measures of perception,

liking and food transformation throughout the

consumption event.

We applied the Temporal Dominance of

Sensation (TDS) approach15 to study the

dynamics of texture perception for a range of

breakfast cereals16. TDS is used to determine the

length and sequence of dominant perceptions

during a consumption event. Although the TDS

approach has been available for over 10 years, its

application to the measurement of texture

perception during consumption is still devel -

op ing. When we began to study temporal

dominance for texture, there had been very few

studies published on TDS, none focused only on

texture and no consensus on the meaning of the

term dominance. We defined a dominant

sensation as a sensation that triggers the

attention the most at a point of time. Subjects

disposed of the attribute lists that are used in

standard sensory profiling and were free to

choose the attribute that was most dominant at

that point in time, changing to other attributes

when the dominance changes. The onset and

decay of dominant sensations were recorded to

understand how duration influences perception

and results from different individuals were

aggregated to build a TDS curve which

represents the frequency of subjects identifying

an attribute as dominant at that point in time.

In our example, the pattern of dominant

attributes differed among breakfast cereals in

terms of the dominant attributes but also the

sequence and duration of dominant per -

ceptions. Some common features were also

observed for the product category. Our scientific

hypothesis at that stage was that the sensory

contrasts would drive changes in liking.

We extended our research further to study

the dynamics of liking and proposed two novel

measures to track liking over the product

experience17. The first approach involved

a 'Four-step method', where consumers give a

liking rating for each product at four specific

times during the mastication period. The second

method is a continuous liking method where

the consumers are asked to self report any

change in their liking over the mastication

period, from the first bite to swallow. Using

this procedure, consumers do not need to

constantly manipulate a cursor as for time

intensity, but rather they can just focus on

changes in the degree of liking they perceive

during the consumption. Products studied

differed in their overall level of liking as well as in

the temporal patterns in liking and there was

good agreement between the two temporal

approaches to tracking liking. Both methods

revealed an increase of liking over time for the

least liked product, a slight increase over time for

a second product and a slight decrease over

time for a third product. In all cases, the

dynamic liking curves were quite flat. To check if

this result was due to limited changes in liking

scores over the consumption event or to inter-

individual differences, individual liking curves

were also considered. The results showed that

subjects reported an important difference in

liking but that their dynamics of liking differed a

lot too. This suggests that sensory contrasts

did not trigger the same changes of liking

across all individuals, but rather individuals

could be clustered based on the dynamic

development of their perceptions. The subtlety

of these comparisons would have been missed

were we to remain focused on traditional static

measures of liking that require consumers to

provide an absolute value for the product

experience, and that integrate all of the changes

into a holistic rating.

Another hypothesis we tested was whether

perceived sensory contrast could be linked to

physical changes that occur in mouth during

mastication. We combined our dynamic

measures of liking and sensory perception with

additional measures of the physical changes

that occur when preparing the food bolus for

swallowing (i.e. Texture Profile Analysis, particle

size, water content and acoustic parameters)18,19.

These physical variables were measured on the

bolus at different stages of the mastication

process. Similar to the sensory characterisation,

physical trajectories could be built that showed

the first part of the consumption event was

driven by a reduction in particle size whereas the

second phase was associated with the formation

of a cohesive bolus. Physical and sensory

changes progressed over the course of the

mastication, adding another layer of detail

to the product developers’ insights when

designing product architecture to reach a

specific / optimised sequence of perceptions.

Across products and quite different initial food

structures, similar end points were reached on

certain key physical and sensory attributes

before swallowing. This latter finding is par -

ticularly interesting when it comes to the design

of foods that are easy to swallow when targeting

specific consumers such as dysphagic patients

as these physical and subsequent sensory cues

can be used to trigger swallowing initiation.

Dynamic assessment during the

whole product / meal consumption:

from first bite to fullness

The dynamics of in-mouth perceptions that

accompany food processing throughout the

product experience as well as the process

through which satiation builds during meal

consumption represent key additional infor -

mation that help to build an overall assessment

of the product. Closer examination of the whole

product consumption may help to reveal quite

different information about the onset of

satiation and post-meal satisfaction, than the

consumption of a controlled portion of a food.

These findings can then be used to help better

design meals that promote greater feelings of

satiation without increasing or even while

decreasing caloric intake. The originality of the

approach we took compared to other key

players in the field20 was to collect information

on the key dynamic oral processing parameters

(i.e. number of bites, chews, chew rate…) and

relate this information to amount consumed

and food intake. This information was paired

with subjective consumer ratings of hunger and


SENSORY SCIENCE

‘‘The measurement of emotions in food has also emerged as a growing

field in recent years’’

fullness throughout the meal, to better

understand how oral processing contributes to

the development of fullness feelings. Our aim

was to understand the complex relationship

between the foods properties, the eating

behaviours it produces and the subsequent

onset of satiation / satiety that result from the

intake. We began by studying 35 very different

solid savoury foods to explore the difference in

eating rate (g/min) which varied from 12 to

100 g/min13. Chewing rate (chews/minute)

remained quite constant across a very wide

range of different food structures, indicating

that human chewing rate is relatively stereo -

typed regardless of the product differences.

Bigger differences were observed in the bite size

(g/bite) and exposure time (seconds in mouth).

High correlations were observed between some

of the variables measured such as oral exposure

time is inversely correlated to eating rate.

The perceived texture (i.e. chewiness, firmness)

but not taste attributes were correlated to the

oral processing parameters such as exposure

time and the fullness that each food was

expected to confer was correlated to several oral

processing parameters indicating that the way

food are consumed may inform our beliefs

about the fullness we expect to derive.

Consumer ratings of liking were correlated to

key sensory attributes, but liking did not

influence the oral processing parameters.

This approach enabled us to identify differences

in eating rate for certain savoury meal com -

ponents, and using this information, we

designed a more complex experiment to

investigate the sensory drivers of food intake for

a hot lunchtime meal consumed ad-libitum13.

Here we were interested to know whether the

differences we identified in oral processing

behaviour could lead to differences in overall

food intake for a realistic lunchtime meal. The

experimental design included two levels of

texture (solid or pureed) and two levels of taste

intensity (high and low savoury gravy) for a three

component meal (beef, potatoes, carrots).

Significantly more of the savoury-mashed meal

was consumed compared to the other test

meals. Softer texture resulted in higher intake

only in the savoury taste condition and there

was no effect of the taste on the intake.

The increased intake of the mashed-savoury

meal was facilitated by an increase in eating rate

(g/min) when compared to the other meals.

The study highlighted that eating rate can play

an important role in moderating the amount of

food consumed and using this knowledge, it

should be possible to slow eating rate and

overall intake with a judicious selection of meal

textures. This result has recently been replicated

to further understand the drivers of intake.

We showed, in a cross-over design, that a

harder-textured hamburger consumed with

a higher number of total chews and bites and

harder-textured rice salad consumed with a

higher number of chews per bite led to lower

intake during lunch compared to their softer

versions. We can retrospectively think that it is

obvious that the mastication process is of

high importance in food intake but we know

now how to measure it and how to use it.

The implications of these promising findings is

to design foods that could be used to slow

eating rate, decrease food intake and produce

sustainable reductions in overall energy intake.

The whole product experience: from

packaging handling to consumption

In addition to the detailed investigation of

the product experience outlined above, it is

also important to consider the perceptual

dimensions available before the product

consumption. Packaging handling, visual, tactile

and odour cues of the food or beverage on the

plate or in the glass provide information to

the consumer that is of utmost importance

for the rest of the experience with the product.

Indeed, the expectations formed during the first

stages of the interaction with the product

determine later perceptual dimensions experi -

enced during the product consumption. As food

scientists, we have primarily focused on what

happens when consuming the product which

has been reflected in the previous section of

this paper. We now believe that the eating

experience starts long before the product is put

in the mouth and to better understand the role

this plays in the product experience, we have

focused quite extensively on one important top-

down effect: expectations. During the experi -

ence with a food, the information provided by

our sensory systems is of utmost important.

However, it is not the only input we have at our

disposal to make our decisions to buy, to eat

more or less of a food and to enjoy the food.

The memory we have from previous experience

contributes to create expectations that interplay

with the sensory inputs and modulate the

overall satisfaction for the current experience.

An example of where we have used this

more holistic product development approach

was with dehydrated food product where we

tracked how it was experienced by consumers at

different stages of the product usage. We began

by examining how the product was chosen on a

supermarket shelf, followed it through to

opening the package, cooking and finally the

consumption of the food. The study applied a

dynamic evaluation to quantify the impact of

the packaging attributes on product percep -

tions, emotions and the perceived benefit of

'naturalness', at each moment of the experience.

The findings highlighted the relative importance

of the different sensory modalities as well as the

dominant emotions at the different stages of

the user-product interaction7. Expectations built

in the early stages of interaction with the

product (packaging handling and opening)

were shown to heavily influence the perceptions

and emotions experienced while consuming the

product. Drawing on this expertise, packaging

design can be optimised to maximise some

specific emotions at different stages of the

whole product experience.

Another example of why it is important to

measure the influence of expectations prior

to consumption deals with the measurement of

‘expected satiation’ defined as the fullness you

would expect from a meal or portion before

you consume it. We have begun measuring this

product characteristic to better understand the

types of foods and food combinations that can

be used to promote healthier portion size

selections that don’t lead to over-consumption

of energy and yet maintain consumer satis -

faction. We always choose the portion of a food

we will consume before a meal in the absence of

any visceral feedback from the food itself,

indicating that we have a library of learned

information about how much food we will need

to consume to fill us up. Most people will eat all

of the food they put on their plate and since this

is decided when the portion is selected, the

opportunity to control energy intake lies

primarily before the meal begins. We are using

learned information from our many experiences

with foods and fullness to inform our food

portion decisions. Therefore, to understand how

meal size is controlled, it is important to explore

factors that influence portion size selection and

determine how much energy ends up on a

consumer’s plate. Liking is widely regarded as

SENSORY SCIENCE


‘‘Consumer ratings of liking werecorrelated to key sensory attributes’’

predictive of intake and a driver of meal size.

Recent evidence suggests that expected satia -

tion (anticipated fullness) and expected satiety

(anticipated fullness between meals) may be

more important determinants of the energy

content of self-selected portions. We have

examined this using an innovative approach to

better understand the factors that influence

everyday portion size selection21. We measured

expected satiation in a matched fullness task for

15 test meals that were compared against four

comparison foods and took measures of

expected liking and ideal portion size for the

same meals22,23. This approach was used to show

that ideal portion sizes were quite different

across a range of very similar meals, demon -

strating that consumers do not relate ideal

portion size to the actual kilocalorie content of

the meals, but rather they will rely on their

learned feelings of fullness from their past

experiences with the same or similar foods.

The results also demonstrated that the ideal

portion size was not correlated with consumers

expected liking for the foods, which is contrary

to what conventional knowledge would

suggest. Expected liking was not significantly

correlated with ideal portion size, but expected

satiation was a strong predictor of the ideal

portion the consumer chose to select. The

findings highlight that there is a strong

relationship between the consumers’ beliefs

about the satiating properties of the meal and

how much of that meal they will choose to eat.

They confirm it is worth further investigating

what drives expected satiation and to look more

closely at the visual cues of a meal that can be

used to promote expected and actual fullness,

while sustaining satisfaction and responsible

calorie intake. The application of the approach to

measure these learned beliefs about food and

fullness will lead to intelligent meal design

based on expected fullness of the meal com -

ponents and to develop products that help

consumers to control their energy intake and

maintain their satisfaction.

Conclusion

Consumer and sensory sciences have pro -

gressed a lot in understanding the role of

the different stages of the whole consumer

experience and in developing measures that go

beyond liking to look at other aspects of the

consumption event to include emotional and

behavioural measurements. Consumer science

enhances the depth of our consumer under -

standing by combining self report and

behavioural measurements to investigate not

only articulated but also unarticulated con -

sumer needs. When consumer perception,

liking, emotions and behaviours are investigated

dynamically over the whole consumer’s experi -

ence, it brings additional information and builds

a clearer image of what consumers really

want. The knowledge generated creates new

opportunities to develop healthier food

offerings with tailored properties that can

better satisfy the consumer and promote

healthier diets.

Acknowledgements

Ciarán Forde (senior scientist at NRC) and

Alexandre Voirin (Head of NRC Food & Consumer

Interaction department) for their wise comm -

ents and suggestions.


SENSORY SCIENCE

Dr Nathalie Martin leads the Consumer and Sensory Science

Group at the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne. Nathalie has a

Master’s degree in Food Science and a PhD in Sensory Science.

After graduating, she joined AgroParisTech, the leading French

institute for education and research in Life Sciences, Agronomy, Food

Technology and Environment in Paris where she took a lectureship in

Sensory and Consumer Science and contributed to the education of

Bachelors and Masters students. At the same time, she also led a

research team in an INRA Food Process laboratory where she worked

in many different areas related to the physico-chemical and

biological determinants of sensory perception and pleasantness. She

supervised several doctoral students. After 10 years in academics,

she joined the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne where she

leads the Consumer and Sensory Science Group. Dr. Martin’s team

investigates the sensory, cognitive and social drivers of eating

behaviours. This includes a range of issues relating to the role of

perception, cognition and interactions between individuals in

consumer emotions, behaviours, food intake and food choice.

The primary emphasis is on identifying and understanding the

drivers of healthy eating behaviours to propose solutions for

healthier foods and diets.

Biography

1. Meiselman, H. L. 2013. The future in sensory/consumer

research: evolving to a better science. Food Quality and

Preference, 27, 208-214

2. Labbe D , Pineau, N., Martin N. 2013. Food expected

naturalness: impact of visual, tactile and auditory

packaging properties and role of perceptual

interactions. Food Quality and Preference, 27, 170-178

3. Labbe, D., Gilbert, F., Antille, N., Martin, N. 2009. Sensory

determinants of refreshing. Food Quality Preference,

20, 100-109

4. Labbe, D., Almiron-Roig, E., Hudry, J., Leathwood, P.,

Schifferstein, H.N.J., and Martin, N. 2009. Sensory basis

of refreshing perception: role of psychophysiological

factors and food experience. Physiology & Behavior,

98, 1-9

5. Scherer, K. R. 2005. What are emotions? And how can

they be measured? Social Science Information, 44(4),

693-727

6. King, S. C. & Meiselman, H. L. 2010. Development of a

method to Measure Consumer Emotions Associated

with Foods. Food Quality and Preference, 21, 168-177

7. Schifferstein, H.N.J., Desmet P.M,, Labbe, D., Martin, N.

2013. Influence of package design on the dynamics of

multisensory and emotional food experience. Food

Quality and Preference, 27, 18-25

8. Kuenzel, J., Martin, N. Measuring consumption related

emotions in primary-school children. 36th British

Feeding and Drinking Group annual meeting, March

29th & 30th 2012, Bristol, U.K. (Appetite 59, issue 2,

pp630)

9. Kuenzel, J., Martin, N. 2012. Validation of the SAM and 5

dimensions of the DES-IV on consumption related

emotions in children. CERE Emotion conference, May 2-

5 2012, Canterbury, UK

10. Hammersley, M., Atkinson, P. 2007. What is

ethnography? In Ethnography. Principles in practice.

Third Edition. Eds Routledge Taylor & Francis group.

pp 1-5

11. Tinbergen, N. 1963. On aims and methods of Ethology.

Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20, 410-433

12. Forde C. G., van Kuijk, N.,Thaler, T., de Graaf, C., Martin, N.

2013. Oral processing characteristics of solid meal

components, and relations with food composition,

sensory attributes and expected satiation. Appetite, 60,

208-219

13. Forde C. G., van Kuijk, N., Thaler, T., de Graaf, C., Martin,

N. 2012. Texture and Taste Influences on Food intake in

a Realistic Hot Lunch time Meal. Appetite, 60, 180-186

14. Maier, A. 2007. Influence des pratiques d’allaitement et

de sevrage sur l’acceptation de flaveurs nouvelles chez

le jeune enfant : variabilité intra et inter-régionale.

Thèse de Doctorat de l’Université de Bourgogne, Dijon,

France

15. Pineau, N., Cordelle, S., Imbert, A., Rogeaux, M., &

Schlich, P. 2003. Dominance Temporelle des Sensations

– Codage et analyse d'un nouveau type de données

sensorielles. XXXVème journée de statistiques,

pp. 777-780

16. Lenfant, F., Loret, C., Pineau, N., Hartmann, C., Martin, N.

2009. Perception of oral food breakdown: the concept

of sensory trajectory. Appetite, 52, 659-667

17. Sudre, J., Pineau, N., Loret, C., Martin, N. 2011.

Comparison of methods to monitor liking of food

during consumption. Food Quality and Preference, 24,

179-189

18. Loret, C., Walter, M., Pineau, N, Peyron, M.A., Hartmann,

C., Martin, N. 2011. Physical and related sensory

properties of a swallowable bolus. Physiology &

behavior, 104, 855-864

19. Peyron MA, Gierczynski I, Hartmann C, Martin N, Woda

A. Role of physical bolus properties as sensory inputs in

the trigger of swallowing. PLoS ONE, vol 6, issue 6,

e21167

20. Viskaal-van Dongen, M., Kok, F.J., de Graaf, C. 2011.

Eating rate of commonly consumed foods promotes

food and energy intake. Appetite, 56, 25-31

21. Brunstrom, J. M., Shakeshaft, N. G., Scott-Samuel, N. E.

2008. Measuring 'expected satiety' in a range of

common foods using a method of constant stimuli.

Appetite, 51, 605-614

22. Forde, C.G., Alexander, E., Thaler., T, Martin., N.,

Brunstrom, J.M. 2011. Expectations of satiation and

satiety are a better predictor of self-selected portion

size than liking, 35th group meeting of the British

Feeding and Drinking Group, 31st March-1st April,

Belfast, Ireland. (Appetite 57, issue 2, pp558)

23. Forde, C.G., Alexander, E., Thaler, T., Brunstrom, J.M.,

Martin, N. 2011. Application of the “Expected Satiety”

tool to better understand everyday portion size

Selection. 18th European Congress on Obesity, 25-28

May 2011, Istanbul, Turkey

References

Luckily, there are some chinks of light amongst

the darkness: some firms are finding ways to

turn the crises into opportunities.

Speaking about the challenges facing

manufacturers during this time, Michelle

Newman, Marketing Manager for Kliklok

International Ltd, Stand H10, commented:

“In light of the recent controversy over horse -

meat, an increasing number of supermarkets are

pledging to source their ingredients from

reputable suppliers in the UK. It already seems

that the average consumer is now favouring fish

and chicken over red meat consumption.”

Graham Earl, Exhibition Manager at the Total

Processing & Packaging Exhibition, added:

“It sounds counter-intuitive, but tough times can

be positive for manufacturers, as they act as a

catalyst for innovation. We think that this is

where a show like Total comes into its own – it

is a place to meet peers from across the industry,

share the latest ideas and thinking and find ways

to chart a course through the tough terrain.”

Over 320 exhibitors will be on hand at this

year’s exhibition to demonstrate just how

processing and packaging professionals can

improve efficiency, accuracy and consistency

while focusing on innovation.

Comprising three dedicated hubs including

Pakex, PPMA and Interphex, attendees are

invited to discover the latest innovations in

packaging design at the Pakex Hub, machinery

to enhance productivity at the PPMA show and

new manufacturing solutions designed

specifically for the pharmaceutical industry in

the Interphex hub.

From design, automation and control,

packaging machinery to materials and

containers, no matter what industry or product

you’re in charge of, there is no better place to

discover the latest solutions and technologies

available to enhance your business and

transform your production line.

Advice on the latest pressing industry topics

can be found on a number of exhibitor stands

and in addition to these, free-to-attend seminars

will be available throughout the three-day event

featuring experts Tyrrells, M&S, Dairy Crest, B&Q,

Kerry Foods, GSK, Siemens and B. Braun who will

put the industry's pressing issues under the

spotlight, share the latest advice and reveal

ground-breaking industry innovations.

Reflecting the three show hubs, visitors can

attend seminars in the Manufacturing Forum,

sponsored by Linx Printing Technologies, the

Interphex Theatre, sponsored by Bürkert Fluid

Control Systems and Pakex Innovation Hub,

sponsored by Markem Imaje. Each hub offers a

unique seminar programme packed with an

exciting line up of topics chaired by editors from

Process Engineering, Machinery Update, The

Manufacturer, Packaging News, Packaging

Gazette and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and

Packing Source (PMPS).

Other chairs overseeing seminars at the

exhibition include the International Society for

Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) chair, Lynn

Bryan, Thrive design agency founder, Doug

James and Alan Isaacs, founder and architect of

packaging and converting process machinery

for the medical and pharmaceutical sectors.

Graham Earl added: “This year’s seminar

programme most certainly reflects the scale

of the Total Processing & Packaging Exhibition –

the UK’s largest packaging and processing

exhibition in 2013. It’s great to be able to

offer attendees such an extensive three-day

seminar programme. For attendees, there

are a wide range of relevant subjects, whether

you’re looking to improve the design, auto -

mation or productivity of your plant. Visitors

will be given a unique opportunity to learn from

the experts with measurable success to gain

crucial business advice and tips on meeting

the demands of the modern processing and

packaging industries.”

This year’s Total Processing & Packaging Exhibition takes place against a

tough backdrop for the industry. Manufacturing output fell by three per cent in

the year to March 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics. On top of

that, the manufacturing industry is suffering a degree of collateral damage from the

horsemeat scandal. The industry could be forgiven for looking glum.

Improvingcompetitiveness,consistency and quality


ShowPREVIEW Date: 4-6 June 2013 · Location: Birmingham NEC, UK

More information

For more information on the Total Processing

and Packaging Exhibition 2013, please visit

www.totalexhibition.com, join the conversation on

Twitter (@TotalExhibition) or join the LinkedIn

group (Total Exhibition 2013).

Not all nuclei present in natural substances are

magnetically active; therefore, not all of them

are detectable by NMR. However, the atoms

mainly present in foods, such as H, O, C, N, P, etc.,

have at least one detectable isotope. For some

elements, the most abundant isotope, such as 1H

and 31P, is visible, while the technique sensitivity

for 13C, 17O and 15N results is very low, since they

are low-abundance isotopes in nature for their

corresponding element. Sensitivity could be

improved by synthetically enriching the

substances with the most abundant stable

isotopes. The presence of the magnetically

active 1H isotope in all natural substances gives

NMR spectroscopy, practically, the title of

universal detector.

From this preliminary description, it follows

that every substance responds to the radio wave

pulse with a set of signals, one for each atom

constituting it. Moreover, the frequency of

oscillation, expressed as the position of the

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is an investigation technique to

study matter. It is based on the properties of magnetically active nuclei, which

respond to a perturbation induced in a sample by applying a radio wave pulse.

The nuclei, if immersed in an intense magnetic field, respond to the pulse by

oscillating at a particular frequency, thus generating a signal which is recorded and

transformed by the instrument as a graph, the so-called spectrum, reporting the

intensity of the response as a function of the oscillation frequency. The frequency of

each nucleus is characteristic of its position in the molecule and depends on the

physico-chemical state of the substances. The response depends, in fact, not only on

the structure of the molecule to which the atom belongs to, but also on the chemical

environment in which the molecule is immersed.

The new frontier infoodomics: the perspective of nuclear magneticresonance spectroscopy

Francesco Capozzi

Foodomics Laboratory, Department of Agro-Food Science and Technology, University of Bologna


NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE

© Anna Kucherova / Shutterstock.com

Join our Food and Beverage Supplier Directoryand increase your profile, drive traffic to your websiteand boost your search engine ranking.

Listed are just a few of the hundreds of companiesthat are already benefitting. Adding your organisationis quick and easy, and you can now SAVE 20% on apremium listing when you enter the discount codeISSUE2 during sign-up.

Visit www.newfoodmagazine.com/directory today!

Do you want toincrease your profile?

corresponding signal on the spectrum, changes

if the molecule interacts with others present in

the surrounding chemical environment, or if the

molecule is ionised as a consequence of a

different pH, or in the presence of high salt

concentrations in solution.

Thus, a set of information can be derived by

inspecting the NMR spectrum: the frequency of

the signal, normally expressed as the chemical

shift (in ppm) with respect to a reference

frequency, is diagnostic for the presence of a

specific substance in the mixture, and its area is

directly proportional to the concentration of the

substance; the signal width depends on the rate

at which the atom, corresponding to that signal,

relaxes back to the equilibrium state in which it

was before being perturbed by the radio wave

pulse. The relaxation rate depends on the size

and rigidity of the compound, and on the

energy of the interactions with the surrounding

molecules. Other information may be obtained

by inspecting further signal features, such as the

shape / multiplicity, and by looking at other

physical properties, such as the magnetic

coupling, which are the basis of multi -

dimensional spectroscopic techniques. This

additional information is considered unique,

allowing the scientist to elucidate the molecular

structure of an unknown substance, and was the

reason for the success of NMR spectroscopy in

past decades.

A more complete description of the

theoretical aspects of the technique, and

possible information obtainable on foods on the

basis of the analytical instruments, is available1.

What NMR spectroscopy offers

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

offers the possibility to obtain a molecular

fingerprint of a mixture without having to

go through a tedious preparatory phase for

the separation of the various components.

Many signals originate from the same molecule,

one for each atom, each one with its own

characteristic frequency. Whatever the instru -

ment used, the resonance frequency, expressed

in ppm, corresponds to a specific atom of a

molecule present in a particular mixture, and it is

constant across all laboratories. Therefore, the

same mixture analysed in different laboratories

always produces the same spectrum, super -

imposable to those obtained elsewhere. In

contrast to other techniques, the response is not

dependent on the column usury or on the

manufacture characteristics, which can change

from batch to batch. Instead, it can evolve over

time if the sample is unstable. Thus, two different

spectra necessarily imply a different mixture and

not an irreproducible experiment.

Another interesting feature of NMR

spectroscopy is a direct proportionality between

the concentration of equivalent atoms in the

solution and the area of the corresponding

signal. In practice, this feature can determine the

absolute quantity of a molecule by measuring

the area of just one of its signals, assigned to a

specific atom within the molecule, and by using,

as a reference standard, the area of a signal

from another different compound, present at a

known concentration in the same solution.

Contrary to any other technique, it is not

necessary, in fact, to possess a standard solution

with known concentration of the molecule to


‘‘Whatever the instrument used, the resonance frequency, expressed in

ppm, corresponds to a specific atom of a molecule present in a particular

mixture, and it is constant across all laboratories’’

be titrated. Finally, another feature of NMR

spectroscopy is ‘dynamic range’, i.e. the ability to

measure, with a single analysis, substances

even billions of times more diluted than others,

in the same solution. For other analytical

techniques, such as chromatography or

spectrophotometry, it is often necessary to

proceed with an opportune dilution of the

solutions, if the concentration of an analyte

exceeds the saturation limit of the detector. In

this case, the analyst has to deal with the

problem of the choice of solvent for dilution, so

that the ‘chemical environment’ of the mixture is

not altered.

MR shows an ease of sample preparation,

often limited to the simple extraction phase, to

obtain the solution to be placed directly in the

instrument probe while for many techniques,

derivatisation is a necessary step to add

functional detectable groups to the molecule or

to convert it in volatile derivatives for the

analysis in the gas phase. Through the use of a

special probe, it is possible to record the NMR

spectrum directly on samples of soft matter, that

is, foods existing in an intermediate state

between solid and liquid, such as the semi-rigid

matrix rich in water (e.g., fruit, meat or cheese).

In this case, we refer to High Resolution Magic

Angle Spinning (HRMAS) NMR spectroscopy,

and the analysis of samples is even easier,

because the spectrum of intact food can be

directly recorded on a few mm3 of sample.

Obviously, there are not only laurels for this

technique but, among the few disadvantages

associated with it, the most important is the

poor sensitivity. The comparison with other

widely used, sophisticated techniques, such as

Mass Spectrometry (MS), leaves no doubt: MS

requires as low as sub-femtomole and a few

microliters volumes, whilst NMR relies on tens of

picomoles and hundreds of microlitres. This

makes NMR spectroscopy not so useful when

the trace amounts of some compounds have to

be determined. So, if the quantitative analysis of

individual molecules (target analysis) is sought,

then the choice must fall to other techniques.

Instead, if molecular details are investigated,

such as structural features or interactions with

other compounds, then NMR spectroscopy is

the principle technique.

A comprehensive and well organised review

about the different applications of

NMR spectroscopy applied to the

food analysis has recently been

published by Mannina et al2.

NMR and food analysis

In some cases, the 1H-NMR spectrum has

the advantage of

allowing a rapid assess -

ment of the relative content

of classes of compounds in a

complex mixture. For example, NMR

analysis of the lipid fraction of fish

extracts results in a class fractionation:

the mixture is classified among

saturated, monounsaturated, diunsatu -

rated and polyunsaturated fatty acids,

rather than obtaining the individual

signals of stearic and palmitic acids, as

they are superimposed. Although this

may seem like a limitation, such a quick

non-destructive analysis provides the

very handy amount of omega-3 subclass

as a percentage of the fat total amount.

After such preliminary 1H-NMR analysis,

it is possible to record, on the same

sample, a 13C-NMR spectrum that provides

many more molecular details, for example

the positional distribution of fatty acids

classes on the glycerol moiety in triglycerides,

without having to perform the classical

and tedious enzymatic hydrolysis, which is

preliminary to the chromatographic analysis.

The latter destroys the sample, while NMR

preserves it for future use, including the use of

the same sample, already analysed, for the

following nutritional studies.

Geographical origin, genuineness,

substantial equivalence, shelf life

and freshness

Food quality must include the requirements

of authenticity, which refers to whether the

food purchased by a consumer matches its

description, and traceability, i.e. the ability to

trace and follow a food through all stages of

production. Both criteria are considered in the

definition of the geographical origin of a

food product, as the consumer purchases

a food believed to be authentic if it is produced

in a precise and traceable manner, according to



‘‘Food quality must include therequirements of authenticity, which

refers to whether the food purchased bya consumer matches its description,

and traceability’’

© K

onst

antt

in /

Shut

ters

tock

.com

a protocol or to a

disciplinary ensuring

a certifiable quality.

The case study, often

mentioned to represent

authenticity, concerns the

determination of wine origin,

with a method proposed by

Martin, according to a well-

known approach that

employs the technique2H-SNIF NMR approved

by the EU in 1990. This

methodology is based

on the correlation between

the geographical origin

and the isotopic ratio of

deuterium to hydrogen

(2H/1H) in two specific positions

of the ethanol molecule. The

relative concen tration of deuterium in

each specific molecular position was

related to the geographical origin also

in other alcoholic beverages, fruit juices,

oils and milk.

A different approach to determine

the authenticity of a food is to seek

metabo lites (molecules produced by

biological biosynthetic pathways)

characteristic and unique for a particular

product, that cannot be found in other ones.

In other words, some specific compounds may

be considered as unique markers for a food,

which is defined by its history, including

the entire set of phases of its production,

starting from the raw material, passing through

the soil and climatic conditions of the farming

territory, keeping track of changes in tech-

nology and storage conditions during its

shelf-life. For example, the theanine in tea, or

the acetoxymethylfurfural in vinegar, or the

kynurenic acid in honey are species-specific

markers, as they are secondary metabolites

playing a role in the interaction of the cell with its

environment. However, entrusting a testimony

of authenticity to a single metabolite is

dangerous, since foods could be easily

counterfeit by the addition of the specific

compound to simulate the genuineness of the

product. Thus, although a single metabolite

should not be considered as a reliable marker of

food type, the overall set of metabolites is much

more specific. Each food type shows a

characteristic set of primary and secondary

metabolites (amino acids, sugars, organic

acids), and altogether contribute to build the

metabolome of the species.

Metabolic fingerprinting is used when

classification of individual samples, without

any preliminary identification of specific

metabolites, is required. In this case, the NMR

spectrum can be considered as the repre -

sentation of the molecular profile of the

foodstuff, and all the NMR resonances are

quantified as belonging to unknown com -

pounds. Molecular profiles are particularly

useful when a holistic view is required to

describe the food, to study the transformations

occurring in a product due to technological

processes, or to follow the natural aging

during storage. In this case, the comparison

between the profiles recorded at different

times, or acquired with samples obtained with

different technologies, can select the signals,

although not yet identified, that undergo an

area integral variation. Afterward, the molecules

corresponding to the variant signals are

identified, to determine the molecular pathways

through which the product evolves or to

select patterns capable of distinguishing that

food from others.

How many compounds can be detected

simultaneously by NMR? The answer depends

on the selectivity of the extraction. It is clear

that the number of compounds actually

present in a food extract can be much smaller

than the real number of metabolites present in a

crude sample. For example, in a single plant

species about 5000 to 10,000 metabolites

can be present, but only a small selection can

be detected in a single NMR experiment. In fact,

the concentrations of the major selections

of metabolites in plants are less than 1 μM,

that is below the limit of detection for NMR

spectrometers (above 10 μM).

Metabolomics is a non-biased

identification and quantification

of the whole metabolome in a

biological system

The term ‘metabolome’, introduced by Stephen

G. Oliver in 1998 (University of Cambridge),

refers to the quantitative complement of all of

the low molecular weight molecules present in

cells in a particular physiological or develop -

mental state. Clearly, no analytical technique

alone can record the entire metabolome, least of

all NMR because of its low sensitivity.

Metabonomics, defined by Jeremy K.

Nicholson in 2006 (Imperial College of London),

seeks to identify the metabolites that

correlate with changes of physiological

conditions. By extension, we can consider the

effect of natural, environmental and tech -

nological perturbations as sources of variance in

the entire food metabolome during its life. For

this reason, ‘food metabonomics’ gives the

opportunity to gain deeper insights into and

have a better control of the fundamental

biochemical basis of the things we eat.

While the NMR spectrum of a food extract

can be considered as a graphical representation

of the entire pool of detectable metabolites,

multivariate data analysis applied to the

entire set of spectra, corresponding to different

food groups, classes or categories, is able to

extract the useful information to select the

signals, and then the molecules, which are

responsible for possible identification, in

accordance with the principles of meta -

bonomics. For example, the same product

collected in different geographic regions, or

produced according to different standards,

or even observed during different storage times,

may be studied through the metabonomics

approach. Olive oil is one of the foodstuffs

investigated by 1H-NMR metabonomics, clearly

indicating that NMR spectroscopy is uniquely

capable of distinguishing between olive oils on

the basis of their geographical origin and no

other analyses are appropriate for this type of

determination of quality and genuineness.

Explorative unsupervised multivariate data

analysis (e.g., principal components analysis)

applied to 1H-NMR spectra of beers allowed their

classification according to type (ale, lager,

alcohol-free), brewing site (Portugal, Germany,

Belgium, England, Spain, the Netherlands and

the USA), production dates and malt type,

according to the content of dextrins, maltose

and glucose. The pattern of these molecules has

been recognised after the evaluation of the

spectral data according to the principle of

the unsupervised analysis. However, the

prediction of their respective identity class,



‘‘The NMR metabonomics approachseems to be without limits in

investigable food types’’

‘‘Entrusting a testimony of authenticity to a single metabolite

is dangerous’’

applied to unknown samples, is possible by

application of supervised methods (e.g., partial

least square regression, linear discriminant

analysis, soft independent modelling of class

analogies, genetic algorithms and genetic

programming, artificial neural network) on trial

sets of well-known samples.

Interesting predictive classifications

have been obtained by using the NMR-

metabonomics approach to investigate the

differences in wines produced by using different

grape varieties and by the same grape

variety harvested in different areas. Metabolic

profiling of white wines from different varieties,

determined by 1H-NMR and both gas

chromatography-coupled time-of-flight mass

spectrometry (GC-TOF-MAS), has been

correlated to the wine sensory property

body using supervised partial least square re-

gression (PLS). The GC-TOF-MS and NMR-based

PLS models have been suggested as predictive

models complementary to the traditional panel

in wine sensorial analysis.

The metabolic profiles of transgenic

tomatoes over-expressing maize transcription

factors have been compared with control fruits

by PLS statistical treatment at three ripening

stages. Clear separation of samples according to

ripening stage and genotype has been

achieved, confirming the increased production

of flavonols in the transgenic tomato line.

A similar approach has been applied to grapes in

our laboratories, by comparing two different

cultivars of transgenic grapes with their

corresponding control fruits. The experiments

have shown that the extent of the metabolic

changes depends on the genotype of the

cultivar hosting the extraneous gene, as well as

the number of gene copies, showing no

proportionality between such a number and the

resulting metabolic perturbations.

NMR metabolic profiles of canned tomato

have been correlated to their sensory

descriptors (bitterness, sweetness, sourness,

saltiness, tomato and metal taste, redness and

density), suggesting that NMR might be a very

useful tool for the characterisation of sensory

features of tomatoes.

NMR metabonomics has been exploited to

understand and interpret metabolic changes

occurring in vivo as a consequence of the

farming system for gilthead sea bream (tanks,

cages and lagoons), as well as to measure the

freshness loss of wild and reared fish after

storage in different conditions.

The NMR metabonomics approach seems

to be without limits in investigable food

types, since many examples have appeared in

literature, including distillings, soy sauce,

vinegar, coffee, tea, fruit juices, mandarin

oranges, kiwifruit, mango, melon, watermelon,

black raspberry, lettuce, carrot, maize, brassica

rapa, potato, wheat, milk, cheese, butter,

margarine, honey, fish, meat, truffles, pine-

mushrooms, saffron and many others (see the

abovementioned review by Mannina et al 2 for

the broadest coverage of applications).

The next frontier in metabonomics is

represented by the application of this approach

to nutrition, the so-called nutri-metabonomics.

Food is the source of nutrients which must be

bioaccessible and bioavailable. Digestion

processes, including the role of the gut

microbiota, play a main role in the necessary

conversion of food in the actual source of macro-

and micro-nutrients. For this reason, the food

cannot be considered as a static pool of

molecules embedded in the matrix. According

to this perspective, holistic nutrition studies

must consider the evolution of the food matter

along the gut and its interaction with the human

host. The challenge we are facing up in our

‘Laboratory of Foodomics’ is the meta-analysis of

the food-human metabolome, evolving during

digestion, in the most comprehensive approach

provided by nutritional metabonomics.

This approach has been included in a project

funded by the European Commission (CHANCE

– grant agreement no. 266331), aiming

at developing low-cost, nutritionally correct

food for populations at risk of poverty. Both

the food products and the metabolic state

of the recruited consumers will be defined

by applying the nutri-metabonomics (visit

www.chancefood.eu). The science behind this

innovative project requires a multi-disciplinary

integration, which is not easy to achieve because

food technologists, nutritionists, chemists,

clinicians and other specialists lack common

ground for their interactions.

For this reason, since 2009, we have

organised the biannual international conference

on Foodomics (www.foodomics.eu), consisting

of four sessions, namely: i) foodomics for

discovering foods, food components and

nutraceuticals; ii) foodomics for discovering

digestion, bioaccessibility and the role of

microbiota; iii) foodomics for discovering the

nutrients mechanisms of action; iv) foodomics

for discovering nutrition in clinical sciences.

Of course, while aiming for this objective, we do

not limit the field of application only to the

metabolome realm, but in the effort to complete

the -omics picture, we extend the coverage to

genomics and proteomics sciences. But that is

another story!



Since 1998, Francesco Capozzi has been

Associate Professor of Chemistry at the

University of Bologna. He is leader of

the BIO-NMR group at the Campus of Food

Science of the University of Bologna, with

research activities aimed at studying biological

systems (of bacterial, vegetable or animal

origins) and foodstuffs by applying a system chemistry approach.

He is developing spectroscopic methods to be adopted in the

assessment of food quality by discovering correlations between

nuclear relaxation times of water contained in foodstuffs and the

chemical-physical characteristics of the food matrix. He is also deeply

involved in research aimed at developing chemical descriptors

defining the qualitative characteristics of foodstuffs by extracting

simple numerical parameters from spectroscopic data. The case

studies include vegetable products protected by collective quality

labels, requiring particular attention for their traceability and

vegetables GMOs, demanding a careful assessment of the variations

introduced in their metabolic profiles by genetic modifications.

Currently, he is developing a traceability system for fruit and

vegetable products based on univocal molecular fingerprints, derived

by spectroscopic data, and he is supporting the Italian Ministry of

Agriculture in the definition of ‘fish freshness’ with molecular

descriptors capable of providing a holistic definition (Foodomics) of

the food composition.

He is the European coordinator of the project KBBE FP7-266331

‘CHANCE – Low cost technologies and traditional ingredients for the

production of affordable, nutritionally correct foods Improving Health

in Population groups at risk of poverty’ (www.chancefood.eu). He is

the work group leader on ‘Food Structure and Nutrient Bioavailability’

of the European COST Action FA1005 INFOGEST ‘Improving Health

Properties of Food by Sharing our Knowledge on the Digestive

Process’ (www.cost-infogest.eu).

He is the scientific coordinator of the project funded by the Italian

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry on ‘FRESH FISH:

Development of the fresh fish system’ to support the General

Directorate of Maritime Fishing and Aquaculture in the drafting of

regulatory guidelines.

Biography

1. F. Capozzi & M.A. Cremonini, Handbook of Food

Analysis Instruments, Edited by Semih Otles, CRC

Press 2008 (http://www.crcnetbase.com/doi/

pdf/10.1201/9781420045673.ch13)

2. Luisa Mannina, Anatoly P. Sobolev, Stéphane Viel,

Liquid 1H high field NMR in food analysis, Progress

in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectro scopy

66 (2012), 1-39

References

‘‘NMR metabonomics has been exploitedto understand and interpret metabolic

changes occurring in vivo as aconsequence of the farming system for

gilthead sea bream’’


SUPPLEMENT

Colours & Flavours

SPONSORS

© C

hery

l E. D

avis

/ Sh

utte

rsto

ck.c

om

50 Flavours: Whenperformanceand packagingare no longercompatible

54 Vitafoods 2013Preview

55 How noveltechnologiescan help you to use cleanlabel colours

Investment both in terms of time and money are

made by industry (both from a quality and cost

perspective) to ensure customer needs are

being met across the supply chain. From the

beginning of the supply chain where the highest

quality ingredients are sourced to the manu -

facturing process, the quantity and quality of

flavour volatiles are maximised and deteriora -

tion is minimised. How frustrating then would it

be to find that despite all this effort, the

consumer does not experience what was

designed? Why would this be? Because the

quality of flavour compounds is not just

impacted by their source and processing, but

also by the storage conditions (both packaging

and environmental) they are exposed to over

their shelf-life.

Due to their high levels of aroma chemicals,

interactions can occur not just with each other

but also with their packaging materials which

can then impact final product flavour.

In other words, the choice of packaging and

storage conditions can ensure consumers

experience flavour as designed or they can

render that flavour unrecognisable by the time it

reaches point of consumption.

Flavour performance differs relative

to different packages

One can list pros and cons for most things in

life – packaging is no exception but while the

perfect container may not exist, some will be

better for certain applications than others will.

“The sensory threshold for difference detection can be considered to occur when

there is a 30 per cent decrease in the concentration of a flavourant”1

. Flavourings are

concentrated aroma chemical systems used in food and beverage formulations and

as such are important in the provision of aroma and taste. Their sources can vary –

differing mainly in type, source, cost and complexity.

Flavours: When performance and packagingare no longer compatible

Martina Lapierre

Flavour Technologist, PepsiCo


COLOURS & FLAVOURS SUPPLEMENT

Glass, for example, can offer different

advantages in that it provides a nearly absolute

barrier to chemical and other environmental

agents2. Addition of colour can confer added

protection against light. It is odourless and

chemically inert with virtually all food products

and in a world where sustainability is key, glass

when managed correctly is reusable and

recyclable. Handling, however, is one of the

biggest challenges with glass. It can be

cumbersome to use, brittle and susceptible to

breakage from internal pressure, impact or

thermal shock, thereby potentially creating

health and safety / handling issues. These

properties also offer a challenge with reference

to transport, not to mention its heavy weight,

generating higher transport costs.

Metal is highly resistant to most forms of

corrosion. It can be used for containers such as

drums for bulk sale or smaller container sizes for

storage of ingredients and / or finished goods.

Metal can also provide a nearly absolute barrier

to chemical and other environmental agents

and offers recycling potential. However, internal

coatings may be required to complete corrosion

resistance and its cost is high relative to other

modes of packaging2.

Which leads us then to look at plastics. Both

mouldable and flexible plastic packaging

offers more functional advantages (e.g.

unlimited size and shapes, optical properties,

thermo sealability) compared to glass and metal.

Chemically resistant and heat sealable, it can

offer a large range of barrier properties but it

demonstrates more variable permeability as a

packaging category to light, gases, vapours and

low molecular weight molecules than its glass

and metal counterparts. One of the most

broadly used packaging materials is HDPE (High

Density Polyethylene) largely due to its low cost,

low safety risk (unbreakable) and relatively good

storage protection over time. It is strong, can be

resistant to chemicals and moisture, easy to

process and easy to form. HDPE containers are

also the most recycled among plastic packages.

However, despite its advantages, relatively little

is known about its interaction with highly

concentrated flavour systems and subsequent

sensory impact on the packed foodstuff and

final product.

So what are the main factors that

influence flavour / package interactions?

When considering a product, the question to be

answered ultimately is – are the contents inert to

the packaging materials being used? Factors

to be considered when selecting a package

relative to product shelf-life are both intrinsic

i.e. dictated by product composition and

processing conditions and extrinsic i.e. packag -

ing and environmental factors.

Intrinsic factors

This includes product type, quality and compo -

sition. We can see differences in deterioration

based on:

� Flavour composition: Citrus flavours are

composed of natural terpene compounds

that are readily oxidised

� Flavour strength: Cherry, grape and

banana flavours provide more sensory

impact than lemon lime, orange or cola.

Therefore, while a small amount of oxidative

off-notes may not be detectable in strong

flavours, these would be readily obvious

in milder flavours where they may be

detectable at extremely low levels

MAINTAIN TASTE WITH COMPLETE UV DISINFECTION FROM THE WATER TO THE BOTTLE

WHETHER IT’S PRODUCTION OF BOTTLE WATER, SOFT DRINKS OR BEER, HANOVIA’S, PURELINE PQ VALIDATED SYSTEMS WILL DELIVER ON QUALITY:

> Performance qualified (PQ) - 3rd party validated> non-chemical disinfection> Maintains your product quality> Fermentation efficiency and stability> Meets industry stringent standards> Hygienic design> 316L stainless steel components> Easy serviceability with global aftersales support

PureLine PQT: +44 (0) 1753 515 300 E: [email protected] www.hanovia.com

ONB

i

NB

NOTTTLELTTLELETTLLETTTTTTTTTTTTLLLLEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOONNO

ONB


© C

opyr

ight

: Pep

siCo

� Scalping (Sorption): Losses due to scalping

or sorption of the flavour components

into the package are the most common

and levels increase with increasing time and

temperature. The terpene hydrocarbons

and sesquiterpenes are most susceptible.

Losses of the more polar and more impor -

tant flavour components are lower.

Scalping risk also increases with increasing

water concentration, because the higher

the percentage of water in your product, the

lower the flavourant solubility

� Oxidation: Oxygen is potentially an issue

with oxidisable factors in many flavour

systems. It can be challenging to predict or

interpret data in complex products as there

are many competing and catalytic reactions

occurring together. The important thing to

remember is oxidation products tend

to have very low detection thresholds

leading to a high sensory impact and thus

causing concern. Selection of the right

marker is critical.

Extrinsic factors

Packaging

� Package material compatibility: considering

the resins and additives used

� Migration: Release of compounds from the

plastic packaging material into the product

can generate sensory and safety issues3,4

� Permeability: It is important to remember

that the entire packaging surface area is

available to permeation, not just the portion

of the container in contact with the product

and the more saturated the container wall is,

the greater the facilitation of migration by

other compounds and ingress of external

environmental factors

� Packaging scalping tendencies: i.e. adsorp -

tion of flavour volatiles into the package.

As mentioned already, scalping is affected

by polarity of flavour components but also

the polarity of the plastic packaging

material used. Demonstrating a like-for-like

attraction, the closer the polarity of the

flavour compound and the package to each

other, the higher the flavours affinity for

that package. Scalping of ingredients

onto a plastic container wall will subse -

quently facilitate increased migration of

other compounds. This will also impact

the Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR),

thereby decreasing packaging perform-

ance further. Flavour scalping does not

require the product to be in direct contact

with the package as the aromas are volatile

enough to transfer from the actual head -

space to the package5

� UV resistance

� Permeability to the ingress of environ -

mental components such as oxygen, water,

odour, light etc.

� Closures: absorption of components can

also occur in closures

� Container size and volume: With respect to

HDPE, the larger the container size, the

more favourable the surface to volume

ratio from an oxygen ingress perspective.

In short, large containers are preferable for

the storage of products sensitive to oxygen

(not considering the impact of headspace).

Environmental

� Light: Exposure of product is influenced by

permeability of container

� Oxygen: Initially, the amount of oxygen

present in a container is driven by head -

space and is the major contributor to

total oxygen in packaging containers.

Longer term however, levels are driven by

wall thickness and surface to volume

ratio and therefore the permeability of

your package to external oxygen. The

thicker the con tainer wall and the lower

the percentage of headspace, the lower the

risk of oxidation

� Moisture / water vapour humidity during

processing and storage

� Flavour / odour exchanges: How pungent

are the materials surrounding your flavour

product and how permeable is your

container to them?

� Temperature-affected changes: Excessive

temperatures can destroy true flavour

volatiles in a flavour by increasing reaction

rates and contributing to the degradation

reactions for inherently unstable compo -

nents in formulation.



© C

opyr

ight

: Pep

siCo

3rd European GCxGC Symposium

17th & 18th September 2013Parc Valrose, Nice, France

Register online:

• Basics of GCxGC

• Metabolomics

• Food & Flavour

• Environmental

& Chemical Analysis

• Fragrance & Aroma

• Advanced GCxGC

& Technical Developments

Pre-registration is required and open until

4th September 2013. All details available

on the symposium website.

Register online:

wwwwttttt GGGGGCCCCxCC GCGCCGCGCGC

wwwwwwwwwwww w.w.w.w evevevevvenenenenentstststst -G-GG-GGGCxCxCxCxCx CGCCGCGCGCGC e.e.eeuuuuuu

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww w.w.w.w.w.w.w.w.w.w.w.w.ww.. veveveveveveveveveveveevevevevevenenenenenenenenenenenenenenene tststststststststststststststsst -G-G-GG-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-GG-G-GGGCxCxCxCxCxCxCxCxCxCxCxCxCCxCxCxCxGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGCCGC.e.e.e.e.e.eeee.ee.e.e.e.e.euuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

How does one therefore assess stability

challenges? Why perform a product

shelf-life study? What’s the alternative?

Some success in predicting shelf-life can be built

from extensive experience of similar flavour

chemical profile formulae in existing packaging

or from assigning the shortest ingredient

shelf-life from the mix. Or you may engage the

use of some predictive theoretical modelling

tools. But while theoretical predictions will give

an understanding of interactions of compo -

nents in isolation or simple matrices, there will

always be challenges in directly applying those

theoretical results to complex formulations.

Often, you will probably need to verify with

actual measured data or data for a similar /

related formulation. Such data generally would

come from a product shelf-life study. Analytical

method development may be required to

identify the relevant markers for your product /

package interactions to evaluate the shelf-life.

But this data can be of limited value if analytical

data cannot be linked to sensory data to

correlate perceived differences. To be reflective

and realistic, it is critical that any package

evaluation protocols incorporate worst case

exposure conditions in your supply chain.

Also, many studies are designed to prove /

disprove the suitability of the packaging for the

specific product but fail to build any under -

standing of the underlying mechanisms or

changes, representing many lost opportunities

for key discoveries.

Conclusion

So in this complex and elaborate world of

product package interactions, what should one

focus on? In short, product types are essentially

different universes; different by flavour, different

by product matrix, different by product packag -

ing. Packaging compatibility in one product

may not be comparable to others. Potential

improvements you can influence include:

� Increased package performance (e.g.

addition of barrier materials: inclusion of

barrier materials in the primary package can

reduce flavour loss by conferring added

protection against oxygen permeability and

flavour scalping)

� Optimised product composition (e.g.

decreasing polarity of a flavour system

reduces vapour pressure of aroma vola-

tiles and therefore reduces migration into

the package)

� Better supply chain control (e.g. tighter

control to avoid or at least minimise temp -

erature abuse and light exposure).

Or alternatively, compensatory measures can be

put in place such as;

� Nitrogen flushing of a package to reduce

the level of oxygen a product will be

exposed to during early shelf-life storage

� Use of refrigeration or temperature con -

trolled warehouses may be needed to

guarantee the integrity of the flavour

is maintained.

All of the above usually have an associated

increase in cost so questions to ask prior to

implementation include:

� Are there cost savings associated with

extending shelf-life?

� What is the market / consumer environ -

mental profile relative to the time point

of consumption?

You may find some surprises along the

way. With consumers, their preference is

key and may not always be for the most

robust / optimised product depending on

their familiarity with it. Where you cannot

control the environment or implement

any compensatory measures then you may

have to accept that a material has limited

shelf-life based on reduced performance in

different packaging. But the key to maxi mising

success is to ensure environmental and

packaging factors are at least considered when

developing your product.


1. The Proceedings of an International Symposium OnInteraction: Food-Food Packaging Materials 1995;“Overview on Chemical Interactions between Foodand Packaging Materials”, J. H. Hotchkiss, Author ISBN0-85404-720-4

2. Journal Of Food Science Vol. 72 No 3 2007 Foodpackaging- Roles, Materials, and Environmental Issues,Kenneth Marsh and Betty Bugusu

3. Overview On Chemical Interactions Between Foodand Packaging Materials John HH Hotchkiss – takenfrom The Proceedings of an international symposium

on Interaction: Foods – Food Packaging Materials June

1994 ISBN 0-85404-720-4

4. Comparative sorption of aroma compounds by

polyethylene and ionomer food-contact plastics.

Kwapong O.Y. and Hotchkiss J.H., JFoodSci 52:761-

763+785(1987)

5. Comprehensive Reviews In Food Science and

safety Vol 6 2007 Scalping Of Flavours in Packaged

Foods M.G. Sajilata, K. SAvitha, R.S. Singhal and

V.R. Kanetkar

References

Consumer awareness about how nutrition can

be used to manage health and wellbeing is at an

all time high and only likely to increase. Major

manufacturers are spending considerable

budgets on educational marketing campaigns,

whilst governments continue to push initiatives

to change attitudes and behaviour.

Consumer interest combined with inno va -

tion lie at the heart of the nutraceutical industry’s

success. Trends such as sports nutrition,

cardiovascular health and digestive function

have all exploded on to the market, addressing

some of consumers’ biggest health concerns.

More recently cognitive function at every stage

of development and personalised nutrition have

started to gain momentum and as the baby

boomers move into the over 60s demographic,

the opportunities to market products that

support healthy ageing and limit the effects of

age-related diseases are there for the taking.

By far the biggest change in the last

six months, and arguably one of the most

contentious, is the enforcement of the Article

13 health claims following the European

Commission’s approval. The claims are designed

to avoid confusion for consumers and ensure

products are not misleading. There is a school

of thought however, that the claims will in

fact result in a burst of cheap innovation with

minor formulation changes and act as a

barrier to innovation with companies put

off by the investment needed to get through the

EFSA process.

These are just some of the industry hot

topics that top the agenda at Vitafoods Europe

to provoke debate and discussion when

the doors open in Geneva on 14 May. As the

global meeting place for professionals from

across the industry, the show enables attendees

to exchange views on major and emerging

trends impacting developments in nutra -

ceuticals, whilst also discovering a wealth of

ingredient innovation over the course of the

three day event.

Alongside this, Finished Products Europe –

Europe’s leading functional food and drink

and dietary supplement exhibition – gives

visitors the opportunity to see the full cycle of

product innovation from ingredients to shelf.

Distributors and private label retailers can meet

with potential suppliers and compare hundreds

of products in order to identify opportunities

and keep up-to-date with the latest develop -

ments and insights.

With not long before the show opens

its doors in May, stand space is already close

to sell-out, with more than 12,500 visitors

expected to attend.

Hard-hitting topics in the conference

The Vitafoods Europe Conference runs along-

side the exhibition and tackles some of the

industry’s most pertinent issues underlining key

updates in regulation, ingredient innovation

and academic research.

EFSA headlines the conference with

Professor Ambroise Martin, Chair, NDA Panel,

EFSA Health Claims opening the programme in

a keynote session on day one. He offers his

perspective on how the regulatory landscape is

shaping the industry and what the future holds.

Following the presentation, Professor Paul

Clayton, himself outspoken on EFSA health

claims, will take questions from the audience to

ignite the debate.

Other sessions cover major topics such as

gut health, brain and mind health, personalised

nutrition and beauty foods. Academics,

researchers and commercial bodies all share

their expertise and offer attendees crucial advice

to help them develop marketing and business

strategies, as well as identify opportunities for

new product innovation.

Nutraceutical products are big business. Despite the tough economic climate and unstable raw material costs, the nutraceutical

industry has shown resilience with the Freedonia Group predicting the sector will grow at 7.2 per cent annually until at least 2015.


ShowPREVIEW Date: 14-16 May 2013 · Location: Palexpo, Geneva

More information

Register in advance to attend Vitafoods Europe and Finished Products Europe and save €100 at

www.vitafoods.eu.com/register or www.finishedproductseurope.com/register.

New Food readers can purchase delegate passes for the Vitafoods Europe Conference at a 10 per cent

discount – discount code VC10NF. Book now at www.vitafoods.eu.com/confbook. Early Bird rates apply.

For further details about Vitafoods Europe and Finished Products Europe, visit www.vitafoods.eu.com or

www.finishedproductseurope.com. To hear about the latest show news or take part in the industry debate, join

the Linkedin groups www.vitafoods.eu.com/linkedin or www.finishedproductseurope.com/linkedin or follow

us on twitter @VitafoodsEurope or @fpeurope

Although the term clean label is widely used in

the industry, there is currently no European

Regulatory definition of ‘Clean Labelling’.

It could mean anything from removing or

replacing any substance which sounds

like a chemical, or shortening the overall

list of ingredients, or avoiding words like

‘hydrogenated’ and ‘modified’ or avoiding any

ingredient linked to bad publicity (aspartame,

sodium benzoate). This results in a lack

of consistency between the retailers with

some accepting ingredients other retailers

would not. Clean labelling can in some

cases include the use of terms such as

‘fresh’, ‘pure’ or ‘natural’, etc. The Food

Standards Agency (FSA) has pub-

lished guidance / criteria for the

use of these terms1. Article 16 of

the General Food Law Regulation

stipu lates that the labelling, adver tising

and presentation of food must not mislead

the consumer. According to the FSA, the term

‘Natural’ means essentially that the product

consists of natural ingredients, e.g. ingredients

produced by nature, not the work of man or

interfered with by man.

Clean label colours

There are three main forms of colours available

for use in foods; natural, nature identical

The trend for clean label products has been growing since the 1980s. In 2007, the

well-known University of Southampton study linked certain artificial colours

(tartrazine, quinoline yellow, sunset yellow, carmoisine, ponceau 4R and allura red)

and the preservative benzoate to hyperactivity and attention deficit disorders in

children. Since then, interest in alternative colours has grown quickly in the UK and

has started to expand to the rest of Europe, mainly to Scandinavian countries.

In response to this, UK retailers have started to replace artificial colours in their

products. Manufacturers are now replacing them, if possible, with plant pigments.

The claims ‘no additives’ and/or ‘no preservatives’ were the most popular claims

made between January 2008 and June 2009 and is still a popular claim now.

The trend is still growing and is seen as a mark of authenticity and simplicity.

How noveltechnologies canhelp you to useclean label colours

Colette Jermann

Department of Food Manufacturing Technologies, Campden BRI



and artificial. Nature identical colours are

those with identical pigments to those that are

found in nature, but produced by chemical

synthesis2. Natural colours can be defined as

pigments that are derived from natural sources,

selectively extracted using solvents.

Chlorophylls are a family of green pigments

present in plants and algae that photo -

synthesise. They are the only natural green plant

pigment occurring in abundance3. The main

sources used to produce natural colours are

spinach, grass (nettles) and alfalfa4,5. Copper

chlorophyll is produced by replacing the lost

magnesium ion of the porphyrin ring with

copper to help stabilise the pigment. This

can be done through processing chlorophyll

extract with water and an alkali4. Unlike

natural chlorophylls, which are sensitive to

light and heat, copper chlorophylls are more

stable and possess moderate heat and

light stability, although they will precipitate in

acidic conditions.

Carotenoids are the largest group of

pigments produced in nature, with over

600 compounds reported6. All are yellow to

orange red in colour. They can be found in a

variety of organisms such as plants, algae, fungi

and bacteria. Natural carotenoids can be

sensitive to light and oxidation7.

Flavonoids are a group of pigments

which produce various colours in plants.

They are water soluble and found in plant

organs8. Anthocyanins are the most common

group of flavonoids and are found in orange,

red and blue shades.

Betalains (similar to anthocyanins) are water

soluble pigments. However, they are found

much less widely in plants. Their two main edible

sources are beets and prickly pear9. The

betalains can be divided into two structural

groups: the red-violet betacyanins and

the yellow betaxanthins10. The betacyanin

pigment in red beets (betanin) has been used

extensively as a colouring in the form of

beetroot juice since the eighteenth century.

Betalain is sensitive to heat, light, moisture and

oxygen. It is stable to pH in the range of 3 to 7,

making it more suitable for some low acid foods

with a shorter shelf-life than the anthocyanin

based colours. However, with pro longed

heating betanin will turn brown.

Various factors can affect the colour of

beverages. In addition, the colour can

change depending on the ingredi -

ents used, the processing

method, the packaging used

and the storage conditions.

The ingredients’ influence

on the final colour can come

from either the variability of the

colour used or other ingredients

in the formulation reacting with the

pigment. The type of packaging will

have an influence on the level of protection

from light and oxygen the beverages receive.

Storage conditions will influence the lighting

conditions and the temperature of the product.

All this can have an influence on final prod-

uct colour. Processing also influences the final

colour of the product. Its severity will also affect

the final level of vitamins in the product.

Microbiological safety is the primary goal of

heat processing. This comes before nutritional

content and colour. However, non-thermal

processing technologies inactivate micro -

organisms while preserving the nutritional value

and colour of the product.

Non-thermal processing technologies

Non-thermal technologies include high press -

ure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric fields

(PEF), both of which are used commercially.

The consequence of using a non-thermal

processing technique is twofold. Not only is the

natural colour of the ingredients better retained,

enabling less colour additive to be used, but it

also allows the use of colours which could not

be used in a traditional heat treatment (such

as betalains and chlorophylls). Apart from

improvements in colour, novel technologies can

also preserve the fresh taste of the ingredients

(e.g. fruits), improve shelf life and help retain

vitamins in the product.

High pressure processing

High pressure processing (HPP) involves

submerging packaged foodstuffs within a

pressurised vessel; the food is suspended in

a liquid (usually water). Pressure is generated

either by pumping more liquid into the

HPP vessel or by reducing the volume of

the vessel. As the pressure is applied equally on



‘‘Non-thermal technologies include high pressure processing (HPP) andpulsed electric fields (PEF), both of

which are used commercially’’

all surfaces, it does not crush the packaging or

the product. The whole process is complete in

minutes. Typical process pressures are 200 to

600MPa with a product temperature increase of

6 to 36°C (the temperature increase is typically

3°C/100MPa).

HPP kills microorganisms by interrup-

ting their cellular function without heat.

The process extends product shelf-life

by inactivating spoilage and pathogenic

organisms. When appropriately used, HPP

does not alter the texture, appearance or flavour

of foods compared to fresh11. HPP does not

inactivate all spores and enzymes, so it only

provides pasteurisation of food, which will

still need to be kept in chilled storage. However,

a juice manufacturer claims a chilled shelf

life of up to five months using HPP12. Some

HPP products do not need refrigeration if

they are acidic enough to prevent micro -

organism growth.

HPP is now available commercially

within the UK with several products on sale.

Examples of some products include meat and

cheese rolls, avocados with prawn cocktail

and fruit juices. More products are beginning

to emerge as HPP gains publicity and further

research is carried out. This may lead to

improvements that decrease the initial

investment cost and improve continuous

process. Facilities in the UK are currently

limited, with only two contract manufacturers

available. Trends in the USA have demonstrated

the popularity of the technique, suggesting

that HPP processing is likely to continue to

increase its application.

HPP processing requires a few extra

considerations compared with traditional

processing. First of all, good packaging seals

are key to prevent ingress of the pressure

transmitting fluid into the food while pro -

cessing. The final packaging will be immersed

in water so it needs to have either a water

resistant label or label which will be added

after processing. HPP processing is not continu-

ous. However, processing using two HPP

vessels enables operating of one machine

while unloading the other one and im-

proves productivity.

It has been established that HPP treat-

ment at low and moderate temperatures has

a small effect on pigments in fruit and

vegetables13. Anthocyanins are stable when

treated at moderate temperature and stored

chilled13. Chlorophylls have a good stability

to pressure but not to temperatures above

50°C; even if only treated for a short time

(tested with broccoli juice14,15). Only 10 per cent

of the green colour in broccoli juice was lost

after treatment at 800MPa and 50°C for

50 minutes. This is considered a severe

treatment. However, at moderate temperatures,

cell disruption occurred, causing leakage of

chlorophyll into the intercellular space in

vegetables. This causes the green colour to

become more intense. Carotenoids are quite

pressure stable and HPP increases the extraction

yield in carrot homogenate, orange juice and

tomato purée13. There are no data on the effect

of HPP on betalains.



For more information, please visit: www.hunterlab.com/industry/food

Colour – purely a matter of taste

In many cases the first sense engaged whensomeone looks at a food product is vision.Especially with packaging the only way to judge ifit’s a good product or not is optics. To measurecolour hues of food products in a variety ofconditions, complex technical solutions arerequired. Whether raw materials or solids andliquids, only a special spectrophotometer can give

precise data to help formulate colour and calculatevalues or differences. The length of a food process,ingredients, flavour and many more factorsinfluence the appearance of a food product. With detailed analysis manufacturers can meet theideal optical impression which is attractive forcustomers to buy the product.

One HunterLab instrument, the ColorFlex EZ,

is perfectly designed to give values whichcorrelate to the colour the human eye sees. With45/0 geometry and circumferential exposure itcauses a perfect and homogenous illumination of a sample and is suited both to the laboratoryand also the production environment. TheColorFlex EZ has a wide range of componentparts, for example a Ring & Disk Set for measur -ing translucent liquids, plastic sample cups foroils or other hard to clean samples, and specialstandards for tomato and citrus products.

With an unmatched reputation for deliveringthe right solution for the right challenge,HunterLab tailors products and technologies forevery colour measurement need and budgetoffering the broadest range of colour measure -ment solutions in the industry. HunterLab is ISO 9001:2008 certified and has knowledgebased on 60 years of experience.

Whether a food product isdeclared tasty depends on itsingredients, flavour and also theappearance of the final product

‘‘Apart from improvements in colour,novel technologies can also preserve the

fresh taste of the ingredients (e.g.fruits), improve shelf life and help

retain vitamins in the product’’

This will change everything:Corona extreme – the new spectrometer system for agribusiness from Carl Zeiss

READY FOR EXTREMES

Visit us at IFFA, 4 – 9 May 2013, Frankfurt/Main, Booth 9.1 A69

Pulsed electric fields

PEF is a continuous non-thermal pasteurisa-

tion technique. It involves the application

of pulses of high voltages (typically 20-80kV/cm

for antimicrobial purposes) for short time

periods (less than one second) to liquid

foods placed between two electrodes16.

The field is cycled about 1000 times per

second and the fluid is exposed to multiple

pulses by passing it through several chambers.

The electric field may be applied at ambient,

sub or slightly above ambient temperature.

Temperature increases in the order of 30°C can

occur in the PEF process17. If used above 40°C

the lethality is strongly increased18, but colour

changes may occur. After treatment, the

food is filled and packaged aseptically (as for

traditional flash pasteurisation) and stored

under refrigerated con -

ditions unless the product

is acidic. An acidic prod-

uct might st i l l require

refrigeration to preserve

the flavour for extended

periods of time but not for

microbial stability19.

Pumpable, homoge neous

products are best suited for PEF.

The treatment is usually limited to

products with no air bubbles, low

electrical conductivity (i.e. low salt

content) and particles no bigger than

a few millimetres20. For this reason, PEF

technology has been predominantly developed

with juices, but research has also been

conducted in other products including milk,

yogurt, soups, beers, wines, tomato products

and liquid eggs.

PEF has a similar effect on microorganisms

and enzymes as HPP. It has lethal effects on

various vegetative bacteria, moulds and yeasts19.

It also inactivates some enzymes17. Spores are

often not inactivated, so products need to be

refrigerated after processing to prevent their

growth. So far, there is one known commercial

application for PEF, on pasteurisation of fruit

juices21. The manufacturer claims a shelf-life of 21

days on fruit juices, which taste like freshly

pressed fruits.

Compared to fresh juice, PEF treatment

does not influence the colour significantly

for orange juice22,23, blueberry juice24, apple

juice25, cranberry juice26, carrot juice27, lemon and

grapefruit juice23. PEF processing is believed

to increase the extraction of anthocyanins

by 17 per cent compared to traditional

methods and 10 per cent compared to HPP28.

There was no significant difference found


‘‘PEF processing is believed to increase the extraction of

anthocyanins by 17 per cent compared to traditional methods and

10 per cent compared to HPP’’

between the anthocyanin content of PEF

treated samples and fresh samples 26.

Studies have shown that PEF treatment

degraded anthocyanins, but not any quicker

than thermal treatment 29.

Research found that beta-

carotene content was higher

than in thermally past eurised

orange-carrot juice30. In paprika

juice, the carotene content was higher

than in enzyme treated juice (60 per cent

versus 44 per cent)31. The possible colour

change after PEF treatment is mainly

governed by the storage conditions.

For this reason, PEF treated orange juice

had colour similar to the non-thermally

treated juice24.

Conclusion

Clean label colours have limitations in terms

of resistance to heat, light, oxygen and pH.

Non-thermal processing technologies can

help to obtain microbiologically safe products

while keeping their natural colours or enabling

clean label colours to be used in the product.

Additional benefits are increased nutrients

and quality when compared with thermally

treated juices. Often non-thermally processed

products, especially beverages, are sold at a

premium price.

Acquiring such novel processes can be

difficult to manage due to potential induced

changes in packaging, processing, quality

control, final product, price, etc. Campden BRI

has extensive experience in non-thermal

technologies and has access to pilot scale plants

to scale-up such processes.



1. Food Standards Agency, (2008) Criteria for the use of

the terms fresh, pure, natural, etc. in food labelling,

[Online] URL: http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/

pdfs/markcritguidance.pdf Accessed: 04/03/2013)

2. McMurray, I (2008) Colour me beautiful, International

Food Ingredients Magazine, vol. 6, pp. 23-27

3. Roenfeldt Nielsen S.R. and Holst, S. (2002)

Developments in natural colourings pp. 331-350. In:

MacDougall, D.B., Colour in Food: improving quality.

Woodhead Publishing Limited

4. Hendry, G.A.F. (1992) Chlorophylls and chloro-

phyll derivatives pp. 79-103. In: Hendry, G.A.F.

and Houghton, J.D. Natural food colorants.

Blackie Publishing.

5. Minguez-Mosquera, M.I., Gandul-Rojas, B., Gallardo-

Guerrero, L., Roca, M., and Jaren-Galan, M. (2008)

Chlorophylls pp. 337-387. In: Hurst, W.J. Methods of

analysis for functional foods and nutraceuticals,

Second edition. CRC Press

6. Francis, F.J. (2002) Food colorings pp 297-331. In:

MacDougall, D.B Colour in food: improving quality.

Woodhead Publishing Limited

7. Rao, P. P., Satyanarayana, A., Balaswamy, K., Jyothirmayi,

T., Nagender, A., & Rao, D. G. (2007) Application of

annatto dye formulation in bakery and extruded food

products, Journal of Food Service, vol. 18, issue 2,

pp. 53-58

8. Artes, F. (2002) Analysing changes in fruit pigments pp.

248-282. In: MacDougall, D.B Colour in food: improving

quality. Woodhead Publishing Limited

9. Castellar, M. R., Obon, J. M., and Fernandez-Lopez J. A.

(2006) The isolation and properties of a concentrated

red-purple betacyanin food colourant from Opuntia

stricta fruits, Journal of the Science of Food and

Agriculture, vol. 86, issue 1, pp.122-28

10. Sensient® (2012) Titanium dioxide overview. [Online]

URL: http://www.sensient-tech.com/food_sku_

processed/titanium_dioxide_overview.htm Accessed

04/03/2013

11. Avure Technologies Inc. (2006) High Pressure

Processing, Meat industry services, [Online] URL:

http://www.meatupdate.csiro.au/new/High%20Pressu

re%20Processing.pdf Accessed online: 04/03/13

12. Coldpress (2012) The benefits [Online], URL:

http://www.cold-press.co.uk/benefits Accessed:

04/03/2012)

13. Oey, I.; Lille, M.; Van Loey, A. and Hendrickx, M. (2008)

Effect of high-pressure processing on colour, texture

and flavour of fruit and vegetable-based food

products: a review, Trends in Food Science and

Technology, vol. 19, pp. 320-328

14. Van Loey, A.; Ooms, V.; Weemaes, C.; Van den

Broeck, I.; Ludikhuyze, L.; Indrawati; Denys, S. and

Hendrickx, M. (1998) Thermal and pressure-

temperature degradation of chlorophyll in broccoli

(Brassica oleracea L. Italica) juice: A kinetic study,

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 46,

pp. 5289-5294

15. Weemaes, C.; Ooms, V.; Indrawati, L.; Ludikhuyze,I.; Van

den Broeck, I.; Van Loey, A. and Hendrickx, M. (1999)

Pressure-temperature degradation of green colour in

broccoli juice, Journal of Food Science, vol. 64, no. 3,

pp. 504-508

16. Señorans, F.J.; Ibáñez, E. and Cifuentes,A. (2003) New

trends in food processing, Critical Reviews in Food

Science and Nutrition, vol. 43, issue.5, pp. 507-526

17. Singh, R. and Kumar, A. (2011) Pulsed electric fields,

processing and application in food industry, European

Journal of Food Research and Review, vol. 1, issue 2,

pp. 71-93

18. Toepfl, S.; Heinz, V. and Knorr, D. (2007) High intensity

pulsed electric fields applied for food preservation,

Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process

Intensification, vol. 46, issue 6, pp 537-546

19. Ramaswamy, R.; Jin, T.; Balasubramaniam, V.M. and

Zhang, H. (2008) Pulsed electric field processing, In

Factsheet for food processors, The Ohio State

University: Department of Food Science and

Technology (available online http://fst.osu.edu/

PEFfactsheet.pdf Accessed: 04/03/2013)

20. Devlieghere, F., Vermeiren, L., and Debevere, J. (2004)

New preservation technologies: Possibilities and

limitations, International Dairy Journal, vol. 14, issue 4,

pp.273-285

21. PurePulse (2012) Why choose PurePulse? [Online]

Available: http://purepulse.eu/ Accessed: 04/03/2013)

22. Cortés, C.; Esteve, M.J.; and Frígola, A. (2007) Colour of

orange juice treated by high intensity pulsed electric

fields during refrigerated storage and comparison with

pasteurised juice, Food Control, vol. 19, issue 2,

pp. 151–158

23. Cserhalmi, Zs.; Sass-Kiss, Á.; Tóth-Markus, M. and

Lechner, N. (2006) Study of pulsed electric field treated

citrus juices, Innovative Food Science and Emerging

Technologies, vol. 7, pp. 49-54

24. Barba, F.J.; Meneses, N.; Jaeger, H.; Esteve, M.J.; Frigola,

A.; and Knorr, D. (2010) Impact of pulsed electric fields

on colour modifications in blueberry juice during

refrigerated storage, Food Innova 2010, 25-29th

October, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia

25. Charles-Rodrigues, A.V.; Nevárez-Moorillón, G.V.;

Zhang, Q.H.; and Ortega-Rivas, E. (2007) Comparison of

thermal processing and pulsed electric fields treatment

in pasteurization of apple juice, IChemE, vol. 85 (C2),

pp. 93-97

26. Jin, Z.T.; and Zhang, Q.H. (1999) Pulsed electric field of

microorganisms and preservation of quality of

cranberry juice, Journal of Food Processing and

Preservation, vol. 23, pp. 481-497

27. Quitão-Teixeira, L.J.; Aguiló-Aguayo, I.; Ramos, A.M. and

Martin-Belloso, O. (2008) Inactivation of oxidative

enzymes by high-intensity pulsed electric field for

retention of colour in carrot juice, Food and Bioprocess

Technology, vol. 1, pp. 364-373

28. Corrales, M., Toepfl, S., Butz, P., Knorr, D., and Tauscher, B.

(2008). Extraction of anthocyanins from grape by-

products assisted by ultrasonics, high hydrostatic

pressure or pulsed electric fields: a comparison,

Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, vol.

9, issue 1, pp. 85-91

29. Odriozola-Serrano, I.; Soliva-Fortuny, R. and Martín-

Belloso, O. (2009) Impact of high-intensity pulsed

electric fields variables on vitamin C, anthocyanins and

antioxidant capacity of strawberry juice, Food Science

and Technology, vol. 42, pp. 93-100

30. Torregrosa, F.; Cortéz, C.; Esteve, M.J. and Frigola, A.

(2005) Effect of high-intensity pulsed electric fields

processing and conventional heat treatment on

orange-carrot juice carotenoids, Journal of Agricultural

and Food Chemistry, vol. 53, pp. 9519-9525 (available

online: http://148.243.165.200/biblioteca/libros/

articulos/Torregrosa,%20F.%20et%20al%202005.pdf

Accessed: 04/03/2013)

31. Ade-Omowaye, B.I.O.; Angersbach, A.; Taiwo, K.A. and

Knorr, D. (2001) The use of pulsed electric fields in

producing juice from paprika (Capsicum annuum L.),

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, vol. 25,

pp. 353-365

References

Colette Jermann is a Reading graduate food scientist at Campden

BRI. Her main research interests have been in the field of emerging

preservation technologies for the food industry, including high-

pressure processing. She has been working on the application of

emerging technologies to clean labelling. Colette is also a graduate

chemist. Her passion for food led her to want to apply her chemistry

skills in a food industry context.

Biography

What are food allergies?

A food allergy describes a specific immune

response to a food such that subsequent

encounters with the food provoke an adverse

reaction. It differs from the many other types of

adverse reactions to foods (Figure 1, page 61)4,

although symptoms can be similar. Foods can

cause many different types of immune and

allergic responses, but the focus lies principally

with those in which IgE antibodies are produced

in response to proteins in the food. Reactions

occur quickly (from minutes up to four hours)

and can vary from barely perceptible to severe

and occasionally fatal, depending on the dose,

the individual and other factors. The minimum

doses required to elicit an observable reaction

(MEDs) range from microgram to gram amounts,

but until recently were not well-characterised,

even for the most prominent allergens5-7.

Recent estimates of the prevalence of

verified food allergies indicate that it affects

around two to four per cent of the overall

population8,9, although estimates based on

self-reports can range up to 20 – 30 per cent.

Prevalence is also higher among infants and

young children, with milk and eggs featuring

as common allergenic foods among infants

worldwide. Considerable diversity exists

among older population groups and across

regions, in terms of both prevalence and the

implicated allergens (Europrevall data, Clare

Mills, personal communication).

What is the risk to be managed?

Avoidance of the offending allergen(s) remains

the only sure way of preventing reactions.

Food allergies have long been known as a clinical phenomenon, with well-

documented case studies as far back as the 1920s1

. Their recognition as a food safety

issue only arose in the 1990s2

partly in the wake of the remarkable increase in

prevalence of general allergic diseases3

. In order to protect allergic consumers,

legislation requiring the provision of allergen information to consumers was enacted

initially across the most mature economies and now extends to include over a third

of the world’s population. However, such legislation usually only explicitly covers the

deliberate use of allergens as ingredients. Allergens can also be unintentionally

present in products, e.g. through cross-contact during manufacturing. Management

of these unintentionally present allergens requires a different approach founded on

a full and thorough risk assessment. For many years, the knowledge and data needed

for this were lacking, but over recent years, these gaps have been addressed. The

prospects for defining operational management thresholds for allergens in the near

future look good.

Food allergens: identifyingthresholds and assessing the risk to consumers

René Crevel

Science Leader, Unilever Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre


ALLERGENS

© tescha555 / Shutterstock.com

To make this possible for the allergic consumer,

it must either be indicated as (possibly) present

or its absence must be assured. However,

assurance of absence can rarely, if ever, be

absolute, and in practice, the risk from un -

intended allergen presence must be assessed.

From a fundamental point of view, there are two

aspects to evaluating this risk: the probability

that unintended presence will occur (particu -

larly if it cannot be detected) and the probability

that the amount of unintended allergen will

produce an adverse health effect. The first

aspect rests with operational allergen manage -

ment, which follows principles already

developed for other types of contaminant and

will not be discussed further here. The second

aspect lies with allergen hazard characterisation

and exposure assessment.

Assessing and managing the risk posed

by the presence of unintended allergens in

products has long presented a number of

challenges beyond those found with other

contaminants. Firstly, while these allergens

represent contaminants in this context, they

cannot simply be eliminated from food

production except in very specific and limited

cases (for instance, ‘nut-free’ factories), since they

are valuable and important sources of nutrients

in their own right. Secondly, clinical data indicate

that the range of reactivity to allergens is

extremely wide, spanning at least six orders of

magnitude. Thirdly, the distribution of this

reactivity in the allergic population was not

well-characterised for many years. Aside from

this, there was also a pervasive belief that the

risk from food allergens could not actually be

assessed anyway, owing to reactions being

unpredictable in nature and severity. The

resulting uncertainty led to an early resort

to precautionary (‘may contain’) labelling to

mitigate this risk. However, its rapid spread has

simultaneously imposed severe limitations on

the food choices of allergic consumers, and

thereby their quality of life, and reduced its

credibility, leading to risk taking10. Thus, a current

challenge in allergen risk assessment is to

identify a dose or range of doses where the

balance between the level of protection

afforded by defined management thresholds

and the extent of precautionary labelling

minimises the number of reactions and

thus maximises protection for the allergic

consumer (Figure 2).

Precautionary labelling is voluntary and has

no clear status in law. European food law states

that “Food shall not be placed on the market if it is

unsafe” and explains how ‘unsafe’ can be

determined: “regard shall be had: (b) to the

information provided to the consumer, including

information on the label, or other information

generally available to the consumer concerning

the avoidance of specific adverse health effects

from a particular food or category of foods”.

However, Recital 16 in the preamble to the

Regulation states: “Measures adopted by the

Member States and the Community governing

food and feed should generally be based on risk

analysis except where this is not appropriate to the

circumstances or the nature of the measure”,

which implies that they should be based on

analysis of the risk and therefore a risk

assessment. Precautionary labelling used

without an appropriate risk assessment might

also fall foul of the law’s requirement that

labelling is not misleading. Thus, precautionary

labelling based on a thorough risk assessment

also aligns much better with food law.

Allergen hazard characterisation

As discussed, allergic reactions can differ

considerably in the symptoms they provoke.

Clearly, from the perspective of risk manage -

ment, more severe reactions elicit considerably

more concern and the tolerable frequency of

such reactions will be much lower than for

milder reactions10,11. Thus characterisation of

allergen risk must take into account both the

probability that a reaction could occur to a

defined dose of allergen and the probability that

such a reaction would constitute a threat to


ALLERGENS

Table 1 Outline description of the dataset used as the basis for VITAL 2.0 reference doses

Total No. with Right LeftAllergen Objective Symptoms Censored* Censored** Population

Peanut 750 132 30 Children and Adults

Milk 351 19 59 Children and Adults

Egg 206 33 24 Children and Adults

Hazelnut 202 67 4 Children and Adults

Soybean 80 28 6 Children and Adults

Wheat 40 1 5 Children and Adults

Cashew 31 16 1 Children

Mustard 33 10 2 Children and Adults

Lupin 24 7 2 Children and Adults

Sesame 21 1 2 Children and Adults

Shrimp 48 26 0 Adults

Celery 39 4 15 Children and Adults

Fish 19 2 6 Children and Adults

** Right-censored observations correspond to subjects who react on challenge at the first dose** Left-censored observations correspond to subjects who do not react on challenge at the highest dose (despite a documented history of allergy)

Figure 1 Classification of adverse reactions to foods according to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Figure 2 Illustration of the relationship betweenaction levels, the extent of precautionary labellingand its observance

health. Initial belief, largely based on well-

publicised case reports of severe reactions to

low doses, was that allergens were not

amenable to classical dose-response relation -

ships, in particular because the responses of

allergic individuals appeared to vary con -

siderably and without obvious cause from

one exposure to the next. However, such a

conclusion cannot be drawn from these

observations, since they do not take into

account other variables affecting the reaction,

including dose. Inability to characterise

the hazard from allergens was thus a critical

initial data gap, which thwarted attempts

at quantitative risk assessment. However, a

lack of appropriate methodology to analyse

responses to allergens was of equal importance,

particularly since it was very apparent that

the range of doses to which allergic people

could respond was very wide and that a true

No Observed Adverse Effect level would be

both unlikely to be determined experimentally

and too low to serve as a basis for opera-

tional management.

Population dose distributions

An early insight was the concept of building

cumulative population dose distributions using

data on minimum eliciting doses (MEDs) from

controlled diagnostic food challenges12 and

modelling them statistically. This approach has

proved very successful in filling this gap for

several allergens, while avoiding the difficulties

of defining an absolute [population] threshold

or no observed effect level (NOEL) experi -

mentally and is now widely accepted. The

principle of this approach consists of plotting

the individual minimum eliciting doses (MEDs)

from controlled food challenges against the

frequency of reaction to derive a cumulative

population dose distribution which can then

be fitted to different statistical models13,14.

This method helped to define eliciting doses

corresponding to amounts of allergen predicted

to cause reactions in small proportions of the

allergic population (five per cent or less). These

studies confirm that the range of reactivity spans

amounts from micrograms to grams, but the

proportion reacting to very low amounts is

actually quite small. For peanut, the most

extensively studied allergenic food; data on

upwards of 450 patients have now been

identified and modelled (Figure 3). Indications

are that 10 per cent of peanut-allergic patients

from clinics react to a dose of between 10 and 15

milligrams of whole peanut, and five per cent to

a dose of around five milligrams14,15.

As recently as the mid-2000s, regulatory

authorities and others accepted that thresholds

below which reactions do not occur existed, but

concluded that data were insufficient to define

them6,7. However, since then considerable data

have been acquired from studies using double-

blind-placebo controlled food challenges for

many of the most important allergenic

foods (Table 1, page 61) and the methodology

has also been enhanced, incorporating, for

instance, the statistical technique called Interval

Censoring Survival Analysis which permits use of

data where actual individual thresholds are not

known (for instance where someone reacted at

the first dose). This has enabled reference doses

to be defined for most allergens on the EU list in

the context of the evolution of the VITAL 2.0

system16 (Table 2).

The proposed reference doses (ED01 or

ED05) might seem to allow for a significant

number of reactions among the allergic

population. However, they are in fact much

more protective than they appear. Firstly, they

are based on food challenge data derived from

individual thresholds, i.e. usually the dose at

ALLERGENS


Table 2 VITAL 2.0 reference doses and corresponding action levels for two serving sizes

50g Serving 250g ServingReference dose Basis of Size: Action Size: Action

Allergen (mg Protein) Reference Dose Level (ppm) Level (ppm)

Peanut 0.20 ED 01 4.0 0.80

Milk 0.10 ED 01 2.0 0.40

Egg 0.03 ED 01 0.6 0.12

Hazelnut 0.10 ED 01 2.0 0.40

Soy 1.00 ED 05 (95% LCI) 20.0 4.00

Wheat 1.00 ED 05 (95% LCI) 20.0 4.00

Cashew 0.10 ED 05 (95% LCI) 40.0 8.00

Mustard 0.05 ED 05 (95% LCI) 1.0 0.20

Lupin 4.00 ED 05 (95% LCI) 80.0 16.00

Sesame 0.20 ED 05 (95% LCI) 4.0 0.80

Shrimp 10.00 ED 05 (95% LCI) 200.0 40.0

Celery Insufficient data

Fish Insufficient data

Figure 3 Dose distribution showing reactivity to peanut of a population of 450 peanut-allergic individuals,expressed as their minimum eliciting dose (MED)

‘‘The ability to characterise with confidence the hazard posed by

most allergens of public healthimportance now offers the prospect of

defining operational thresholds forallergen manage ment’’

which people just start to react, which in most

cases is a mild objective reaction. Secondly, the

participants in food challenges are often among

the more reactive, since they are people who

have been referred to centres of clinical

expertise because of the difficulty in managing

their condition. Thirdly, the application of action

levels derived from these reference doses also

contains an inbuilt additional level of protection.

This is because cross-contamination is usually

estimated on worst-case scenarios, i.e. the

highest amount of carry-over with the highest

allergen-containing recipes. Thus, if the worst

case produces a result below the action level, the

vast majority of the production is likely to be

considerably below.

Where do the VITAL reference doses

lie in the clinical spectrum?

The likely severity of the reaction at the

reference dose is a critical parameter in its

acceptability. Few clinical studies exist that

systematically evaluate the effect of dose on

severity. One of those17 showed that the

minimum dose required to provoke anaphylaxis

was 20 milligrams of peanut (five milligrams of

peanut protein). This amount is 25 times higher

than the recommended VITAL reference dose for

peanut, which gives an idea of the extent to

which the latter is protective against severe

reactions. In another study, 869 children were

given diagnostic food challenges with starting

doses of three to five milligrams of protein for

cows’ milk, wheat, soy and hen’s egg18. For

milk and hen’s egg, the authors reported eight to

10 per cent first dose reactors and estimated

that the risk of severe reactions is 0.5 – 1 per cent

at those doses. The relationship between dose

and severity is not linear, so no direct

extrapolation can be made from those

observations but it is interesting to note that the

starting doses in this study were 33 and 166-fold

higher than the VITAL Reference Doses for milk

and egg respectively.

Reactions are sometimes reported for

amounts transferred by close personal contact

between people, for instance by kissing,

which are invariably considered small, at least

compared to what would be consumed from

inadvertent consumption of a food containing a

hidden allergenic ingredient. Following a report

of one such reaction, researchers decided to try

to estimate the amount of protein present in

saliva under various circumstances, using a

panel of non-allergic individuals, of course. They

found that the amount of peanut that could be

transferred by saliva, while very variable among

test subjects, could range to as high as 32 to

148 milligrams, an amount that would be

sufficient to trigger an allergic reaction in

between 20 and 40 per cent of peanut-

allergic people19.

Conclusions

Assessing the risk posed by food allergens long

proved arduous largely through lack of data, as

well as tools to handle such data, but also by a

belief that allergic reactions did not obey the

same rules as other food contaminants. Recent

years have seen the generation of large volumes

of data through an extension of diagnostic

challenge procedures as well as the elaboration

of methodologies such as dose distribution

modelling. These data have also shown that, as

with other contaminants, dose was a critical

factor in the extent and nature of the response

and therefore classical toxicological approaches

could be used to assess allergen risks. The ability

to characterise with confidence the hazard

posed by most allergens of public health

importance now offers the prospect of defining

operational thresholds for allergen manage -

ment. These will address the current lack of

rigour over the application of risk manage-

ment and communication tools such as

precautionary labelling and should thereby

restore their utility.


ALLERGENS

René Crevel works as a Science Leader at Unilever’s Safety and

Environmental Assurance Centre, based at Colworth House,

Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom. His principal responsibilities

include providing scientific advice and guidance on possible adverse

effects of materials and their use, arising from their interaction

with, or modulated through the immune system. In particular, he is

responsible for advice and guidance on food allergy and allergen

management to Unilever Companies, and for leading Unilever’s food

allergy research programme. As part of this role, he is closely involved

in major EU projects in the area of food allergy, and has interactions

with other stakeholders in the food allergy area, including patient

associations, clinicians and regulatory authorities. He has published

papers on various aspects of food allergy, including determination of

the allergenicity of novel proteins, post-launch monitoring and risk

assessment and management of food allergens.

Biography

1. Prausnitz C, Küstner H. Studien uber die

Uberempfindlichkeit (Study of hypersensitivity).

Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie Mikrobiologie und

Hygiene Abteilung Originale 86, 160-169. 1921

2. FAO. Report of the FAO Technical Consultation on Food

Allergies, Rome, Italy, 13-14 November 1995. 1995.

Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United

Nations

3. Anandan C, van Schayk OCP, Sheikh A. Is the prevalence

of asthma declining? Systematic review of epidemio -

logical studies. Allergy 2010; 65:152-167

4. Bruijnzeel-Koomen C, Ortolani C., Aas K. EAACI position

paper. Adverse reactions to food. Allergy 50,

623-635. 1995

5. Crevel RW, Ballmer-Weber BK, Holzhauser T, Hourihane

JO, Knulst AC, Mackie AR et al. Thresholds for food

allergens and their value to different stakeholders.

Allergy 2008; 63(5):597-609

6. EFSA. Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Dietetic

Products, Nutrition and Allergies on a request from

the Commission relating to the evaluation of

allergenic foods for labelling purposes. EFSA Journal

2004; 32:1-197

7. Threshold Working Group. Approaches to establish

thresholds for major food allergens and for gluten in

foods. J Food Prot. 71, 1043-1088. 2008

8. Liu AH, Jaramillo R, Sicherer S, Wood R, Bock SA, Burks

AW et al. National prevalence and risk factors for

food allergy and relationship to asthma: Results

from the National Health and Nutrition Examination

Survey 2005-2006. Journal of Allergy and Clinical

Immunology 126, 798-806. 2010

9. Rona R, Keil T, Summers C, Gislason D, Zuidmeer L,

Sodergren E et al. The prevalence of food allergy: a

meta-analysis. Journal of Allergy and Clinical

Immunology 120, 638-646. 2007

10. Madsen CB, Crevel R, Chan CH, Dubois AE, DunnGalvin

A, Flokstra-de Blok BM et al. Food allergy: stakeholder

perspectives on acceptable risk. Regul Toxicol

Pharmacol 2010; 57(2-3):256-265

11. Madsen CB, Hattersley S, Allen KJ, Beyer K, Chan CH,

Godefroy SB et al. Can we define a tolerable level of risk

in food allergy? Report from a EuroPrevall/UK Food

Standards Agency workshop. Clin Exp Allergy 2012;

42(1):30-37

12. Bindslev-Jensen C, Briggs D, Osterballe M. Can we

determine a threshold level for allergenic foods by

statistical analysis of published data in the literature?

Allergy 2002; 57(8):741-746

13. Crevel RW, Briggs D, Hefle SL, Knulst AC, Taylor SL.

Hazard characterisation in food allergen risk

assessment: the application of statistical approaches

and the use of clinical data. Food Chem Toxicol 2007;

45(5):691-701

14. Taylor SL, Crevel RW, Sheffield D, Kabourek J, Baumert J.

Threshold dose for peanut: risk characterization based

upon published results from challenges of peanut-

allergic individuals. Food Chem Toxicol 2009;

47(6):1198-1204

15. Taylor SL, Moneret-Vautrin DA, Crevel RW, Sheffield D,

Morisset M, Dumont P et al. Threshold dose for peanut:

Risk characterization based upon diagnostic oral

challenge of a series of 286 peanut-allergic individuals.

Food Chem Toxicol 2010; 48(3):814-819

16. Allergen Bureau. Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen

Labelling (VITAL). Allergen Bureau [ 2012 Available

from: URL:http://www.allergenbureau.net/allergen-

guide/vital/

17. Wainstein BK, Studdert J, Ziegler M, Ziegler JB.

Prediction of anaphylaxis during peanut food

challenge: usefulness of the peanut skin prick test (SPT)

and specific IgE level. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2010;

21(4 Pt 1):603-611

18. Rolinck-Werninghaus C, Niggemann B, Grabenhenrich

L, Wahn U, Beyer K. Outcome of oral food challenges in

children in relation to symptom-eliciting allergen dose

and allergen-specific IgE. Allergy 2012; 67(7):951-957

19. Maloney JM, Chapman MD, Sicherer SH. Peanut

allergen exposure through saliva: assessment and

interventions to reduce exposure. Journal of Allergy

and Clinical Immunology 118, 719-724. 2006

References

From a chemical-engineering point of view, the

roasting process consists of a combined heat

and mass transport superposed by endother-

mic and exothermic reactions. This means that

the application of heat to the coffee beans not

only generates a temperature field, but it also

causes inner pressures and a redistribution of

moisture, depending on time and location. Heat

energy is applied to the surface of the whole

green bean, mainly by external hot gas flow,

with additional radiation and contact heat

transfer depending on the type of roaster.

The temperature of the bean surface

increases – with heat conduction into the

porous material – due to the temperature

gradient. When the local temperature reaches

the evaporation temperature of the bean

moisture, a front of evaporation starts moving

towards the centre of the bean. During this first

part of the roasting process, the walls of

the whole bean are still relatively firm. Thus, the

vapour that has been generated cannot

permeate and the pressure build-up makes the

bean volume expand. Evaporation of the bean

moisture, an endothermic operation, needs

latent energy, leading to a slowed down kinetic

in the temperature rise within the bean. The

swelling and drying result in a strong decrease in

heat conductivity within the section between

the vaporisation front and the outer surface of

the bean. As a consequence, the temperature

gradient is steeper in the dried region of the

bean because of the enhanced resistance to

heat transfer. Mechanical and thermal stresses

moving towards the centre of the bean are

created, which make the beans crack or even

burst if the superposed stresses overcome the

tensile strength of the bean.

Roasting reactions – browning with

formation of flavour compounds at elevated

inner pressures – begin at higher temperatures,

starting at the bean surface and moving towards

the inner dry pre-expanded structure of the

bean. This second front of moving latent heat is

exothermic. Gaseous reaction products – mainly

carbon dioxide – are generated and entrapped

within the cell structure, increasing inner

pressure until they permeate through the walls

that are weakened and partly destructed by the

high temperatures as well. The roasting process

is then a counter-current process with heat

transport inside and mass outside.

In order to achieve a roasting profile as

homogeneous as possible, the process must be

precisely controlled, aiming at small tempera -

ture gradients throughout the bean; on the

contrary, fast roasting leads to an overlapping of

the evaporation and roasting steps and to an

inhomogeneous profile. When the desired

degree of roast is reached, the beans have to be

cooled down rapidly by water quenching or cold

air in order to stop further changes in colour,

flavour and volume. The roasting loss is either

measured by the dry mass loss (the weight loss

based on dry green beans) or by the total mass

loss (moisture plus organic matter loss). During

roasting, the density of the beans decreases to

nearly half of its initial value.

Roasting techniques

In the case of traditional roasters, a tendency

towards a larger variety in coffee products has

led to smaller uniform charges and therefore

the demand for large continuous roasters is

decreasing in the roast and ground market. Due

to modern control techniques, consistent

products can be obtained with batch roasters,

where the heat input can be varied over time.

Due to the increasing cost of energy and

environmental considerations, modern roasting

equipment usually includes recirculation of the

exhaust gas, after removal of the solid particles;

it carries (chaff, dust) by retention on a cyclone.

The gas is brought back either to the burner, or

to a thermal afterburner, operating at temp -

eratures between 400 and 600°C, to burn off

both the residual particles from above 1600 to

well below 50 mg/Nm3 and the volatile organic

matter (aerosols, condensate, etc.) present, as

required by law in some countries.

Changes produced by roasting

The roasted coffee bean becomes brown

to black, very brittle, with an increase in

volume up to 100 per cent (dark roasting)

and a corresponding decrease of density

(300–450 g/l in contrast to 550–700 g/l in raw

beans), with many macro-and micropores, the

cellular structure ruptured, especially upon

espresso roasting. The water content should be

near one per cent if no water quench is applied.

During roasting, water (the moisture water

of the green beans and that generated by

reactions) and carbon dioxide escape. They are

Coffee roasting, at first glance, appears to be a simple process: applying heat to

raw coffee beans. It is important to generate and control the correct temperatures at

the right time, and then stop the process when the colour of the coffee is homogenous

throughout the whole bean and the aroma has fully developed so as to appeal to

consumers and connoisseurs. However, on closer inspection, the dependency of the

changing temperature distribution in the coffee bean on the parameters governing

the process, such as roast gas temperature, fluid flow conditions and material

properties of the coffee bean are all important factors. The difficulty in mastering

the whole process comes from the changes in nearly all parameters involved in the

process; the temperatures, the material properties and the geometry of the beans.

The complexity of coffee processing


DRYING & ROASTING

© to

psel

ler /

Shu

tter

stoc

k.co

m

accompanied by some carbon monoxide and

organic volatiles. Water and carbon dioxide are

generated by the very important Maillard

reaction, which leads to the coloured products,

the melanoidins, and to the main part of the

organic volatiles. In addition, water and carbon

dioxide are produced by numerous other

pyrolytic reactions.

Of the mono-and disaccharides of green

coffee, after roasting only traces of free sugars

remain. Sucrose is supposed to be partially

hydrolysed; the rest being pyrolysed

(caramelised). From the reducing sugars or their

fragmentation products, many volatiles (aroma

compounds, volatile acids) and non-volatiles

(melanoidins and their precursors, acids) are

formed by the Maillard reaction and, to a lesser

extent, by caramelisation. The Maillard reaction

has lower activation energy and is therefore

favoured if reactive nitrogen compounds

(amino acids, free amino groups in proteins and

peptides) are present.

Overall, there are only slight changes in the

lipid fraction upon roasting. The sterols and

most of the triglycerides remain unchanged. The

level of Trans fatty acids increases, especially

the contents of C18:2ct and C18:2tc. The linoleic

acid content decreases slightly with roasting

temperature. The diterpenes, cafestol and

kahweol, are decomposed to some extent.

Increasing with roasting temperature, dehydro -

cafestol, dehydrokahweol, cafestal and kahweal

are formed (0.5–2.5 per cent of each educt).

Volatile aroma compounds

Green coffee contains about 300 volatiles. The

content of some of them, e.g. 3-isobutyl-2-

methoxypyrazine, is not changed by roasting.

The content of others, e.g. ethyl-3-methyl -

butyrate, is diminished, but most of the volatiles

increase upon roasting. In addition, about 650

new volatiles have been identified, bringing the

number of volatiles identified in roasted coffee

to more than 850.

Generation of roast aroma

Most of the delightful aromatic character of

coffee is the result of the roasting process.

Green coffee shows a typical green bell pepper-

like aroma, where isobutylmethoxypyrazine

(MIBP) could be identified as the character

impact compound with a ‘peasy’ smell. Only part

of the more than 300 additional green coffee

aroma compounds identified so far survive the

roasting process. The high temperature (usually

170–230°C for 10–15 minutes) and the elevated

pressure inside the bean (up to 25 atm) trigger a

vast number of chemical reactions leading to

dark colour and more than 1000 volatile and

nonvolatile compounds identified in roasted

coffee. In contrast to green coffee, a mixture of

approximately 25 very potent compounds

represents the significant impression of coffee.

The aroma compounds (approximately one

gram per kilogram) are concentrated in the

coffee oil. The concentrations of the most potent

ones are in the lower ppm (part per million) or

even ppt (part per trillion) range.

Precursors of aroma compounds

A different aroma is observed due to the

different precursor compositions of the two

main coffee species. The aroma of Coffea

canephora (Robusta) is characterised by higher

amounts of phenolic compounds (guaiacol,

vinylguaiacol), perceived as harsh earthy notes,

originating from the chlorogenic acids. Another

interesting class of aroma precursors is that of

the glycosides. They can liberate the bound

aroma compounds enzymatically, during post-

harvest treatment or roasting and are also of

special interest in other foods as aroma storage

forms. The common precursor prenylalcohol is a

source for sulphur odorants as shown by model

reactions with sulphur-containing amino acids.

Identification and characterization of

aroma compounds

Pioneer research on coffee aroma had already

been performed before 1926 when the Nobel

Prize winners Reichstein and Staudinger

succeeded in identifying the first aroma

compounds like furfurylthiol and the guaiacols

Innovations for a better world.

RoastMasterTM60 – a new dimension in coffee fl avor creation. Every

coffee manufacturing application requires individual roasting processes

for optimized fl avor and bean properties. The new RoastMasterTM60

adapts to your needs and offers a maximum of process fl exibility. It

inspires your product innovations with traditional and with sophisticated

multi-step roasting profi les. Proven drum roasting technology ensures a

reliable, effi cient and safe roasting operation. The user-friendly touch-

screen operating panel provides full process automation and easy

operation. www.buhlergroup.com/roastmaster60

RoastMaster™60

– Attractive price, excellent value-for-money

– Air recirculation for energy-efficient roasting

– 60 kg/batch. Hourly capacity up to 240 kg/h

– New cutting-edge multistep process control via touchscreen

– Superior safety standards

Bühler AG, Coffee, CH-9240 Uzwil, Switzerland, T +41 71 955 11 11, F +41 71 955 35 82

[email protected], www.buhlergroup.com


DRYING & ROASTING

well before the discovery of gas chromato -

graphy (GC). After a period of identifying more

compounds by GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS),

the current trend in research is to identify the

active-smelling ones by GC-olfactometry (GC-O)

in combination with the chemical structural

information obtained from GC-MS. Generally,

the procedure requires extraction and enrich -

ment of the aroma compounds from the natural

material, followed by chromatographic fract -

ionation, and finally the authentic identification.

Extraction procedures

The extraction procedure has to separate the

volatile compounds from the coffee matrix.

A very important question is how representa-

tive the extract is, or, in other words, how to

avoid artefact formation during extraction

and enrichment. Several techniques are

widely known in literature, such as simul-

taneous distillation extraction (SDE) and high

vacuum distillation (HVD) or solvent-assisted

flavour extraction. In addition, the volatile

compounds in the headspace above ground

coffee or brewed coffee can be analysed by

headspace (HS) techniques statically or in

dynamic mode. Solid phase micro extraction

(SPME) can be operated without solvent in a fully

automated manner either from the brew

(IS–SPME) or from the headspace (HS–SPME).

Increasing the amount of stationary phase

dramatically improves the detection limits and is

used as stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) in the

brew or in the headspace (HSSE). As the aroma

compounds tend to be very volatile, extraction

losses are compensated by adding stable

isotope-labelled reference compounds.

Instrumental sensory analysis

GC in combination with olfactometric detection

(GC-O) helps to detect potent odorants without

knowing their chemical structure. The effluent of

a gas chromatograph is split to a conventional

detector and a heated sniffing port, where

trained people evaluate and record the sensory

impression of individual compounds. Dilution

techniques are used to determine the so-called

flavour dilution (FD) factors. By a stepwise

dilution of the aroma extract (1:1 by volume)

followed by GC-O analysis, the most important

contributors can be smelled at the highest

dilution, thus getting the highest FD factors. This

technique is known as aroma extract dilution

analysis (AEDA).The odour activity value (OAV)

can be expressed as the concentration divided

by its threshold only if the structure and the

odour threshold of a substance are known.

Aroma impact compounds

in roasted coffee

In Arabica coffee, the most important

contributors to the aroma of roast and ground

coffee are determined by the techniques

mentioned above. 3-Mercapto-3-methylbutyl -

formate (MMBF), 2-furfurylthiol, methional,

β-damascenone as well as two pyrazines and

furanones show the highest FD factors.

Effects on cup impression

Anyone who has ever had a really bad cup of

coffee in direct comparison to a perfect

one knows how big the difference can be.

The perceived quality depends on objective

criteria such as the quality of green coffee, but

also on subjective or cultural preferences like

type of preparation.

Green coffee quality

Correlations of geographical origins to the cup

impression can be recognised by a trained

cup taster, but chemical mapping is also

possible. Modern statistical methods (e.g.

analysis of variance, ANOVA) help to map the

composition of the aroma against the growing

region. Even a mapping against different

growing conditions (e.g. shade or sun) is poss -

ible. Next in the chain of production are the

harvest and the post-harvest treatments of

the cherries. Errors in handling can lead to

mould growth or other defects.

Roasting

Older studies compared the composition of the

volatiles extracted at different degrees of

roasting. The use of modern fast analysis tools,

such as resonance enhanced multiphoton

ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry

(REMPI/TOFMS), makes online monitoring of the

roasting process possible; a continuous

monitoring with sampling rates up to one

per second can be performed showing the

evolution characteristics of specific compounds.

Generally, most of the aroma compounds are

generated at medium roast. Some aroma

compounds degrade at higher temperatures,

whereas others like the guaiacols, furfurylthiol

and pyridine show an increase up to very high

roasts. They particularly contribute to the aroma

of dark roasted coffees.

Preparation

During the preparation of the beverage, the

flavour compounds are extracted from roast and

ground coffee as a function of their solubility

in water. Whereas large amounts of 2,3-

butandione, 2,3-pentandione and the furanones

get extracted from coffee, the yield of less polar

compounds like furfurylthiol is reduced. The

addition of milk to the beverage generally

reduces the perceived coffee aroma, increasing

the creamy impression.

Staling of coffee

The delicious aroma of fresh roast and ground

coffee only lasts for a short time. Soon after

grinding, the very fresh, mild, roast notes

diminish and strong spicy notes appear in the

flavour. In particular, the very potent sulphur

compounds deteriorate in contact with air and

the ground coffee starts smelling stale after

about 10 days. The structure of the whole bean

provides protection to a certain degree by

keeping CO2 gas in its pores. Analytically, the

ratio of 2-methylfuran to 2-butanone (M/B ratio)

can be used as a good freshness indicator,

before lipid oxidation leads to rancid products

after several weeks. Packaging under inert gas

(CO2 or N2) with minimum residual oxygen

guarantees long shelf life. Freezing also helps,

slowing down staling reactions. After the

package has been opened, it is recommended

to store coffee in cool and dry conditions in the

dark. The staling reactions have not yet been

completely explained.

This is an extract from a book published by the

University of Coffee titled ‘Espresso Coffee’.

Moreno Faina, Director of the University of

Coffee, suggests studying the roasting and

drying of coffee beans in depth by reading the

book in more detail.


DRYING & ROASTING

Moreno Faina is Director of the Università del Caffè at illycaffè.

In 1982, he began working in the commercial sector, but his career

path soon turned to technical consultancy. It was a short step from

market quality control to training and teaching. Right from the start,

he has been managing courses for professionals at Univeristà del

caffè. He founded the ‘Maestri dell’Espresso Junior’ competition,

which is addressed to Hotel and Catering schools. He is also a SCAE

(Speciality Coffee Association of Europe) authorised trainer.

Biography

‘‘The delicious aroma of fresh roast and ground coffee only lasts

for a short time ’’

Frozen thus fresh

Bread is one of the most consumed food

products around the world. Freshly baked

breads are particularly favoured as they typically

present a soft and elastic crumb, a very crispy

crust and a pleasant bread-special aroma.

But this freshness only lasts for a short period,

vanishing within several days after baking. Such

a downgrading is generally known as staling.

The staled bread becomes firm and leathery,

hence unappealing to bread consumers.

Evidence exists that staling involves starch

retrogradation and water redistribution in the

breadcrumb, though the mechanism is not yet

fully understood. Temperature plays an essential

role in these processes. Bread stales rapidly at

room temperature and, surprisingly, even faster

if stored in a refrigerator. Thus, staling, plus

mould growth, significantly limits the shelf-

life of baked bread. The freezing bake-off

technologies (BOT)1, developed in recent

decades, come to a rescue. With BOT, the dough,

proofed or unproofed, and bread, baked or part-

baked, are stored frozen, which effectively

prolongs the storage time of bread products to

many months. Bread can be readily prepared

from the frozen dough and bread, with the

freshness (and convenience) highly desired by

the bread-goers. Freezing means the game is

then played in the sub-zero-temperature

Water is a principal constituent of dough and bread, at 40 per cent of the total mass.

Ice forms when dough and bread are subjected to sub-zero temperatures. The

activities of water and ice shape many aspects of the dough/bread characters. Here

we sketch several of these activities, looking at how they interplay with the structure

and quality of frozen dough and bread.

Frozen dough and bread: the activities of waterand ice crystals

Guo ChenProject Researcher, Condensed Matter Physics, Chalmers University of Technology

Jan SwensonProfessor of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology

Roel Van der MeulenR&D Manager, Lantmännen Unibake Benelux

Sofie Villman (Karlsson)

Scientific Project Manager, Lantmännen R&D


FREEZING

regime where ice is an important player.

The activities of ice crystals are coupled to those

of water. Together they affect the behaviours of

frozen dough and bread and the quality of the

final products.

Ice formation inside a

porous architecture

Ice forms in a peculiar manner inside frozen

dough and bread. This is because dough and

bread possess no simple structures. Specifically,

their crumb is complexly porous, featuring pores

in a broad range of sizes and morphologies. This

rich porosity is imparted by the actions of

fermentation and baking. Proofed dough is

topologically like foam, in which discretely

produced gas cells are maintained by thin liquid

films2. Most gas cells become interconnected as

baking ruptures the laminar films, resulting in a

sponge-typed construction of bread. Beside

the large gas cells, tiny pores are measured

occurring within the starch-gluten matrix3.

These pores and gas cells range from micro -

scopically nanometres to macroscopically

millimetres, rendering an immense structural

complexity to dough and bread.

The porous crumb architecture then leads

to water trapped inside pores, some filled while

some not. In other words, in frozen dough and

bread, water freezes in confined spaces. The

confinement, along with the effect of dissolved

salt, depresses the freezing point of crumb water

to lower temperatures. A typical example,

obtained using differential scanning calorimetry

(DSC), is shown in Figure 1 where ice only forms

at -10.5°C in dough and -13.5°C in bread. Both

temperatures are much lower than 0°C, the

freezing point generally known for water.

The depression is important information for

practically choosing the freezing temperatures,

which must be low enough to fully freeze dough

and bread.

Moreover, the porous crumb intrinsically

offers many size-varied ‘chambers’, constraining

the ice crystals that accordingly distribute in a

broad range of sizes. Such a dispersed crumb-ice

size-distribution is clearly observable because

the ice crystals melt across a wide temperature

region when the frozen crumb

is thawed (Figure 1). This broad

ice-melting feature is very

peculiar to the frozen dough

and bread. A shift in the size-

distribution reflects the

dynamical activities of ice

crystals, hence shedding light

on the porosity-tuned motions

of crumb water under freez-

ing conditions.

Unfreezable and

freezable water

Trapping water in the dough/

bread crumb also alters the

freezability of the water.

A fraction of water molecules

do not freeze, namely they are unfreezable.

By contrast, those freezing into ice crystals are

freezable water. In fact, the unfreezable

and freezable water molecules are no new

species; rather, they are differentiated due to

their disparate degrees of interaction with the

crumb. To be brief, inside a crumb pore, a

fraction of water molecules line the pore wall,

forming a thin surface layer in

which water molecules are

bound to some extent to the

protein and sugar molecules

of gluten and starch. Beyond

this layer the other water

molecules are largely free, thus

like those in a bulk. Roughly

speaking, the surface layer

constitutes the unfreezable

water, while the bulk-like water

component is freezable.

Generally, there is a constant

exchange between unfreez -

able and freezable water

molecules such that their

contents reach a dynamical

equilibrium. In a dough/bread

crumb, the freezable fraction is typically

≥50 per cent of the total water. The specific value

is one of the primary properties for a certain type

of dough and bread.

The content of freezable water prescribes

the maximum amount of ice that can be formed

in a frozen dough or bread. This has little

dependence on the freezing conditions

including rate and end temperature. The actual

amount of crumb ice, however, does vary with

the end temperature. It has been tested that

80 per cent of freezable water is frozen at -12.5

and -15°C for dough and bread respectively1; for

both to freeze ≥95 per cent of their freezable

water, the temperature then needs to be below

-30°C. Achieving a fully frozen state is essential in

preserving the dough/bread quality, so the

temperatures must be low enough at the end of

the freezing step and over the storage period.

Redistribution of crumb water

Water molecules are still in motion in the frozen

dough and bread. They incessantly undergo

fluctuations in the hydration layer of (gluten)

proteins and (starch) sugars and even in the ice

crystals. Here we do not describe such relatively

local motions, but focus on their regional and

global diffusion throughout the frozen crumb.

It is worth noting that, at the usual frozen-

storage temperature of -18°C, not all the


FREEZING

Figure 1 Typical DSC thermograms from the freezing and thawing of dough/ bread crumb. The data were taken with both cooling and heating at2°C/min. Ice forms in the crumb upon freezing and melts upon heating. The broad ice-melting endotherms during heating are characteristic ofdough and bread, manifesting the broad size-distribution of ice crystalsformed in the frozen crumb

Figure 2 Weight loss of frozen dough and bread as a function of storage (-18°C) time. The data of dough are extracted from4 and those of bread5

‘‘The content of freezable waterprescribes the maximum amount

of ice that can be formed in a frozendough or bread’’

freezable water is frozen, i.e. there exists more

or less unfrozen freezable water. In addition,

during a prolonged storage, ice crystals

inside the crumb cause damage to the starch-

gluten matrix, releasing some of the unfreezable

water into the reservoir of freezable water.

All these water molecules can slowly diffuse

even when the crumb is mostly frozen.

The diffusion is closely coupled to heat transfer

and constrained by crumb porosity. A detailed

profiling is difficult, but some overall knowl-

edge can be obtained through experiments.

As exemplified in Figure 2 (page 68), the weight

loss is monitored for frozen dough and bread.

The continuous decrease quantifies the loss

of the crumb water that has migrated out

and formed ice crystals on the frozen dough/

bread surface and inside the packaging bags4,5.

Such data disclose one aspect of the crumb-

water motions that corresponds to a net

outbound redistribution. The process results

in a drying of crumb, which is probably one

of the factors that compromise the thawing

and baking performances of frozen dough

(and bread)5.

In addition, the crumb water also redistri -

butes within the frozen crumb. Ice crystals are

observed to preferentially grow in gas cells6,

suggesting that water should move more from

the starch-gluten matrix to the gas cells than

in the opposite direction. Such redistribution is

rather complex due to the extreme porosity of

crumb. A result is that the frozen crumb

becomes very heterogeneous in water after a

long storage5.

Growth and recrystallisation

of ice crystals

Ice crystals grow into larger sizes during the

frozen storage of dough and bread. The growth

proceeds in both the large gas cells and

the (gluten-starch) matrix-

embedded tiny pores. Upon

the initial freezing, most ice

crystals are probably still in the

nanometre range. After storage

from several hours to several

days or weeks, depending on

crumb natures, some ice

crystals in the gas cells expand

into the scale of μm, large

enough to be observed under

microscopes. Then over a

longer term for several months,

the ice crystals can even grow

into sizable blocks of ≥100 μm6.

Ice crystals, however, probably

expand less remarkably within

the gluten-starch matrix since

their growth is spatially limited

by the tiny pores. Nevertheless, the evolu tion

can be measured using, for instance, DSC.

Figure 3 presents some representative DSC

data of frozen dough and bread. It displays

that, for the frozen bread, a longer storage

results in an increase in the melting temp -

eratures over the whole range of ice sizes

(nm-μm), implicating the growth of ice crystals

throughout the entire crumb.

The growth of ice crystals is intimately

correlated to the redistribution of crumb water.

At the very early stage, the nucleation and

formation of ice crystals may only involve the

local freezable water. Further growth, however,

needs to be additionally fuelled. It is especially

true over a long-term storage in which the local

freezable water is substantially depleted. In the

previous context, we have mentioned that

the net in-crumb redistribution of water is

toward gas cells. This is in line with the fact that

ice crystals expand more significantly in the gas

cells with increasing storage time. Along with

the redistribution of crumb water is the

recrystallisation of ice crystals, a process in which

large ice crystals develop at the expense of

smaller ones. It appears that the collapsing of

small ice crystals occurs more within the gluten-

starch matrix, with the freezable water being

then diverted into the gas cells to re-crystallise

onto large ice crystals6. In Figure 3, the narrow

‘spike’ portion, featured by both frozen dough

and bread, is a result of such recrystallisation. It

progressively builds up with time, but the pace

of recrystallisation slows down at later stages in

an extended storage period5.

The ‘ice complications’

Freezing successfully extends the storage time

of dough and bread. It is, however, not a flawless

solution. The fresh bread prepared from frozen

dough or bread is often inferior in quality to the

unfrozen products, especially if the storage is

extremely prolonged. Such inferiority is caused

by the undesirable physiochemical changes at

the freezing step and during the frozen storage.

Most changes are actually ‘ice complications’

because they are closely related to or integral

parts of the formation and growth of ice crystals.

In short, ice crystals cause damages to the starch-

gluten matrix, resulting in a weakened gluten

network that only possesses a poor gas- and

water-holding capacity. The ice-derived cryo -

concentration and water redistribution also lead

to molecular dehydration and crumb drying.

Besides, ice crystals disrupt the delicate foam

architecture in proofed dough and impair the

viability of yeast cells in unproofed dough.

The quality thus deteriorates for the frozen

dough and broad, which then fail to produce the

same fresh bread as they do before being frozen.

Ice and ‘ice complications’ are the primary

by-products from freezing the water-rich dough

and bread. They are virtually unavoidable. The

symptoms vary with many factors including

formulations, the conditions for preparing

dough and baking bread, and the schemes in

freezing and storage. As these factors interplay

strongly with one another, it is like a complex art

in manipulating the behaviours of the frozen

dough and bread. So far, this is no full remedy for

the ‘ice complications’. But extensive efforts

have been made to control and mitigate the


FREEZING

Figure 3 Ice-melting endotherms of frozen dough/bread crumb. The dataare extracted for the dough (stored at -22°C for 1 day)6 and for the bread(stored at -18°C for 3 and 30 days)5. The ‘spike’, exhibited by both frozendough and bread, is a result of the recrystallisation of ice crystals. Uponincreasing the storage time, the ice-melting endotherm of bread shiftswholly to higher temperatures, indicating that larger ice crystals have beenbuilding up in the entire crumb (starch-gluten matrix and gas cells)

‘‘Ice and ‘ice complications’ are theprimary by-products from freezing the water-rich dough and bread’’

‘‘The growth of ice crystals is intimately correlated to the

redistribution of crumb water’’

GEA Refrigeration Technologieswww.gea.com

GEA Refrigeration Technologies is a leader in the development of new freezing systems for the food processing industries.Due to its extreme compactness,the innovative GEA Maxi-Stack spiral freezer offers a maximum product output in relation to the equipment footprint. GEA Q-belt© outlasts and outperforms existing self-stacking belts.

We go compact:GEA Maxi-Stack Spiral Freezers

engineering for a better world

deteriorations. The strategies are principally in strengthening the

dough/bread structures and suppressing the activities of ice crystals.

They are partially successful: the initial quality is generally improved,

while the symptoms still progress, albeit at somewhat reduced rates,

over the storage time. It remains a challenge for the food scientists to

conjure a final cure to the syndrome.

A final remark

Frozen dough and bread are increasingly gaining a large share in

the market of bakery foods. This trend is especially driven by the

technological advancement and increased customer acceptance.

It promises an enormous economic benefit to the baking industry.

The central task lying ahead is to manufacture, preserve and

deliver the products of consistently improved quality. A full under -

stand ing of the activities of water and ice crystals in frozen dough and

bread is thus essential for attaining that goal.

We acknowledge the Lantmännen Research Foundation and the

Cerealia Foundation for financial support.


FREEZING

Dr. Guo Chen is a Project Researcher at Chalmers University of Technology in

Sweden. He received his BE in Materials Science from Sichuan University,

MSc in Condensed Matter Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and

PhD in Biological Physics at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). His research

has covered semiconducting, magnetic, biological and food materials.

He is currently investigating the roles of water in bakery foods, with a focus on

the preservation of frozen dough and bread.

Dr. Jan Swenson is a professor of physics at Chalmers University of

Technology in Sweden. He received his PhD in physics at Chalmers in 1996.

He was a postdoctoral fellow at University College London before he moved

back to Chalmers. He works on the properties and roles of water in

different types of biological and food materials. He has published more than

130 articles in scientific journals and has an H-index of 32.

Dr. Ir. Roel Van der Meulen is R&D Manager of Lantmännen Unibake Benelux. After graduating

as a Master in Applied Biological Sciences (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium), he continued as

researcher in the department of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology (Vrije Universiteit

Brussel, Belgium) working on food fermentation in relation to gut health (pro- and prebiotics).

After obtaining his PhD, he joined Lantmännen Unibake in 2007 as a member of the R&D

department. In his current role as R&D manager, he focuses on ingredient quality, product and process

optimisation and strategic research.

Sofie Villman is a Scientific Project Manager at Lantmännen CF R&D. She holds a Master of Science

in Engineering Biology. Her research interests are in the sustainable development, life cycle

assessment, eco design, carbon footprint and project management.

Biographies

1. EU-Fresh Bake: Bake Off Technology Guide of Good Practice. http://eu-

freshbake.eu/eufreshbake/FRESHBAKE-GUIDE%20GOOD%20PRACTICE-V-1-

4th%20jan10.pdf

2. Gan, Z., Ellis, P.R., Schofield, J.D. (1995). Mini review gas cell stabilisation and gas

retention in wheat bread dough. Journal of Cereal Science 21, 215-230

3. Chen, G., Jansson, H., Lustrup, K.F., Swenson, J. (2012). Formation and

distribution of ice upon freezing of different formulations of wheat bread.

Journal of Cereal Science 55, 279-284

4. Phimolsiripol, Y., Siripatrawan, U., Tulyathan, V., Cleland, D.J. (2008). Effects of

freezing and temperature fluctuations during frozen storage on frozen dough

and bread quality. Journal of Food Engineering 84, 48-56

5. Chen, G., Öhgren, C., Langton, M., Lustrup, K.F., Nydén, M., Swenson, J. (2013).

Impact of long-term frozen storage on the dynamics of water and ice in wheat

bread. Journal of Cereal Science 57, 120-124

6. Baier-Schenk, A., Handschin, S., Conde-Petit, B. (2005). Ice in prefermented

frozen bread dough—an investigation based on calorimetry and microscopy.

Cereal Chemistry 82, 251-255

References

As a global company, keeping up with con-

sumer demands is both vital and rewarding.

“Through a combined bottom-up and top-

down approach, our company offers its

customers a wide variety of tools allowing them

to offer products in tune with the latest

consumer demands,” Sofie De Lathouwer,

Marketing Director Food Manufacturers Western

Europe at Barry Callebaut explains. “A concrete

example of the bottom-up approach is our

Decoration Inspiration Lab in Zundert, which

presents Barry Callebaut’s decoration range in all

shapes, colours, textures, designs, applications

and tastes, allowing customers to identify their

ideal tailored decoration. At the lab, customers

are encouraged to test different products in

order to discover their personalisation potential.

The top-down approach of Barry Callebaut

consists of offering our customers the right

ingredients, know-how and products to answer

to their customers’ needs. Our company offers

cocoa and chocolate products, ready-to-use

fillings and decorations, coatings and cocoa

powders as well as customised services to the

entire food manufacturing industry.”

Enjoyment is key for an emotional product

such as chocolate. At the same time, enjoyment

is also a particularly subjective concept.

“At Barry Callebaut, one of our key approaches is

to offer customers a wide range of tools and

solutions enabling them in turn to offer a variety

of products and decorations to their con-

sumers,” De Lathouwer says. “We do so through a

variety of approaches, one of them being the

incorporation of different companies with

specific expertise which adds content to our

products, for example, the recent acquisition of

la Morella nuts: based on a longstanding

tradition of processing nuts, this company

brought the artisanal techniques of roasting and

caramelising nuts to perfection and thus adding

a specific form of potential enjoyment to our

product range.”

While it is important to remember that

chocolate is one of the only luxury products

that would generally qualify as ‘affordable’ to

begin with, Barry Callebaut continuously

seeks to accommodate consumers who are

seeking high value for the price that is paid,

developing smart and creative solutions

offering affordable, convenience luxury. “The

Mignature™ range shows how Barry Callebaut

embodies the motto Less is More; in the current

economic climate especially, the biggest

sensations come in the smallest of packages,”

De Lathouwer explains. “Barry Callebaut’s

Mignature™ range of mini decorations and

inclusions such as mini chocolate vermicelli,

chocolate pearls and mini chocolate blossoms

offers that special touch of individuality and

luxury, allowing customers guilt-free indul gence.

Meanwhile, our exceptionally dedicated team

puts its expertise to work to link nutrition to taste.

While a pure and indulging flavour remains the

most important aspect of the chocolate we offer,

we are also known as a frontrunner in innovative

healthy products, such as chocolate based on

Stevia to lactose-free chocolates. We have

managed to create a chocolate that fully

eliminates the off-flavour often associated with

Stevia. The extract from the plant’s leaves is an

intensive sweetener, which makes it possible to

guarantee the sweetness of the cocoa blend

whilst totally eliminating refined sugars. Our

company’s lactose-free milk chocolate, too,

shows a remarkably caramel and milky taste.

It is based on a special skimmed milk powder

with the lowest lactose content available on the

market, allowing the use of higher amounts of

milk powder in the recipe which preserves all the

goodness from the milk – resulting in a similar

taste profile as regular milk chocolate.”

There is no doubt that tomorrow’s con -

sumers want to be treated as individuals,

expecting goods that are as distinct and unique

as they are themselves. “Personalisation will

become increasingly important: textures,

colours and flavours will convey the experi-

ence of scarcity and with it, uniqueness,” De

Lathouwer explains. “We seek to create a very

personal engagement through customised

products, allowing consumers to see their claims

fulfilled in the products they buy. We offer a wide

variety of specific options such as transfer sheets

with a personal message, creamy fillings that can

be flavoured with trendy ingredients as well as

colourful decorations.”

Enhanced sustainability is one of the core

values of Barry Callebaut. “In 2012, we increased

our sustainability focus by launching Cocoa

Horizons, a 10-year global sustainability

initiative and the biggest, most comprehensive

initiative in our company‘s history added on

top of the existing programs we run,” says

De Lathouwer. “Cocoa Horizons builds on our

experience, expertise and relationship with

farming comm unities and our existing farmer

programs, such as the Quality Partner Program.

QPP is a sustaina bility program based on direct

partner ships between Barry Callebaut and

farmer cooperatives. The program aims to

improve quality in distinct ways, such as farmer

training in good agricultural practices and the

usage of sustainable production methods, as

well as in harvesting and post-harvesting

management practices. Our company’s long-

term goal is to diligently carry out the cocoa

Horizons program to improve quality and

enhance productivity.”

Barry Callebaut is a leading manufacturer of high quality cocoa and chocolate

products, with more than 45 production facilities and over 6,000 employees

worldwide. The company was formed in 1996, when Belgian chocolate producer

Callebaut and French chocolate company Cacao Barry merged. Today, the company

provides a comprehensive range of services in the fields of product development and

processing, actively engaging in initiatives and projects that contribute to a more

sustainable cocoa supply chain.


An interview with Sofie De Lathouwer, Marketing Director Food ManufacturersWestern Europe, Barry Callebaut

In a nutshell

STEP INTO THE MINDSOF YOUR CUSTOMERS

Get a handle on what your customers truly want. Barry Callebaut has dug deep into their minds andpresents the solutions that will get your customers excited. Find out how a new generation of cocoa products,

chocolate, nuts, fillings, decorations, etc. will fulfill the expectations of your customers. Contact our local sales contacts at www.barry-callebaut.com