Editorial and News

In the ever-evolving realm of Food Science and Technology, the art of food innovation is one of the most creative and multi-faceted. The journey of innovation involves an intricate web of aspects. Intellectual Property (IP) experts craft the legal framework that safeguards the ideas propelling the development of products and processes. Skilled minds dive into research and development which ranges from formulating ‘free-from’ foods and novel foods to using forgotten crops that could contribute to biodiversity within UK crops. But let's not forget hot topics such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, how will their use have an impact on food innovation? Innovation is not only in formulation and processes, it is also about strategic and time saving practices, especially when carrying out sensory testing. Nothing screams ‘innovation’ or better ‘eco-innovation’ more than Ecotrophelia! Beyond the bustling kitchens and laboratories, lies a realm where experienced individuals foster the growth of the next generation of food prefessionals. email [email protected] Please, note that there is an inaccuracy in the sentence found in our last issue: Vol 37 Issue 2, page 38 of the article titled The Future of Innovation is Open related to the caption sentence: ‘The Cambridge Open Innovation Forum is hosted by the IfM and funded by Unilever and the Cambridge Integrated Knowledge Centre’. The correct statement should be: ‘The OI Forum was established in October 2010 as a structured programme for members to share best practice, explore ‘hot topics,’ and accelerate open innovation collaborations along the value stream’. The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) has released an updated version of the Lion Code of Practice, known as Version 8. The code incorporates the latest scientific advice and industry expertise, covering over 700 audit points related to various aspects of egg production, including Salmonella vaccination, traceability, sampling and testing, auditing, and enforcement. The code also addresses animal welfare standards and includes updates to protocols for rodent control, on-farm and packing centre practices, and the Lion training passport. However, duck eggs are not included in the revised document. During a food safety conference, Andrew Joret, the chairman of BEIC, discussed the challenges faced by the UK egg industry, such as the presence of European eggs in the market and instances of Salmonella and chemical contamination, including the Fipronil scandal. The import controls on eggs and egg products are currently minimal, which raises concerns about food safety. Joret emphasized the importance of the British Lion mark, which signifies eggs produced to high food safety standards and helps restore consumer confidence. Despite pasteurization's effectiveness in most cases, there is a possibility that Salmonella may survive if the bacterial load is high. The UK has very strict standards for egg pasteurization and there are challenges involved in ensuring functionality while eradicating pathogens. Moreover, food fraud was discussed, with an example of Polish eggs being fraudulently labelled as British Lion eggs. The updated Lion Code has been launched, and audits against it are scheduled to start in September 2023, following the expected approval from the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). Aspartame is one of the most widely used artificial sweeteners and classified under group 2B ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization (WHO). It is commonly found in various products, including diet sodas and chewing gum. The IARC's ruling is based on an assessment of published evidence to determine potential hazards, disregarding the safe consumption levels. The WHO's Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), responsible for providing advice on safe consumption, is also reviewing aspartame this year. However, concerns have been raised regarding the simultaneous timing of both processes, with industry and regulators requesting coordination to avoid confusion among the public. The IARC's classifications can have significant implications. A classification of aspartame as a possible carcinogen may spark further debates regarding the safety of artificial sweeteners. It's important to note that regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have previously deemed aspartame safe for consumption within specified limits. Aspartame has undergone extensive studies, but the evidence regarding its potential carcinogenicity remains inconclusive. Observational studies have shown a slightly higher cancer risk among individuals consuming larger amounts of artificial sweeteners, including aspartame. However, these studies cannot establish a causal relationship. Seeing aspartame classified as a possible carcinogen could aim to encourage further research that will enable agencies, consumers, and manufacturers to make more informed decisions. In last June, Eat Just Inc. and Upside Foods Inc. announced that they have received approvals from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to commercially sell cell-based chicken. Eat Just plans to launch its cell-based chicken in restaurants owned by renowned chef José Andrés in Washington, while Upside will introduce its product at chef Dominique Crenn's restaurant Bar Crenn in San Francisco. The USDA's approvals for commercial sale signify a major breakthrough for the cell-based meat industry. This regulatory milestone opens doors for other companies in the sector to progress towards widespread availability of their products. It demonstrates the increasing acceptance and recognition of cultivated meat as a viable alternative to conventional animal-based products. The cultivated meat and seafood industry has been actively working towards developing sustainable and ethical alternatives to traditional meat production. By cultivating meat from animal cells, these companies aim to reduce the environmental impact of livestock farming, address animal welfare concerns, and provide consumers with more sustainable protein options. The recent approvals by the USDA represent a significant step forward in bringing cell-based meat products to the mainstream market, offering consumers greater choice and promoting a more sustainable food system. However, challenges remain, including scaling up production, reducing costs, and ensuring consumer acceptance and regulatory compliance. Dear Editor, The article on Notpla in the June issue of Food Science and Technology makes some very good points about current attempts to make food service packaging less environmentally damaging. However, while it points out that PLA-coated board only breaks down in industrial composters it has ignored the results of the UCL great compost experiment which showed that fewer than half the households in the UK have a compost system and those that are in use are so varied that it is common for certified home compostable packaging to not break down in a home composter. The certification is just not relevant to real life in the UK. The innovative type of packaging mentioned in the article will be effective and useful in closed environments such as football stadia where it is the only material used and the packaging can be collected and industrially composted together with the food waste, however, in more open situations, the industrial composter will reject that specific coated board along with all other packaging that they reject as untreatable. Part of the solution to this problem would be that all local authorities provided food waste treatment, but they don't. Defra has said that they would like all local authorities across the country to offer collection and treatment of the same materials including food waste but they have been slow in coming forward with more concrete proposals and the current composting facilities are far from adequate to cope with food waste alone, let alone with packaging as well. And even when consistent waste collection is available what will the consumer do? Will they bother to look at their packaging and decide which bin to put it in? They will either put the packaging in general waste, into recycling where the food waste on it will be a contaminant, or into food waste where it will be rejected as most packaging will not be compostable. In 2026 printable packaging will have to carry the binary ‘Recycle/Do not recycle’ label. Compostable materials will be included as not recyclable. Under the current eco-modulation proposals as part of extended producer responsibility, packaging that is not recyclable will carry the highest fees. Should the board mentioned in the article end up in recycling and at a paper mill? Experience with paper cup recycling has demonstrated that things are not always as straightforward as one might like. For example, dispersion coated paper cups can only be recycled into cardboard while polythene coated cups can be up cycled into high-class packaging. Recycling is complicated and frequently the introduction of new materials merely makes it more so. Kind Regards A research team from Ontario, Canada, has made significant strides in the development of plant-based whole-muscle meat alternatives that closely resemble the texture of cooked steak or chicken breast. Working at the Canadian Light Source (CLS), part of the University of Saskatchewan, scientists utilised corn protein, specifically zein isolated from corn gluten, to create meat analogues with fibrous qualities akin to animal-derived cuts. Zein is colour-free and has a neutral smell and taste. Thanks to is viscoelastic attributes, it can be used as a useful element to improve the texture of plant-based meat alternatives. Traditionally, most plant-based meat products on the market are produced from texturized vegetable proteins. While these alternatives are easier to produce, emulating the texture of whole cuts requires extensive processing and costly equipment. Researchers sought to avoid such intensive processing by examining the inherent physical and molecular properties of plant proteins like zein and pea, as well as rapid swelling starch. By analysing the fibre density of various samples, they discovered that combining and ‘stretching’ these proteins and starches allowed them to develop a whole-muscle meat analogue with textural attributes reminiscent of beef and chicken. The discovery of this new method for developing plant-based whole-muscle meat analogues represent a significant advancement in the field of meat alternatives. By utilizing corn protein and understanding the interactions between different plant proteins and starches, the researchers have achieved a texture that closely mimics that of animal-derived cuts. Further research and development in this area could contribute to the ongoing shift towards a more plant-based and environmentally friendly food system. As consumer demand for sustainable protein options continues to rise, innovations like these offer promising solutions to reduce the environmental impact of animal agriculture while still satisfying the desire for familiar meat-like textures and flavours. It is, however, important to highlight that commercialisation and widespread availability of these plant-based whole-muscle meat analogues may require additional refinement, scale-up of production processes, as well as regulatory approvals. Read more: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ The waters of Northern Europe hold a treasure that is largely unknown but could prove to be a resource of enormous importance for the production of valuable nutrients, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, fibres, and fuels. These treasures are large seaweeds, commonly known as sea lettuces. It's no coincidence that the countries bordering these seas are presenting some promising projects, also funded by the European Union, to harness these seaweeds optimally and with zero impact. A study published in Algal Research has demonstrated that the seas of the North are much richer in varieties of Ulva algae than previously thought. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden travelled over 10,000 km along the coasts of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, and Sweden to collect samples and conduct in-depth genetic analyses in the laboratory. They discovered the presence of twenty species of Ulva, nine of which had never been described before, and three potentially invasive species. The classification and localization of these species are essential to assess which ones are most suitable for cultivation based on specific requirements and to identify suitable locations for their cultivation without disturbing ecosystems. It is also important to closely monitor dangerous species. The SeaFree project, coordinated by the University of Copenhagen, is already underway. It is based on cultivating sea lettuces using the byproducts from feed and the CO2 produced by shrimp and fish aquacultures. The project, supported with €1.9m from the Danish Innovation Fund and in collaboration with several companies, has initiated its pilot phase. In eight tanks, each containing a thousand litres of saltwater, CO2 and nutrients are poured, and the algae are illuminated with LED lights. Within a week, the tanks are filled with harvestable seaweeds. The product has an umami aftertaste. The system ensures fish, shrimp, and algae with zero impact and is designed to utilize residual energy to dehydrate the seaweeds destined for the pharmaceutical or cosmetic industry. The seaweeds intended for consumption are the focus of another part of the project, which involves studying new recipes to make sea lettuce more appealing and acceptable to different culinary traditions while highlighting its remarkable nutritional properties. According to the project coordinators, this system is easily reproducible, and if adopted by even just half of the aquaculture industry worldwide, it would have a significant impact on emissions and waste. The seaweed industry is experiencing significant growth, especially in countries with extensive marine areas, as the introduction of algae into dietary habits is believed to be easier compared to other new food categories like insects. Furthermore, algae not only do not emit CO2 but also absorb it from the atmosphere. The utilization of seaweeds could contribute to reducing CO2 emissions and valorising untapped marine resources. These projects represent a step forward towards a more sustainable future and could bring significant environmental and economic benefits if implemented on a large scale.

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