Food scientists burrow deeper into industry issues
processing, finding new solutionsto industry's manufacturing
problems, according to organisers here at a conference.
The International Union of Food Science & Technology's five-day bi-annual conference, held this year inNantes, ended yesterday after about 200 oral presentations of ongoing research.
About 800 scientists from around the world got a chance to hear research presentations covering 35 main topics,including those involving health, technology, safety, nanotechnology, nutrition and manufacturingissues. Another 800 research projects were also presented via posters.
Conference chairman Pierre Feillet said the main challenge for participants is to know how to adjusttheir research strategies to meet the needs of the food industry and the consumer.
Government policy, a new orientation to healthy diets, and an increasing amount of food regulationhas thrown up new challenges to the food industry. Food scientists can help manufacturers meet thosechanging demands.
"We must have a research strategy to deal with the impact of food, nutrition and government policy,"he said yesterday.
Food scientists must also work harder at understanding consumers and communicating researchresults to them. He called for a more multidisciplinary approach to research, especially insensitive areas such as nanotechnology.
"We need to understand how to listen to the demand of consumers," he said. "We cannot leave thistask in the hands of the technicians and the scientific community. Progress must be by sharinginformation widely. How do we reconcile irrational consumer behaviour with rational science?Irrational has its own rationality. That structure must be understood."
Alan Mortimer president of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) saidthe issues food scientists are tackling today are being driven by the ongoing globalisation ofindustry.
As an example food safety has become more complicated for the food manufacturer in a globalisedarena.
"Food safety has always been a big issue," he told FoodProductionDaily.com. "But now we have amuch larger food chain, making processing and chilled distribution techniques much more important.The list of emerging pathogens is also growing. Concerns over the safety of meats is spilling overto vegetables and fruits."
Another growing sector for researchers is adjusting processing to find the delicate balance between killingfoodborne pathogens and nutrients retention. Many processes reduce or destroy nutrients in foods soresearchers are studying minimal processing techniques, meeting increasing public demand for morenatural products.
Walter Spiess, a scientist at the Universitat Karlsruhe's Institute of Food Process Engineeringin Germany, said researchers were becoming much more interested in studying the behaviours of foodsand compontents at the mollecular level using a variety of processing techniques.
Scientists are burrowing deeper into the structure to develop nanotechnology products and techniques for tailoring foodsto achieve certain goals, such as improving health, or tracking allergen formation.
"One of our challenges is to see how we can develop food produced from the molecular level,"he said. "We are even looking at the molecular situation during conventional processing and applying a range of techniques."
Another research trend that complements molecular level studies, is the search for understandingthe functions of cell walls. The effects of heating and pressure is a popular study area.
An increasing focus on consumer needs is also impacting research and a factor scientists shouldpay more attention to, he said.
"We who are from food science are moving more and more into nutritional areas,"Spiess said. "Food technologists are not themselves nutritionalists but their work isstarting to involve the challenge of tailoring foods to meet nutritional requirements. We are also making use of what we call the softer sciences -- market researchers,psychologists. Good science is being produced in these areas."
IUFoST president Mortimer added that scientists have to learn how to understand consumermotivation and communicate better with them.
"We have to get into the consumers head," he said. "In a way we have done this badly.Look at how we stuffed up GM food."
He also called on food scientists to do more to address malnutrition around the world. Anestimated 830m people are estimated to suffer from undernutrition, about 50 per cent of them in India.
"Yet India has a surplus of food," he said. "They just can't afford tobuy it."
He also called on more food industry representatives to to turn up to events like the conference.Scientific research can help them meet and solve issues, such as those involving allergens, and theobesity crisis.
The next IUFoST conference will be held 2008 in Shanghai, China, emphasizing the growingimportance of a country that is due to become a global food giant.
