Ireland launches technology transfer strategy to support food companies

Teagasc - the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority - has launched food technology transfer strategy to support Irish food companies.

As a part of knowledge transfer strategy, Teagasc noted that it is offering five gateways to food firms to promote new technologies. The five gateways include - Technology Offers; Technology Updates; Technology Services; Technology Expertise; and Technology Profiles.

World's First Robotic Dairy Opened in Australia

The world's first robotic rotary dairy has been opened in a commercial pilot farm in Quamby Brook, Tasmania, in Australia.

The Dornauf family, which owns the dairy farm, had agreed to install the Automatic Milking Rotary (AMR), which has been manufactured and installed by Swedish dairy equipment company DeLaval.

FutureDairy project in Australia, which is a collaboration between DeLaval, Dairy Australia, NSW Department of Primary Industries and the University of Sydney, has developed the new technology.

UV TECHNOLOGY FOR FOOD DISINFECTION-NEW CLAIMS

Keeping the food from harm's way is a continuing challenge for the industry in spite of enormous success in evolving a multitude of disinfection technologies during the last five decades. Classically the traditional thermal pasteurization still rules the roost though the technique to generate heat may vary depending on the technology one talks about. With the advent of HTST/UHT technology which is being used by Tetrapack and other companies, heat damage to the quality of food processed has been greatly minimized though it is not avoided completely. 

Quest for non-thermal processing has resulted in development of modern technologies like Gamma Radiation, High Pressure Processing and a few others which are now being commercialized though on a slow pace. Ultra Violet light certainly has high disinfecting potential but its use is restricted more or less to making water pathogen-free. Now comes the news that new technologies are on the anvil exploiting the kill potential of UV light for commercial pasteurization of liquid foods like wine, fruit juices, milk etc. Here are some details about this latest development.

NATURE'S BARCODE-A NEW TOOL FOR DETECTING IDENTITY OF FOOD

Food fraud is now acknowledged to be a universal phenomenon and safety management agencies in many countries are exasperated by the ingenuity shown by the fraudsters in thumbing the government vigilance system with more and more sophistication in their strategy. It is true government agencies with enormous resources and facilities invariably catch up with the criminals but due to tremendous diversity of foods manufactured and complex chemical composition of many of these organic cocktails, it is next to impossible to have an iron-clad case against adulterated or quality compromised foods. 

Recent development of a low cost technology that makes use of the presence of isotopes of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in almost all foods may provide an answer to the prayers of food safety vigilante for such a tool to hunt down adulterators and fraudsters indulging in such crimes. Here are some details about the new development which is pregnant with long term implications for the food industry. 

WHY FOOD INDUSTRY IS DAMNED-MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENTS!

Is there any honest business man left on this planet? An interesting question that may elicit strong reaction from people who feel that the industry works on a single point agenda, that is to increase their business turn over and profit margin  at "any cost". But is it really true? The answer is both "yes" and "no". Yes, because the corporate business entities will have to answer to their stake holders about the economic efficiency of their working but it may be a resounding no if the means to achieve higher profitability is critically scrutinized. 

Obviously industry does not run charity and the investments made must earn decent returns which is understandable. More or less critics, many in number, are not questioning this right of the industry but want transparent means to achieve positive results without hurting the consumer or the health of the society in general. Here is an interesting commentary on the "unethical" but legal means deployed by the corporate business sector to influence, cajole and push the consumer to eating more and more foods, many of which do not satisfy the nutritional and health criteria that qualify them as good food. 

SAVING THE FRESH PRODUCE-NEW TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION

Food waste is a "magic mantra" used in many developing countries to advocate use of modern technologies to reduce the wastage and extend the food supply chain. It is true that many crude practices, mostly manual in nature, which are in vogue in developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America in the fields as well as the post harvest handling practices lend them selves to some wastage which can be targeted under any program for reducing wastes. 

There are a multitude of technologies available to agricultural industry which can not only reduce waste but also safeguard the quality of the commodities from the farm to the consumer table. Of course there severe constraints at economic, technology adoption and logistical levels to transplant these technologies. Supply chain is vulnerable to many aberrations that can cause non-uniform quality among shipments from the farms and traceability is the new mantra being promoted in developed countries where field practices, packing shed operations, transport infrastructure, storage depots and retailer's facilities are largely automated. 

FUSION FOODS-FUTURE TREND IN INDIA

"Indianization" of foreign foods seems to be the "mantra" of many multinational food companies who find it difficult to make any breakthrough in business in India with their otherwise successful recipes of western origin. 

 Fusion foods, though a relatively new word in the food lexicon, brings out the reality that unless products that best suit Indian palates are launched, it is a Herculean task for the MNCs to establish sound business competing with the small scale caterers. Indian fast food outlets and road side vendors. Here is an example of such efforts by some companies as a part of their survival and growth strategy.

THE DNA "BARCODE"-A NEW "PEEPING" TECHNOLOGY!

With sophisticated electronic instruments available to day, detailing the features of any material on earth has become easy and reliable. It was not long ago that personal identification was being done on the basis of photographs but to day biometric measurements have become standard techniques for such tasks widely used world over. The fact that each living species has its own genetic sequence has enabled their identification in a cocktail using the well established DNA printing. 

This technology has now found a new use in the hands of regulators in detecting adulterants and contaminants in many foods. By compiling a master reference DNA finger prints of all species whether animal based or plant based or microorganism based, it is possible to day to compare the DNA sequence of a particular food material and find out what ingredients are present in it. Here is the fascinating story of DNA Barcode system evolved in Canada that is likely to revolutionize the safety monitoring protocols world over.  

FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Technology is the driving force for achieving prosperity and power among the comity of nations and when it comes to food technology it can make any country prosperous if rightly used. In fact abundance of food can turn people into workforce with high productivity and innovation capability. 

Take the case of America, considered the richest nation on earth, measured by any yardstick. If its armed forces can deter potential adversaries from any part of the world from hostile action, its food production base is of such size that no other country can ever come near to its pre-eminent position. It is said that foods wasted by the American population every day can support the food needs of the entire world and that is the magnitude of its prowess.