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Measuring food appearance 
Appearance is an important aspect of food quality, but its intrumental measurement is often limited in scope. A three-year member-funded project* has culminated in technology for objectively measuring size, shape, colour uniformity and distribution, and average colour in a diversity of products: from tomato ripeness or sauce colour in baked beans to the distribution of cherries in a cake or colour variation through the crust in a slice of bread and the rind of a melon. A special imaging cabinet was commissioned from DigiEye Ltd, so that food products could be presented against a neutral background under a choice of controlled lighting conditions - including diffuse, oblique, axial or back illumination. Images are captured using a high resolution digital camera calibrated against reference colour standards to allow accurate colour reproduction and measurement, while software developed by CCFRA extends the capabilities of the DigiEye system to measure characteristics of relevance to food. Ongoing work will demonstrate how this and calibrated printing technologies have valuable practical applications such as documentation, quality control and appearance specification. R&D Report No. 231 available to members from Carol Newman +44(0)1386 842048 pubs@campden.co.uk Contact: Martin Whitworth Product benchmarking Do you know how your products compare with those of your competitors? CCFRA's product benchmarking service can provide an unbiased view of this. Using an experienced team including home economists, chefs and expert shoppers, product benchmarking involves identifying, sourcing, preparing and assessing new products to provide an independent view of the product. Janetta Hylands, Market Insights Manager, explains: 
"We put ourselves in the position of an informed consumer. For product benchmarking, we use our many years of experience of identifying and assessing new products. Samples are prepared following the on-pack instructions in a purpose-built test kitchen, and we assess attributes such as their appearance, flavour and texture. Similar information for new products is collected and logged on a database and provided to clients through our New Product Alert bulletin. We also offer one-to-one tailored services for individual clients who want to assess their own products or compare them with those of their competitors, monitor competitor activity, brainstorm new product ideas and develop recipes for consumers, retailers and manufacturers." Monitoring new products in this way also enables the team to identify trends such as the current growth in ethical products, the continued emphasis on healthy eating and well-being, and the emergence of meal kits - where consumers are provided with prepared ingredients but still get the enjoyment of preparing the meal themselves. Contact: Janetta Hylands Food control in Kuwait 
Kuwait imports around 85% of its food. Assuring the safety of this food, as well as domestic food production and its catering activities, is paramount for the Kuwaiti authorities. For several years CCFRA has been providing extensive technical advisory services to the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) in the development of a food control infrastructure for the Kuwait Municipality. This wide-ranging work has included:
Currently CCFRA is creating a specification and tender document to help the Kuwaiti authorities procure a fully computerised food sampling system which will link to a laboratory information management system (LIMS), to allow efficient data gathering and handling for samples along the full length of the import, distribution and testing chain. Contact: Brian McLean Benzene analysis CCFRA offers analysis for benzene in foods as a service and can also discuss the factors likely to affect benzene formation in products. These services are available to companies wishing to check existing products or wanting to ascertain whether benzene will form in reformulated products. Contact: Nick Byrd Fresh produce washing forum 
CCFRA's Washing and Decontamination of Fresh Produce Forum was established to help members keep up to date with opportunities, technical information and trends in this increasingly important area. In particular, with increasing interest in alternatives to chlorine for produce washing, the meetings stimulate an exchange of ideas between academics and industrialists regarding novel and alternative methods of safe, effective and practical fruit and vegetable washing. The newsletters for forum members complement the meetings by providing relevant feature articles and reviews of current research. Set to continue for a further twelve months, on the back of another successful year, the forum is open to new members. Contact: Linda Everis Allergens conference 6-7th July 2006 Organised by CCFRA in collaboration with the Anaphylaxis Campaign and Coeliac UK, this two-day conference at CCFRA will take a detailed but wide-ranging look at food allergy issues, with input from scientists, consumer groups, diagnostic kit companies, regulatory specialists and enforcement agencies. Contact: Training Department Processing technologies for sustainability 
Sustainability is about meeting the needs of today without compromising the capacity for future generations to meet their needs. It impinges on all aspects of society, including industry, which plays a major role in the use, management and environmental impact of many resources. A recent CCFRA/Razor PR workshop, run by Forum for the Future, illustrated to many senior food industry managers why sustainable manufacturing practices will become a business critical issue within the next few years. CCFRA is already active in this area. As part of CCFRA's new technologies activities, we have increasingly been monitoring and reporting on technologies for waste minimisation and utilisation – through the New Technologies Bulletin – with plans to increase the emphasis on environmental technologies in future issues. CCFRA is looking at how it can help industry in the area of waste management, whilst Grub's Up – an ongoing EU project – will involve hazard analysis of a range of waste conversion technologies. As part of these developments we would welcome feedback from members on sustainability, waste issues and how we can assist through services and research activities. This is part of a broader strategy to develop and extend our research and services in sustainable resource management, with a further workshop on sustainable practices being planned. Contact: Craig Leadley Meet us at IFT If you are at the IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo in Orlando (June 25-27) please call in to see us on Stand No. 2507a where our exhibit will include information on CCFRA services, training and publications. Contact: Bertrand Emond Pangborn 2007 The biggest international gathering of the sensory science community - the Pangborn Conference – next takes place in Minneapolis USA in August 2007. With exhibitor booths already fully booked, the call is now open for papers and there are still some opportunities for sponsorship. As well as participating in the scientific programme, CCFRA is managing the exhibition and sponsorship. For further information see www.pangborn2007.com Daphne Llewellyn Davies Managing incidents, preventing crises Good planning for the management of incidents can prevent them from becoming crises - and even save a business's life. Crisis prevention through incident management: being prepared and responding effectively (CCFRA Guideline No. 49) is a new guide from CCFRA that provides clear, step-by-step guidance on how to develop a simple yet effective incident management system. All food operations face problems from time-to-time, including ‘technical incidents’ with their products or processes – perhaps an accidental contamination of an ingredient or a failure in a process. Developed by a group drawn from food companies, food safety advisers and enforcement bodies, the guide includes examples of such incidents to illustrate how a good system can work for companies at all stages of the supply chain. Accompanying webpages provide template forms for users to create their own incident management manual. The guide is priced at £50 (members) and £75 (non-members). Contact: Carol Newman Diet and health review 
A new review from CCFRA will help companies involved in the development, reformulation, production and marketing of ‘healthy eating’ products to better understand what influences consumers' choices. Consumers' approach to eating healthily: key drivers, barriers and other factors affecting food choice (Review No. 50) considers the various definitions of ‘healthy foods’, looks at why consumers select such foods, explores the barriers that discourage consumers from picking these options, and looks at wider factors that influence food choice. It pulls together information from a wide range of sources - including consumer surveys and market research, primary scientific literature, trade press, discussion papers, web sources and official publications, with references to explore source information. It is priced at £40 (Members) and £60 (Non-members) Contact: Carol Newman Welcome to New members CCFRA is delighted to welcome the following new members who joined in March 2006:
Contact: Bertrand Emond Please notify the Membership Department of any name or address changes with respect to our mailing list. |