New member-funded research projects

Each year our members decide how we should invest over £2m of their membership fees in research to help their companies, and the food industry in general, to develop and prosper. This year they have selected the following projects to complement another 40 or so current ones. They are organised across five themes based on industry needs:

Safety

• Demonstrating control of Listeria within ready-to-eat foods
  This project will evaluate the growth potential of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods with the use of challenge tests and durability studies, and develop a scoring system for showing effective control of this organism.
• Better factory hygiene: microbial population dynamics in food factories
  The microflora of factories making different product categories will be investigated, along with the changes in microbial populations over the course of a year during normal operation.
• Technologies for detection of foreign bodies and internal defects
  New technologies will be reviewed and practical trials of their capabilities will be conducted for foreign body and defect detection.

Quality and value

• Quality and safety of cereal-based products and ingredients for the food and brewing industry
  This project will develop and maintain industry-agreed methods to measure and therefore control the quality and safety of cereal-based ingredients. It will also investigate new instrumentation and testing methods to assess the physical characteristics of grains and cereals including the cereals’ functionality. Finally, the project will develop and/or evaluate methods to assess end-product quality.

Nutrition, health and wellbeing

• Consumer acceptance of new and emerging ingredients
  A better understanding of both the industry’s and consumers’ perceptions of ‘novel’ ingredients will be derived, with a focus on consumer acceptance when these ingredients are included in products. Sustainability, resilience and food security
• Reuse of packaging
  The effect that the reuse of food and drink containers has on both the safety and longevity of the packaging will be investigated, including the impact on the quality of the stored products.

Skills and knowledge

• Vegan and vegetarian products - help with the challenge
  This project will assist the industry with the various challenges posed by the growing trend for vegan and vegetarian foods and beverages, including a focus on associated packaging.

Members will have the opportunity to help shape and direct these projects at the winter Member Interest Group meetings. Why not pop along to get involved and steer the projects towards your needs?