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J C Andrews Award Address July 2024: Chris Bloore
What Food Techs do in the shadows
Allan Hardacre
How to develop and mature a food safety culture: the human factor
News and Awards
Nerida Kelton FAIP, Vice President Sustainability & Save Food, WPO
Executive Director, AIP
In Memorium: Peter Hawkins FNZIFST
Anne Scott, Alan Bulmer
NZIFST N EWS INCLUDING Conference 2025 Announcement NZIFST Awards 2024 Branch Reports
Recognition through awards, scholarships, travel grants www.nzifst.org.nz/join/
Overview: Food ingredients: What’s new and exciting in the world of flavour, colour, texture, preservation. Laboratories: Equipment, consumables, instruments JOIN NZIFST NOW for Professional Development Networking – connecting with your peers
Conferences are time for learning, discovering that one new idea and finding and reacquainting with friends.
Next editorial and advertising deadline: September 20th, 2024
Features for October/November 2024
From the Editor
Reflecting on Conference
NZIFST Conferences have been an annual fixture in the food industry calendar since 1965 – 59 years. Originally held at Massey University, in Palmerston North, and organised and run by the (then) Faculty of Food Science and Technology, they have always combined learning and networking: the building of friendships for mutual benefit, whether social or business. The founding Faculty staff recognised the value of a national food science and technology organisation and in its creation created a family of like-minded individuals. It would be impossible to count the number of personal contacts within NZIFST that have benefitted business or research operations or led to new jobs or career opportunities – the gentle art of networking in action.
We include an Obituary on page 35 of a past master of the art of networking: Peter Hawkins, who built his business, Hawkins Watts, on his networks. Peter’s belief was that NZIFST was a great forum for people involved with the food industry to meet openly and discuss issues of collective importance.
From the time that the Institute wrested the Conference from Massey in 1976 (And it was something of a tussle!) the event has remained the focus of our industry’s annual, national gathering – and of our networking – or, as modern terminology calls it, building career capital.
This year’s Conference reminded us all of the camaraderie that still exists in our industry. In the course of our work and social activities we can create bonds that support and lead us through our careers.
Fellows Lunch – still networking
Our Institute includes 135 Fellows in its membership. A regular Fellows lunch has been organised in Auckland by Paul Harrison and me for the last 6 or 7 years, and is generally attended by about 12 local Fellows.
This year, thanks to an anonymous benefactor, a Fellows lunch was organised for the last day of Conference, in Hamilton and attended by 45 Fellows, some with guests. Thirty Fellows sent their apologies. Our oldest Fellow, Ralph McCraw, who is now 94, attended with his wife. Ralph was Technical Manager at Watties in Hastings for many years and now lives in Cambridge. Ralph was a signatory on the Institute's 1969 Application for Incorporation.
A heartfelt thank you to Hamilton member, Margot Buick who organised the venue and a delicious grazing lunch for us. Comments from those who attended recommend a similar event next year – including the grazing table which meant that we had to replenish our small plates frequently and so reacquainted ourselves with more people each visit.
While the tables were set for groups of 6, by the end of the event most of the tables were deserted, with much larger groups gathered at the remaining tables. A photograph was taken which is on page 1 of this magazine.
The hunt is on for a sponsor for next year – and we hope it will become a regular event at every Conference.
Anne Scott FNZIFST, Editor
Anne Scott FNZIFST, Editor
Newsbites
Food New Zealand’s round up of news about NZIFST members, associated companies and other items of interest.
Research Collaboration
Biniam Kebede at University of Otago working on AIPowered Non-Invasive Technology for ensuring the integrity of New Zealand Wine
In a groundbreaking initiative, advanced imaging and AI technology are being harnessed to develop a portable, non-invasive technique to ensure wine authenticity and traceability. This cutting-edge project aims to strengthen the integrity of the wine industry, combat fraud, and ensure product safety.
The project has secured $300,000 in funding from the MBIE New Zealand China Strategic Research Alliance and involves collaboration between researchers and industry partners from New Zealand (Otago University, AgResearch, Oritain) and China (Sinolight Technology Innovation Center Co. Ltd.). Leading this innovative effort is Dr. Biniam Kebede, a Senior Lecturer in the Food Science Department at Otago University. This collaboration promises to deliver significant advances in wine quality assurance, benefiting producers and consumers alike.
CRI and University co-operate to train future scientists
The University of Auckland and Plant & Food Research have confirmed their commitment to ensuring science capability is embedded in the primary sector workforce, with the signing of a new agreement to continue the Joint Graduate School in Plant and Food Science.
Since it was established in 2010, the Joint Graduate School has supported more than 200 students studying for postgraduate qualifications in applied science and research vital to ensuring the ongoing success of New Zealand’s primary sector. Ten Plant & Food Research staff have co-appointments with the University through the Joint Graduate School, promoting collaboration between the two organisations.
Plant & Food Research Chief Scientist, Professor Richard Newcomb, says the Joint Graduate School offers students a unique opportunity to see how they can add value to the primary sector by building a career in applied research.
By joining the Joint Graduate School, students are offered the opportunity to undertake research in a range of topics, including biosecurity and bioprotection; plant breeding and genetics; crop physiology and soil science; entomology and pollination; and food and nutrition. Students are provided with supervisors from both the University and Plant & Food Research, offering the opportunity to work on real-world problems and gain industry perspective, as well as research excellence.
The Joint Graduate School provides a platform for the complementary capabilities and facilities of the University and Plant & Food Research to be combined, enabling richer experiences for postgraduate students and broader opportunities for research collaboration.
Over the 2024 academic year, the Joint Graduate School is supporting more than 40 postgraduate students, including 6 Masters students and 37 PhD students.
Otis Oat milk production now in Auckland
About half a million litres of oat milk produced from premium South Island oats are now flowing off a new production line in East Auckland and Otis, the owners of New Zealand’s original oat milk brand, couldn’t be more thrilled.
"It's taken us nearly five years to establish a first-of-its-kind, purposebuilt New Zealand factory with the technology required to produce premium oat milks our own gold standard," says Tim Ryan, cofounder of Otis.
Ryan says the facility’s build is the culmination of an eighteen month project collaborating with the best-available New Zealand, German and Swedish food technology to create a world-class production facility for plant based milk.
Owned by premium beverage producer Free-flow Manufacturing, the facility boasts world leading enzyme technology developed by Sweden's Angie Triantafyllou, known as the 'godmother of modern oat milk'. The ex-Oatly founder is now Chairperson of the board at Swedish plant-based technology company Cerealiq.
Otis launched in Canterbury in 2018 as New Zealand’s first oat milk producer.
As the business scaled up production, Ryan and co-founder Chris Wilkie worked with Cerealiq’s patented enzyme technology, ensuring
premium quality and nutritional excellence in every drop of their oat milk. The New Zealanders made a tough decision to safeguard their premium recipe by exporting New Zealand oats for manufacturing in Sweden.
Since then they have been on a mission to return to making their oat milk in New Zealand.
Wilkie says, “This new facility will produce our oat milk recipe to the world-class standard levels of beta-glucan, the nutritional-gold ingredient found in Otis oat milk. Beta-Glucan helps the body to maintain stable cholesterol levels and a healthy gut.”
Otis works closely with the New Zealand Oat Industry Group. The Group includes Plant Research, Harraways and around 70 arable farmers using oat varieties that were optimised and developed over 20 years for the southern growing region, ensuring New Zealand-grown oats remain nutritionally superior to other varieties in the world.
The business’ return to New Zealand comes at a time of consistent growth in the plant-based milk sector. With consumer preferences shifting towards consuming more sustainable options, globally oat milk’s dominance continues.
Otis’ new 100% homegrown oat milk will be on supermarket shelves nationwide from 1 July, available in 1 litre cartons in new and refreshed packaging.
Pictured in the Free Flow manufacturing plant are Free Flow Manufacturing’s Adam Sorenson, Otis national sales manager Finn Geoghegan and Scott Day from Free Flow
40 years on at Hill Labs
Reflecting on the past to look to the future
As analytical testing company Hill Labs celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, managing director, Jonno Hill credits the success of the company to the legacy of the strong cultural values that his parents founded the company upon four decades ago.
Started in 1984 by Dr Roger and Anne Hill, Hill Labs has grown to become New Zealand’s largest privately owned analytical laboratory. They use the latest technologies to supply a broad range of laboratory tests to domestic and international markets in the agricultural, environmental and food industries.
Jonno has spent his entire career working in the company his parents founded, but neither he nor his parents really saw him coming to join the family business when he was younger.
“It was not until I was six months away from finishing my PhD that I even considered it, to be honest. It seems crazy in hindsight because it's gone so well,” reflects Jonno.
In the managing director role since 2018, Jonno says it’s been a wonderful exercise in experiencing intergenerational family business and the persistence of culture.
“Company culture and values accrue around the people who are leading the business. Hill Labs was my parents' business, and so the culture and the values reflect the things that they cared about.”
This sentiment is also shared by many of Hill Labs’ employees. Senior technician, Gina McNamara has been with Hill Labs coming up to 23 years and says that during her time with the company, she and her colleagues have formed a real community.
“There’s quite a few of us who have been there for most of our careers. There’s certainly a sense that we’re working together for something special, and that’s one of the best parts about working for Hill Labs.”
Because Hill Labs’ culture and values are so deeply ingrained, it can be easy to overlook their significance. Jonno believes it’s important for leadership to be attentive and intentional in recognising and articulating these foundational elements and shaping the company’s ethos into words and actions.
Customer value is one of the key drivers that keep Hill Labs innovating now and will continue to do so in the future.
“When thinking about customer value, it all comes down to what people really care about. We know that it's turnaround time, it's quality, and it's customer service. And that leads us to think about how we manage our operations so that we can deliver those things,” says Jonno.
“For us, operational excellence means having really good, streamlined processes, leveraging scale where we have it. And a really important ingredient for us – it's one of the benefits of being privately owned – is that we invest heavily back into the business.”
Creating and delivering new solutions is what will see the company continue to grow into the future, confirms Jonno, who says that the company’s growth aspirations will see them continue to take measured risks, though never with quality.
About Hill Labs
For four decades, Hill Labs’ focus has remained unchanged: providing New Zealanders with the best analytical testing service on offer. Founded in 1984 by Dr Roger and Anne Hill, Hill Labs has grown to become New Zealand’s largest privately owned analytical laboratory. They use the latest technologies to supply a broad range of laboratory tests to domestic and international markets in three testing areas: Agriculture, Environmental and Food. With a dedicated team of expert Client Services Managers across all of their market sectors, they pride themselves on their unwavering commitment to providing a quality customer service experience.
Co-founder of Hill Labs (with his wife Anne), Roger Hill, left, and his son Jonno are looking to the future for the company
2024 Global Food and Beverage Risk Outlook
Almost half of food and beverage companies (48%) said that business interruption was the biggest internal risk to their success, closely followed by supply chain risk (40%). That’s according to the 2024 Global Food and Beverage Risk Outlook, published by WTW, (NASDAQ: WTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company.
Navigating turbulence and potential disruption has become the new normal in the sector, against a backdrop of global instability, conflicts, climate change and the cost-of-living crisis.
Companies are understandably cautious in their outlook. 41% of food and beverage companies feel the need to increase liquidity among their top strategic objectives for the next two years, giving them the financial firepower to manage through any further shocks. Other priorities include reducing costs (38%) and stabilising the business (35%).
Additionally, companies are growing doubtful over their ability to keep pace with the rapid change of consumer tastes and preferences, named as a risk by a third of companies (36%). But this is also an area of opportunity, as firms pivot to take advantage of latest consumer trends.
More than half of businesses (53%) said embracing sustainability and health and wellness was a leading opportunity. In comparison to 2022, there is less enthusiasm for plant-based meat substitutes and increased interest in gut health, nutrition and sustainable production among consumers.
Ian Poustie, Food and Beverage Industry Lead, Australasia at WTW said, “The industry is exposed to a widening range of disruptive forces, from droughts and natural disasters to trade disputes and regulatory changes, as well as perennial risks such as product recalls, factory and warehouse fires.
“Many of the challenges food and beverage firms face today are of a different order from those they have overcome before. Our findings reveal that escalating external threats are heightening instability risks across companies, spanning from political, climate, climatic, cyber and workforce domains.
WTW’s Global Food and Beverage Risk Report 2024 was conducted among 400 global senior decision makers of risk management in leading food and beverage companies, including those in Asia Pacific, in January 2024.
About WTW
Learn more at wtwco.com.
Conference social activity
A Conference is all about the people, whatever their reasons for being there.
Awards Dinner MC, Colin Pitt introduced himself: “For those who are wondering, who is this man with the noisy hooter (he used a bike hooter to call the meeting to order) and the sparkly coat? I’m Colin Pitt; former chair of our local Waikato branch, Fellow of the Institute, still working in food tech – despite my diminishing youth”
Further indication of our MC’s wit: Colin called these diners to the stage at the end of the evening, commending (possibly) their sartorial choices for the evening. Left to right, Campbell Ellison, Callaghan Innovation, Jaspreet Singh, Massey University, Allan Main, Mainly Consulting, Ben Sutherland, FSANZ, Raefa Naffa, Keraplast, Colin Pitt and Brett Pollock, Interchem Agencies
Keynote Speaker, Professor R. Paul Singh, chats with Tom Carr of Fonterra
Libby Harrison, NZFSSRC, deep in conversation with Roger Cook of NZ Food Safety
Isabel Li from NZ Food Safety and Owen Catchpole from Callaghan Innovation
Two Fellows catching up: Laurence Eyres and Graham Fletcher
FELLOWS LUNCH Forty-five NZIFST Fellows gathered for lunch on the final day of the conference, some with guests. Thirty Fellows sent their apologies. Ralph McCraw, a signee on the original Incorporation document of NZIFST, who is now 94, attended with his wife Shirley. The Fellows: standing, left to right: John Lawson, David Platts, Sally Ostick, Rob Archibald, Torben Sorensen, Rosemary Hancock, Chris Bloore, Graham Fletcher, David Lowry, Jasmin Estrera, Allan Main, Siew Young Quek, Colin Pitt, Dave Rout, Young Mee Yoon, Hamish Conway, Dean Stockwell, Anne Perera, Richard Gray, Paulette Elliot (obscured) Hester Cooper, Hong Chen, Marie Wong, Janis Swan, Conrad Perera, Marion Cumming. Seated in front (past Presidents) Jono Cox, Dave Pooch, Phil Bremer, Anne Scott, Ralph McCraw, Richard Archer, Laurence Eyres and Margot Buick. The photo was taken after some guests had departed
ABOVE: Daniel Tan, from Gold Standard Diagnostics in Singapore with Yen Ang and Cherry MacIvor from Bio-Strategy – Part of DKSH Group
RIGHT: Jonathan Cox and Torben Sorensen, two food engineers in discussion
Careers
Building your Psychological Capital
John Lawson, Lawson Williams Consulting Group
Our previous articles in this series have focused on the need for us all to become more conscious of our Career Capital and being proactive in its development.
Career Capital comprises Human Capital, Social Capital and finally Psychological Capital.
Psychological Capital has become a more focused issue in recent years primarily due to the evolving nature of work, characterised by rapid technological advancements, economic fluctuations, and increasingly complex job requirements: demands that professionals not only possess technical skills but also the psychological fortitude to navigate challenges and seize opportunities.
The ability to adapt to challenges, recover from setbacks, and maintain a positive outlook has become essential for sustained career success. Organisations have also become more aware of the need to support their employees for these reasons and particularly following the pandemic.
The Lawson Williams 2024 Staff Turnover Survey reported that the most significant change in employee benefits over the past year has been in the provision of Wellness programmes or services.
There are two key factors in enhancing our Psychological Capital
1. Fostering Resilience
The ability to bounce back from setbacks is vital in a dynamic career landscape.
To build resilience at work, you must adopt a growth mindset by viewing challenges as opportunities for development, seek and use constructive feedback, and reflect on past experiences to learn and grow.
• Maintain a positive outlook by focusing on solutions, practice gratitude, and reframe negative thoughts.
• Build strong support networks. Build positive relationships, seek mentors, and engage in team activities.
• Develop stress management techniques such as mindfulness, regular physical activity, and time management are essential.
• Set realistic goals, celebrate achievements, and learn from failures. This will boost resilience by fostering a sense of progress.
2. Building Confidence
Confidence stems from a deep understanding of your abilities and achievements.
To build confidence at work, regularly reflect on past achievements.
• Set and achieve realistic goals. You could use the SMART criteria to break down large goals into manageable tasks which can demonstrate competence.
• Acquire new skills and knowledge to keep relevant and competent.
• Seek constructive feedback and act on it. This provides valuable insights and reinforces strengths.
• Practice self-compassion by avoiding self-criticism and viewing mistakes as learning opportunities will help foster a positive self-image.
• Build a supportive network of colleagues and mentors who can offer encouragement and advice.
• Take initiative, volunteer for new projects, make decisions, and seek leadership opportunities that will step you out of comfort zones and gain experience.
• Lastly, maintain a healthy work-life balance through setting boundaries and prioritising self-care.
Maintaining and Expanding Career Capital
Developing Career Capital is an ongoing process. Maintain and expand your Career Capital by:
• Staying curious and committed to lifelong learning.
• Continually networking and nurturing professional relationships. Become a more active member of NZIFST.
• Seeking feedback and using it constructively to improve.
• Being open to change and ready to pivot when necessary.
In conclusion, developing and managing Career Capital is a strategic approach to career development that positions individuals to capitalise on opportunities throughout their careers. By focusing on building Human, Social, and Psychological Capital, professionals can navigate the complexities of the job market with confidence and agility, ensuring their long-term success and fulfilment
John Lawson is founder of Lawson Williams Consulting Group. He initially studied Biotechnology at Massey and is a Fellow of NZIFST. He now enjoys leading a team of recruitment consultants, helping people like you develop satisfying careers.
Oils and Fats News
Laurence Eyres FNZIFST
A regular roundup of news and opinion from the Oils and Fats Group of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry.
Peter Hawkins
Peter sadly passed away in early July at the age of eighty-one. He was such a well-loved character by all in the NZIFST, the general food industry and the staff at Hawkins Watts. We sent out our tribute to Peter as a separate communique to the members of the group. It is on the website. He was a long-term friend, and his loss is extreme. www.oilsfats.co.nz
AOCS Montreal report from Roy Wang (PhD student of Marie Wong at
Massey)
The Oils and Fats group helped to get Roy to the AOCS to present his work on avocado oil.
Roy has sent us this report.
“I had the privilege of attending the AOCS Annual Meeting 2024 in Montreal, which brought together leading experts in the field of oil chemistry and technology. Here are the key highlights and insights from my attendance.
Poster presentation session
During the poster presentation session, there was a notable focus on avocado oil processing, with significant differences observed between Mexican and New Zealand practices. In Mexico, manufacturers extract oil from fruits of mixed maturities at higher temperatures (60°C) to increase yield, unlike the more controlled process in New Zealand. Two significant posters were presented in the Processing Poster Session. The first poster, titled "Impact of Fruit Rot Level on Extra Virgin Cold-Pressed Avocado Oil Quality," was authored
by Youwei (Roy) Wang, Charles Diako, Selina C. Wang, Bertrand Matthäus, Laurence Eyres, Allan Woolf, and Marie Wong. This study examined how varying levels of fruit rot affect the quality of coldpressed avocado oil, highlighting the importance of fruit selection in oil quality. The second poster, "Effect of Including Avocado Skin and Seed During Malaxing on Oil Yield, Quality, and Composition of Cold-Pressed Avocado Oil," was authored by Yutong Liang, Youwei (Roy) Wang, Allan Woolf, and Marie Wong. This research explored the impact of incorporating avocado skin and seed during the malaxing process, revealing potential benefits for oil yield and composition.
General comments
Several key sessions provided valuable insights. Dr. Jan Kuhlmann's session on "New Challenges in Analysis of 3-MCPD Esters and Glycidyl Esters" highlighted that current indirect methods may overestimate glycidyl esters (GE) due to bromide-containing standards, posing compliance challenges with EU regulations. Prof. Selina C. Wang's presentation, "Relentless Pursuit for Edible Oil Quality, Purity, and Safety," discussed her research on improving the quality and authenticity of olive and avocado oils. She suggested that cis-vaccenic acid could be a robust marker for avocado oil adulteration, although further validation is needed. Prof. Wang also received the Timothy L. Mounts Award for her contributions to edible applications technology. Pierluigi Delmonte's session, "Assessment of Fatty Acid Composition as a Tool to Evaluate the Purity of Avocado Oil Sold in the US Marketplace," proposed using cis 9-20:1 as a marker for avocado oil purity, distinguishing it from sunflower and olive oils.
Other notable sessions included Renan Felicissimo Marangoni's presentation on "Early Shelf-Life Prediction of Soybean Oil Using Computational Modelling of Tocopherol Depletion Kinetics During Lipid Oxidation," Zhehan Jiang's research on "Investigating α-Tocopherol's Role as Both Anti- and Pro-oxidants in Model Systems," and Veronique J. Gibon's work on "Enzymatically Catalysed Hydrolysis of Diglycerides in Shea Oils."
Overall, the conference provided valuable insights into current challenges and innovations in the field of oil processing and quality assessment. The knowledge gained will significantly contribute to our ongoing research and development efforts.
Deep frying-heat abused fats
A new study found higher levels of neurodegeneration in rats that consumed reused deep-fried cooking oils and their offspring compared to rats on a normal diet. Deep frying, which involves completely submerging food in hot oil, is a common method of food preparation around the world.
Results from the study also suggest that the increased
Youwei (Roy) Wang is pictured with his prize winning poster and Professor Selina Wang, his USA PhD supervisor, at the AOCS event in Montreal
neurodegeneration is tied to the oil's effects on the bidirectional communication network between the liver, gut, and brain. The liver–gut–brain axis plays a crucial role in regulating various physiological functions, and its dysregulation has been associated with neurological disorders.
"Deep-frying at high temperatures has been linked with several metabolic disorders, but there have been no long-term investigations on the influence of deep-fried oil consumption and its detrimental effects on health," said Shanmugam, formerly at Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. "To our knowledge we are first to report longterm deep-fried oil supplementation increases neurodegeneration in the first-generation offspring."
Deep frying food not only adds calories: reusing the same oil for frying, a widespread practice in both homes and restaurants, removes many of the oil's natural antioxidants and health benefits. The oil that is reused also can contain harmful components such as acrylamide, trans fat, peroxides, and polar compounds.
Vitamin D – does it work help prevent Covid?
The first meta-analysis conducted exclusively on studies that considered preventive vitamin D for Covid included only two meta-analyses, which focused on vitamin D supplementation post COVID-19 diagnosis. These included subgroup analyses conducted on vitamin D supplementation pre COVID-19 diagnosis.
The results of the meta-analysis seem to support the use of vitamin D, especially in populations with vitamin D deficiencies, in the prevention of COVID-19 infection and in the prevention of related complications.
Reference: Nutrients 2024, 16, 679 13 of 15.
HMB-hydroxy methyl butyrate for sarcopenia and memory
This supplement has been shown to boost memory and muscle health in old age.
Researchers say the findings open a "promising avenue" for treating Alzheimer's disease. Beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate, also called HMB, is not a prescription drug or a steroid, but an over-the-counter supplement that is available in sports and fitness stores. HMB enters the brain to increase beneficial proteins, restore neuronal connections and improve memory, researchers found.
Reference: Peng, LN., Cheng, YC., Yu, PC. et al. Oral Nutritional Supplement with β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) Improves Nutrition, Physical Performance and Ameliorates Intramuscular Adiposity in Pre-Frail Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
J Nutr Health Aging 25, 767–773 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/ s12603-021-1621-7
Sarcopenia is recognised as a major public health concern because of its association with several adverse health events and is reported to help with this condition.
Herbal teas
The lipids in some herbal teas have been identified in detail for the first time, preparing the ground for investigating their contribution to the health benefits of the teas.
Herbal teas are enjoyed worldwide, not only for their taste and refreshment but also for a wide range of reputed health benefits. But the potential significance of a category of compounds called lipids in the teas has been unexplored. Researchers at Hokkaido University, led by Associate Professor Siddabasave Gowda and Professor ShuPing Hui of the Faculty of Health Sciences, have now identified 341 different molecular species from five categories of lipids in samples of four types of herbal tea. They published their results in the journal Food Chemistry.
These included a distinct category of lipids called short-chain fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (SFAHFAs), some of which had never previously been found in plants. SFAHFAs detected in tea could be a novel source of short-chain fatty acids, which are essential metabolites for supporting gut health.
The lipids discovered also included α-linolenic acid, already known for its anti-inflammatory properties, and arachidonic acid.
Kawakawa and Horopitu extracts
Ruth and I have been making an infusion of kawakawa and horopito extracts (pseudowintera colorata) which makes up to a pleasant herbal tea and with tonic as an evening snifter. I looked back in my notes and my old boss (50 years ago) introduced me to these New Zealand native plant extracts.
Stan Brooker FNZIFST was the Chief Chemist at Abels and an early mentor. As well as fatty stuff, he and Professor Con Cambie had a deep and long-term interest in Māori natural products.
They had done early work on Kawakawa and Horopitu extracts. More detailed work followed by Dr. Nigel Perry at Plant and Food Dunedin. An early practical job was to collect Titoki berries (Alectryon excelsis) from the trees surrounding Newmarket. These were extracted in a Soxhlet with hexane and analysed by GLC/TLC. The yellow oil was not a triglyceride oil but consisted of cyanolipids. The analysis was reported and discussed at an international conference on Natural Products in Dunedin in 1976.
Sliding on
It’s not hysteria!
Professor John D Brooks, FNZIFST
John Brooks' view of the food world through the lens of a microbiologist.
I have written previously about Listeria in foods and the disease listeriosis. However, an article I read recently suggested that listeriosis is now more common than salmonellosis. I couldn’t find data to support this claim, but I decided to write more about listeriosis. Listeriosis was hardly mentioned when I studied food microbiology at university in the 1960s. However, Listeria is now recognised as causing illness and even death in susceptible populations (1). This has resulted in its inclusion in microbiological reference criteria (1) and many food recalls. The Microbiological Reference Criteria for Foods note that all foods produced by a process which is capable of achieving a Listeria-free product should test negative for L. monocytogenes in 5 samples of 25g. The criteria do not apply to raw fruits and vegetables, and bagged salad vegetables do not receive a listericidal process, so green leafy vegetables and other raw foods may occasionally contain L. monocytogenes. The bacteria can be found in many parts of the environment, such as surface water, soil and decaying vegetation, and it's not surprising to find it turning up sometimes in raw foods. I have seen potatoes recalled because of Listeria contamination, which does seem overcautious, given that potatoes are boiled or roasted before consumption.
Investigation of listeriosis is very difficult. The great majority of the population will not become ill from exposure to Listeria. The infection can take up to a few weeks for symptoms to show, making it unlikely that patients can remember what they ate and even more unlikely that samples remain for testing.
Listeria is capable of growing at refrigeration temperatures, so cooked and ready-to-eat foods should be stored for only one or two days. Of course, this poses a problem with salad vegetables, which are not going to be cooked before consumption.
The only real way to combat food-borne listeriosis is to be very careful in handling foods, prevent cross contamination between raw and cooked foods, wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly and keep utensils, chopping boards and hands clean.
In the case of at-risk consumers – pregnant, already unwell, immunocompromised, elderly etc. – it is better to eat freshly cooked foods, pasteurised dairy products, canned foods, bread and baked goods without cream, cereals, and beverages such as tea, coffee or beer, which have all been heated during production.
In preparing this article, I searched many reference sources, but also my own Safe Food blog (2). I did a double take when I found that in 2011 an Ontario company had recalled 380,000 lbs of bacon
Listeria colonies on Oxford Agar for isolation of Listeria monocytogenes
because of possible contamination with L. monocytogenes. That's a lot of bacon! Initially, it seemed to me that this was excessively cautious. However, closer reading showed that the FSIS found a sample of cooked diced bacon from the company contained the bacteria. This was a whole new ball game – the product could be expected to be consumed without further heating and thus could put at risk susceptible consumers. The company did the right thing. We can't avoid occasional low levels of contamination of raw foods by L. monocytogenes, but something has gone seriously wrong when we find it in cooked foods. Either the process given was too mild, or, much more likely, the product has been recontaminated post processing. A recent report of Listeriosis has emerged in Canada. It was reported on 20 July that 2 people had died in an outbreak including 12 patients, of whom nine were hospitalised. The implicated products were Silk brand and Great Value brand plant-based milk. (6).
Listeriosis, while low in total numbers, has a very high rate of hospitalisation and is associated with fatality in frail elderly, immunocompromised persons, and foetal loss in pregnancy. The listeriosis notification numbers and rate have been relatively stable in New Zealand for the past 20 years, although the number of notified cases was highest in 2022. (3)
CDC estimates that Listeria is the third leading cause of death from
food poisoning in the United States. An estimated 1,600 people get sick from Listeria each year, and about 260 die. Older adults are at particular risk, the rate of infection peaks at age 65+. Adults who are 65 years and older are 4 times more likely than other people in the United States to contract listeriosis. This is complicated by the fact that many older adults also live with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and cancer, and are taking medicine that can weaken the immune system. The immune system also becomes weaker with age. What is perhaps surprising is that the number of notified cases of listeriosis in New Zealand has remained fairly constant since 2013 (see figure) (4).
References
1.Listeria monocytogenes. (2024, July 12). In Wikipedia. https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listeria_monocytogenes
2. https://foodsafetywithjaybee.blogspot.com
3. https://www.mpi.govt.nz › dmsdocument › 21185 › direct
4.Notified cases of listeriosis in New Zealand. Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited
5. Annual report concerning foodborne disease in New Zealand 2022 eISSN No: 2624-022X (online)
Consumer Food Safety Insights: Survey findings on the Health Star Rating and why it should be on more food packages.
Presented by Vincent Arbuckle, Deputy Director General, New Zealand Food Safety
Labels are a powerful tool for consumers, helping them understand important information about packaged food and beverages. The power of using labels like the Health Star Rating was made evident in the recent Consumer Food Safety Insights Survey, published in June 2024.
The Survey collected data from 1,602 New Zealand consumers. A quarter of these respondents were Māori and another quarter Pasifika, ensuring the information collected about food safety attitudes, behaviours, and practices reflected our unique New Zealand context.
I am encouraged by the Survey’s findings that most consumers felt confident that food produced in New Zealand is safe to eat (81%), and that they can access healthy food options (77%). I am also pleased to confirm how popular the Health Star Rating system is in helping consumers choose packaged foods.
83% of people say they use Health Star Rating labels when buying a packaged food or drink for the first time. Of these, 61% say they use the front-of-pack labelling system at least half of the time, and 22% use it occasionally. It's great to see so many kiwis using our worldclass Health Star Rating system to help them make healthier choices at the supermarket.
Not only did the research indicate that a large percentage of consumers use the Health Star Rating, it also showed that 80% of New Zealanders somewhat or completely trust the Health Star Rating. This high level of consumer trust is important for manufacturers to consider when labelling their products.
This is a clear message to the food industry that consumer demand for Health Star Ratings exists and that food producers who use Health Star Ratings can benefit from it.
Kiwis use Health Star Ratings and Kiwis trust Health Star Ratings, but the latest uptake survey from late 2023 shows only 30% of intended products currently carry Health Star Ratings in New Zealand. At New Zealand Food Safety, we want to ensure that consumers throughout the country can make food choices that will better support their health and lifestyle preferences, using accurate and trusted information. The Health Star Rating can help with that. This is a key moment, where manufacturers have an opportunity to prioritise the
health of their consumers and maximise the benefits of adopting the Health Star Rating system.
As part of New Zealand Food Safety’s action plan for the new financial year, we are planning an education campaign to promote use of the system to increase its use and understanding by consumers. We are confident consumers will use the Health Star Ratings more often as more products display them.
Right now, the Health Star Rating system is voluntary, but if uptake by manufacturers does not meet a 70% target by November next year, the Australian and New Zealand governments will consider making it mandatory.
I encourage our food producers and manufacturers to make it easier for busy Kiwis to make healthier food choices in a hurry. Health Star Ratings are easy to apply to your products and the New Zealand Food Safety website has all you need to know. You can also try the Health Star Rating calculator or contact a labelling expert at New Zealand Food Safety about using the Health Star Rating.
About the Health Star Rating
The Health Star Rating is an independent rating system developed alongside the food industry, consumer groups and public health experts. Health Star Ratings are calculated based on foods' nutrients, ingredients and amount of energy they provide. The system is used here and in Australia to help consumers make healthier choices between similar packaged foods.
To read more about the Consumer Food Safety Insights Survey, and see suggestions to support consumers make informed food choices, read the Consumer Food Safety Insights Survey: Perceptions, knowledge and behaviours (mpi.govt.nz) on the Ministry for Primary Industries’ website.
ATP Bioluminescence
An effective tool for the modern Environmental Monitoring Programme (EMP)
Dr. Uta Gasanov – Technical Applications Manager, Hygiena
In the constantly evolving landscape of food safety and environmental monitoring, technological advancements are paramount. Leaders in this field have consistently been at the forefront of innovation with ATP luminescence systems. This article delves into the history, development, and impact of these systems, highlighting the significant strides made over the decades.
An evolving technology
The journey of ATP bioluminescence technology began in 1975 with Finnish scientist Veikko Tarkkanen, who pioneered this method for rapid environmental monitoring. By 1980, the technology had moved from the laboratory to practical, hand-held portable systems. This transition marked a revolutionary step forward, offering food companies a faster and more efficient way to monitor environmental cleanliness compared to traditional microbiological methods, which were time-consuming and left companies vulnerable to contamination during the waiting period.
In the 1990s, a Swedish firm specialising in ATP bioluminescencebased systems developed a simple system that could tell how clean a surface was. Their Biocounter M1500, which came in a briefcase, was available from 1978 to 2000 and was among the first to offer rapid results – about 30 seconds – although its reagent life was limited to just 3-5 days. This early system utilised freeze-dried chemicals in vials, each containing 25 tests, which laid the groundwork for future developments in the field.
Today, ATP tests have vastly improved in terms of stability and usability. ATP swabs have either lyophilised or liquid-stable reagents, thereby increasing reagent shelf life to 15-18 months, offering a significant advantage over earlier versions. This robustness ensures reliable and consistent performance in various environmental conditions.
Luminometers also have significantly improved both in performance and versatility. Some systems can also be used for tests other than Surface ATP testing, such as Alkaline Phosphatase, Total Counts and Coliform/E. coli, among other applications, making these versatile tools that can track more than one environmental aspect of a food manufacturing plant.
Data collection advances
Initially, luminometers were not equipped for data storage, let alone trending or analysis of results. In the early days, results were recorded on paper. Modern luminometers can store data, but data can also be downloaded from the instruments, analysed and trended. ATP systems that allow recording as well as trending of results represent a big leap forward for environmental monitoring. There are cloudbased analytics platforms that simplify the collection, storage, and analysis of technical data, enabling data-driven decision-making. This software allows for seamless integration of data from various sources, providing a comprehensive view of environmental conditions within the production facility.
All these advancements have transformed modern Environmental
Monitoring Programs (EMPs) by incorporating rapid on-site testing, automated digital workflows, unified data management, proactive risk mitigation, simplified compliance, and continuous optimisation. These features collectively enable food companies to maintain high standards of hygiene and safety, responding swiftly to potential threats and ensuring regulatory compliance.
There are six pillars of a modern EMP:
1. Rapid On-Site Results
Advanced testing technologies allow for immediate cleaning verification and contamination results. This rapid turnaround, ranging from seconds for cleaning verification to hours for contamination testing, minimises the reliance on third-party laboratories and enables quicker corrective actions.
2. Simplified Workflows
By eliminating tedious manual processes, these systems improve efficiency and reduce operational costs. The streamlined workflows mean fewer devices are needed, and repeated tests are less frequent, enhancing overall productivity.
3. Unified Data Management
The integration of smart luminometers and data analytics tools allows for the consolidation of EMP data sources. This unified data management approach provides complete visibility and actionable insights, facilitating better decision-making and proactive risk management.
4. Robust Compliance
With the ability to spot trends early, food companies can take corrective actions before small issues escalate into major risks or costly recalls. This proactive approach ensures robust compliance with food safety regulations, including FSMA, HACCP, and CGMP.
5. Continuous Optimisation
These systems are designed to adapt quickly to evolving food safety regulations. The continuous optimisation of protocols, training, and processes, guided by data-driven insights, ensures that EMPs remain agile and effective.
6. Digitisation of
Results
The digital platforms leverage data-driven insights to continuously refine protocols, training, and processes. This digitisation transforms outdated manual processes into interconnected ecosystems that provide rapid, predictive insights into food safety and environmental hygiene.
The relentless pursuit of innovation in ATP luminescence technology has significantly advanced environmental monitoring practices. From the early days of the Biocounter M1500 to the cutting-edge hand-held luminometers we now know, these advancements not only improve the efficiency and reliability of environmental monitoring but also empower food companies to maintain the highest standards of cleanliness and safety, ensuring consumer protection and regulatory compliance. As technology continues to evolve, the commitment to innovation will undoubtedly lead to even more sophisticated and effective solutions in the future.
Chris Bloore spoke briefly at the Awards Dinner after presentation of his award
J C Andrews Award Address July 2024: Chris Bloore
A Chemical Engineer in the Dairy industry
Tēnā koutou katoa
I was surprised and delighted to be selected to receive this award established in memory of Massey University’s first Chancellor, Dr John Clark Andrews. With the support of Dr Garth Wallace and Professor Kelvin Scott, they established the Food Technology course at Massey, with Dr Scott as the inaugural Professor. In order to give graduates a professional body to join, they helped establish the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology which was chartered in 1965.
The very first recipient of the J C Andrews award, in 1967, was Dr Garth Wallace. He was an old family friend of my father’s. Garth’s father taught Dad and Garth the art of joinery and furniture making. Garth kept a friendly eye on my progress at the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute once I started work there in November 1971, at first as a holiday job to complete my practical work for my chemical engineering degree and then as a research officer in the milk powder and drying section.
Searching for a career
I got into dairy science and engineering more or less by accident. I grew up in Blenheim and I went to Canterbury University hoping to study physics. Sadly, my lack of study in mathematics required me to repeat both pure and applied maths units. The result was that I graduated with an undistinguished BSc in chemistry. At this point I discovered chemical engineering, and found it was exactly what I wanted to do.
I got direct entry into the Second Professional year, but I had to keep terms in the First Professional year subjects. Now, Second Pro was the last year taught in Imperial units and first Pro was the first taught in metric. I did not understand most of the Second Pro subjects until late in the year when the First Pro teaching caught up.
The direct entry to the Second Professional year left me one vacation practical work session short compared with my classmates, hence the holiday job at the NZDRI.
The milk powder explosion
Upon the retirement of Dr Dick Dolby, a junior vacancy arose and I was offered it. I got to work studying powder flow in the lab and measuring stack losses from cyclones out on spray dryer building roofs. My appointment was part of a significant growth in the NZDRI occasioned by the looming entry of the UK into the European Economic Community. New Zealand dairy farmers were paid only for the fat content of their milk and most of the fat went to Britain as butter which contains 80% fat. There was a big push to develop alternative products to shift fat. The first whole milk powder was exported in 1973. Whole milk powder contains only 26.5% fat, so large tonnages were required. This stimulated a vast expansion in the size of spray drying plants.
…and computer controlled processing
Thanks to another happy accident, I was the first chemical engineer on the staff who had received a course on process control. Back in the very early 1970s, if control was automatic rather than strictly manual it was accomplished by 3 to 15 psi pneumatic controllers fitted with large circular charts on which ink pens traced circles of varying wobbliness. Change was coming, though. In 1972 the DSIR proposed applying minicomputer control to the NZDRI’s Wiegand pilot scale evaporator. The Dairy Board, NZDRI, Massey University, the DSIR and IBM eventually set up a joint milk powder control project and ordered a DeLaval tall-form spray dryer matched in capacity to the
NZDRI, 1972. Chris Bloore with Annular Shear Cell equipment testing milk powder flow properties
Wiegand evaporator. IBM supplied a System 7 computer with a massive 16,000-word memory and a 1-megabyte hard drive. The DSIR installed a great many thermocouples, magnetic flowmeters, pressure transmitters, densitometers, viscometers and other instruments which were duly interfaced to the computer. I was assigned to the project, but because there were no post graduate control engineering courses available in New Zealand, I was sent to the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) to do a MSc in the theory and practice of automatic control. The course involved two terms of lectures, exams and two terms of a research dissertation. I left in September 1973 and returned at Christmas 1974 to be greeted by two PhD control engineers from the UK, one from Massey and one from the DSIR. The new spray dryer was being commissioned, and there was plenty of wiring and calibration work to do. In those days multicore instrument cable was not available in New Zealand, and thick bundles of household threecore flex connected all the instrumentation to together. Cable looms were beautifully tied up with waxed brown string. No cable ties in those days.
Throughout this period, I got to know the technologist in charge of the pilot plant, Tony Baucke, very well. He taught me most of what I know of hygienic design and the practical aspects of operating maintaining and cleaning dairy equipment.
For a couple of years, I acted as project manager for the control project. I talked the Institute’s directors into letting me start a PhD using what was then (and may still be) the best controlled and instrumented
pilot milk powder plant in the world as my apparatus. Massey University’s Industrial Management and Engineering Department under professor Kelvin Scott provided the academic support. I then headed up a small Applied Mathematics section responsible for experimental design and statistics support, computing, pilot plant instrumentation and control and microprocessor design. Highlights included instrumenting and controlling a 1 tonne per hour Contimab butter maker, and pilot plant casein, whey ultrafiltration and batch cheese operations at the NZDRI. We designed and manufactured thirty effluent monitoring systems for dairy factory drains, eventually licensing the commercial manufacture to EMC.
A travelling trouble-shooter
All during this time I travelled extensively around the New Zealand milk powder industry, trying to find the real problems facing the factories as they tried to cope with increasingly large capacity equipment, the introduction of fluid bed secondary drying, bag filters, more stringent quality requirements and tighter environmental constraints. My journey started with a trip to Northland with my then boss, Dr Dave Woodhams.
I achieved my first control success at Te Puke. One of the two evaporators was being run manually because the controller had stopped working sometime during the previous season. I asked if I could have a look inside the large stainless steel cabinet housing all the electrical and pneumatic equipment. I noticed a nylon air hose flapping around making a hissing sound. I also noticed a spigot on the back of the total solids controller with no air hose. When I attached the hose to the spigot and wired it on tightly, the controller came to life and automatic control resumed. Not magical, but it appeared so.
The Te Puke dryer was a vertical Buflovac unit with 28 cyclones connected in four rows of 7 to a pneumatic transport system. By careful balancing of the pressures between the cyclones I was able to reduce the skim milk powder losses from 3¼ percent to around 1½ half percent. Later I organised panel beating for some of the most damaged cyclones I had ever seen - some were beaten into square, triangular and even once a kidney shape!
Problem solving has been a continuing thread running through my career. Having an outside perspective is really helpful when tracking down the cause of strange behaviour in dairy and food processes.
Process performance management
My introduction to thinking about process performance began at the Picton Freezing works while doing my first three-month practical work placement. They had a new cool store with an ammonia refrigeration plant. The ammonia condenser was a vertical shell and tube unit down on the sea front. Seawater was pumped as a thin falling film down the inside of the tubes while ammonia condensed on the shell side. The temperature of the seawater flowing out the bottom was lower than the temperature of the seawater being pumped in the top. Weird, eh? I noticed that there was a strong updraft in the tubes. It turned out that the evaporative cooling effect of the rising warm air exceeded the heat flow required to condense the ammonia, leaving the cooling water colder than it started. This taught me to look twice at anything I saw to see what else was going on.
Some of the weird phenomena I have encountered include an infant
NZDRI, Chris Bloore disconnecting the IBM System7 Process Control Computer
formula evaporator finisher that unhomogenised the concentrate after oil had been successfully homogenised into it. There was an oil slick on the dryer feed balance tank. It turns out that the surface tension around an air bubble is higher than that around an oil droplet. This attracted the fat globule membrane proteins and phospholipids surrounding the oil droplets away to surround the air bubbles arising from a vacuum leak in pipework ahead of the final effect extract pump. I had to wrap duct tape around all the pipework closer than three metres from the pumps to prove the point. Removing the duct tape brought the problem back.
Powder explosions
In February 1989 the Morinaga tall-form spray dryer in Dargaville experienced a catastrophic dust explosion which ripped the chamber from the bustle and removed around half of the long run steel cladding from the steel framed building. I flew up to Auckland and drove to Dargaville to inspect the damage. A day later Ian Peacock and I flew to Copenhagen to discuss a replacement with Niro and Anhydro then flew to Helsinki to talk with MKT. Five days and three
nights away and we were back in New Zealand, faxed a report with recommendations and then slept for 24 hours.
This incident generated enough interest for the setting up of a joint working group of NZDRI, the Fire Service, the Insurance council, the Department of Labour and the Dairy Board. The result was the Approved Code of Practice for the Prevention, Detection and Control of Fire and Explosion in New Zealand Dairy Industry Spray Drying Plant. Tony Baucke chaired the committee and I edited the final draft. This got me interested in powder explosions and led to many incident investigations.
An independent Consultant’s life
My wife was accepted for training at the Knox Theology College in Dunedin, so in 1990 I left the NZDRI and our family moved to Dunedin. I set up as a self-employed dairy industry systems consultant. I participated in many evaporator and spray drying commissionings over the next three decades.
In 1999 I moved to Melbourne and spent 18 months as a visiting researcher at Monash University at Clayton and its associated Dairy Process Engineering Centre at Werribee. I taught two semesters of food engineering and rewrote the IChemE dust explosion training course to suit the dairy industry, running many half-day training courses around Victoria. While there I was appointed to the technical working party developing AS/NZS 4745 Code of Practice for Handling Combustible Dusts. This was completed and published in 2004. Since then, I have run over 170 half-day fires and explosions courses in many countries, including New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore the USA, Canada and Ireland. Over the past three decades I have spent around one third of my time training in milk composition, evaporation, spray drying and related subjects.
I have worked for insurance loss adjusters on many claims relating to explosions, control system failures, equipment failures and customer complaints about product defects.
I have helped install many NIR in-line standardising systems in cheese and powder plants. This involved solving all sorts of problems related to the way the instrument saw the liquid milk. One example is that of a home-made static mixer that left the milk spinning as it passed the gap between the fibre optic probes in the centre of the 4-inch milk line. The sample tap was on the tube wall. Centrifugal force created a density gradient across the pipe diameter. The fat went to the centre and the skim went to the wall. The fat and protein readings depended on how fast the milk was pumped through the line.
Milk standardising for protein as well as fat became legal following Codex Alimentarius changes in 1999. Every dairy company in New Zealand and Australia began pouring lactose and/or milk permeate into their skim milk and whole milk powders. This reduced the concentrate viscosity, allowing the total solids to be raised. I designed many in-line capillary viscometers for dryers in New Zealand, Australian and the USA so that the total solids could be maximised safely.
Protein standardisation also created a significant problem for the spray dryers. These protein-standardised powders were much stickier. Powder deposits on chamber roofs, walls and cones reduced run lengths and led to browning of the powder and shorter times between chamber washes. It also increased the incidence of dust explosions as self-heating within powder deposits provided an ignition source. I developed a laboratory test for powder stickiness with the help of a 4th year student Adrian Dixon, while at Monash University in 1999. After several prototypes were sent to the Teagasc Moorepark research centre in Fermoy, Ireland, we had a paper published in Milchwissenschaft. This led to the development of sticky line software now used in many countries.
In conclusion
Over the past 53 years I have had the pleasure of visiting well over 200 spray dryers in Australia, Canada, China, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK and the USA. I have also designed several spray dryers, including one jointly with David Platts for New Image.
The dairy and wider food industry has been a great place to work. I’ve made many friends, learnt a lot and had a lot of fun. Thank you all. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa
NZ Coop 1990, Chris Bloore at the Control Desk
What Food Techs do in the shadows
Mechanical engineering, vintage car restoration and vintage motoring
When I was a boy, I was always fascinated by cars and trucks and things that went, along with all the innards that made them go. This led to the occasional misfunction of the odd clock and worst of all a carburettor when I had reassembled them “not quite according to original specifications”. My father and mechanical things were strangers and he had even less interest in increasing his knowledge. So I figured, since I had to learn, and had no one to help me, a bit of collateral damage was to be expected. My father indicated I’d reached that limit by my early teens.
As a student, my main form of transport was a gutless N-Zeta motorscooter and in the 1990’s I revived my two wheel transport interest
by restoring a 1957 Matchless 500. Back in 1973 I rode my rather underpowered Honda SL125 from Auckland to Palmerston North to start work in the Climate Laboratory (now demolished) of Plant Physiology Division (PPD) of the DSIR.
I was by now nearly married, and a Morris Minor came with Suzanne my wife. Suzanne lasted but the Morrie and I never really got along. There was then a gap while we saved the deposit for a house. With this achieved, I began thinking about vintage motoring again. I wanted something with a reasonable engine, and it had to be a touring car, i.e. one with a fold-down top.
Allan Hardacre
Allan Hardacre, proud owner of his restored Dodge Tourer – warmly dressed for the road
The gutless N-Zeta scooter that was my main transport as a student
My 1957 Matchless 500 that I restored in the 1990s
Enter the DODGE!
...or rather a rusty, some would say wreck, of a 1923 Dodge Touring Car missing everything behind the front seat. Hey-ho, no problems I can make all that …… 20 years later. In the meantime, there were two shifts of house, a heap of house renovations, 4 daughters and of course, a job to do.
The choice of a Dodge Brothers car was a good one. The Dodge Brothers, John and Horace were amazing engineers. They made 249
cars between November 1914 and the end of that year, and by 1919 were the 3rd largest auto manufacturer in the USA with 400,000 cars carrying their badge.
I did all the work on the 1923 Dodge myself, including making all the rear body work, quite a bit of the hood bows and the four doors. I had to do a lot of the work twice before I was satisfied with it. I learned an awful lot and a lot of what I learned has been very useful to me throughout my working life.
Lifestyles
The Dodge Brothers, John and Horace were amazing engineers, pictured here in the first car off their assembly
whitewall tyres
Skills application
After a couple of years working in the climate lab, I switched to working with the maize breeding programme that was just starting up at PPD. This programme was very under-resourced, so I began accumulating junk that others had discarded and made up a smallplot precision maize planter that is still in use. The planter enabled us to sow all of the 7000 or so plots in 3-4 days with 2 people instead of needing a team of 6 or 8 to do the job over about 10 days. Working on maize grain quality and with some of the major seed and snack food companies, I eventually found what was my true calling, working with the food industry. Again, my mechanical skills helped, and with the guidance of Oswaldo Campanella, I decided to become familiar with the art, science and sometimes frustration, of extrusion technology.
Vintage Car rallies
By this time the 1923 Dodge was restored and most of the teething problems were sorted, so we drove the car to Invercargill with about 1000 other participants for the 2006 Pan Pacific Vintage Rallys, covering about 3000 miles on the somewhat convoluted trip to and back from the South. We encountered no major problems until climbing the hill from Clyde beside the dam on the Clutha River on a very hot day. The fuel was boiling in the petrol line and starving the engine. We stuttered into Cromwell, my wife and I and the car were all somewhat hot and bothered (under statement): that cool beer sure tasted good.
1923
and Suzanne
Enter the Dodge Roadster
Now that the ’23 Dodge was pretty much finished, my mate John Callesen, who has a number of Dodges, and incidentally also 4 daughters said, “you need another project - you can do the '15”. The ’15 in question was a heap of very rusty parts that represented most of a 1915 Dodge roadster, a car built in the first 9 months of the Dodge Brothers making their own cars. After about 6 years with both John and me on this project a very smart and reliable little roadster emerged.
line - note the stylish
The
Dodge
ready for morning tea off the Gentle Annie Road
The 1915 Dodge roadster patiently awaiting its owner (in the bar of the Danseys Pass pub)
The 1973 XA Ford Falcon. These cars were pretty common in the ‘70’s but there are not many left and they are now sought-after classics
The 1973 XA Ford Falcon
Some 30 years ago, as a concession to our daughters, we purchased a relatively cheap 1973 XA Ford Falcon. These cars were pretty common in the ‘70’s but there are not many left and they are now sought-after classics.
The 6 of us with all our camping gear fitted in well and it took us all over New Zealand on family holidays while our daughters were growing up.
When stopping for coffees and fuel (quite often with a 5L V8 up front) people would come up to the car and then go all misty-eyed as the smell of the old car bought back fond memories of their own family outings. One of the charms of old cars is the fun of meeting strangers, especially off the beaten track.
One memorable occasion was a trip around the East Cape and past Lake Waikaremoana, in Tuhoi country. The locals figured we were a bunch of harmless eccentrics and were very friendly, telling us about
the changes to the Waikaremoana Forest park as it moved from DOC to Māori stewardship, a fascinating story. Spend some time at the Tuhoi tribal HQ on the lake when you are next there!
Not done yet!
Now well into my 4th retirement I have the next project lined up –assisting the restoration of a very rare 1912 Newton Bennet. I am making some of the sheet steel body panels. This requires learning the new skill of English wheeling – look this up on YouTube – it’s not as easy as it looks but I am making satisfying progress.
I’m also keeping my food tech, and particularly extrusion, skills alive by working with companies and individuals on assorted product development projects. Some people regard extruders as illogical mechanical beasts that require rare skill and perseverance to master – I wonder where one might acquire some of that!
How to develop and mature a food safety culture: the human factor
NZ Food Safety Science & Research Centre Symposium
Food safety culture was one of the main themes at the NZ Food Safety Science & Research Centre annual symposium in Hamilton, 1 July. Swiss-based food safety culture luminary, Lone Jespersen (Cultivate SA), was a compelling keynote speaker, seemingly unaffected by jetlag.
Lone remembers the shapes of the trees and the colour of the sky on the day in 2008 when she learned that a major outbreak of listeriosis was linked to sliced meat from Maple Leaf Foods, her, up-to-that-moment, highly reputable employer of 11 years. The cost was staggering. Twentythree people died, and many more were very sick and ended up in hospital. The recall cost the company over CAD$75 million.
Lone Jespersen (Cultivate SA), was a compelling keynote speaker describing her experience with a major listeriosis outbreak which led her to her food safety culture work
Thus began Lone’s investigation into the importance of food safety culture within food companies. The term had barely been coined, literature was non-existent, and there were no sessions on it at food safety conferences. She uses the GFSI definition of food safety culture: ‘The shared values, beliefs and norms that affect mindsets and behaviour towards food safety in, across, and throughout, the company’.
“My job was to work with the new chief food safety officer at Maple Leaf Foods. There were lots of reasons why the contamination happened, but it came back to assumptions we made as leaders,” says Lone. “We had left food safety largely up to the food safety and quality people. All of that had to change.”
Now Lone is in demand by other food companies. She reported from her assessment of 155 companies that only half the CEOs and managers had any detailed knowledge of food safety hazards and associated risks. Food safety is just not on the Board agenda until something bad happens. “It bothers me tremendously that they don’t
understand the food safety risk unique to their businesses.”
“Food safety culture needs to start at the top, with managers reflecting its importance, and showing a close interest in what’s happening on the factory floor.”
The best food safety plans and protocols, manuals, posters, stickers and training videos cannot, alone, ensure compliance or a desire to comply. “You’ve got to think about the human factor,” says Lone. “You need to put culture and systems together. Or safe food is just not sustainable.”
Staff who don’t really understand the reasons for the rules are more likely to be in breach of them or take shortcuts. Just because they’ve been through a training course doesn’t mean they really understand it or appreciate the risks. Companies must check their understanding after training courses, and regularly reinforce the training. “Food safety is all about risk and risk communication,” says Lone. “Do we use scare tactics or do we engage?”
Her research has also shown that many companies are weak when it comes to adaptability. Food safety is not static. It’s not just the pathogens that keep evolving. Managers and relationships change. For example, a key staff member or supervisor might leave, affecting emotions and behaviours.
As with Maple Leaf Foods, a very damaging recall, albeit precautionary, led to a major rethink at Fonterra.
Felicity Champion, people change specialist at Fonterra, also presented to the symposium, outlining the company’s work over the last 10 years since the ‘WPC incident’ as it is known, to develop a food safety culture.
“In dairy companies, with long supply lines, there are so many touchpoints where things can go wrong . . . we used to be all about the metrics, how much we were producing in what time frame . . .
Felicity Champion, people change specialist at Fonterra
we really hadn’t connected our people to what we were doing.
“Of all the many things we did, post 2013, the thing that landed most was our leadership fronting up to staff round the country. In a memorable presentation, a senior manager said, “If you need to stop the line for a food safety issue, I will back you.” That had quite an impact, as staff know the serious consequences of stopping production.
“We also considered what rewards and incentives we needed to put in place. We need to value the quiet achievers who turn up every day and do it right.
“Latterly, we have started measuring our culture internally with an anonymous, voluntary, survey. Among other things, it tests their level of comfort in approaching managers with problems.”
company represented in the research has 32 different ethnicities in the business, requiring clear visual signage and signage in other languages. Constant reinforcement is needed.
Here are other comments by staff Wendy recorded:
The primary driver for food safety was protecting customers and consumers. One infant formula manufacturer recounted a personal story, a “lightbulb moment” when he recognised that the product is “the sole source of nutrition for babies, meaning there is no workaround, no compromise”. Therefore, “What you permit or walk past, you are endorsing. Small things that get left or overlooked can escalate into big things”, a comment that is supported by research into workplace safety more generally. The values or ethics of company owners or organisations was the second most cited driver for food safety. Several people talked about the values being “in the DNA” of the company.
NZFSSRC Manager since its inception, Wendy Newport-Smith, is completing her PhD study on the interface between food safety culture and ethical leadership, and has been strongly supported by Fonterra. Her in-depth interviews with people at all levels in 35 companies, including Fonterra, provide insights into particular features of New Zealand food safety cultures. They bear out Lone’s comment about the devil being in the detail. For example, the diversity of the workforce in some companies requires creative approaches to communication to understand what motivates workers, what the most effective reward systems are, and what might undermine compliance.
NZFSSRC Manager since its inception, Wendy NewportSmith is completing her PhD study on the interface between food safety culture and ethical leadership
For example, one company, with a large number of Polynesian workers, needed to source size 18 gumboots and XXXL gloves. The gloves weren’t big enough for workers’ hands. The importance of actively asking people what’s standing in the way of them doing their job to the best of their ability was highlighted by this company: “A compliance audit doesn’t pick up gloves that have split because they are too small. Was a worker wearing his gloves? Yes. Was he comfortable wearing them? No. Were they food-safe? No”. One
Issues related to the regulatory environment, and market access, were top-of-mind for some organisations: “Supplying to markets at a distance means companies must maintain high standards when it comes to microbial levels, as countries that didn’t traditionally test (product) at the border now do. In addition, markets have become more discerning over time. New Zealand has a great reputation for producing good quality, safe product. Our exporters want to do what is necessary to maintain access to markets”.
Organisational and food safety culture are top of mind for New Zealand food businesses according to Wendy’s research, e.g. “You can’t have a good food safety culture if you don’t have a good management culture”.
Staff are not always aware that what they do impacts food safety: “A large portion of the industry don’t understand they are in the food industry. Theoretically at management level people should understand that, however there is a fair bit of “she’ll be right”. This is also related to the level of education. The term “food safety culture” doesn’t help because it sounds like it’s a separate management system. These things and the level of industry maturity, which is improving, contribute to the problem, as does the transition from mum and dad businesses to a corporate model”.
And production pressures can sometimes override food safety: “It becomes obvious by observation that most people come to work wanting to do a good job. If they don’t do a good job, it’s usually because management hasn’t allowed them to. In the worst-case scenario, you can get people fed up and sabotaging food – a sign of a very poor culture. You have to keep reminding workers that they have
How to develop a food safety culture
Workshop by US food safety guru Frank Yiannas: 26/7
August 2024
Frank Yiannas will teach attendees how to develop a food safety culture in their workplaces where each person understands the reasons for the rules and is highly motivated and incentivised to follow them.
Following on from the Centre’s annual symposium session by Swiss-based Cultivate SA Principal, Lone Jespersen, the Centre is proudly hosting a twoday workshop by Frank Yiannas, author of the foundation text on food safety culture (2009). As well as being an author, Adjunct Professor, food system futurist, and consumer advocate, Frank was Deputy Commissioner for Food at the US FDA and Past President of the International Association for Food Protection.
In 2013 Frank was commissioned to help Fonterra develop their food safety and quality culture following the costly precautionary recall.
Workshop Description
This two-day workshop explores proven, evidence-based ways to change or strengthen the food safety culture of an organisation and influence employee behaviours.
By the end of the workshop, attendees will be able to
• Identify the core attributes of an effective food safety culture
• Recognise the difference between traditional food safety management versus a behaviour-based food safety approach.
• Help make food safety part of the organization’s value or belief system, so that compliance is done the right way, every day, even when no one is looking.
• Improve the effectiveness of training, education, and communication efforts, and create smarter food safety goals and metrics for the organization and their teams.
• Better use both positive and negative consequences to influence employee or workforce behaviour.
The workshop will be held at the University of Auckland Grafton Campus, on Monday and Tuesday, 26 and 27 August. The cost is $1000 per person.
Register by emailing Michal Dunn, Centre administrator, M.J.Dunn@massey.ac.nz with Frank Yiannas in the subject line. NZFSSRC members have priority.
a direct impact on safety. Simple messaging changed regularly helps, for example, your granddaughter is going to eat this.”
“There is a cultural river running through the business, but each area doesn’t necessarily have the same culture. Unless you know your staff, you can get it very wrong.” Finding a reward system that resonates with staff can be challenging: “A lot of the workforce doesn’t like to be identified individually. They are humble people who like everyone knowing they are good at their job but don’t want to be singled out. It can be very challenging to find out what people value. For example, in one company, a shared lunch was the reward staff valued the most. There was always a reason for it and they were limited; no more than four or five a year. No formalities and staff got an extra 30 minutes for their lunch break. It was a small thing and highly valued”.
Food safety is seen as a shared responsibility: “Food safety is more difficult than food quality and health and safety because food safety isn’t always visible. Food safety is not negotiable. The first question is “Are we doing anyone any harm?” If yes, stop immediately. This has to be instilled in senior and technical management”. All participants
in this research agreed that the commitment to food safety is led from the top: “You can’t build this bottom upwards. It won’t work.” “If they get it (food safety and quality) wrong in the market, they not only don’t have a business, they’ve caused a catastrophe. It’s top of mind. There’s no coming back. Everyone loses their jobs, the company’s gone and they’ve done damage”.
Wendy summarises, “My research found that, generally, New Zealand company managers really do understand that they have to take the lead in creating a food safety culture. Although good behaviour is to a large extent forced by the demands of overseas markets, and the threat of market exclusion if something goes wrong, there is a strong motivation at all levels in our food companies to do the right thing by colleagues and customers, which was very pleasing to see. Staff demonstrated great pride in their work and are very aware of the vulnerability and dependence of some of their consumers on the safety of product. The danger is complacency . . . when things have been going smoothly for a long time. Food safety requires constant vigilance, foresight and adaptability.”
US Food Safety guru, Frank Yiannas
Packaging News
Nerida Kelton, AIP
Naked are finalists in the Save Food Packaging Design Special Award
Australasian
Liquipure Ultra for The Muse Wine Company (Sealed Air) is also a finalist in the Sustainable Packaging Design of the Year award
Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) Awards
Finalists Announcement
Finalists for the 2024 round of the annual Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) Awards have been announced with a significant number of outstanding innovations being recognised across 15 categories. The full list is at http://aipack.com.au/2024pida-award-finalists-announced/ Coordinated by the Australasian Institute of Packaging (AIP), the PIDA awards are designed to recognise companies and individuals who are making a significant difference in their field across Australia and New Zealand.
The Packaging Innovation & Design of the Year company awards recognise organisations that have designed innovative packaging within six categories:
1. Food Packaging Design
2. Beverage Packaging Design
3. Health, Beauty & Wellness Packaging
4. Domestic & Household Packaging
5. Labelling & Decoration 6. Outside of the Box
Purex (Essity New Zealand, supplied by TC Transcontinental New Zealand) is a finalist in the Sustainable Packaging Design of the Year Award
There are four special awards also available:
Marketing Design
Accessible & Inclusive Design
Save Food Packaging Design
Sustainable Packaging Design
There are five individual people categories: 1. Industry Packaging Professional of the Year 2. Young Packaging Professional of the Year
3. Packaging Technologist of the Year NEW CATEGORY 4. ABA Scholarship – Diploma in Packaging Technology
5. ABA Scholarship – Certificate in Packaging
The PIDA Awards are also the exclusive feeder programme for Australia and New Zealand for the prestigious WorldStar Packaging Awards run by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO). All 2024 PIDA winners will be automatically eligible for entry into the 2025 WorldStar Packaging Awards competition.
Winners will be announced at the gala Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) awards ceremony that will be held on the 16th of August at the Shangri-La, The Rocks, Sydney, New South Wales. http://aipack.com.au/event-registration/?ee=437
2024 WorldStar Packaging Awards
ANZ wins third in world
A 20 strong delegation of PIDA winners for Australia and New Zealand recently flew to Bangkok, Thailand to attend the 2024 WorldStar Packaging Awards ceremony which was held at ProPak Asia.
The delegation was thrilled to celebrate the fact that the ANZ region took out third in the world for the highest amount of general awards to also cheer on two very special award recognitions for the region that were announced on the night.
KOi refillable foaming handwash starter kit and 4 pk refillable handwash tablets from Coles Group were recognised with a silver President award and JBS Swift Lamb Cutlets CRYOVAC Darfesh Mono-PET rollstock (SEE) took out the coveted Gold for the Sustainability special award category.
John Bigley, AIP President, accepted the Silver President award for Coles and Nerida Kelton, wearing her Vice President Sustainability and Save Food hat for the WPO, was extremely proud to have been able to personally present Alan Adams with the Gold Sustainability award.
As the silver winner for the President Award, Natalie Shaw, Sustainable Packaging Lead at Coles Group, said that ‘Winning a Silver President Award, on top of winning a WorldStar general award, is a significant achievement for the Coles Own Brand Team and we are proud to represent Australia and New Zealand in this prestigious awards programme. It reinforces that working in packaging is a dynamic space that celebrates innovation and sustainable design.”
“The Coles team are committed to improving sustainability across our product packaging that, in turn, enables customers to divert packaging waste, including plastic, from landfill. Winning two Worldstar awards is a high recognition and provides motivation to keep improving and innovating as we work towards supporting industry in delivering the 2025 national packaging targets.” she said.
According to Alan Adams, Sustainability Director APAC, SEE, “We were surprised to win the Gold Sustainability Award and are thrilled to receive this pinnacle of recognition for our teams at SEE and JBS teams who drive – behind the scenes – the delivery of sustainable high-performance packs to market. A big thank you to the WPO, and the AIP via the PIDA Awards, for this opportunity to celebrate and recognise our great teams.”
Brian Petroff, General Manager of JBS Southern Value Add and Retail Ready added that JBS is proud of the recent Gold Sustainability special award recognition from the WorldStar Awards.
“We take great pride in the innovative solutions developed by JBS Southern – Value Add, which actively promotes sustainability. With this recent achievement, we successfully reduced a significant amount of plastic waste from landfills. Consumers are more than ever conscious of packaging waste and so are we, our packaging solutions aim to minimise waste while guaranteeing the visually appealing and durable retail-ready packaging JBS Southern is known for. Our team continues to find sustainable solutions right across the business, and it is fantastic to receive such high recognition with this award.” Mr Petroff said.
AIP Executive Director, Nerida Kelton also added “What an absolute honour to have been able to celebrate the ANZ PIDA award winning packs, but to also present the Gold Sustainability award to JBS and SEE. A very special moment was to also find out on the night that
Coles received the silver President’s award which is a remarkable achievement,”
“For me personally, it truly is a proud moment to see how well PIDA winners continue to do on the global stage, how we all come together to celebrate the companies that are recognised and how we are the loudest cheer squad in the room year-on-year. To receive a WorldStar Packaging Award is becoming more difficult each year, as there are so many entries from across the globe to choose from. The latest round of WorldStar Packaging Awards attracted 435 entries from 41 countries and 35 judges determined 214 winners for the 2024 round of the awards programme. For ANZ to do so well each year is a true testament to how innovative and intuitive our packaging designs are
ANZ Winners on stage at the WorldStar Packaging Awards
more ANZ Winners on stage at
on a global scale. Congratulations to the 16x companies. We can’t wait for 2025,” she said.
The AIP also had a large area in ProPak Asia that showcased 2023 PIDA winners for all of the visitors of the exhibition to see. The area had high traffic for the four days of the show with many enquiries about the packaging designs.
ANZ PIDA Winners have once again been internationally recognised with 16x awards across 8x categories including Packaging Materials & Components, Food, Other, Household, Health & Personal Care, E-Commerce, Labelling & Decoration and Alcoholic Beverages. Three of our innovations were recognised across multiple categories – the DualPakECO certified compostable food trays (Confoil/BASF),
Wine Protector Packaging (Planet Protector Packaging) and KOi foaming handwash starter kit and refill solution by Coles Group.
In addition, first time entrant Australian Organic Food Co was recognised for the Australasian-first Minestrone Soup mono material retort pouch (Flavour Makers & Toppan) and Future Ecology –Emguard (Oji Fibre Solutions) from New Zealand.
Only winners from the Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design (PDIA) awards are eligible in the region to enter the prestigious global WorldStar Packaging awards, that are run by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO).
The full list of 2024 WorldStar Packaging Awards are available to view on https://www.worldstar.org/winners/
Oji Fibre display on the PIDA stand at ProPak Asia
And
the WorldStar Packaging Awards held in conjunction with ProPak Asia
Innovia’s recycled content films
Innovia has launched an extended portfolio of recycled content films that reflect growing demand for films with recycled content to comply with upcoming PPWR regulations within the EU
The new additions include mechanically and advanced recycled content for BOPP films as well as a Prevented Ocean Plastics option to drive circularity
“One big cornerstone of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is the integration of a certain percentage of recycled post-consumer content into plastic packaging. This regulation will have a huge impact on how brands are going to design their packaging and the motivation for this regulation is to reduce the per capita quantity of packaging”, says Simon Huber, Managing Director Innovia Europe.
“Flexible packaging, being lightweight and highly resource efficient, can help reduce the total amount of packaging being used and has a much lower Co2 footprint regarding transportation than many
rigid alternatives. Innovia is working with the whole value chain in initiatives like CEFLEX (Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging) to increase the recycling of this flexible packaging back into film.” explains Steve Langstaff, Head of Recycling at Innovia Films.
More recycled content options for converters and brand owners
The extension to the Encore range of sustainable BOPP films include the use of chemical recycled polymer for food contact applications and the addition of mechanically recycled PCR for non-food. Innovia are also working closely with Prevented Ocean Plastic and have developed a film with 30% POP material. In all cases the key functionality of the BOPP remain intact and are comparable to virgin grade materials.
The environmental credentials of the films can be improved further, by reducing the quantity of fossil based virgin materials and replacing with bio based polypropylene. This reduces the carbon footprint of the films further and again with no detrimental effect on film properties. “All products are now available for trialling”, Innovia announced.
In Memorium: Peter Hawkins FNZIFST
We are very sad to report the death at 81 of Peter Hawkins, an active member of NZIFST since 1977 and strong supporter of the Institute’s journal since 1988, not least by his prolific photography of Institute events.
Peter was involved in NZIFST on many different levels over the years, from Committee Member to Chair of the Auckland Branch and on the National Executive Committee.
It was Gordon Cameron of Tasti who first introduced Peter to NZIFST and he became a member in 1977. Peter always recognised the immense value in the networking and learning opportunity NZIFST provides.
In the days before Hawkins Watts, Auckland branch meetings and food journal meetings used to be held at the offices of Pfizer, where Peter was then working.
In April 1988, Peter began managing the NZIFST National Magazine “The Food Technologist”, and his involvement covered 19 years, including Chairing the Institute’s publications committee for FoodNZ until 2007.
Peter was awarded an Exemplary Services to the Institute Award in 1994, recognising his work on The Food Technologist, and was made a Fellow in 2003.
He began his career as a stock and station agent at Pyne Gould Guinness in Timaru and joined the Animal Health Division of Pfizer in 1968. In 1977 he moved Auckland to manage the Food Ingredient Division and when Pfizer decided to exit food ingredients, Peter proposed that he continue marketing their products, and formed Hawkins Watts New Zealand in November 1992.
In September 1988 the Editorial in The Food Technologist (TFT) announced that after some gentle persuasion, Auckland Branch had agreed to take over the responsibilities of producing TFT. It was planned to actively sell advertising in order to defray costs. In those days volunteers did all the work on the journal.
The 1988 team was John Ryder, Marie Wong, Peter Hawkins, Harry Lewin, Bruce Cameron, Rosemary Graham and Don Burns and by 1991, the previous Editor, Chris Newey, was back on deck, having moved to Auckland.
In tandem with his work with NZIFST, Peter made sure that every technologist who joined Hawkins Watts became a member of the Institute and many ended up serving on the committee or assuming higher honours. Peter’s belief was that NZIFST was a great forum for people involved with the food industry to meet openly and discuss issues of collective importance, generally over a beer.
He also ensured that Hawkins Watts developed strong relationships with customers and would do anything he could to ensure that they were never let down. He forged strong relationships with other locally based ingredients suppliers and would always free up stock, if he could, to help them out. The customer always came first.
Peter was one of life’s true gentlemen and would literally drop everything to help someone in need. He had a massive philanthropic streak and supported many causes, simply because it was the “right thing to do”. An example of this was the Motuihe Trust which was
Peter Hawkins, photographed in the PD lab at his beloved Hawkins Watts
involved with replanting Motuihe Island and restoring it to its former state. He spent many weekends planting trees and encouraged everyone he knew to help out, often ferrying them out to the island himself. Peter also supported the Westpac Helicopter Trust, Heart Foundation, Cancer Society and many other organisations working in the public interest.
Hawkins Watts was his pride and joy and he was always the first to arrive and last to leave of an evening. He was very proud of the laboratory and the R&D capability within the company. Peter forged amazing relationships with the businesses that supplied ingredients to Hawkins Watts and many have been loyal supporters of the company for over 25 years. Nothing was too much trouble and he always found a way to get something done without causing offence.
Peter was truly revered by all of the staff at Hawkins Watts and he delighted in sitting down to chat with them about what was going on in their lives, celebrating their successes or supporting them through tough times.
All of us are richer for knowing Peter and will miss his humour and guiding counsel immensely.
Anne Scott, Alan Bulmer
Conference 2025: Embracing Tradition, Transforming the Future
We are celebrating 60 years of the NZIFST in 2025 in Palmerston North, where it all started at Massey University. While very few of the original signatories to our founding document remain with us, their legacy is alive and well and will be celebrated next July.
Don Otter will chair the Conference Committee for our 2025 event
New Members
NZIFST welcomes the following new members. We welcome also new Student and Graduate members Standard Members
Adarsh Abraham
Quality Assurance Technician
Donnell Alexander Health and Regulatory Manager
Hellers NZ
New Zealand Food and Grocery Council
Lily Benton Lead Technologist Fonterra
Lundi Chhun Business Development Manager Hawkins Watts
Nicole Estefani Jerez Espinoza Food Technologist
Rafea Naffa CSO
Yadnyavalkya Patil
Food Compliance Officer
Ruth Porter Quality Manager
Renn Thompson
Shaoyang Wang
Business Development Manager
Lecturer in Food & Sensory Science
Grant Washington-Smith Chief Scientist
Plant & Food Research
Keraplast
NZFS
Hellers
Hawkins Watts New Zealand
Lincoln University
Carefore Global NZ Ltd
Hayden Pohio Business Development Manager - Food & Beverage Freemen Nutra Graduate members
Remy Rose Bagares Technical Writer
Anna Harrison Graduate Food Technologist
Alyssa Mitchell
Quality Assurance Technician
Synlait Milk Limited
Real Foods Ltd
Hellers
Trishika Nand Optical Assistant Specsavers
Amy Pilkinton Applications Technologist
Georgia Thompson
Student Members
Quality Administrator
Hawkins Watts
Hawkins Watts
AUT: Rifqah Azzahra Naulidia, Jissa Sunny Lincoln University: Brooke McNamara, Gaosheng Wu Massey University:Dinh Huy Bui, Olivia Powell, Arlo Rea, Sujirtha Vishnukumar University of Auckland: Xuan Dong, Dahye Jeong, Charis Prins, Yuan Wen, Caiyan Ye University of Otago Millie Hansen, Stephanie McLeod WINTEC Kaleb Nordstrom
NZIFST Awards for 2024
NZIFST Awards are presented every year at the Conference Dinner
J C Andrews Award, Dr Chris Bloore
The J C Andrews Award is presented annually in memory of Massey University’s first Chancellor, Dr Jack Clark Andrews, who proposed that a food technology degree course be established at Massey University.
The award recognises Institute members who have made a substantial contribution to science and technology in the food industry.
Dr Bloore’s address at Conference starts on page 20 of this issue.
The career of Chris Bloore, our 2024 J C Andrews Award winner, is distinguished by notable achievements, starting with his completion of a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a B.E. (Chemical Engineering Hons) from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, followed by an MSc in Control Engineering from the University of Manchester, U.K., and a Ph.D. focusing on spray drying, from Massey University.
In a career spanning over five decades, he has amassed a wealth of experience and expertise. He initially worked as a research chemical engineer at the NZ Dairy Research Institute for 19 years, followed by 32 years as a self-employed consultant. Throughout his career, Chris has been deeply engaged in training and educational initiatives across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the USA.
His early days at the NZ Dairy Research Institute in Palmerston North involved detailed research on spray drying with a focus on high pressure nozzle atomisation systems’ design and performance. Chris was also heavily involved in developing control algorithms for optimisation of the spray drying process. The sticky point and glass-transition defining work on drying powders helped many New Zealand operators significantly improve drying performance.
The advent of multistage and integrated spray drying systems in the New Zealand Dairy Industry brought much complexity to operating performance of spray driers. The algorithms he developed for the control of these more complex drying systems were widely used by industry to manage these processes.
As an active member of the NZIFST, Chris has made significant contributions both to industry education and the nurturing of young talents. His commitment to education is evident from his extensive lecturing experience, notably as part of the Dairy Graduate Training Programme and at the University of Otago.
He is internationally recognised as a leading expert in spray drier design, with his expertise showcased in his seminal work on dust explosions. His contributions extend beyond academia, as he led the development of crucial safety measures, including blast doors and suppression systems, which have undoubtedly saved countless lives and prevented extensive equipment damage.
Even in retirement, he continues to be actively involved in global training initiatives. His consultancy work, alongside his engagements with Men’s Shed and Rotary activities, speaks volumes of his dedication to community service.
In summary, his outstanding career, marked by ground-breaking contributions to his field and unwavering commitment to education and food safety, is truly deserving of recognition and celebration and a worthy recipient of the Institute’s highest award.
Award for Exceptional Leadership in the Food Industry: Debbie Hawkes
We are pleased to honour Debbie for her outstanding work in Allergen Management for the food industry.
She has a Food Technology degree from Massey University and has been working in the food industry for over 30 years. The majority of her career has been in New Zealand-based Quality and Food Safety Operational roles, for businesses such as Germantown, Danisco and Dupont, marketers of food ingredient products covering Asia Pacific and South Asia regions. Debbie is currently IT Systems & Process Manager at Hawkins Watts.
Her governance experience includes a term as NZIFST Auckland Branch Chair (1995-1997) and as a current board member of the Allergen Bureau.
As many will know, Debbie has an affinity for quality systems and information technology that has informed and enabled her exceptional contribution to the food industry.
She has been involved with the Allergen Bureau from the beginning when she was nominated in 2006 to represent Danisco, one of the Bureau’s Founding Members. Since then, her involvement has been continuous, participating in many Working Groups, and stepping up to a position on the Allergen Bureau Board in October 2017.
As industry and health systems developed better understanding of food allergens, it became clear that a framework was needed to build a quantitative allergen risk assessment tool and Debbie was instrumental in the initial development and creation of the Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling (VITAL®) calculator, which was launched in 2007, in the form of a free, downloadable spreadsheet from the Allergen Bureau website. Many hundreds of downloads followed, as Australia and New Zealand food industry recognised the value of the VITAL calculator which became an Allergen Bureau world-recognised achievement It is this contribution that we are recognising at this NZIFST 2024 Annual Conference.
Today we recognise the Excel-loving developer of the ‘First Architecture’ of VITAL, and the VITAL calculator. This remains today as an exceptional achievement that has underpinned the evolution of world-class allergen management within the Australia New Zealand and broader food industries, enabling scientificallysupported allergen information to be provided to thousands of food allergic consumers and their caregivers, who rely on accurate food labelling to keep them safe.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Peter Gwatkin
This award, formerly known as the Distinguished Service Award, recognises long and exceptional service and/or contribution to a New Zealand Food Industry sector in a scientific, technical, teaching, marketing or managerial role and is specifically for industry personnel approaching, or in retirement.
Peter Gwatkin’s working life started when he joined CSIRO as an experimental scientist on topics as broad as salmonella decontamination of chicken and treatment of dried vine fruit washes. He had recently graduated with a BSc (Hons) from the University of New South Wales.
In 1985 a move to Mildura Fruit Juices as Chief Chemist was the start of a lifetime involvement in the beverage industry and the development of in-depth knowledge of juices, soft drinks, flavoured milks – everything drinkable.
The move to New Zealand came when he joined Universal Flavours (now Sensient Technologies) in 1991, with the goal to create a technical department.
From a laboratory the size of a store cupboard, he established processes and systems for R&D and Quality Control. He was also developing new flavours, colours and specialty sauces on behalf of New Zealand companies for local manufacture. Many of these products are still on the shelves.
He was at the forefront of innovation in the beverage industry during the evolution of energy drinks and other ‘new age beverages’ as they were once called.
He has also helped train many new food technology graduates in the fundamentals of beverage formulation – his knowledge meant he was instrumental in establishing a flavours and colours training workshop taught at tertiary level.
When the New Zealand Juice Council (now the Juice and Beverage Association) was established, his involvement was immediate, on the Technical committee as an advocate for the industry to Government and later, on the Compliance Committee. His knowledge of the regulations paired with his technical knowledge on beverages was invaluable to both committees.
We cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award than “Encyclopaedia Gwatanica…”
Ron Hooker Award for Significant Service to the NZIFST: Bob Olayo
Established to honour the outstanding voluntary contribution given by Ron Hooker to the NZIFST since its formation in 1965, this award recognises significant past or current service or contribution to the NZIFST, developing the affairs of the Institute, its Branches or Divisions.
Bob Olayo has been a member of NZIFST for over 7 years. During this time he has fulfilled several roles both at Branch and Board level and has focused on growing membership numbers through promoting value and learning opportunities.
He has served on his local branch since 2016. At first on committee and then as Branch Chair which led to a place as branch representative on the NZIFST Board. Bob is currently Vice-President of NZIFST. His company, Mätt Solutions has hosted branch committee meetings for a number of years and always actively promoted the affairs of the Institute. He is also the branch photographer and zoom webinar host. Among other things, Bob has worked closely with the local committee to increase member engagement through presentation and events, providing unwavering support to the Branch and the Institute. One of his Key strengths is experience garnered over many years in industry.
Fellows for 2024
Ben Sutherland
Ben started his working life as a professional chef, before completing his degree in Food Science at the University of Otago. His early food industry career was engaged in product development in New Zealand and in Australia. His roles spanned a variety of sectors in our industry: probiotics, chocolate, meat, and a variety of FMCG companies.
For the last 10 years he has been Principal Food Technologist at Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). This senior role involves risk management and the provision of food science and technology input to applications and proposals that seek to amend the Code, including standards associated with food additives, processing aids, novel foods, irradiation, commodity standards, chemical contaminants, prohibited botanicals and genetically modified foods. He also represents FSANZ externally in national and international fora, and keeps abreast of emerging issues related to food technology that may have a regulatory impact.
He is a strategic thinker with extended networks. He is able to work
with the multiple disciplines within FSANZ and the trans-Tasman regulatory agencies, including New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) and the Ministry for Primary Industries and industry stakeholders.
He is an active member of NZIFST Central Branch having acted as Chairman for several years and longer as committee member. He has hosted numerous meetings and presentations during this time. He is adept at keeping the Branch together and active, committee meetings rolling along.
Craig Houston
Craig has a rich breadth of experience in research, development, and industry advancement. For a decade, he served as Project Manager/Product Manager at ANZCO Foods, where his visionary leadership and strategic acumen drove the inception and execution of groundbreaking initiatives.
Prior to that, he spent seven-years as Lab Manager for the ESR Food Micro and Food Chemistry lab where he facilitated pivotal research studies in collaboration with MPI, delving into critical areas such
The new Fellows of NZIFST for 2024, left to right: Ben Sutherland, Craig Houston, Graham Eyres, John Lawson, Pat Silcock
as food composition, contamination effects, and novel detection methodologies.
Craig’s contribution to NZIFST is notable, with service in three conference committees and at branch level he has been an active member of the Canterbury Branch Committee for 10 years, including 3 years as treasurer, culminating in a four-year chairmanship. He also served on the NZIFST Board as a branch representative for 4 years.
Beyond the confines of the NZIFST, his engagement with industry bodies such as BioTechNZ, as a board member for 4 years, and the Institute of Directors, underscores his commitment to broader industry advancement and professional development.
He embodies the ethos of the NZIFST and continues to contribute towards further advancements in the realms of food science, technology, and industry development. His personal dedication, professional expertise, and collaborative spirit make him an exceptional candidate for fellowship
Graham Eyres
Graham is an excellent communicator and a well-liked and respected teacher and supervisor of undergraduate and post-graduate students. He has an impressive record of carrying out research and development leading to the creation of new knowledge for the food industry as evidenced by his 7 book chapters, 54 scientific papers, and 10 refereed conference proceedings
He also has an extensive track record of governmental research funding, including research on 17 industry funded projects.
Graham has a strong record in supporting the food industry through media commentary and involvement with activities designed to promote careers including his extensive involvement with Hands-on at Otago (2015-2024) and numerous school visits.
He is actively involved in our Institute, holding the position of Chair of his local branch for 8 years, and staying on the committee since then as Secretary. His contribution to the 2022 conference and Chairing of the 2023 conference was valued by all.
His quiet effectiveness sees his many projects through to a successful conclusion.
John Lawson
John studied Biotechnology and Bioprocess engineering at Massey University and worked in the dairy, food and beverage industries
before joining the recruitment industry and establishing his own agency in l992. The agency has a reputation for providing quality recruitment services to New Zealand businesses with a particular skill in the food sector. His integrity and professionalism is beyond reproach.
Through this work he has made a valuable contribution to our industry. His company has strong relationships with many of New Zealand's large food companies, ensuring that their staff needs are filled.
He is always approachable, freely sharing his knowledge and expertise with the entire Institute, advising how to build the best possible career for NZIFST members for the long term. Many of our members will have been helped find a role, or a staff member, by this man and his company.
Regarding the NZIFST, John has been a quiet contributor to our organisation, working actively in the Career Promotion programmes in the 1990s, writing a regular careers column for Food New Zealand since 2005, presenting at five conferences during that time and sponsoring the Young Technologists Careers evenings on several occasions. He is currently working with our Board on the lnstitute's Strategy Refresh project. Those involved in the Institute may take for granted his advice and support but it is rare for recruiters to do this.
Pat Silcock
Pat Silcock has an impressive record of carrying out R&D leading to the creation of new knowledge for the food industry. He has been part of the commercially funded Product Development Research Centre (PDRC) in the Department of Food Science, University of Otago for 30 years and the Manager for the last 20 years. The longevity of the PDRC, the amount of return business Pat has generated over PDRC’s more than 30-year history and the number of products and patents (7) produced are evidence of the value of his food science expertise to the food industry.
He is an effective science communicator and a well-liked and respected in his teaching roles with 182 scientific conference presentations plus numerous industry presentations.
He has fulfilled roles in support of industry bodies throughout his career and contributed hugely to NZIFST through his local branch, as a committee member for many years and served as a member of the NZIFST Board and is a past recipient of the NZIFST Ron Hooker award for service to a branch of the Institute
The Mary Earle Mentorship Award: Chaturika Samarakoon
This award recognises members who have excelled at mentoring others in achieving their career objectives through moral, social and intellectual support.
Chaturika Samarakoon is a principal lecturer, researcher, an innovator, the Chair of the Waikato branch of the NZIFST and a supporter of future food scientists and technologists.
She brings a passion and enthusiasm to education which is inspirational. She was also a major driver behind Wintec’s involvement in Science Spinners, bringing STEM education to under-privileged schools, and other instances of encouraging Students into Food Science, such as career days and campus tours.
As Chair of Waikato branch Chaturika developed a strong and holistic plan for the revival of the branch. Her ideas around FED Talks were so successful NZIFST has now implemented a national programme. Her passion for promoting and inspiring future food scientists and technologists is evident in everything she does. She puts focus on organising student tours to food industries and organises guest speakers to Wintec to spark the interest of her students in science and technology and show them how their studies are applied in the working world.
She also engages in community work where she is a committee member at the Sri Lanka Friendship Society Waikato.
Emerging Leader Award: Tamara Sears
This award recognises a young technologist or scientist or engineer for their endeavour or achievement, and leadership potential within the food industry.
Tamara graduated with a Bachelor of Food Technology (Honours) from Massey University in 2018. While completing her studies, she worked as a Research Assistant at Comvita Limited as well as a summer internship at the Fonterra Research & Development Centre. On graduation in 2018, she joined Fonterra Brands NZ as a Development Technologist for cheese and spreads, based in Eltham, Taranaki and last year she was promoted to Senior Development Technologist.
In this role she continues to shine and show her abilities to help others grow, and has shown great leadership at a site level supporting with key initiatives and strategic discussions on long term business planning.
Tamara has significant leadership potential both inside and outside work. She is always willing to help others by sharing her knowledge, supporting and coaching new technologists in systems such as Hamilton Grant as the R&D representative and teaching others the ways of working.
Recognising Excellence in Food Safety
The Award for Significant Contribution to Food Safety: Pierre Venter
The Significant Contribution to Food Safety Award is presented by Vincent Arbuckle, Deputy Director General of NZ Food Safety, on behalf of New Zealand Food Safety and the Ministry for Primary Industries.
NZFS are very proud sponsors of the award which recognises a person or a team who has helped improve food safety in New Zealand. This is the 9th year we have presented the award.
Dr Pierre Venter is Director Research and Development at Fonterra Cooperative Group Limited.
Pierre has made a huge contribution to food safety in his thirteen-anda-half years at Fonterra. He is a highly respected Research and Development leader, with experience in multinational environments, having held research positions in three different continents.
During his career, he has built a reputation for transformation, operations optimisation, innovative strategic thinking, working with the highest level of integrity, and a deep commitment to product leadership culture and people development.
In Pierre’s nomination, it was noted that he and his Research and Development team have had a substantial impact on Fonterra's food safety and the quality science that underpins risk management.
In addition, they have affected positive change as New Zealand transitions towards increasing focus on applied food safety science.
Pierre and his team at Fonterra have worked to transform food safety and quality science, risk management, and communication in the global arena making a significant contribution to how Fonterra, New Zealand, and the world assess and manage food safety risk.
Awardee, Pierre Venter, right, with Vincent Arbuckle, Deputy Directory General of NZ Food Safety
Student Competition Winners
TOP: Successful candidates in the Riddet Institute 3 Minute Pitch Competition, left to right, Ming Quoc Ha, AUT University, 3rd equal, NZIFST President Esraa El Shall, Steffi Anna Thomas from University of Otago, 1st, Teguh Santoso, AUT University, 3rd equal. Not present Sujirtha Vishnukumar from Massey University, 2nd.
ABOVE: University of Otago Department of Food Science Poster Competition winners: Yuan Wen from University of Auckland, 1st, NZIFST President, Esraa El Shall, Jini John from University of Otago, 2nd and Li Ying Jessie Lau from University of Auckland, 3rd place.
Food Tech Solutions Student Essay Competition
The Winners of the 2024 Student Essay Competition are:
AI Empowers Hyperspectral Imaging: An Intelligent Path to Future Food Quality Control
Second: Macro Davis, Department of Food Science, University of Otago
Entomotherapy – A Novel Approach to Combatting Disease
Third: Nethania Handoko, Department of Food Science, University of Otago
Catch of the Day: Smart Packaging for Safer, Fresher Fish! The first, second and third place essays are published in FoodNZ.
Lihong Yang’s essay, is on page 50 of this issue of FNZ.
Branch Reports
Central
Branch AGM and a presentation on probiotics.
In the lead-up to the National AGM at the 2024 Conference, Central Branch held its AGM across two locations in Wellington and Palmerston North on June 13.
Our AGMs are structured to be as efficient (read “quick”) as we can possibly make them and this year was no exception. Fifteen minutes was all that was required to resolve the formal AGM business including reporting, elections and (minimal) deliberations. The NZIFST Central Committee for 2024-25 sees major changes to office holders with Chairman, Ben Sutherland and Secretary, Merit Mathew both stepping down after sterling contributions over several years. Nevertheless, there remain sufficient “old hands” to ensure continuity.
The new Branch Committee has been elected as follows:
Additional Committee Members: Richard Archer, Cai Ling Ang, Lara Matia-Merino, Syahmeer How, John van den Beuken, Graeme MacLeod, Clare Chandler
Thus, the Branch Committee reflects the diversity of the food business in our region with representation from industry, academia/CRI, regulatory/government and current students which augers well for an interesting and balanced programme for the coming year. The stodgy but necessary formalities attended to, we welcomed Dr Shalome Bassett, Probiotic Discovery Programme Leader and Principal Scientist at Fonterra Research and Development Centre, Palmerston North to provide perspectives on “Probiotics – Wanted Dead or Alive”.
Wellington contingent attending the 2024 Central Branch AGM via Zoom
Dr Shalome Bassett, Probiotic Discovery Programme Leader and Principal Scientist at Fonterra Research and Development Centre addressed Central branch members on “Probiotics – Wanted Dead or Alive”.
Shalome is a molecular microbiologist with a diverse background in microbial research across the agriculture value chain, having worked for over 30 years in various research, science management and technology development roles across academia, government and the food industry. Her expertise lies in the interactions between probiotics and other food ingredients, the gut microbiome and human health. Over the past six years, she has established and led Fonterra’s Probiotics Discovery and Kowbucha™ Research Programmes, focused on developing new commercial probiotic strains for human health as well as a viable on-farm solutions for reducing methane in cattle, respectively. Shalome also serves as an industry advisor to the Board of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), sits on the Companion Animal committee of the International Probiotics Association (IPA), and participates in relevant probiotic action groups for the International Dairy Federation (IDF).
While the benefits of consuming fermented foods have been known for centuries, it wasn't until early last century that Russian scientist and Nobel laureate Elie Metchnikoff first introduced the concept that certain strains of bacteria found in fermented foods could convey health benefits. Initially, favoured strains were predominantly Lactic Acid Bacteria types prevalent in (and usually isolated from) fermented foods. However recently the landscape has been rapidly changing leading to a great diversity of strains being discovered with probiotic attributes. Even certain yeasts are now being identified with probiotic benefits, and next generation probiotics with exotic species
nomenclature like Akkermansia and even Faecalibacterium (origins implicit in the name) are proving to have useful probiotic properties. For a new probiotic to have commercial utility, efficacy and safety are, of course, necessary but not sufficient. Many an academic institution has isolated and validated the efficacy of a new strain only to discover that the attributes essential to facilitate use in the ‘real world’, particularly manufacturability and long-term viability/stability, were fatally deficient. Given that the path to market for a new probiotic was 10-15 years that implied a lot of wasted effort. The historical probiotic proof process was sequential, typically gut survival => efficacy => safety => clinicals => manufacturing/stability => commercialisation, with the full timeline spanning up to 15 years. Lately, moves towards assessments in parallel have been made possible resulting in drastic reductions in commercialisation timelines, now 5 to 6 years in total. Within that schematic, early proof of manufacturability has been prioritised so as to avoid investment in clinical studies for strains that do not have a viable basis of manufacture.
Truncation of the validation process has also been aided by applying whole genome sequencing (WGS) tools to fast-track screening. Sequencing has become faster, cheaper and more accurate. For example, when Fonterra sequenced its first commercial probiotic around the turn of the millennium, it took nearly a year, cost a million dollars, and provided an inferior output to what is achieved today in a couple of weeks for a few hundred dollars. The power of technological progress! WGS now provides many of the evidentiary proofs needed for regulatory validation of new probiotic strains through gene mapping. Safety is supported by the absence of malicious genes like antimicrobial resistance, and presence of certain other genes indicate a propensity for specific health benefits. WGS also provides more robust taxonomy which is a prerequisite to regulatory allowance. Consequently, WGS is a necessary component of a regulatory approval dossier for any novel strain.
Manufacturing commercial probiotics at scale is a further hurdle with challenges usually encountered as the scale moves from lab-bench (2-3 litres) mid-scale (80-100 litres) through to full commercial (around 5,500 litres). Optimal fermentation conditions (medium, inoculum, temperature profile, pH, redox potential, time) needs to be established for the specific strain and the ideal conditions will be unique to that strain and unlikely to be transferrable to any alternative probiotic. Then there is the question of transforming the liquid ferment into a high-concentration viable concentrate in a shelf-stable dry form. The classic drying method is freeze drying so designing a drying matrix that allows high loadings of live bacteria and preserves these through freezing and dehydration then protects the probiotic
through a reasonable shelf life (two years is needed) provides further technological challenges.
Given the complexity of this process and the high entry hurdles, it is not surprising that only a limited number of manufacturers supply probiotics to the global market. In New Zealand only Fonterra has brought new probiotic cultures to the market. Even the local oral probiotic, BLIS, is contract manufactured.
As probiotic cultures proliferate so too do the areas of benefit they are applied to. Historically, probiotics were all about the gut effects with immune and anti-inflammatory benefits. Today a plethora of health benefits are sought spanning brain, skin, metabolic, mobility, optical, liver, cardiovascular, oral and women’s health.
And then there are the complementary products that operate with probiotics – prebiotics, synbiotics and postbiotics – but that is a tale for another time!
This was an extremely enlightening talk by a speaker who has global standing in the area. It was a fair reward for our members who braved the winter weather and endured the dryness of another annual general meeting!
Auckland Branch
AGM
The Auckland branch held its Annual General Meeting on the 11th of June. It was a celebration of, and discussion from, four very inspirational women in the food and beverage industry in Aotearoa. We heard their career journeys so far, and had a lively panel discussion afterwards. The four incredible women were:
Elle Armon-Jones, owner of The Big Foody, a company that runs food tours throughout Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin to celebrate and share the local cuisine with visitors to our country.
Esraa El Shall, General Manager Transformation Health, Safety and Wellbeing, and also our very own NZIFST President. She shared her journey so far with Fonterra, and with the NZIFST.
Michelle Blau, General Manager of Fair Food Partners, an organisation dedicated to distributing food that would otherwise be wasted to the people who need it the most.
Tracy Berno, Professor of Food Studies and Associate Dean Post Graduate at AUT, whose work with AUT and Pacific Food Lab Aotearoa has been teaching and inspiring people both in Aotearoa and further afield in the Pacific islands to be more thoughtful of
Allan Main FNZIFST
Auckland members “smile for the camera” at the recent Auckland branch AGM
where their food comes from, how it gets onto our plates, and how we can understand and build more resilient food systems.
We had many questions from the audience, and the panel was chaired by the incumbent Auckland Branch Chair, Jess Chong.
A big thank you to Elle, Esraa, Michelle, and Tracy for volunteering your evenings to share your stories with the Auckland Branch, and a thank you as well to the committee who organised the event!
The Auckland Branch has a couple of exciting events lined up for the rest of the year, including our annual Student Careers evening in late July, so keep your eye out for invites coming out soon!
Jess Chong, Immediate Past Chair of Auckland Branch
Waikato Branch
AGM and FED talk by Margaret McCracken
The NZIFST Waikato Branch held its Annual General Meeting on June 13, 2024, at the Tetra Pak office in Hamilton. This event successfully brought together professionals and enthusiasts in the regional food science and technology sector.
Preceding the AGM, attendees were treated to a FED talk by Margaret McCracken from Canary Foods. Margaret shared insights into Canary Foods’ journey to its current success. The presentation culminated in a tasting session, showcasing some of their most innovative premium dairy creations, including the single-serve Canary Squeeze and Cheese, among others.
The event also provided an opportunity to express gratitude to the local branch committee for their successful tenure during the 2023/2024 term. Following this, the election of the branch committee for the
Newly elected Waikato branch committee members, from left to right: Marcus Loi, Jane Stockton, Colin Pitt, Madison Stratton, Amy Pitt, Naila Aishath (in front), Katharine Adam, David Platts and Richard Gray
Brewaucracy Master Brewer, Greig McGill, gave a brewery tour to all participants to branch members, iChemE and Engineering members and Conference attendees
2024/2025 term took place. The newly elected committee members are as follows:
Chair and Board Rep: Marcus Loi
Secretary: Amy Pitt
Committee members: Katharine Adam, Colin Pitt, Madison Stratton, David Platts, Jane Stockton, Richard Gray, and Naila Aishath
Joint Engineering and Food Networking Event with a brewery tour
The NZIFST Waikato branch, in collaboration with iChemE and Engineering New Zealand, hosted an Engineering and Food Networking Event that included a tour of Brewaucracy Brewery and Taproom. The timing of this event coincided with the NZIFST annual conference, allowing some conference attendees to experience a sample of NZIFST member offerings.
Special thanks to Brewaucracy for hosting this event and to Master Brewer, Greig McGill, for conducting the brewery tour. Appreciation is also expressed to the Food and Drink Special Interest Group (F and D SIG) for providing refreshments, and to all participants for their attendance. Special recognition goes to Richard Gray and David Platts for their efforts in organising this successful event.
Congratulations to the National award winners
At the 2024 NZIFST conference Award Dinner at Hamilton on July 3, 2024, Chathurika Samarakoon, the outgoing Waikato branch chair, was awarded the Mary Earle Mentorship Award. This award recognises members who have excelled at mentoring others in achieving their career objectives through moral, social and intellectual support.
Marcus Loi
Canterbury-Westland June Networking Evening - Craig Davies (Vice-Chair) addressing the gathering
Canterbury Westland Branch
Inspired by the theme of this month’s talk, the Canterbury Westland 2024 AGM on 21st May, embraced the humble “spud” with a selection of potato items to sample on arrival – hash-brown bites, fries and mashed potatoes, with gravy and an assortment of condiments. Sustained by those hot snacks we opened the branch AGM, reviewed the events of another busy year and elected the 2024 committee:
• Our Chair and Vice-Chair stood down after 2 years in those roles but remained on the committee. A new Chair and ViceChair were quickly nominated and elected.
• Other committee members were re-elected unopposed but with some changes in their responsibilities.
• We welcomed 2 new student members and a new regular member.
Following the AGM formalities, committee member Jasmin Estrera (NZIFST fellow, currently of Meadow Mushrooms but with wide career experience that includes 16 years with Jollibee, a global fast food chain), educated us on potato processing – fries in particular. After warning us of a test at the end, Jasmin took us through the manufacturing process from potato varieties to the critical steps for success in the deep frying of the final product.
As promised, a quiz followed that rivalled Jono’s “world famous in Canterbury-Westland” Christmas quiz, in both humour and toughness. We were duly told off for our poor results, but despite that, we all left with a better knowledge of fries! Thank you Jasmin for an interesting and fun evening.
A networking evening on 25th June was well attended and good mixing was assured by assigning everyone to a team of three on arrival.
Canterbury-Westland May AGM - Newly Elected Committee: left to right, Back Row: Margot Richards, Robyn Marshall, Katie Brown, Rebecca Dodson, Stephanie Trower, Anna Soboleva, Janette Busch, Bob Olayo, Michelle Neyra, Alice Zhu. Front Row: Charlotte Sullivan, Jasmin Estrera, Rex Johnstone (Chair), Chris Davis (Vice Chair), Hannah Lee
The 2024/25 Otago-Southland branch committee: Top Row (left to right): Graham Eyres (Chair), Brigitte Legg (Secretary), Erin Young (Treasurer), Middle Row: Pat Silcock, Stephanie McLeod, Matt Steven, Jessica O’Connor, Bottom Row: Biniam Kebede, Anne Gatenby, Max Nally, Dominic Agyei
A “Plus One” theme encouraged attendees to bring along a colleague/ work contact to introduce them to NZIFST (and earn a goody bag). With some set prompts to kick off the team conversations, we quickly got to know each other’s work or study places, career pathways, inspirations, and favourite foods.
First timers were then introduced beyond the initial kick off teams, and from Chris Davies (our new Vice-Chair) and Bob Olayo (NZIFST Exec member), learnt about the benefits of being part of the Institute. We hope to see many of them at future events.
Margot Richards
Otago-Southland Branch
AGM and Dunedin Craft Distillers
The Otago-Southland (OS) branch of the NZIFST held its branch AGM on Thursday, June 6th, 2024, at Silver Fern Farms, Dunedin. The AGM set the stage for an insightful seminar by our guest speakers, Jenny McDonald and Sue Stockwell from Dunedin Craft Distillers, who shared insights from their journey of creating botanical spirits from surplus bread and bakery products.
Graham Eyres, the Chair, thanked all the branch committee members for their efforts over the past year in making these events successful. The OS branch hosted ten events, including two national webinars. Graham highlighted that the year's standout event was the NZIFST Annual Conference organised in Dunedin. He noted the decline in student numbers compared to pre-COVID levels and, in the context of falling membership for NZIFST across all branches, emphasised the goal of rebuilding branch memberships, particularly in the Southland region and among industry members.
OS Branch Committee for 2024/2025:
Chair: Graham Eyres
Secretary: Brigitte Legg
Treasurer: Erin Young
Southland Rep: Matt Steven
Board Rep: Pat Silcock
Committee members: Dominic Agyei, Anne Gatenby, Biniam Kebede, Maxwell Nally (student), Stephanie McLeod (student), and Jessica O’Connor (student).
Brigitte Legg
Student Essay Winner
AI Empowers Hyperspectral Imaging
– An intelligent path to future Food Quality Control
Lihong
Yang, Student, Massey University
This article was awarded first prize in the Food Tech Solutions NZIFST Undergraduate Writing Competition 2024. The annual competition is open to undergraduate food science and food technology students who are invited to write on any technical subject or latest development in the food science and technology field that may be important to the consumer.
Introduction
With increasing consumer demands for fresh, nutritious, and contaminant-free food, the food industry is constantly seeking advanced technologies to improve quality control measures. Food Quality 4.0 denotes the digitalisation and automation of food analysis with cutting-edge technologies like non-destructive fingerprinting, omics, bioinformatics, AI, and big data analysis (Hassoun et al., 2023). The monitoring and controlling of food processes like cooking, curing, drying, storage is often inspected by traditional methods including chemical analysis such as High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), biotechnological tools like Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and sensory analysis as shown in the figure below. However, most of these methods are destructive, time-consuming, and laborious (Shi et al., 2023). To better cater to the growing needs of consumers, food researchers are seeking more advanced analytical technologies. One cutting-edge technology that has been gaining traction in recent years is hyperspectral imaging (HSI).
Developments in hyperspectral imaging
This innovative technique uses specialised cameras to capture detailed images containing information about the chemical composition of food products. However, analysing these complex images can be a daunting task for humans. That is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes into effect. AI refers to computer systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as pattern recognition, decision making, and data learning. When combined with hyperspectral imaging, AI has the potential to revolutionise the way we evaluate and ensure food quality.
In the food industry, high-tech terms related to AI can sound alien, but they are becoming crucial, seeping into every corner of industry; agriculture is no exception.
Envision capturing an image of an apple. A standard photograph suffices, yet lacks granular detail. Now conceive of acquiring an ultra-high-resolution image, unveiling every crevice from skin to core. This capability is the essence of HSI. However, it is an intricate process, akin to solving a puzzle with billions of pieces. With immense computational prowess, AI can swiftly navigate this complexity, identifying which apples have attained optimal ripeness for harvesting.
Applications
Composition analysis
With the powerful processing capabilities of machine learning models, HSI can perform accurate quantitative analysis and prediction of nutrients such as proteins, fats, vitamins, etc (Kaushal et al., 2024). This provides valuable support for developing reasonable dietary plans and meeting the nutritional needs of different populations.
Contaminant and defect detection
Traditional manual visual inspection is inefficient and prone to errors, while AI detection systems can operate continuously 24/7, promptly identifying potential risks and effectively safeguarding food safety and consumer rights. By automatically learning data features, deep learning algorithms can efficiently identify minute contaminant particles, microorganisms, spots, mechanical damage, and other defects from hyperspectral images (Soni et al., 2022). This is akin to equipping AI with a sharp eye, ensuring food purity and integrity.
Product traceability and classification
Each food product has a unique spectral "fingerprint," much like human DNA. Machine learning models can decipher these highdimensional spectral data to accurately identify the variety, origin, and other provenance information of foods (Hassoun et al., 2024). By learning from spectral fingerprint features, AI classifiers can quickly and automatically sort products (Özdoğan et al., 2021). This not only cuts out the guesswork and bias that humans might bring but also boosts consistency and accuracy.
How AI does function in HSI?
AI's prowess in handling complex, high-dimensional data, enhancing accuracy, expediting efficiency, and enabling automation makes it invaluable for meeting the arduous data analysis demands of HSI. For feature extraction process, hyperspectral data is like an overstuffed, bulky box crammed with hundreds of colour information points. AI algorithms act as a wand, capable of shrinking and flattening this box, leaving only the most crucial colours behind, simplifying subsequent analysis tasks (Paul & Chaki, 2024). Through automatically extracting the most distinctive "fingerprints" from the raw data, AI can rapidly and accurately identify different categories by modelling, which comprises numerous classic approaches like principal component analysis (PCA), support vector machines (SVM), decision trees (DT), random forests (RF) etc. Concurrently, emerging techniques like deep learning and neural networks are injecting new vitality, showcasing powerful automatic feature learning and endto-end modelling capabilities (Sun et al., 2024). Through intelligent fusion of spectral and spatial data, hyperspectral imaging can unleash the synergy between diverse information, painting a more vivid and realistic picture for consumers, improving analysis quality.
Convergence of HSI and AI TECHNOLOGIES
With cloud-based AI assistance, even small enterprises can leverage
the sophisticated capabilities of hyperspectral inspection, rapidly acquiring expertise in food quality assurance. It reduces the barriers of entry for hyperspectral imaging technology, enabling more companies to participate in this technological revolution. Emerging explainable AI techniques offer transparency, elucidating the model's cognitive processes and thereby engendering user trust while ensuring the reliability and safety of artificial intelligence systems.
Future prospects
Traditional hyperspectral imaging devices are cumbersome, limiting their widespread use. In the future, aided by intelligent sensors and edge computing, these devices will become compact and portable, which can be mounted on drones or robots, vastly expanding their application scenarios.
References
Hassoun, A., Alhaj Abdullah, N., Aït-Kaddour, A., Ghellam, M., Beşir, A., Zannou, O., Önal, B., Aadil, R. M., Lorenzo, J. M., & Mousavi Khaneghah, A. (2024). Food traceability 4.0 as part of the fourth industrial revolution: key enabling technologies. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 64(3), 873-889. https://doi.org/10.1080 /10408398.2022.2110033
Hassoun, A., Jagtap, S., Garcia-Garcia, G., Trollman, H., Pateiro, M., Lorenzo, J. M., Trif, M., Rusu, A. V., Aadil, R. M., & Šimat, V.
Comparison between traditional chemical or biotechnical methods and AI-powered HSI technology for food quality determination. Legend: SVM: Support Vector Machine; PCA: Principal Component Analysis; PLS: Partial Least Squares; PLSR: Partial Least Squares Regression; CNN: Convolutional Neural Network; RNN: Recurrent Neural Networks; BPNN: Back propagation Neural Network; ANN: Artificial Neural Network; LDA: Linear Discrimination Analysis; RF: Random Forest
(2023). Food quality 4.0: From traditional approaches to digitalised automated analysis. Journal of Food Engineering, 337, 111216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2022.111216
Kaushal, S., Tammineni, D. K., Rana, P., Sharma, M., Sridhar, K., & Chen, H.-H. (2024). Computer vision and deep learning-based approaches for detection of food nutrients/nutrition: New insights and advances. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 146, 104408. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2024.104408
Özdoğan, G., Lin, X., & Sun, D.-W. (2021). Rapid and non-invasive sensory analyses of food products by hyperspectral imaging: Recent application developments. Trends in Food Science & Technology , 111, 151-165. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2021.02.044
Paul, A., & Chaki, N. (2024). Dimensionality Reduction: State of the Art. In A. Paul & N. Chaki (Eds.), Dimensionality Reduction of Hyperspectral Imagery (pp. 15-21). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2022.100986
Soni, A., Dixit, Y., Reis, M. M., & Brightwell, G. (2022). Hyperspectral imaging and machine learning in food microbiology: Developments and challenges in detection of bacterial, fungal, and viral contaminants. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety,21(4), 3717–3745. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12983
Sun, D. W., Pu, H., & Yu, J. (2024). Applications of hyperspectral imaging technology in the food industry. Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44287-024-00033-w
NZIFST CONFERENCE 2025
Your suggestions for topics of interest are welcome Conference Committee Chair is Don Otter
Celebrate 60 years of NZIFST and look to the future of our industry
For more information contact NZIFST, wendy@nzifst.org.nz
