Food New Zealand February/March 2022

F ebruary /M arch 2022

NZ’S AUTHORITY ON FOOD TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURING

TIME FOR AN UPCYCLED FOOD REVOLUTION FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE: Overview: Laboratory instrumentation, equipment and consumables Research: Fish oil development guided by accelerated shelf-life testing using OXITEST

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC.

Contents

NZ’S AUTHORITY ON FOOD TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURING

FE B RUA RY / MA RC H 2022 | VOLU ME 22, N O . 1 IS SN 2 7 4 4 - 7 3 0 8 ( ONLINE) ISSN 1175- 4621 ( PR I N T )

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EDITORIAL

5

NEWSBITES

11

OVERVIEW

26 25

News, views and information from around and about

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Laboratory instruments, equipment and consumables

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NZFSSRC

11 42

NZ Food Safety Science & Research – where to next?

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RESEARCH

Sanford fish oil development guided by accelerated shelf-life testing using OXITEST Kirill Lagutin, Callaghan Innovation and Sabrina Tian, Sanford

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SLIDING ON Are we killing the golden goose?

Professor John D Brooks, FNZIFST

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NZIFST CAREERS

Introducing teachers and students to careers in the food processing industry Jenny Dee, FNZIFST

Contacts Peppermint Press Ltd 5 Rupi Court, Mt Wellington Auckland 1072, New Zealand Phone 64 21 901 884 www.foodnz.co.nz

Food NZ is distributed online to all members of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology.

An online edition is shared internationally.

Visit www.foodnz.co.nz to subscribe.

Copyright © 2022 Peppermint Press No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form by any means (graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping information retrieval systems, or otherwise) without the written permission of Peppermint Press. The views expressed in this journal are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the view of the Publisher, the Scientific Review Board or NZIFST.

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Food New Zealand

Director and Editor Anne Scott, Peppermint Press Limited anne@foodnz.co.nz Director and Writer Dave Pooch, Peppermint Press Limited davep@me.com Advertising Anne Scott, anne@foodnz.co.nz 021 901 884 Design and Layout Johanna Paynter, Pix Design, Regular Contributors Phil Bremer, John D Brooks, Laurence Eyres, Glen Neal, Dave Pooch, Rosemary Hancock, John Lawson

Published by Peppermint Press Limited Notice to Contributors When submitting editorial for Food New Zealand please observe the following, Editorial to be submitted as plain text files, NO FORMATTING please. Images should be sent as high resolution .jpg or .tiff files. Do not embed images in word documents, send separate files. Any images smaller than 500 kb may not be printed as the clarity of the print may be compromised.

Advertisers Material specification sheet and rate card on website, www.foodnz.co.nz

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FOOD SAFETY FSANZ Update Glen Neal, General Manager Risk Management and Intelligence, FSANZ

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CAREERS What's your story?

John Lawson, Lawson Williams Recruitment

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PACKAGING

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OILS & FATS

Successes at 2022 WorldStar Packaging Awards Oils and Fats Update

Laurence Eyres FNZIFST

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UPCYCLING

2022 is the year for a New Zealand upcycled food revolution

Associate Professor Miranda Mirosa, FNZIFST

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37 JOIN NZIFST NOW for Executive Manager, Rosemary Hancock PO Box 5574, Terrace End, Palmerston North 4441, New Zealand Phone: 06 356 1686 or 021 217 8298, Email: rosemary@nzifst.org.nz, Website: www.nzifst.org.nz

Professional Development Networking – connecting with your peers Regular information about your industry Recognition through awards, scholarships, travel grants www.nzifst.org.nz/join/

NZIFST NEWS, INCLUDING: New Members Obituary Branch Events

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STUDENT ESSAY 100% Pure Oat Milk

Stephanie McLeod, Student, University of Otago

On the cover Laboratory equipment has changed beyond recognition. Early food laboratory technicians needed individual skill and experience for repeatable, consistent testing results.

Modern laboratories are furnished with instruments that 'do it all'.

Next editorial and advertising deadline: March 21, 2022 Features for April/May 2022 Overview: Food Ingredients – from primary ingredients to the latest in flavours, colours modifiers and preservatives.

Research reports from AgResearch

February/March 2021

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Editorial

EDITORIAL I would like to wish you a happy, productive and safe New Year. Based on a brief internet search and my impressions from the last 12 months, I have drawn up, in no particular order, a list of what may be the 11 most important trends for the NZ food industry in 2022.

1. Disrupted workforces will become the norm owing to the continued shortage of skilled workers, our low unemployment rates and worker unavailability owing to COVID 19 isolation rules.

2. COVID 19 will continue to disrupt food supply chains and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the community will put food processors under increasing pressure as they strive to meet overseas market expectations around the use of PPE, testing regimes, worker behaviour and stand-down periods after a positive test.

3. Consumers will continue to want to improve their physical, emotional, mental and immune wellbeing.

Consequently there will be an explosion in demand for food and beverage products that offer benefits beyond simply nutrition or enjoyment. This trend may have its most significant impact on the snack market as consumers increasingly look for snacks that offer a nutritional boost, reduced calories or functional ingredients.

Phil Bremer, President NZIFST

4. The clean label movement will continue to evolve with increasing numbers of consumers wanting to know where ingredients have come from and how products have been made. Healthy, natural plant-based flavours will become the rage.

5. After nearly two years of COVID 19-enforced restrictions most people are tired. Tired of meal planning, tired of trying to find ingredients, tired of preparing and cooking food, tired of cleaning up, and maybe if they are not very imaginative tired of eating the same thing. While I strongly believe in the importance of meal planning and the sourcing (growing) and preparation process, I suspect that the demand for easy meal options will increase. This may include: the increased availability of more sophisticated and better tasting ready-made meals, potentially from ghost kitchens, coupled with online food delivery, an increase in the range of specialised (vegan, sport, exotic, well-being) food subscription boxes, and enhanced and easier-to-navigate online shopping and delivery options.

6. Concerns around “packaging” will re-emerge as consumers (particularly Gen Z) take a hard look at the impact of singleuse plastics on the environment and discover the shortcomings of our recycling systems.

7. Driven by a desire for healthier and more sustainable lifestyles, the popularity and diversity of plant-based foods and beverages will continue to increase. While it is not yet available in New Zealand, a product gaining much attention internationally is potato “milk” made by a company with the intriguing name of “DUG”. Apparently, the potato milk is pretty good and with an ingredient list comprising Water, Potato (6 %), Maltodextrin, Pea Protein, Chicory (Vegetable) Fibre, Rapeseed Oil, Fructose, Sucrose, Acidity Regulator (Di-and Mono-Sodium Phosphate), Calcium Carbonate, Emulsifier (Sunflower Lecithin), Natural Flavour, and Vitamins (D, Riboflavin, B12, Folic Acid). It looks as if it is a triumph of food science.

8. The use of fermented mycelia and fungi products will help to improve the form, texture and flavour of products designed to mimic traditional meat or dairy foods.

9. Maintaining trust and ensuring transparency will become increasingly important for food brands as consumers strive to make environmentally responsible food and beverage choices.

10. Consumers will continue to expect more engagement from brands through the digital and real-world channels they frequent. Engaging consumers through communication will be critical to a food brand’s survival as consumers seek to purchase food and beverages that align with their political, social and ethical values.

11. There will be growth in food and beverage launches with an upcycling claim (see the article on upcycled food by Associate Professor Mirosa on pg. 34 of this issue).

All the best, Phil Bremer, FNZIFST, President, NZIFST

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Food New Zealand

Newsbites

Newsbites Newsbites is Food New Zealand’s pick of the news stories about NZIFST members, about companies with relationships with NZIFST plus items that catch our interest.

Grant Verry, new CE at The FOODBOWL The appointment of Grant Verry to the role of Chief Executive of The FOODBOWL was announced late last year.

Grant joined the FOODBOWL at the beginning of November and got busy learning all the ins and outs of the facility – and the Food Innovation network, which has a unique service business model, he says.

“Our ‘product’ is innovation for businesses looking to add value to the food and beverage sector and those pathways can vary enormously.

Clients range from New Zealand’s largest industry corporates who need an agile, compliant, and reduced risk option for their innovation through to your savvy entrepreneur with the latest ‘on trend’ high value new product development. Some entrepreneurs come to us with a complete business plan, including market research and marketing ideas, but nothing more than a concept product. It is our great satisfaction to provide the support, services and expertise to allow them to complete their journey. Or at least significantly advance towards their goals."

Grant sees The FOODBOWL as much more than a world class, RMP licensed commercial production facility with over 350 pieces of versatile stainless steel manufacturing equipment ranging from latest technology HPP machines, supercritical extraction, UHT production and filling and blast freezing, to commercial scale blenders and kettles.

“Over the last 10 years, we have forged strong relationships with a much wider ecosystem of support organisations, so that clients can tap into business expertise that guides them through the complex world of New Zealand’s biggest industry, both locally and internationally. It's all very well to produce an outstanding high value new product but it needs to get ranged in retail, consumers need to be educated on its benefits, supply needs to keep up with demand and you need to be thinking of a pathway for export.”

Grant's proven track record in developing innovative and entrepreneurial strategies that result in new business growth opportunities, mutually beneficial collaborative partnerships, and market expansion domestically and internationally is a great fit for his new role.

He is experienced in food and beverage manufacturing, regulatory compliance, supply chain logistics, business growth and commercial contracting which are all very relevant to The FOODBOWL in its role as an innovation and scale up facility for the Food and Beverage sector in New Zealand.

In accepting the role Grant said: “It is a great privilege to lead an organisation that plays such a critical and integral role in innovation for

Grant Verry has been appointed CE at the FOODBOWL New Zealand’s food and beverage sector: a sector that impacts Kiwi lives on a daily basis and is New Zealand’s major contributor in the export industry.

The FOODBOWL is part of New Zealand’s pre-eminent national F&B innovation network and our opportunity ahead is to ensure performance exceeds expectation, innovate and deliver The FOODBOWL as an enabler for New Zealand’s Food and Beverage sector, to not only innovate, but to also thrive!

February/March 2022

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Newsbites When is your price too high?

Revealed: The exact point at which shoppers will consider a product to be too expensive.

Consumers will stop buying a product when its original price has risen by an average of 40%, according to a new survey commissioned by specialist UK PR agency Ingredient Communications and conducted

by SurveyGoo. Just over 1,000 US and UK consumers answered a series of questions designed to reveal just how price-sensitive they really are. As many as 94% of participants said they had noticed their food shopping bills going up in the previous three months, with 79% stating they believed supply chain problems such as driver shortages were to blame.

Respondents were then asked to select the point at which they would stop buying a selection of food, beverage and nutrition products due to price rises, using a scale of +5% to "I would buy this product whatever the price".

Overall, results indicated that shoppers were more immune to price increases for low-cost staple goods. For example, the category in which consumers were least price sensitive was milk (dairy), which could increase in price by an average of 65% before respondents would stop buying it. This was followed by bread (62%) and fresh vegetables (60%).

Conversely, there was greater resistance to cost increases in nutrition categories, where the base price of products tends to be higher. For instance, respondents said they would stop buying protein powder once the price had risen by an average of 17%. The corresponding

pinch point was 23% for probiotics, 26% for dietary supplements, and 28% for omega-3 fish oil supplements.

High quality ingredients are key The survey findings also indicate that consumers are happy to shop around in order to offset the impact of upward price pressures. Nearly half of respondents (48%) said they had switched to a cheaper brand in the previous three months as a result of price rises, while 26% said they had changed to a retailer’s own-label version of the same product.

Richard Clarke, Managing Director of Ingredient Communications, said, “In today's challenging market conditions, brands will need to work hard to retain consumer loyalty.”

Gentle refining processes for organic oils Nutriswiss AG specialises in the refining of high-quality, tailormade edible fats and is the Swiss leader in special and organic products. For national and international food manufacturers, the catering, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, as well as artisan bakers, crude oils from all over the world are neutralised, bleached, modified by fractionation, transesterification or hydrogenation, mixed and deodorised.

As a contract manufacturer, Nutriswiss refines a wide variety of oils for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.

Its state-of-the-art processes enable the gentle refining of oils in compliance with European organic guidelines and other certifications such as Demeter, Bioland and BioSuisse.

In this way, oils that would be of limited suitability for further processing or trade due to intense flavours, colouration or exposure to environmental and transport contaminants become safe ingredients. Unlike conventional physical refining at high temperatures, which creates process contaminants and destroys valuable micronutrients, the thermal load in "mild refining" processes remains comparatively low. The process is therefore also suitable for sensitive raw materials such as omega-3-rich seed oils like rapeseed or linseed oil, algae oil or other specialty oils.

Contaminants can originate during organic cultivation from exhaust gases, for example, or can enter the raw material through contact with machinery and transport circumstances.

During an internal random analysis of various organic rapeseed oils in the Swiss retail market mineral oil residues were detected and although these contaminants were present in “acceptable” concentrations (according to the orientation values for MOH compiled by the German Food Association [Lebensmittelverband Deutschland eV] in August 2021), they are still considered to be “unwanted.” With "mild refining"

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technologies, Nutriswiss succeeds in purification without the formation of process contaminants such as glycidol and 3-MCPD, for which strict limits will apply from January 2021 according to EU Regulation 2020/1322. Highly pure and sensorially neutral products can thus be produced in a gentle manner.

Newsbites

Sustainable packaging in New Zealand from Xela Oceania New Zealand entrepreneurs, Paul Zaloum and Jason Shaw, have established a licensing agreement with US company Xela Pack.

The agreement means Xela Pack’s innovative, more sustainable packaging will be produced outside the US for the first time under the Xela Oceania name.

Gentile Packaging Machinery, the parent company of Xela Pack, has built the machine that will be used by Xela Oceania in New Zealand. It uses packaging materials that are provided by Xela Pack which have been through rigorous compatibility tests to ensure they work at certain temperatures, pressures and times.

“This is high-quality engineering and they pride themselves on it,” says Jason Shaw, co-founder of Xela Oceania. “They’re beautiful machines and they’re built to last. The first machine built by GMP in the 1960s is still operating.”

Shaw, who has worked in the honey industry for ten years, and Zaloum, who studied production engineering and has worked in biosecurity and as a ship officer, are based in Albany and will initially focus on selling Xela Pack products in the honey sector, but they aim to extend into other high-value sectors that require more sustainable single or multi-dose packaging.

The pair believe this technology is hitting the New Zealand market at the perfect time and want to take a bite out of the $4 billion local packaging industry, reduce the impacts on the planet and eventually take Xela Pack to other markets like Australia and India.

Xela Pack, which is based in Saline, Michigan, focuses on small-dose or multi-dose packaging between 5ml and 30ml.

The packets are made predominantly from recycled paper, use approximately 93% less plastic than similar-sized bottles and tubes and take up around 20% less space than plastic bottles.

They can be used for liquids, powders, tablets and granulated products in a range of sectors including food, natural health, dietary supplements, oral care, cosmetics, hotels and cruises, and pharmaceuticals.

Xela Pack started life back in 1967 when Gentile Packaging Machinery (GPM) was started by Aliseo Gentile. In 1987, he and his wife Cathy launched a new contract packaging company called Genpack USA and, in 1994, long before the current wave of anti-plastic sentiment, they decided to focus solely on more sustainable, less wasteful packaging and changed the company name to Xela Pack.

February/March 2022

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Newsbites

UK FSA updates permitted-cannabinoid product regulations The UK’s consumer health sector is set for its biggest shake-up in more than a decade when the Food Standards Agency (FSA) releases its eagerly-awaited public list of cannabinoid (CBD) products permitted for sale to consumers.

sector, has stepped in to develop an online resource – www.

UKCBDList.com – that will enable consumers, retailers and health practitioners to ensure they are buying and selling only permitted products.

Only products on the list will be able to stay on the market, while those not included will have to be taken off sale. It is anticipated that Trading Standards officers will apply the new rules immediately, which means companies that continue to sell unlisted CBD products will be putting themselves at risk of enforcement action.

The FSA has been evaluating the safety of CBD products for more than 18 months, in line with the UK’s Novel Food requirements.

Publication of the list is imminent. The Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI), the trade body for the UK’s CBD

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Food New Zealand

The UK market for consumer CBD products was worth £690 million in 2021, according to ACI estimates – more than double the level of sales recorded in 2019, when the market was valued at £314 million. The UK is now the world’s second largest market for consumer CBD, behind only the US.

Newsbites

Registrations for AUSPACK 2022 now open The globally recognised, long-running biennial event, which is part of Packaging and Processing Week, is heading back to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 17-20 May, 2022. It brings expanded business sessions and improved online searchable directories to enhance visitors’ ability to tailor and plan their visit.

This year, more than 250 suppliers representing hundreds of global brands will be on the show floor, offering visitors solutions that address a range of industry trends and themes. AUSPACK 2022 will allow attendees to see, first hand, products that offer enhanced safety, security, automation and cost-saving benefits.

Entry to the APPMA Awards of Excellence have also opened, and close on 4 March. Winners will be announced at the Gala Awards Ceremony on 18 May on day two of AUSPACK 2022. Tickets for both the Awards Gala Night and Leaders Forum are on sale from February.

The AUSPACK 2022 website is continually being updated with speakers, events and news.

Tickets to the exhibition are free and are now available on the website.

AUSPACK 2022 will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, 17-20 May 2022. Please visit www.auspack.com.au for more information.

February/March 2022

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Newsbites

Westland Milk Junior operator Renae McGregor was inspired by the PITO training

PITO training at Westland Milk The opportunity to study for a qualification has kindled a passion for learning among staff at South Island dairy company Westland Milk with more than 60 of its manufacturing team studying toward a Dairy Processing Apprenticeship.

Responding to requests from staff, the company, which operates four dairy processing plants on the West Coast and in Canterbury, investigated how it could offer opportunities for them to gain a qualification.

Westland Milk discussed the options with the Primary ITO (PITO) and a partnership was developed to deliver Level 3 and 4 courses to new and existing staff who were interested in the manufacturing team.

The opportunity was offered to the entire team of 270 staff, with 69 enrolling during 2020 and 2021, 45 of whom were newer staff.

General Manager of Manufacturing, Ross Burdett, says the programme has been a big success and provided benefits right across the business.

“It has ignited a passion for learning for those who have taken it on. They can see that there is a career progression available and a structured development programme for them.”

Ross says that due to the training, new staff are developing their skills

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much faster than previously. Junior operators are able to problem-solve and trouble-shoot themselves, providing more value to their teams and gaining confidence quicker.

Junior operator Renae McGregor completed her apprenticeship in 2021 and says it enabled her to learn about different parts of the business and progress her career. “It has definitely opened my eyes on what I might be interested in and where I would like to go with future job opportunities.”

She says the broad nature of the course, which covered sampling, packing and procedures, gave a context for learners to understand how their work contributed to the end product. “You get to understand the full process for producing milk products and the standards you have to keep up to all the time and why.”

Ross Burdett says due to the success of the programme Westland Milk is considering offering Levels 5 and 6 so that apprentices can continue their study.

Westland Milk, whose roots were established in 1935 on the West Coast, is also the first dairy company to enrol its milk collection operators onto the Level 4 qualification, and is one of the few companies in Aotearoa to own their own milk tanker fleet.

Overview

Overview: Laboratory instruments, equipment and consumables Food New Zealand's annual roundup of new products for laboratories working in the food space – from QC labs on site, to research facilities.

3M Food Safety Solutions 3M is a science-based company and every day we work with our customers around the world to solve their challenges. By applying science to improve lives, we can make our Vision become a reality: •

3M technology advancing every company

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3M products enhancing every home

•

3M innovation improving every life

Across the globe, 3M is inspiring innovation and igniting progress, all while contributing to true global sustainable development through environmental protection, corporate and social responsibility and economic progress. We are applying our science and innovation to make a real impact in every person’s life around the world.

3M Food Safety is a world leader in the design and manufacture of food safety solutions for the detection of microorganisms at every step of the food production process. Its proprietary products are widely used throughout the global healthcare, food processing and cleaning and sanitisation markets to make our customers more successful.

3M proudly delivers industry-specific product ranges to protect your facilities and your customers. We have the latest technology available to help improve your testing needs and our environmental monitoring programme can help safeguard your facility.

Ask us what our Total Food Safety Solutions, including 3M™ CleanTrace™ ATP-based Hygiene Monitoring and Management System, 3M™ Molecular Detection System, 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plates and Allergen Testing, can deliver for you. 3M.co.nz/FoodSafety February/March 2022

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Overview

John Morris Group – food, feed and beverage solutions We supply, install and service quality scientific and specialised equipment from trusted brands, helping you discover solutions and achieve reliable results.

CEM provides new technologies that transform how compositional food testing is carried out for fat (ORACLE), protein (SPRINT), moisture (SMART) and ash (PHOENIX). Simple rapid and direct methods that eliminate extensive calibration and replace outdated wet chemistry techniques. CEM pioneered microwave chemistry and have microwave instruments (MARS) to acid-digest samples for elemental analysis.

Fritsch instruments have been used for decades worldwide for sample preparation and particle sizing in industry and research laboratories.

Fritsch offer laboratory tools for cutting, milling, sieving and sizing solid materials.

ANKOM are helping to feed the world with their dietary fibre, solvent fat extractors, vitamin and cholesterol analyte extractors.

ANKOM’s Crude Fibre analyser studies the digestibility of feed and gas production monitoring modules measure the degradation and

fermentation kinetics of soluble and insoluble factions of feed or food.

Bruker’s solutions optimise food quality and food safety throughout the whole supply chain from field to fork. FoodScreener tests honey, wine and juice for origin authenticity, species purity and fraud. The MiniSpec determines total fat and droplet size of dairy products such as margarine or mayonnaise and analyses oil and moisture in seeds and nuts with no sample preparation, independent of sample texture or colour.

The YSI 2900 makes it practical to measure glucose, sucrose, lactose, ethanol and many more analytes, compared to traditional methods such as HPLC and GC/MS. Results are obtained in about one minute with little or no sample preparation making the YSI 2900 ideal for process monitoring.

Atago manufactures hand-held refractometers used in analysis of fruit, salt, brix, coffee and acidity.

Contact John Morris Group via our website or LinkedIn and let us help you succeed with technology.”

ATA Scientific Analytical Tools for Measuring Food Properties The Phenom Desktop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is an essential tool used to study the relationship between food processing conditions and morphological changes of food components, as the structure of foods can influence nutritional value.

The new Phenom XL G2 desktop SEM is easy to use and offers superfast imaging with fully integrated X-ray analysis to enable food structures to be both physically examined and their elemental composition determined. With the fastest time to image (less than 40 sec from sample loading), up to 200,000 times magnification and <10nm resolution, the Phenom SEM is an essential tool for any laboratory.

New automation solutions for quality control (QC) enable manual, repetitive tasks to be automated and high volumes of samples to be quickly processed. Particles, pores, fibres or large SEM images up to 100 by 100 millimeters can be automatically characterised and foreign contaminants automatically identified and evaluated for chemical composition.

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Food New Zealand

The Malvern Mastersizer, available from ATA Scientific The Malvern Mastersizer particle size analyser is used to determine particle size and size distribution for foods and additives. Particle size defines mouth feel and is important for controlling manufacturing parameters.

Overview

The NovaLUM IIX ATP detection system

Food Tech Solutions In the food safety world, hygiene means more than just keeping things clean.

Sanitation directly impacts downstream processing, with measurable effects on the profitability of a product. Food Tech Solutions offers innovative ways to ensure customer products maintain the highest quality.

The NovaLUM IIX luminometer by Charm Sciences is a rapid, highly sensitive ATP-detection system designed to augment existing cleaning systems. Compared with other instruments, enhanced surface ATPsensitivity allows earlier detection of low concentration potential contaminants. Taking preventative action before problems arise results in improved products and greater productivity. Benefits include •

5-second accurate result.

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Detection of ATP residue from microorganisms and low-level biologicals normally undetectable by visual inspection.

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Long shelf-life swabs – one-year room temperature stable.

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Easily programmable – customised plans/detection limits ensure no surface escapes monitoring.

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Affords easy differentiation between low-high risk surfaces.

Control of audit processes – with all results storable on-board, easily uploaded, with convenient reports.

The Mastersizer 3000 is the premier instrument on the market for design, performance and software-user experience. With a dynamic range spanning 0.01 to 3500 microns, the Mastersizer 3000 delivers precise, robust, wet and dry particle size measurements tailored to the operator’s application needs. A small footprint, exceptional dry dispersion capabilities and intuitive software, designed to ease user workload, have resulted in its enduring appeal and established the system as the unit of choice.

Malvern Zetasizer Ultra is used for the measurement of particle and molecular size, particle charge and particle concentration. The system can be used to determine optimal concentrations of food additives for desired taste and smell performance or to improve emulsion stabilisation of flavourings.

The new Zetasizer Ultra delivers enhanced speed and ease of use, accelerating sample throughput. Multi-Angle Dynamic Light Scattering (MADLS) technology provides higher resolution, more complete particle size distributions and calibration-free particle concentration analysis to enable even greater insight into your samples. www.atascientific.com.au

February/March 2022

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Overview

Is your milk antibiotic free?

Improve food safety with Chr. Hansen’s enhanced MilkSafe FAST (fast, accurate, simple and traceable) antibiotic testing range, designed for mobility, connectivity and reliability.

MilkSafe FAST is Chr. Hansen’s latest test range that enables detection of the most common dairy antibiotic residues in milk. With the onestep cassette tests available with this range, it is now even easier to test for antibiotic contaminants in milk in just 3-4 minutes.

The exclusive, innovative MilkSafe Web Service is a pioneering approach to enable real time monitoring of tests, digital integration across sites and systems, full traceability and easy access to documentation. Data analytics and management allows for better insights into the milk supply value chain and when and where antibiotics are used on the farm.

On the truck: A Portable Reader tests for residues during milk transportation. Combined with the MilkSafe App, test results are stored in a cloud-based data management system, providing traceable documentation and transparency.

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In the laboratory: A desktop reader and a data manager (PC software that transfers data from desktop reader to PC) to enable easy interpretation of test results.

At the farm: A Mini Incubator allows the farmer to visually

Alphatech Systems

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Laboratoires Dujardin-Salleron’s traditional range of wine analysis apparatus including ebulliometers, sulfilysers, hydrometers and titrators.

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Multisensor Systems’ water and air analysers, specialising in hydrocarbon analysis, oil-in-water detection, THM and ammonia analysis, for use in protecting potable and waste water.

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Optika’s specialty instruments for refractometry, sugar purity, optical rotation, and polarimetry.

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Pratt Safety’s UN-certified DG Cabinets from 30L-425L. The range covers Classes 3 Flammable Liquids, 4 Flammable Solids, 5 Oxidising Agents, 5.1 Organic Peroxides, 6 Toxic Substances, and 8 Corrosives.

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Precisa’s Balances with capacity/resolutions ranging from 125g (0.01mg) to 12.2kg (0.1g). The range extends to industrial scales, moisture balances and automatic ashing.

The new 390 and 520 Series balances with tablet style touch screens are so intuitive you hardly need a manual!

VICAM offers a complete line of qualitative and quantitative rapid diagnostic test kits, strips and instruments for testing mycotoxins in food, feed and grain products.

Alphatech Systems, 100% New Zealand owned and operated, is now celebrating 39 years’ service to the Food Science Community.

Testing for chemicals is essential to understanding their fate and potential environmental impact.

Alphatech brings you these quality brands covering your every need: •

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“Antibiotic resistance poses one of the greatest threats to global human health and food safety. The MilkSafe equipment and digital services test for antibiotic residues throughout the milk value chain, helping producers reduce contamination to minimise waste, optimise sustainability and save money. Chr. Hansen is pleased to be at the forefront of helping to support sustainability through the MilkSafe range,” says Christian Bendix Jensen, Director for Test Kits and Equipment at Chr. Hansen.

Tests are comprehensively validated by an external third-party laboratory and can be conducted at any point between the farm and fridge: •

interpret results and quickly control for the presence of antibiotic residues.

Biochrom/WPA’s range of Libra Scanning UV/Vis Spectrophotometers, including double beam and variable bandwidth.

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Cooper-Atkins’ thermometry, including their outstanding meters and probe/sensor customisations for use in the food and beverage sectors.

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Eutech Instruments’ renowned food and water analysis instruments including pH/mV/Ion-specific, temperature, conductivity/resistivity/TDS and salinity, DO, turbidity and colorimeter meters.

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Horiba high-quality equipment for water and food testing.

Horiba will also create applications to use these meters with your sample (pH, ORP, EC, TDS, DO).

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Human Corporation’s laboratory and high capacity RO water systems, from Type 1 Ultra-Pure to high capacity RO systems for research, general laboratory and industrial applications

….also, talk to us for Waters Corporation chromatographic solutions (HPLC, mass spectrometry, HPLC columns, vials, filters etc), and OnQ LIMS solutions. www.alphatech.co.nz

Food New Zealand

Overview

Food Safety and Quality Control technology at Mediray Key technologies to look out for in 2022 Automation and smart laboratory systems Covid has digitally transformed many businesses since 2020 and automation in laboratories is here to stay. From programmed pipetting robots and automated pathogen systems to wireless pH sensors, the industry is advancing as technologies are continuously being innovated. Here’s an insight into some of the innovative technologies for 2022.

JANUS G3 by Perkin Elmer Automated workstations include a portfolio of precision liquid handling solutions that provide adaptability in throughput, plate capacity and dynamic volume range to meet your current and future automation needs. Noted for its customisable feature that caters for various work flows large or small.

Tempo by bioMérieux Replacing plates and media with slim and sleek cards that have shorter TAT’s. The Tempo is a fully automated enumeration system that tests quality indicators in food products and environmental samples within your laboratory. Prepare, inject, incubate and read.

The card-based system reduces the need for media and large teams to efficiently operate an enumeration laboratory.

HALO2 by HANNA Instruments Connect your pH probe to your tablet or smart phone. HALO2 Wireless pH Meter with Bluetooth® Smart technology (Bluetooth® 4.0) is updated with a dual-level LCD and temperature measurement for automatic temperature compensation. HALO2 pH probes can be used virtually anywhere: in the field, laboratory, or classroom. Their versatility and ease of use will revolutionise the way pH is measured.

More at Mediray We hold a portfolio of premium brands for laboratory automation, media and sample preparation, pathogens, quality indicators, identification, environmental testing and analytical testing.

Access more than 30 brands including bioMérieux, Perkin Elmer, Eppendorf, Hanna Instruments, Elisa Systems, Machery-Nagel and many more available locally.

Get in touch to discuss which technologies are best to help increase accuracy and productivity in your laboratory.

Mätt Solutions Proper process control could double your profits.

It’s estimated that improper measurement, lack of control during production and a “guess and check” attitude, costs some businesses as much as 43% of their annual profit. Proper control of inputs and monitoring of the process can save the expense of “reworks”, dramatically reduce wasted product, get you closer to quality control checkpoints and save everybody a lot of time.

They key to this success and increased profitability, is measurement at line. By having a quality metric for each input or stage of production and then measuring and ensuring that metric is met you can have confidence in the final product. At the same time, you will be able to address problems in a more timely manner by fixing out-of-spec readings before the next stage of production.

Bob Olayo, manager at Mätt Solutions, specialists in food quality measurement tools, notes “If you’re not measuring it then you can’t control it. The way to avoid unwelcome surprises is by testing and checking at each stage of the process”.

Being specialists in the field, Mätt Solutions have a wide array of testing solutions available that can help monitor and manage the production process. This includes robust, at line tools for use by production line managers and highly accurate lab-grade instruments for final product verification and release, which can include 21 CFR part 11 and GMP compliance.

If you are looking for a measurement solution that is proving challenging or uncommon, Mätt Solutions may be able to help, they have been in the industry for more than 20 years and have built a valuable store of knowledge on how to achieve usable results, even with the most challenging of measurements. For the more common solutions, such as brix, salinity, pH, water activity, gas analysis, DO, EC, fat, protein, moisture, viscosity and more, you should also call Mätt Solutions, the team will listen to you and tailor a solution to your specific needs.

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Overview Onelab: Results Matter Onelab offers a range of products for food manufacturers, from the laboratory through to process optimisation and finished product testing.

Onelab’s market position is to support the New Zealand market with high quality products that are imperative to your success.

Key to our food testing product range is R-Biopharm.

R-Biopharm’s speciality is competence in food and feed analysis, offering innovative products and user-friendly solutions for the analysis of allergens, mycotoxins, microbiological contaminants and more.

Technologies include Lateral flow, ELISA, Enzymatic, purification columns and real-time PCR.

Mettler Toledo The demand for food is expected to grow substantially by 2050, anywhere between 59% to 98%, depending on location and GDP, among other factors. An equally challenging scenario can be applied for food production and development. These challenges are broader than one might think: topics such as food testing and regulation compliance are just few among many others.

By having the right solutions to help you grow your production capacity and responsibly lead the way in food quality and sustainability, you will be prepared for this huge uplift in demand. Working with Mettler Toledo and our partner OneLab in New Zealand, you can focus on ensuring that the highest food safety and quality control standards are met and be assured your instruments always provide accurate and compliant measurements. At Mettler Toledo we enable you to create bold new tastes and support you as you cultivate foods to enrich the next generation.

Moisture analysers Halogen moisture analysers are the ideal solution for fast and simple routine moisture determination.

Easily check near-line or off-line, any sample, whether solid, paste or liquid. Determine moisture along the entire process wherever required.

Key products in our wide range include:

Density and Refractive Index

•

R-Biopharm – Allergens, mycotoxins, microbiological contaminants, constituents, GMO’s, vitamins

Density and refractometers analyse liquid samples automatically and easily. These ideal routine testing instruments provide fast results and are suitable for random spot checks near the line or QC checks in the Lab.

•

BUCHI - Kjeldahl, NIR, evaporation, freeze dryers, fat extraction etc

Measure density, specific gravity, refractive index, Brix or concentrations of salt, alcohol and other compounds.

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Mettler Toledo laboratory range – balances, electrochemistry, spectrophotometers, titrators, density, refractometers, pipettors

pH Meters

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Gerber Instruments – dairy testing equipment

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INTEGRA – Media Preparators, plate pourers, dispensing pumps, vacuum aspirators

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Omni International – homogenisers and bead mills

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SSI Bio and Technoplas – Plastic laboratory consumables

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Brand – consumables including volumetric glass, digital burettes, bottle top dispensers

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IKA – mixing, shaking, stirring, viscometers, ovens etc

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Grant Instruments – water baths, bench top equipment, dataloggers etc

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Labconco – Cleanroom hoods, dry block evaporators, vacuum concentrators

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INTERSCIENCE – blenders, diluters, pourers, colony counters, dispensing pumps etc

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Milestone – Sample prep for metal analysis, mercury, fat extraction, fragrances and flavours

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Seal Analytical – Discrete and segmented flow analysers, robotic sample prep automation

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Hettich – Centrifuges and incubators

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Cole Palmer – including Masterflex pumps and tubing

Onelab Service all brands we sell - Nationwide!

Onelab believe Results Matter; contact us for your laboratory requirements.

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Food New Zealand

Meters and instruments for pH, conductivity, sodium, dissolved oxygen, and more, all with the same easy mode of operation. Designed for use in food and beverage facilities, they provide stable readings in a short time, ruggedness and a long life. Onelab and Mettler Toledo can advise you on the right electrodes for your samples and tips to minimise maintenance.

Analytical and precision balances Mettler Toledo Precision Balances are world leaders for reliable, high-precision weighing both in the laboratory and under harsh industrial conditions.

Unparalleled measurement performance, full data security and traceability and ease of use are just some of the benefits of our comprehensive portfolio of balances.

UV/Vis Spectrophotometers UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy is extensively used to analyse a wide range of food samples such as meat, dairy products, processed foods, oils, beverages, wine, spices, flavours, and fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. The UV5 is compact and extremely reliable with no moving parts and easy to use with an open sample compartment.

Lab Supply We support science and discovery.

We work behind the scenes enabling researchers and scientists across New Zealand take their work the extra mile, helping translate it into tangible benefits for society. From food producers to beverage companies, academic research to analytical laboratories, we are the answer to all your laboratory supply needs.

New Zealand owned and operated, we are independent importers and distributors of scientific equipment and consumables from the world’s leading brands.

We represent Eppendorf, Memmert, Greiner Bio-One, Merck, Technoplas and Munktell, among others. Our staff are on hand to help you find the right product, offer technical advice, and make recommendations on the use of equipment you purchase from us.

We also support what we sell with in-house servicing, calibration, and repair capabilities for a wide range of laboratory equipment, including liquid-handling instruments. With our expertise in the setup of new labs, we can help install your equipment, ensure it works within the necessary parameters, and upskill staff on equipment usage.

We understand the importance of accuracy and rigour in scientific work and ensure the products and service we supply meet the quality standards required to maintain the integrity of your work. With over 70 suppliers and an expansive product range, Lab Supply is a partner of choice to the research and applied science communities in New Zealand. We look forward to being of service to you!

Overview Anton Paar GmbH Anton Paar GmbH, established in 1922, is a global leader specialising in laboratory and process measuring instruments. Anton Paar New Zealand Limited was established in 2018 to directly support the local market with consultation, supply and support of high-quality test and measurement instrumentation.

Laboratory and process measuring instruments from Anton Paar are utilised throughout the manufacturing process to ensure quality, time after time. From trace element analysis of food ingredients to quality checks on flavours, raw ingredients to final products, continuous monitoring of compositions and concentrations to sophisticated analyses of mouthfeel, mixing and stirring behaviour: Anton Paar offers a multitude of solutions for laboratory and process measurements. The product portfolio ranges from portable measuring instruments, through highprecision automated laboratory or process measurement technology to individual industry specific solutions.

Anton Paar New Zealand can supply solutions for; •

Density, Refractive Index and concentration measurement (Brix) of liquids and solids.

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Determination of dissolved gases (O2/CO2 /N2) in beverages.

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Sample Preparation - Digestion of samples, evaporation, acid leaching, and extractions.

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Accelerated determination of oxidation stability to assist with shelf life predictions.

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Particle Size Analysis - Measure a wide range of particle sizes in liquid dispersions or dry powders.

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Powder Characterisation - Techniques to characterise water sorption rates, shelf life, bulk density and tapped density for storage and transportation of granular foodstuff.

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Identification and verification of raw material and samples by Raman Spectrometer.

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Optimising the mouthfeel, texture, spreadability and pourability for a range of foodstuffs with rheological test methods (eg viscosity, yield point, penetration consistency and thixotropic behaviour).

To learn more about Anton Paar’s products and their applications please visit our website www.anton-paar.com/nz-en/

Thermofisher Scientific Food and beverage companies face extremely tight margins, so careful cost control is essential to success.

The Food and Beverage Solution for Thermo Scientific™ SampleManager LIMS™ is an implementation accelerator, providing food and beverage QA/QC laboratories with industrystandard functionality in a pre-configured package. The solution leverages SampleManager LIMS functionality and capabilities including the laboratory execution system (LES), customer portal, data analytics, and ready to use dashboards. With this preconfigured solution, your laboratory can get up and running faster with less user training in a system that’s easier to maintain.

The solution includes three pre-defined LES methods specifically designed for food and beverage testing laboratories. These methods enable you to get up and running quickly on LES to execute lactose detection and quantification, mycotoxin detection and quantification, and pesticide detection and quantification.

Contract Laboratories using the Food and Beverage Solution can offer clients a secure online portal to access their work and results, releasing their analysts from administrative tasks and improving customer experience. The portal enables contract laboratory clients to approve quotes, log in samples against statements of work, and access results. The configurable user interface allows customer re-branding, making it possible to change colours, add logos and create tailored navigation menus.

Powerful pre-configured KPI dashboards provide laboratory managers with an up-to-date overview of laboratory performance.

At a glance, the laboratory manager or system administrator can identify performance bottlenecks, monitor stock levels, and track overall laboratory performance.

ISO 17025 outlines practices for the operation of laboratories to ensure reliable testing and quality results. SampleManager LIMS

software can be configured to achieve and maintain compliance to ISO 17025, and many food and beverage organisations rely on preconfigured industry-standard workflows in the LIMS to drive efficiency, quality and productivity throughout their processes.

Additionally, SampleManager LIMS software is fully configured to be 21 CFR Part 11 compliant out of the box, ensuring fully compliant electronic record, document and signature control.

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NZFSSRC

Creating a 'hybrid' whole genome sequence – a clever local solution to testing the safety of bacteria used in the food industry Written exclusively for Food NZ magazine by Dr Catherine McLeod, director of the NZ Food Safety Science & Research Centre, Dr Lucia Rivas of ESR, Dr Angela Cornelius of ESR and science writer Glenda Lewis.

Introduction

Booming demand for probiotics

People used to think of all bacteria as inherently bad for humans, a notion successfully fostered by marketers of cleaning products. At the NZ Food Safety Science & Research Centre (the Centre) the baddies get most of the attention, but scientists increasingly find that the community of microorganisms inside our gut (our microbiome) are essential for good health, including our mental health. We need them as much as they need us. The implications for the food industry are enormous.

The naturally-fermented food category, including probiotics, is booming and expected to expand by a further $60bn to $700bn in the next two or three years. New Zealand is after its share and well placed to win it.

Thanks to a new way of using whole genome sequencing to verify the identity and safety of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), developed under the auspices of the Centre by Fonterra, ESR and Massey University scientists, the commercialisation of new LAB strains for use as probiotics (or in fermented foods) has become much faster and cheaper.

Diet is key to a healthy gut microbiome Principal scientist at Fonterra, Dr Shalome Bassett, said in a recent profile published by the Centre, “From birth, the microbes in your gut are helping to train your immune system, effectively programming it for life. They have an extraordinary influence on our long-term health and development, including digestion, metabolism, and the production of neurotransmitters that affect behaviour and cognitive function. There’s new evidence to suggest that this process can start in the womb. Our gut microbiome undergoes dynamic changes in its make-up and diversity over our lifespan, particularly in childhood. Some data suggest that alterations in the gut microbiome in young children can lead to an increased risk of developing diseases later in life, such as asthma and Crohn’s disease. Diet is absolutely key to a healthy gut microbiome”.

No wonder then that educated, health-conscious consumers have quickly latched on to these emerging findings, and are enthusiastically embracing foods and drinks fermented by ‘good’ bacteria and containing live bacteria when consumed. Examples are kombucha, kimchi, kefir, yoghurt and cheese. Hundreds, if not thousands, of amateur sourdough bakers emerged from lockdown New Zealand though many concluded that this is an art best left to the professionals.

Those foods and drinks containing specific strains of microorganisms proven to be of benefit to our health – and present in sufficient amounts to provide the proven health benefit – are called probiotics.

The expectation is that ingesting certain bacteria will, at least in the short term, help to improve the balance, diversity and overall health of the gut microbiota.

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Food New Zealand

LAB strains are used widely by the food industry as starter cultures but also as adjunct cultures, contributing to the flavour, texture, and nutritional value of fermented foods. Lactic acid is a by-product of the bacteria’s digestion – it gives yoghurt its tangy taste and stops the growth of other microorganisms, preventing spoilage and thus lengthening shelf life. Not surprisingly, LABs are the dominant probiotic species globally. The hundreds of wonderful cheese varieties owe their characteristic textures and flavours to the different LABs and other microorganisms used in their making. LABs are the invisible, unpaid, yet crucial workforce of the dairy industry. And they also play an important role in our development from birth.

Shalome says, “LABs, in particular the Bifidobacteria strains, are naturally present in human breast milk and are the early colonisers of the infant gut, helping it to mature and develop normally. The infant gut is leaky at birth and the right bacteria help the gaps in the gut to ‘close’. This is important for priming our immune system for life-long health and wellness.”

Fonterra continues to search for new LAB strains (they occur naturally in the environment, particularly milk) to add to its enormous collection of over forty thousand. They keep their library of isolates at temperatures below minus 80ºC, preserved in glycerol or milk. Many have yet to be investigated for possible commercialisation. As well as using LABs for their own range of dairy products, they manufacture and sell probiotic LAB strains to other producers – a lucrative sideline.

Fonterra discovered and owns two of the top five probiotic strains in the world – Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001™ (also known as DR20® and Surestart LactoB™) and Bifidobacterium animalis HN019™ (also known as DR10® and Surestart BifidoB™)]. More than 100 scientific

NZFSSRC

Dr Lucia Rivas of ESR

Dr Angela Cornelius of ESR.

Principal Scientist at Fonterra, Dr Shalome Bassett

studies have been published on these strains with clinical evidence to support a wide range of human health benefits, including improved immunity, gut comfort, reduced incidence of postnatal depression and gestational diabetes, and reduced eczema in infants. These strains are used globally in a wide range of probiotic supplements and food products such as infant formula.

probiotics are extremely strict. Shalome says, “Probiotic preparations must contain live bacteria in defined doses, with specifically identified human health benefits. The World Health Organisation definition is: ‘live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.’ The number of bacteria required for a positive health effect must be proven in human clinical trials.”

To Fonterra’s knowledge, it is the only dairy company in the world which manufactures its own starter cultures. It has a complete system, and therefore control, from collection and testing of strains to final product.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) technology can differentiate strains down to the last mutation. But the name is somewhat misleading in practice, as the size of bacteria genomes and the repetitions of certain sequences within the genome, mean that only segments of the DNA are in fact sequenced or ‘read’, resulting in a genome that is fragmented.

Scientists can home in on different bits (key genes or tell-tale mutation sites) that serve to identify a strain. The construction of genomes with only small amounts of fragmentation is relatively expensive but is required to verify safety for human consumption and ensure there are no known traits for antibiotic resistance, virulence or toxicity. In

Strict regulatory control Precise identification of strains, and a guarantee of their safety for human consumption, is paramount when it comes to producing bacteria to make or add to food. The global regulations around

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NZFSSRC

Harnessing the power of hybrid whole genome sequencing Short Read

Long Read

• Small pieces (150-250 bp) • More accurate • Cheaper

• Long pieces (10,000 to 100,000 base pairs) • Less accurate • More expensive

Combine for hybrid genomes the case of LABs, it can also be used to identify potential health benefit traits or to unlock new tastes or textures in fermented foods. Although the current regulatory requirement is for fewer than 500 segments, Fonterra want fewer than 50 segments to ensure their LAB genomes are the best quality possible.

Advances in gene sequencing technologies Routine sequencing at ESR and other research laboratories in New Zealand is most commonly carried out on an Illumina machine, and is what they call ‘short-read’ (short sequences of DNA in 150-250 base pair pieces). It’s fast and accurate but generates very fragmented genomes.

It is good enough for the purposes of identification, surveillance and tracking of potential pathogens, which is usually all that is required by industry. By comparison, 'long-read’ sequencing yields much longer continuous sequences of 10,000 to 100,000 base pairs and so is much more complete.

The different sequencing machines on the market all differ in price, speed, number of samples that can be processed at a time, and the number of continuous base pairs they read (short- vs long-read).

Horses for courses.

Until recently, Fonterra had to send DNA from bacterial isolates intended for use as probiotics overseas, for long-read sequencing on a PacBio machine, to give them the resolution they needed to meet safety regulations. These are expensive machines, require large quantities of high-quality DNA, and are not available in New Zealand. PacBio sequencing was taking about eight weeks, and often the sample degraded in transit, meaning multiple preparations of DNA were being prepared and sent overseas. Months would go by.

Frustrated by these problems, Fonterra approached ESR and the Centre to see if they could come up with a local solution. Shalome was aware that ESR now had MinION long-read sequencers and was evaluating their use for whole genome sequencing of bacteria. It had already become invaluable for sequencing and tracing positive 20

Food New Zealand

Covid-19 samples. The MinION is a small handheld device developed

by Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd, which requires less DNA and is much cheaper than the ‘Rolls Royce’ PacBio. Early versions were less accurate, however recent technological advancements have significantly improved data quality to about the same level.

The idea ESR came up with was to crossmap MinION readouts with Illumina short-read data to create a near-complete genome. Generating a hybrid genome sequence using both short- and long-read data sets compensates for any reading errors. The long pieces of DNA sequence generated by MinION create a scaffold that the short, but moreaccurate, Illumina-generated sequences can be aligned to, thus helping to bridge any gaps.

Crucially, scientists at Massey University knew how to get high quality DNA from LABs following another project they’d done with Fonterra, so all three organisations decided to work in partnership on this initiative.

Fonterra wanted to test the accuracy of Illumina-MinION hybrids against five already sequenced LAB strains (Illumina-PacBio hybrids) and contributed the 60% industry funding required. The ultimate goal was to develop long-read sequencing capability in New Zealand for use by all New Zealand food companies. On this basis, Fonterra and the Centre pulled together a research funding application and secured the balance of 40% funding from the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment

Success!

The results exceeded all hopes. The research team established an efficient workflow where DNA is extracted from the LAB of interest, sequenced on the MinION, and the data combined with short-read sequencing data previously obtained using Illumina technology. The team was able to build hybrid genomes that were equivalent to (and in some cases better than) the Illumina-PacBio hybrids. These high quality, near-complete genomes were suitable for safety assessment of LABs at a quarter of the cost of using PacBio and with a much quicker turn-around-time.

NZFSSRC

Loading samples for sequencing into the higher capacity GridION sequencing instrument which now replaces the MinION The data and modus operandi were checked and confirmed by independent international collaborators who are world experts in LAB genomics. This was key to quality assurance. The workflow has been successfully implemented at Fonterra, ESR and Massey University to ensure the method is widely available for use by the New Zealand food industry for similar applications. This small study was so successful that Fonterra extended the number of strains sequenced on the MinION. Shalome says, “After the initial 5 isolates were tested, over 300 more were sequenced, with 90% of our Illumina-MinION hybrid genome assemblies having fewer than 10 gaps in their sequence. Overall 20% of these strains now have complete genomes with no gaps at all. We were absolutely delighted with the results.”

ESR is now using MinION’s higher capacity big brother GridION, so that they can run more samples at a time. Shalome says ESR – namely Dr Angela Cornelius and Dr Lucia Rivas – have been excellent to work with, and everyone is delighted with the outcome. Lynn Rogers from Massey University has also been an important member of the project team.

Combining resources has enormous benefits Dr Catherine McLeod, director of the Centre, says this project is a prime example of what can be achieved when industry, science and government put their heads and limited resources together. “Catalysing this kind of joint research collaboration is what the Centre is here to do.

At the heart of it all is greater food safety assurance and protection of New Zealand’s reputation, as well as better health.”

Shalome is excited about the potential of probiotics as a natural way to promote and support mental and physical health and wellbeing.

“Given that 70% of the body’s immune reactions occur in the gut, and the knowledge that changes to the bacteria present in the gut are associated with health issues such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), anxiety and depression – all now so sadly prevalent both globally and in New Zealand – developing safe, targeted food solutions (including probiotics) is critical. We believe that dairy-based solutions, such as our proprietary probiotic strains, can really make a difference to improving people’s health. Knowing we can be part of the solution certainly gets me up in the morning.”

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Research

Sanford fish oil development guided by accelerated shelf-life testing using Oxitest Kirill Lagutin1 and Sabrina Tian2 1

Senior Research Scientist, Callaghan Innovation, kirill.lagutin@callaghaninnovation.govt.nz

Introduction Sanford has established a consumer-led, science-defined product development process. The growth of the company’s scientific research framework involves collaborative research focusing on building successful partnerships, mutually beneficial to industry and research organisations. This article describes a study undertaken by Callaghan Innovation and Sanford limited to assess the effectiveness of selected, commercially available antioxidants in extending the shelf–life of fish oil.

Seafood products, especially fish oil, are known to have limited shelf–life due to their susceptibility to oxidation, which leads to the development of unpleasant ‘fishy’ odours and off-flavours. There is a wide range of antioxidants available, and the selection of the best candidate requires accelerated shelf-life testing. The Oxitest Oxidation Stability Reactor (Oxitest) offers valuable insight and assistance in shelf-life assessments.

Factors affecting shelf-life The shelf-life of a food is defined as “the period of time, established under intended conditions of distribution, storage, retail and use, that the food would remain safe and suitable” [1]. It includes microbiological safety, true- to-label composition and quality aspects of a product. Traditional shelf life testing usually requires months or even years to ensure the microbiological safety of the products and verify product composition over the intended shelf-life.

The quality of food is an important element of shelf-life considerations.

Examples of quality deterioration are wilting vegetables, meat discolouration, and butter and oil rancidity due to lipid oxidation.

Seafood products are susceptible to oxidation as fish contains high levels of beneficial polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). PUFA are prone to oxidation in air due to a high number of double bonds, leading to rancid tastes and unpleasant smells.

Lipid oxidation is primarily associated with the formation of off-odours and off-flavours that compromise the acceptability of the products and is one of the major factors limiting the shelf-life of products rich in PUFA. Many mitigation strategies do not require altering the product itself. Such strategies include limiting exposure to temperature, light, and oxygen by packaging and storage conditions, e.g. encapsulation, refrigeration, amber containers. Another effective and commonly used strategy is the addition of antioxidants, compounds that inhibit or slow down the oxidation process.

There are many antioxidants available to manufacturers today, both synthetic and natural, including botanical extracts, lecithins, ascorbates and vitamin-based antioxidants. Antioxidant performance varies significantly between different brands, sources, types and combinations 22

Food New Zealand

2

Innovation Research Scientist (Ph.D), Sanford Limited, STian@sanford.co.nz

of antioxidants. While it is impossible to test all combinations, product development teams strive to test a range of selected antioxidant formulations within the limitations of the product development process.

Accelerated shelf-life testing The standard approach to lipid oxidation assessment requires the measurement of primary and secondary oxidation markers by measuring peroxide value (PV) and anisidine value (AnV). Often integrated into a single total oxidation value (Totox), they provide a good measure of the quality of the oil at a single point of time.

Unfortunately, these values are not good predictors of the oxidative stability of a product in the future, as oil quality is only one element affecting shelf-life. The same oil may have a drastically different shelflife depending on the choice of antioxidant. To aid the development process and to provide a quick insight into the oxidative stability of products a few accelerated shelf-life tests were developed.

The Oxitest Oxidation Stability Reactor Oxitest is one solution available to quickly assess oxidative stability and compare shelf-lives of different formulations. It compares favourably with more traditional methods well known to industry, like Rancimat [2].

Compared to many other methods which rely on using various proxy measurements, Oxitest is surprisingly simple and straightforward. A sample is sealed in the titanium chamber, followed by its exposure to oxygen and elevated temperature. Increased temperatures around 70-90°C and pressurised oxygen at 6 bars are used to accelerate the oxidative process. Oxitest directly measures changes in oxygen pressure caused by the reaction between oxygen and unsaturated lipids in the product. A sharp drop in oxygen pressure indicates the full exhaustion of oxidative stability and the start of active oxidation of lipids in the sample (see Figure 1).

The greatest advantage of this approach is that as it does not require extraction of lipids, measurements can be performed on the whole intact samples, including wholefood, seeds, flour, biscuits, emulsions, creams, and other samples. It is approved by AOCS as a method applicable to “all foods, oil, and fats, covering a wide range of test sample types with at least 2-4% fat … directly on the whole samples, without preliminary fat separation” [3].

Oxidative stability of a product and of a lipid fraction of the product differ vastly. All complex products contain multiple components which may serve as pro- or antioxidants. In some other products, unsaturated lipids are protected from the oxygen in air by the coat (e.g. seeds in muesli bars). The integral oxidative performance of such products

Research

Figure 1.

Oxidation curves of neat Sanford fish oil and with BHT, antioxidant 1 added

Figure 2.

Accelerated shelf-life stability testing results could not be derived on the basis of the oxidative stability the fat fraction.

Applications of the Oxitest include: product development, formulation optimisation, antioxidant selection, effect of transportation, quality control, process optimisation, and many others.

Oxidative stability study of Sanford fish oil formulations A set of samples containing neat Sanford fish oil and synthetic antioxidant (butylated hydroxytoluene, BHT) or one of two natural commercial antioxidants (tocopherol preparations) were prepared

at different concentrations according to supplier recommendations.

The BHT concentration (200 ppm) was selected following the Codex maximum use levels in fish oil [4]. The Induction Period (IP)1 was measured for each sample at the chosen working conditions, temperature – 70°C, initial oxygen pressure – 6 bar.

All antioxidants showed a significant increase in oxidative stability with Antioxidant 1 performing consistently better across all concentrations (see Figure 2). The Antioxidant 1 formulation (3000 ppm) showed a greater than 5 times increase in shelf-life compared to the neat fish oil and it was more than twice as stable compared to the BHT formulation (see Figures 1 and 2).

Both antioxidants showed a linear increase in oxidative stability February/March 2022

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Research

with increasing concentration (see Figure 3). Antioxidant 1 formulation performed consistently better than Antioxidant 2.

Antioxidant 1 performed better than BHT formulation (200 ppm) starting from the lowest tested concentration, 500 ppm.

Antioxidants are expected to match the performance of the 200 ppm BHT formulation at concentrations around 300 ppm and 1500 ppm of Antioxidants 1 and 2, respectively (see Figure 3).

Conclusion

Figure 3. The relation between oxidative stability of the formulation and antioxidant concentration

Oxitest offers a quick and reliable way to directly assess of oxidative stability of different formulations, and directly compare the performance of antioxidants. Using the acquired data, product technologists can predict required antioxidant concentration for a required performance.

The ability to directly measure oxidative stability in lipid-containing products without extraction opens new possibilities in quality control assessments, product formulation performance and accelerated shelflife analysis of whole intact samples.

Footnote 1. Induction period (IP) is the time before lipid oxidation commences, indicated by a significant drop in oxygen pressure due to the consumption of oxygen by the sample. The Induction Period value is calculated using the OXISoft™ software.

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References 1. MPI. Guidance Document: How to Determine the Shelf Life of Food.

9 June 2016 2. Tinello, F., Lante, A., Bernardi, M., Cappiello, F., Galgano, F., Caruso, M. C., & Favati, F. (2018). Comparison of OXITEST and RANCIMAT methods to evaluate the oxidative stability in frying oils. European Food Research and Technology, 244(4), 747-755.

3. AOCS Standard Procedure Cd 12c-16. Accelerated Oxidation Test for the Determination of the Oxidation Stability of Foods, Oils and Fats Using the Oxitest Oxidation Test Reactor.

4. Codex General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA, Codex STAN 1921995).

Sliding On

Sliding on -

Are we killing the golden goose?

Professor John D Brooks, FNZIFST John Brooks' view of the food world through the lens of a microbiologist.

As a microbiologist, I sometimes worry that we are killing the golden goose in terms of our ability to combat human disease. The cost of developing and bringing to market new drugs is astronomical and many companies are shunning new drug development in favour of more lucrative endeavours, such as development of molecular-based test kits for human disease diagnosis.

Back in 2011, I wrote some articles on antibiotic resistance and the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, (1). It has been argued that there are no good studies linking antibiotic use in animal rearing to the development of antibiotic-resistant diseases. It is hard to imagine how else multiple antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria could be found in animals and ultimately in humans. A classic experiment shown to most undergraduate students of microbiology over the last 50 years is the selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. All that is required is the production of a concentration gradient of antibiotic across a Petri dish. The agar is seeded with the target bacteria and those that grow at the most concentrated side are picked off and recultured on another gradient. Very quickly, a resistant strain can be isolated. This laboratory procedure is effectively repeated in animals fed sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotics in their diet or drinking water New Zealand is already a very low consumer of antibiotics for livestock. It is claimed that they are not used on a routine basis, but can be used if there are sick animals on the farm. In 2017 the New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) said that it wanted New Zealand agriculture to be antibiotic free by 2030.

Four classes of antibiotics of critical importance to human medicine have been used, particularly in pig, poultry and dairy cattle farming. In some countries, up to 80% of antibiotics sold are used to stop animals from getting sick and to speed up growth. Zinc bacitracin continues to be the highest selling individual compound available in New Zealand, with 23,142 kilograms sold in 2019. Zinc bacitracin sales account for more than 99% of all polypeptide sales, with most of those sales being for in-feed broiler poultry use (2).

A recent article, "Super bugs bedevil food safety", in Food Safety News, by Cookson Beecher (3) notes that each year, more than 35,000 people die in the US of infection with antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. Overuse of antibiotics in raising animals and poultry has resulted in the development of multiple antibiotic-resistant strains of common foodborne bacteria, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter and Staphylococcus aureus. In America, most medically important antibiotics are routinely put into animal feed for entire herds for so-called disease prevention. However, FDA reports that

domestic sales and distribution of medically important antimicrobial drugs approved for use in food-producing animals decreased by three percent between 2019 and 2020, a decrease of 38% on 2015 (4).

In Europe, the approach is to promote better farming practices to produce healthier animals, and thus avoid the need for antibiotics.

Indeed, in 2022, in the absence of disease, it will become illegal in Europe to use antibiotics in the production of livestock.

A number of industry initiatives to reduce antibiotic use in the dairy cattle, pig, and poultry sectors here are starting to become evident in the sales data. These include the dairy industry’s replacement of “blanket” therapy in favour of selective dry cow therapy treatment, the poultry industry’s move away from prophylactic and metaphylactic use of antibiotics and toward more preventative treatments and gut support products like probiotics, and the pig industry’s plan to reduce overall use of critically important antibiotics and other antibiotics using industrywide strategies for preventative therapies and changes to husbandry practices.

Does all that make us the good guys? In my opinion, the situation is extremely complicated and confusing: different surveys of antibiotic use come up with totally different conclusions.

One of my research students was studying the presence of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria in stream and river muds, comparing pristine waters with polluted water along a stretch of a river in the Waikato region. She sampled mud from the river and isolated bacteria.

Her next step was to test the bacteria for resistance to a set of antibiotics drawn from two classes of antibiotics used in animal rearing and human therapy.

The results are surprising: of 40 isolates, only one was sensitive to any of the antibiotics tested. There is no smoking gun, but it is certainly of concern to see such antibiotic resistance in so many different bacteria in the environment.

References 1. https://foodsafetywithjaybee.blogspot.com/2011/04/wall-have-earsand-bacteria-have.html 2. https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/48622-2019-AntibioticAgricultural-Compound-Sales-Analysis 3. https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2021/12/super-bugsbedevil-food-safety/?utm_source=Food+Safety+News&utm_ campaign=d358aaf834-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_ medium=email&utm_term=0_f46cc10150-d358aaf834-40365183# 4. https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/cvm-updates/fda-releasesannual-summary-report-antimicrobials-sold-or-distributed-2020-usefood-producing February/March 2022

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NZIFST Careers

Lisa O’Neill talking to teachers in Oamaru – of the 3 people standing, Lisa is in the centre, with long hair and glasses

Introducing teachers and students to careers in the food processing industry Jenny Dee, FNZIFST GrowingNZ promotes careers in the primary industries (food and fibre) to school teachers, careers advisers and students. For several years they’ve invited NZIFST to contribute to their resources and work with schools.

In 2021 they added posters of Food Technologist Sarah Leakey (Sensient Technologies) and Engineering Project Manager Raniera Paniora-Hepi (Fonterra) to the resources on their website posters (growingnz.org. nz). They also have a Food Technologist careers page, featuring video clips of some of our Food Technologist members (growingnz.org.nz).

In June 2021, GrowingNZ ran a series of "Inspiring the Future" mini workshops at Fieldays, on behalf of the Tertiary Education Commission.

Intermediate students got to interview a range of people working in the primary industries, and guess their career. Several food industry professionals from the Waikato took time out of work to participate.

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Food New Zealand

Over lunch the visitors heard from young professionals working in those sectors. Three people from the food processing industry shared their stories and experiences of work. Lisa O’Neill from Milligans Food Group attended the Oamaru event, Libby Bird from FRDC spoke at the Woodville event, and Angela Newton from Bakels Edible Oils represented the food industry at the Te Puke event. Shaan Hill from Fonterra Canpac participated at Mystery Creek Fieldays. The feedback from the teachers was really positive - they learnt a lot from the visits, and valued the opportunity to talk to young professionals working in the industry. Several of the teachers asked GrowingNZ to include a visit to a food processing facility in the 2022 site visits.

Our thanks to everyone who is contributing to GrowingNZ, Inspiring the Future and other initiatives to promote careers in our industry.

Jenny Dee, FNZIFST, Careers Coordinator

NZIFST Careers

Above, Shaan Hill, from Fonterra Canpac (seated on the stage) talking to students at Fieldays Libby Bird (left, facing the camera) chatting to teachers at the Woodville event

February/March 2022

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Food Safety

2022 – The Year Ahead at FSANZ Glen Neal, General Manager Risk Management and Intelligence, Food Standards Australia New Zealand

FSANZ has two proposals involving nutrition labelling on alcohol beverages under consideration this year

Happy 2022 everyone – I do hope the arrival of Omicron isn't proving to be too unsettling.

One of the values we hold dear at FSANZ is transparency. One of the ways in which we live this value is through the publication of our work plan (www.foodstandards.govt.nz/workplan). It is updated several times a year and hopefully provides a clear steer on the next steps on our standards development activities that may be of interest.

At the core of our business lies maintaining the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Changing the Code either occurs by application (open to anyone) via a Proposal. The latter are usually considerable undertakings that are ether requested by Food Ministers or initiated by FSANZ. Occasionally proposals are undertaken urgently. We commenced one such example in December due to concerns that the Code lacks clarity around the existing kava standard. We are presently assessing submissions and expect the Board will consider the matter in mid to late February. 2022 is certainly off to a flying start.

We have two proposals involving nutrition labelling on alcohol beverages. One relates to the lack of nutrition information normally seen on packaged food products and the other relates to claims regarding sugar and carbohydrate content. The alcohol molecule is energy dense and the category is undergoing a consumer-driven lifestyle revolution.

Industry is innovating at pace to deliver ‘better for you’ products that have spawned an array of zero and low alcohol options as well as new sub-categories such as seltzers and ‘hard’ brewed products that do not normally contain alcohol. Keeping up with developments and ensuring consumers are informed are specific challenges.

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Food New Zealand

I expect most readers understand that an excess of energy consumed over energy expended contributes to weight gain. The almost exclusive nutritional focus on sugar over the past 5 years will hopefully expand (pardon the pun) to a more universal understanding that a sugar-free alcohol beverage will contribute to energy intake. Whether or not a mandatory label takes its place as part of building or reinforcing that understanding will be the subject of this work.

Added-sugar labelling will also progress this year. We have recently released a report that underpins commencing a new proposal to mandate a new line in the nutritional informational panel. Any such label change – if approved – is designed to support consumers to implement the New Zealand (and Australian) dietary guidelines.

We are getting close to achieving a key milestone in the review of infant formula. A call for submissions will be out in the first quarter of this year. This builds on some excellent lead-up work last year that saw three separate consultations on aspects of the review. Getting this right is not only critical for the health and wellbeing of our smallest stakeholders – but also key to underpinning an economically important export earner.

I trust that gives you a taste (pardon the pun) of some things to come.

The work plan will evolve – so keep an eye on it and get in touch if you have any questions.

I hope 2022 brings you all plenty of rewarding challenges and much personal growth. Hari tau hou.

Careers

What's your story?

John Lawson, Lawson Williams Recruitment Daily, in my work as a recruitment consultant, I talk to people about their experiences, seeking to understand their suitability for a new position.

The most common way this is done is through “behavioural event questioning”. You will no doubt have heard about behavioural interview questions or experienced them in a job interview. They usually start with “Tell me about a time when you…” or “Give me an example of when you…”.

The interviewer's purpose is to listen to an actual past experience and from this understand the competencies that you displayed and the actions that you took to deliver an outcome. We assume that past performance is a strong predictor of future performance.

In reality they require you to tell a story, but not just any story, it must be good.

a difficult situation. Your story should focus on how you resolved a challenging situation. Consider sharing a step-by-step outline of what you did and why it worked.

3. Give an example of how you set goals.

Good stories are the key to success in job interviews.

From my 30 years of experience in recruitment I believe that people who have thought about and prepared their job stories will more often get the job.

This article is aimed at encouraging you to think now about the stories you will need to tell at your next interview and to work on them before you start a job search process.

Actually, today at work you are creating stories that will be relevant to your next job interview. How have you behaved today, how have you led people, how have you dealt with conflict, how have you demonstrated innovation, how have you influenced stakeholders, how have you functioned as a team member?

Are you creating good stories that demonstrate the competencies required to progress in your career?

What stories will I need?

Obviously, every job has its unique competencies, however there are common competencies that most employers are looking for, so why not start here.

1. Tell me about how you worked effectively under pressure?

What They Want to Know: With this question, the interviewer wants to know how well you plan and set goals for what you want to accomplish. The easiest way to respond is to share a story of successful goal setting.

4. Describe a decision you made that wasn't popular, and explain how you handled implementing it.

What They Want to Know: Sometimes, management has to make difficult decisions, and not all employees are happy when a new policy is put in place. If you’re interviewing for a decision-making role, the interviewer will want to hear a story showing your process for implementing change.

5. Give an example of how you worked on a team.

What They Want to Know: Many jobs require working as part of a team. In interviews for those roles, the hiring manager will want to hear a story that demonstrates how well you work with others and cooperate with other team members.

Practice makes perfect Practicing your stories out loud is essential. Letting other people hear them before an interview is the best preparation. If you can’t convince your friends to listen there are businesses who can help you craft and prepare for your next interview. You can try www.interview.co.nz.

What They Want to Know: If you’re being considered for a highstress job, the interviewer will want to know how well you can work under pressure. Your story should be a real example of how you’ve dealt with pressure.

2. How do you handle a challenge? Give me an example.

What They Want to Know: Regardless of your job, things may go wrong and it won’t always be business as usual. With this type of question, the hiring manager wants to know how you will react in

Specialist Recruitment - Permanent and Contract

John Lawson is founder of Lawson Williams Consulting Group. He initially studied Biotechnology at Massey and is a professional member of NZIFST. He now enjoys leading a team of recruitment consultants, helping people like you develop satisfying careers.

www.lawsonwilliams.co.nz February/March 2022

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AIP

Successes at 2022 WorldStar Packaging Awards – Australia and New Zealand: Second in the World

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is pleased to announce that Australian and New Zealand companies received the second highest number of WorldStar Packaging Awards in the world behind Germany, with Japan third and China fourth.

The WorldStar Packaging Awards are run by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO). Only companies that have won Australasian Packaging Innovation and Design (PIDA) Awards are eligible to enter the WorldStar Packaging Awards. ANZ PIDA Award winners have been internationally recognised with 27 awards across 12 categories.

The global packaging design competition attracted over 440 entries from 37 countries which represented a 30% increase in submissions.

Thirty–six judges from across the globe selected 240 winners for the 2022 round of the awards programme.

WorldStar Packaging Awards Beverage Melbourne Coffee – Cyclpac Schultz Organic Dairy – Rhima Australia

WorldStar Packaging Awards Labelling and Decoration: Pana Organic Drink Blends – Zipform Packaging

WorldStar Packaging Awards Household: Cove – Natures Organics

This is the highest number of awards that have ever been won for ANZ, which is an outstanding achievement and recognition for the innovations that are being developed in this region.

Zero Co – O F Packaging Colgate Palmolive Packaging

The categories where ANZ designs were recognised include Food, Beverage, Labelling and Decoration, Health and Personal Care, Household, Packaging Materials and Components, Transit, eCommerce, Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, Electronics, Medical and Pharmaceutical and Other. Wellman Packaging received four awards for the Squeezepak sauce bottle and Colgate Palmolive, Zipform Packaging received one for Pana Organics and one for rPUMP, Sealed Air received one for Junee Lamb and one for NZ Post Jiffy Shortuff mailer, O F Packaging received one for Brookfarm and one for Zero Co, Planet Protector Packaging received three for Vaccine Protector, Omni Group received three for Vent Unico and CHEP Australia received two for the 1/6th Retail Ready pallet.

VentX Unico – Omni Group Edgell Super Crunch Delivery Carton – Simplot Australia Colgate Palmolive – Wellman Packaging Squeezepak squeezy sauce bottle – Wellman Packaging

WorldStar Packaging Awards Health and Personal Care: Dove 50% rHDPE bodywash bottles – Pact Group Vaccine Protector – Planet Protector Packaging WorldStar Packaging Awards Medical and Pharmaceutical Category: Vaccine Protector – Planet Protector Packaging

Brookfarm Kerbside Roll N Recycle stand up pouch – O F Packaging

WorldStar Packaging Awards Electronics:

The Collective 100% rPET drinking yoghurt bottle – Pact The Squeezepak Group

squeezy sauce bottle – Wellman Packaging

Junee Lamb and Sealed Air for CRYOVAC Total Bone Guard Squeezepak squeezy sauce bottle – Wellman Packaging Woolworths paper seal Meat Tray

WorldStar Packaging Awards Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

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Food New Zealand

Wellman

Blue Harvest Oyster Tray – BioPak

WorldStar Packaging Awards Food

VentX Unico – Omni Group

–

WorldStar Packaging Awards Packaging Materials and Components:

The full list of winners in the 2022 WorldStar Packaging Award for Australia and New Zealand are:

Chobani Yoghurt cup – PakPot

Melbourne Coffee – Cyclpac

Telstra packaging design system – Birdstone Collective

WorldStar Packaging Awards eCommerce: NZ Post and Sealed Air for Jiffy recycled Shortuff mailer

WorldStar Packaging Awards Transit: /6 th Retail Ready pallet – CHEP Australia

1

VentX Unico – Omni Group Vaccine Protector – Planet Protector Packaging

AIP

The Edgell Super Crunch Delivery carton – Simplot Australia

The Collective 100% rPET drinking yoghurt bottle – Pact Group

WorldStar Packaging Awards Other: rPump – Zipform Packaging The full list of 2022 WorldStar Packaging Award winners is available to view on https://www.worldstar.org/winners/ The WorldStar Special Awards, of which there are a number of ANZ entries, will be announced at the 2022 WorldStar Awards ceremony which will be held in Milan, Italy in May. Applications for the 2022 Australasian Packaging Innovation and Design Awards will be open in late January. The PIDA Awards are the exclusive feeder programme for Australia and New Zealand for the WorldStar Packaging Awards.

February/March 2022

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Oils & Fats

Can the immune system be bolstered?

Oils and Fats Update Laurence Eyres FNZIFST Lipids' role in the immune system

Algal oil production output

With Omicron blitzing the global health system it's worthwhile to look at what could be done to bolster our own defence systems using predominantly diet. Nutrients of potential help are Vitamin D, selenium, zinc, and omega–3. We should be able to get selenium from consuming one Brazil nut per day, zinc from mushrooms, Vitamin D from the sun (or a supplement in winter) and omega-3 from salmon or quality supplements. There are some good publications around about diet and the immune system.

A broad automation project, from a joint venture by Evonik and DSM, enables initial annual production to meet about 15% of the industry’s current total demand for omega-3 oils.

Recent studies have revealed that other lipids – called lipokines – matter in the resolution of inflammation. The paradigm of these protective mediators is represented by the omega-3 fatty acids, which interact with the lipid sensor GPR120 with subsequent inhibition of TNF-α and TLR4-mediated inflammation See Inform Magazine, (2021), December, Vol.32, (10), pp6-9 The Complex Interplay between Lipids, Immune System and Interleukins in Cardio-Metabolic Diseases Int. J. Mol. Sci. (2018,) 19, 4058; doi:10.3390/ijms19124058 Inflammation, Catherine Carver, (2017), Bloomsbury Publishing.

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Food New Zealand

Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, together with Evonik, has celebrated the grand opening of their Veramaris 50-50 joint venture’s commercial-scale US$200 million production facility located in Blair, Nebraska, (USA).

This new site has begun commercial production of algal omega-3 oil for salmon farming. This innovation helps to reduce the pressure on wild fish stocks, supports the aquaculture industry to sustainably meet the rapidly growing global demand for seafood, and enables healthier fish for the consumer.

Novel emulsion employed in chewable omega-3 supplement A chewable DHA product being marketed by the Norwegian company Vitux AS employs an emulsion originally developed to construct models

Oils & Fats

of breast implants. The "biggest difference from other chewables" is that "you can achieve a clinically relevant dose" and the "delivery system can hold up under a maximal load of omega-3s, within the payload range of a soft gel," said Marc Van Maris, senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Full Story: NutraIngredients (12/22)

Dubious study shows supplements rancid A report in the Guardian reports that 10% of fish oil supplements are rancid In two articles about the fish–oil industry, the Guardian looks at environmental concerns about Peru's anchovy fishery and research showing that some fish oil supplements may have rancid oil.

Conducted over several years by Labdoor, which analyses vitamins and supplements based on criteria such as purity, label accuracy and nutritional value, the tests measured common US-branded fish oils, available globally, against international voluntary standards of rancidity.

Some fish oils recorded rancidity levels 11 times higher than recommended limits, which they do not report.“It was fairly frequent,” said Dan Mark, Labdoor’s research director. “For us, they would start to smell and feel off.”

The rancidity is often masked by flavourings, which are added to most fish oils to reduce the fishy taste and smell. However, what they do not report is that these flavourings interfere with and negate the standard analyses of peroxide and anisidine value.

Olive Oil California-based olive oil marketer Brightland has voluntarily removed a statement from its website alleging widespread olive oil adulteration in the United States after the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) filed a complaint with an advertising watchdog group.

The NAOOA challenged Brightland’s claim that “most of the olive oil sold in the U.S. is rotten, rancid or adulterated,” causing nausea and stomach pains.

The claims appeared on Brightland’s website, social media pages and online articles in other outlets about the company and its founder, Aishwarya Iyer.

After I found out that the majority of the olive oil Americans consume is rotten, rancid and adulterated,” Iyer told an online magazine, Los Angeles Confidential, “I wanted to create a solution that was U.S. made, beautiful, and authentic and that’s how Brightland was born.”

See Also: Five Years Later, UC Davis Report Still Sends Shockwaves.

Brightland’s original claim likely stems from a 2011 report from the University of California-Davis that found 73% of the five top-selling imported “extra virgin” olive oil brands in the U.S. that were sold in California did not meet the International Olive Council’s standards for extra virgin olive oil.

"Sensory defects are indicators that these samples are oxidized, of poor quality and/or adulterated with cheaper refined oils,” the seven authors wrote.

This newspaper then goes on to quote the flawed and disputed ancient report by Ben Albert whose paper was not peer reviewed and was later shown to have errors in sampling, storage, and standard methods.

The report was a follow-up to UC Davis’ controversial 2010 report that found that 69% of imported olive oil samples and 10% of California olive oil samples labelled as extra virgin olive oil failed to meet IOC standards.

"If you go out and buy fish oil, there is at least a one in five chance of you getting an oil more oxidised than the recommended level," said Ben Albert, a fellow at the University of Auckland.

UC Davis has since clarified that the results of the study “should not be used to characterise the quality or authenticity of olive oil currently available in California or elsewhere.”

Full Story: The Guardian (London) (1/18), The Guardian (London)

While estimating the actual amount of olive oil adulteration and mislabelling in any market is very difficult and imprecise, small studies conducted in other parts of the country have yielded very different results. Any survey of the imported olive oils into New Zealand and Australia shows some poor quality results. Buy local and enjoy the fresh taste of quality olive oil.

(1/17).

Fish oils are one of the most popular nutritional products, particularly in the US, where they are consumed by more than a third of adults who use dietary supplements. They are touted as an alternative to eating fish for getting omega-3 nutrients, and as beneficial for heart health, improving brain function and strengthening metabolism. Many have flavourings added. A quick test for added flavourings is to check the capsules for eructation or fish burps.

This author has no doubt that some supplements are oxidised. The advice is to buy from a reputable supplier with a brand whose literature backs up claims of purity and stability. This debate has gone on for years now and lessons are not being learned from mistakes made. Fish is an excellent source of many nutrients, however if not eaten regularly, then a trusted quality supplement is a good choice.

The good news about EV olive oil A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that adding at least half a tablespoon or more of olive oil to a person's daily diet could lower their risk of death from heart disease by 19%. Olive oil was also associated with a 29% lower mortality risk for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

Full Story: United Press International (1/10) February/March 2022

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Upcycling

2022 is the year for a New Zealand upcycled food revolution Associate Professor Miranda Mirosa, Director of Food Waste Innovations and Co-Chair of NZ Food Waste Champions12.3, FNZIFST

Food waste is costing us You'll be aware that massive amounts of food, more than one-third of all current food production, is lost or wasted between farm and fork. I want to start by making the point that reducing this food waste matters — a lot. Globally, we lose around USD 1 trillion per year on wasted food. Food waste has enormous environmental and social consequences. For example, 10% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste, which is why reducing food waste is widely considered to be one of the greatest solutions to climate change.

To address this, governments, organisations and companies worldwide are rallying behind the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target 12.3, which is to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030. We have a group of Champions from the food supply chain committed to this goal in New Zealand. Many different stakeholders are engaged in a lot of inspiring food waste-reduction work at the moment. If you are interested in what's happening in this broader food waste context, then check out the NZ Food Waste Champions12.3 website: https:// www.nzchampions123.org/. On this site, you will find the reduction roadmap we released last year that showcases the work of each of the organisations that our Champions represent.

In conjunction with the University of Otago, the Champions group also undertook a research project to map out food waste reduction solutions. We interviewed 30 representatives from New Zealand's food supply chain to identify opportunities and then proposed solutions for government, businesses, and consumers for each supply chain stage.

Upcycled foods gaining traction One food waste prevention action that is gaining considerable momentum for the food manufacturing sector is upcycling food.

Upcycled foods are made from ingredients that would otherwise have ended up in a food waste destination. They are value-add products. A team of international experts officially defined upcycled food in 2020 for use in policy, research, and more.

"Upcycled foods use ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption, are procured and produced using verifiable supply chains, and have a positive impact on the environment".

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Food New Zealand

It is estimated that there are already over 400 upcycled products in the US marketplace. According to food artificial intelligence (AI) company, Spoonshot, interest in upcycling grew by 128% across business media in the past year, and a report produced by Future Market in 2019 revealed that the upcycled food market is worth $46.7 billion with an expected compound annual growth rate of 5% over the next ten years.

The US, in particular, is starting to see the beginning of a massive swell of adoption and promotion of upcycled products by retailers. Moms, a retail chain with about 20 stores on the East Coast, has dedicated aisleend display units for upcycled food products in all their stores.

As of 2021, you can buy food with a "Certified Upcycled" label on it. The new standard to identify authentic upcycled foods was launched by the International Upcycled Food Association: https://www.upcycledfood. org/. The Upcycled Certification Programme is the world's first thirdparty certification programme for upcycled food ingredients and products. As well as certification, the Association also supports businesses through its Upcycled Food Digital Marketing Toolkit, which contains a guide to upcycled food storytelling and marketing.

What's happening in New Zealand?

So, internationally, there is a real buzz this year about upcycling but what's happening here at home? In New Zealand, we have organisations like the Bioresource Processing Alliance, Callaghan Innovation, and Venture Timaru's Sustainable is Attainable programme, working on or supporting research and development in this space. To date, we only have a handful of commercially available upcycled food products in the New Zealand market that would meet the official definition of upcycled foods. These include upcycled grain crackers (Rutherford & Meyer), pet food products, from producers such as Deja and Perfect Deli-fresh, and upcycled alcoholic beverages from Dunedin Craft Distillers, for example. Perhaps the best-known company in this space is Citizen Collective, whose brewers use surplus bread to make its ferments, then put beer by-products back into bread production.

Another group working in this upcycled space is ours – the University of Otago Food Waste Innovation Research Theme: https://foodwasteotago.org/. Our goal is to harness the best scientific expertise to solve Aotearoa's food waste problems effectively. We have 50 investigators

Upcycling

Associate Professor Miranda Mirosa, University of Otago, Director of Food Waste Innovations, and Co-Chair of NZ Food Waste Champions12.3, FNZIFST Photographer credit: Stephanie McLeod from across the country's research institutes engaged with the Theme, and over 200 members of the public subscribed to our mailing list. The Theme has three subthemes: (1) Metrics and Management, led by Professor Sheila Skeaff, which is about understanding how much food is being wasted, where it is being wasted, and its social, economic and environmental impacts.

(2) Technical Innovations, led by Professor Phil Bremer (Food Science), which uses the latest science and technology to provide food waste solutions.

(3) Social Innovations, led by myself (Consumer Food Science) which is using behavioural science to understand the drivers responsible for food waste to make recommendations on minimisation initiatives.

The Upcycled Food Lab Spanning across all three areas is our dedicated Upcycled Food Lab, launched in 2021. At the beginning of the year, a team of Food Scientists led by Dr. Graham Eyres, and coordinated by Theme Ph.D. student, Grace Clare, worked with Citizen Collective, to explore the maximum amount of bread that could be substituted into an excellent tasting beer. Based on a series of product development trials, a "how-to-guide" for homebrewers was developed that substitutes 50% of the malt with bread. Using this recipe, 4.75 slices of bread are saved per 500ml of beer. Check out our Theme's Resource Hub on our website for our super popular bread-to-beer step-by-step homebrewer recipes and other project information. https://foodwaste-otago.org/resources Some of our undergraduate students are also cooking up a storm with some awesome upcycled products. Third-year students Sydney Collin, Elizabeth Cunliffe, and Molly Goodisson co-founded 'Reshined Roots,' a startup working on upcycling 'ugly' carrots into tasty, crispy snacks. The trio were finalists of Start Up Dunedin's Audacious programme, which

helps facilitate turning young entrepreneurs' ideas into reality. Excitingly, our commercial New Product Development Centre scientists, led by Associate Professor Pat Silcock, are currently working on a sugar syrup made from bread waste for use in the manufacturing sector that will have a dizzying array of applications… so watch this space!

Public engagement activities As well as technical innovations in the Lab, our Upcycled Team have also been busy on several other fronts. We've been running a series of public engagement-type events to help educate the public on the benefits associated with upcycled foods. At Dunedin's 2021 International Science Festival, we ran an upcycled dining experience collaborating with Everybody Eats, a social dining pay-as-you-feel dining concept with restaurants in Auckland and Wellington. Among the three courses (all made by top chefs from surplus food) were products developed by our Upcycled Lab. Throughout the evening, experts from the Food Waste Innovation research theme talked to guests about the issue of food waste and the science behind the upcycled products they were sampling.

Gathering and sharing information But it's not just the public that we need to educate about upcycling.

It's the food industry and upcycling start-ups as well. One of the projects we've recently completed was a series of interviews with category managers at supermarkets to understand their perceptions about upcycled foods and the associated decision-making processes which influence whether these products are stocked. This information is valuable as these category managers are the gatekeepers to retail shelves.

The results provide insights into the barriers and opportunities for February/March 2022

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Upcycling

raw material. Product congruency is deemed important. For example, upcycled products should have sustainable packaging and a minimal carbon footprint. Upcycled products are perceived as having higher 'other-benefits' than 'self-benefits,' so consideration needs to be given to this in promoting such products. Consumers are reportedly still a little apprehensive about the safety and hygiene of products upcycled from 'waste,' so manufacturers will need to develop trust and understanding of the processing of upcycled food amongst consumers. Assurances and independent certifications (such as the Upcycled Association) will be critical. One of the things we've done with our Theme's Resource Hub is creating a series of talking abstracts/project overviews where the researchers explain the findings of their work in an easily digestible way. If you want to learn more about these findings but don't want to wade through the academic papers, this is a great way to learn more, so check these out. https://foodwaste-otago.org/resources/category/ Videos+and+Infographics.

In conclusion, our consumer insight studies all indicate that there appears to be sufficient demand in New Zealand to consider this an idea with exciting market potential.

Looking ahead As upcycling becomes more accepted, the next focus will have to be to scale up the process and build a secure infrastructure. We must not underestimate that challenge; KMPG recently highlighted some of these challenges in their 2021 agribusiness report…

"There is a lack of innovative businesses looking to create new markets for good quality, fresh and edible food that doesn't meet the visual grade for retailers. It is expensive to set up these businesses in New Zealand, scaling up is challenging, regulation is stifling and the language 'food waste' puts consumers off the product… If we changed the conversation to upcycled foods and established standards so that entrepreneurs could gain credit for their impact, we might unlock a food system revolution!"

Our Lab's upcycled beer and gingerbread brews have been making national news. Featuring Food Waste Innovation Theme Members Ph.D. student Grace Clare and Dr. Graham Eyres.

Credit: Alex Lovell-Smith

suppliers and manufacturers of upcycled food. If you are interested in this research, you can find, on the Research Theme Resource Hub, a user-friendly resource that provides recommendations to upcycled food manufacturers and suppliers that will help improve engagement with retail product category managers.

Consumer acceptance is vital Of course, we can produce the most innovative products and even convince retailers to stock them, but ultimately the success or failure of this sector will depend on consumer acceptance of these new products. Until recently, there was no consumer data on New Zealand consumer attitudes to upcycled foods, so our team got busy and ran a series of studies over the last couple of years. In sum, results show that most consumers view upcycling as unique and have positive initial reactions to the idea (which is considered a good indicator of whether a particular product will stand out in the market). The preference appears to be for upcycled products disconnected from the 36

Food New Zealand

In conclusion I'm expecting 2022 to be the year that upcycled products take off here in Aotearoa and at Food Waste Innovations and we are excited to be providing the cutting-edge research required to make this happen.

There is something for everybody to do in terms of tapping into new opportunities. The government needs to support the sector, being as it is at a very introductory level. Manufacturers for products from food waste may require co-funding and support. Retailers need to start carrying more upcycled products, to educate shoppers and consider soft launches and in-store tastings of new products. Manufacturers should work towards certification for these products and help raise awareness about the environmental and societal benefits that are specific to the consumer's values. Researchers must focus on solving R&D challenges and gain deeper insights into consumer behaviour.

And as consumers, we must all vote with our wallets and buy upcycled products as they become available.

I will finish by making the point that upcycling alone is, of course, not going to save the world. Still, it will help and is considered by food waste experts as a serious weapon in our war on food waste. So, join me in raising a glass of bread-waste beer to that. Cheers!

Nga mihi nui, Miranda

NZIFST

NZIFST News New Members NZIFST welcomes the following new members and welcomes and congratulates those who have joined or been upgraded to Professional Membership. Welcome also to new student and Graduate members

Professional Karen Lusk

Group Grading & Sensory Manager

Silver Fern Farms

Standard Sarah Bonoma

Managing Director

Dancing Sands Distillery

Keegan Burrow

Lecturer in Food Biochemistry

Lincoln University

Marika Cserepanyi

NPD Contractor

Fariner Holdings Ltd

Paul Grant

Territory Manager - NI

Anton Paar, New Zealand Ltd

Ash Khan

Key Account Manager

Pall Corporation - Food and Beverage

Jinkyoung Lee

Head of Quality

Shott Beverages

Lu Lin

Technical Officer

Fonterra Cooperative Group Limited

Janith Palpagama

Quality Manager

Bevie Handcraft NZ Ltd.

Esther Fogarty

Packaging Technologist

Silver Fern Farms

Product Technologist

Rainbow Confectionery Ltd

Masters Student

Massey University

Graduate Year 1 Devon Willis

Graduate Year 2 Linakshi Weerakoon

Student Peng Yu

NZIFST Directory EXECUTIVE MANAGER

Rosemary Hancock P O Box 5574, Terrace End, Palmerston North, 4441 Ph (06) 356 1686 Mob 021 217 8298 rosemary@nzifst.org.nz

PRESIDENT

Phil Bremer phil.bremer@otago.ac.nz

VICE PRESIDENT

Esraa El Shall esraaelshall@gmail.com

TREASURER

Grant Boston grant@boston.net.nz

As a member of NZIFST you will benefit from Professional development programmes Networking at regular branch meetings, seminars and the Annual Conference

and gain Information through ‘Food New Zealand’, ‘Nibbles’ and our website Recognition through awards, scholarships and travel grants

JOIN NZIFST NOW! https://nzifst.org.nz/join-us

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NZIFST

Obituary: Richard Boraman, FNZIFST The life of a food technology pioneer

Alan Bulmer, Hawkins Watts

Richard (Dick) Boraman sadly passed away on 21st December 2021, aged 83.

Alan Bulmer's recollections highlight the contribution made to our food industry by Company Chemists during the 1960s and 1970s, before the term Food Technologist was coined. [Ed] I first met Richard when I joined Cerebos Gregg’s in November 1986.

He was my boss and I was in Auckland whereas he was in Dunedin.

After a cursory introduction from the Auckland staff in week one, my second week was spent in Dunedin with Richard and the rest of the R&D team. It was immediately obvious that Richard was held in very high regard, not just by his staff, but by everyone on the Dunedin site.

I was made to feel incredibly welcome and was immediately taken by his gentle nature and encyclopaedic technical knowledge.

Richard’s achievements with Gregg’s, prior to the acquisition by Cerebos, were regularly discussed and well known internally. However, outside of the business few would realise the impact his work had on the New Zealand food industry.

Wilsons and 45 South Whiskies Firstly, Richard was a key player in the development of the two most iconic local whiskies from the 1970s, 45 South and Wilson’s. Their development was very scientific and top secret. Gregg’s hired Richard in the late 1960s specifically to work on them. They bought a stone cottage in Dunedin where he worked, alone in the house, complete with blackout curtains, for two years before he cracked the formulations.

They purchased the latest equipment (Gas Chromatograph and Mass Spectrophotometer – GC/MS) so Richard could analyse the flavour components in most of the biggest selling global whisky brands and use this information to determine what compounds needed to be present in 45 South and Wilson’s. The only GC/MS units in New Zealand at the time were in Government research agencies, none in food companies.

Richard lobbied for the purchase of the equipment and knew that it would be critical for success.

Interestingly, in blind tastings after they were launched, the Wilson’s and 45 South whiskies were unanimously preferred over most of the largest selling brands available at the time: brands such as Johnnie Walker Red & Black, Dimple Haigh and Glenfiddich. Wilson’s whisky has won many international awards. For example, in 2013 the aged 18 and 21 year old single malt won whisky competitions in both San Francisco and London, including wins across three categories at the World Whiskies Awards in London, and a Double Gold medal for the South Island Single Malt in San Francisco. It is recognised now as one of the world’s great whiskies.

One of the key things about the Gregg’s GC/MS was that it had an olfactory detection port (sniffer port). This allowed Richard to smell the gas evolving during analysis and link it to specific aroma compounds.

Richard was incredibly good at this. He could taste or smell something 38

Food New Zealand

and identify specific chemicals. This is a skill that very few people, outside of flavourists, have and it would prove invaluable in his career.

I can remember sending a sample of a product with a strange off-note to him. He tasted it, identified the off note as 4-hydroxy methyl furfural and narrowed the cause of the problem to the addition of too much ascorbic acid. Phenomenal skill.

"Raro" canned orange juice Richard was also involved with the Gregg’s orange juice cannery in Rarotonga. I believe this was a foreign aid initiative and a joint venture between Gregg’s and the Cook Islands Government. At the time there was very little canned orange juice available in New Zealand and the “Raro” canned juice imported from Rarotonga was highly regarded by everyone who drank it. Within a short period of time it became iconic. As an aside, the can blanks (the cylindrical portion) were made in Dunedin, pressed flat and sent to Rarotonga where they were reformed. An end was seamed on before they were filled and sealed with another lid. This saved on freight….

After several years the joint venture ran into difficulties and the factory closed. Richard was then tasked with creating a powdered version of Raro that was organoleptically similar to the juice. The Raro powdered beverage was loosely modelled on the American product Tang but was much more sophisticated. Again Richard’s knowledge, gained from analysing whisky on the GC/MS came to the fore and they were able to create a product that tasted far superior. This led to the creation of the powdered beverage category in New Zealand and Raro was the lead brand. Powdered beverages became so popular that at their peak over 30 litres of made-up product was consumed by every man, woman and child in New Zealand annually, 90 - 100 million litres per annum. Raro would have made up 70% of this volume.

Gregg's Instant Coffee Richard was next tasked with improving the quality of Gregg’s instant coffee and he enlisted the help of an ex-IFF scientist, Dr David Forss, to do this. They analysed coffee made from various bean types and roast levels, again using the GC/MS equipment. This allowed them to tweak the formulation to optimise flavour delivery and cost. Richard was also a key player in the development of granulated Gregg’s coffee in New Zealand. Gregg’s designed and made all of the equipment in Dunedin and in the factory it resembled a covered wagon, popular in old Wild West movies.

At this point Richard was asked to write a coffee manual to summarise everything he’d learnt on formulation as well as how the Dunedin plant was configured and operated. This manual took two years to complete. It is a stunning piece of work with 300 pages of technical detail. The manual was so user friendly that it is still used today for operator training.

NZIFST

1987 Fellowship Citation: Richard Boraman, Richard (Dick) Boraman has worked in the field of research and development within the food industry for the last 27 years, all of this time having been spent in the Otago area.

He graduated in 1961 from Otago University with a Master of Science degree, First Class Honours in Chemistry. On leaving University he took up an appointment with Reckitt and Colman where he worked mainly on the enzymic treatment of Rosehip pulp and the production of blackcurrant syrup.

Canning and drying Otago fruit Richard also oversaw the technical aspects of The Central Otago Fruit Company (COFCO) which was predominately an apricot and asparagus cannery. This business also had one of only three counter-current juice extractors in New Zealand and it was the second installed. Richard was involved with commissioning and totally understood how to make it deliver the best product possible. It was used to make deionised apple juice concentrate for the iconic Fresh-Up juice. Aside from producing the best canned apricots on the planet, Richard also helped COFCO create an osmotically dehydrated apricot that was soft, syrupy and unbelievably decadent. Another product he oversaw development of that was years ahead of its time.

Leadership Richard also had a brilliant ability to create and manage technical teams to consistently deliver excellence. He picked skilled people, gave them room to experiment and was always there to encourage and support.

He made sure they had access to a comprehensive technical library and the equipment they needed to understand what was actually going on at a detailed level. He was a gentle, unassuming boss who was genuinely loved and respected by those he worked with.

Richard was made a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Food Technology in 1987. An honour that he was justifiably proud of. There is no greater accolade than for your skills to be recognised by your technical peers.

Outside of his career as a food technologist, Richard wrote plays, novels and poetry. These won several awards and were highly acclaimed.

His plays were read by many school children in the 1970s and he was involved in writing material for many episodes of the children’s programme Spot On. To me, and those who worked for him, Richard was more than a boss he was a special mentor and good friend. He will be sorely missed by many.

Richard Boraman was involved with the Gregg’s orange juice cannery in Rarotonga that produced Raro Orange Juice in cans

In 1963 he took up the position of works Chemist at what was then called Waitaki Farmers Freezing Company. There he set up a laboratory with quality control and research and development functions. Dick worked on the first New Zealand production of instant potato flakes and other products, including frozen vegetables and potato crisps. In 1965 he moved to Investigational Distilleries Limited, a company set up as a separate company to W. Gregg and Company to carry out research and development work on whisky. Dick spent four years with the company, carrying out whisky research in the laboratory from which he developed a pilot plant, this being prior to the design of the Wilson's Distillery plant. He also set up a quality control laboratory for Wilsons.

In November 1969, the first spirit in New Zealand since 1873 was distilled at Wilsons in Dunedin.

In 1970 Dick was employed directly by W. Gregg and Company. In 1971 he was appointed Research and Development Manager with a staff of one, which increased to three the following year. With Gregg's, Dick worked on a wide variety of products and processes, the most outstanding being whisky, as mentioned before, and coffee. He carried out extensive flavour research on these products using both sensory methods and gas chromatography. Other achievements include the development of the malt extract process, the osmotic dehydration of apricots, extraction of fruit juices (Raro), canning of fruits and development of instant desserts and powdered instant breakfast drinks.

In 1978, under the same title, Dick was promoted to senior management.

In October 1984 Cerebos NZ Limited and W. Gregg and Company merged to form CerebosGreggs Ltd and Dick was appointed Research and Development Manager of the new company as a member of the senior management team.

Dick served on the Otago Southland NZIFST Committee for two years.

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NZIFST

Branch News Central December Meetings – 'Tis the season to get social Ordinarily the Central Branch would celebrate the winding-up of the year by bringing together our Wellington and Manawatu techie communities at a single venue somewhere between our two centres.

But these are not ordinary times with relief-of-surviving a more prevalent mood than celebration. Driven by Covid constraints (and their propensity to change at short notice), it was decided that the expedient approach was to plan separate Manawatu and Wellingtonbased events. Sadly everyone was having so much fun, nobody took any photographs!

End-of-Year socialising at Foxglove, Wellington.

On the evening of Friday 3 December Wellington members met up at Foxglove restaurant on the waterfront for drinks and nibbles. It was great to see a cross-section of old and new members and their friends.

Organised by Clare Chandler, this was a great wind-down, not only for the week, but the year. Many a craft beer was consumed to stimulate the conversation and after a bit of table shuffling we settled into our surprisingly warm outdoor spot for various tasting plates and other assorted nibbles. This was a great opportunity for members to let their hair down (in most cases) and get to know each other outside of the pressures that committee membership sometimes brings.

by Sally Hasell, the conversation is always lively, with members sharing exciting things and goings on with other local Wellington members.

This is also a great opportunity to meet members who are unable to make the evening sessions throughout the year due to work or family commitments.

Allan Main, Ben Sutherland and Craig Honore

Hawkes Bay/Tairāwhiti Members of the Hawke’s Bay Tairāwhiti branch enjoyed catching up for some pre-Christmas socialising. Half a dozen of us met in Tairāwhiti at the Crawford Road Kitchen and enjoyed the chance to have a drink and a bite to eat. Sandra Chambers kindly organised a quiz for those in Hawke’s Bay, and about twenty of us met at Three Wise Birds Garden Bar in Hastings. The Auckland branch generously shared the quiz questions that they had put together for their event, and Sandra added a few of her own, making it a challenging and fun evening. The lead switched between various teams early in the evening, with the wise heads of Bryan, Kirin, Kate and Gerry taking it out at the end of the night. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to relax and socialise, after such a roller-coaster of a year. Huge thanks to Sandra for organising and to Becks for taking on the big responsibility of being the marker!

Nicky Solomon

We look forward to what this year brings and hope to re-connect with our colleagues in North Palmerston.

Otago/Southland

Chewing the Fat at “The Archers’”, Palmerston North

National Upcycled Food Seminar

On the same evening that our Wellington colleagues met, a relatively small group also gathered at Richard and Deb Archer’s place for a BBQ potluck dinner. It was disappointing not to link with Wellington as we have done for a number of years, but we decided that the risks were too high to cram all of us together into a small room in a restaurant.

For those that made it, we enjoyed a fantastic variety of food and beverages, including crayfish all the way from the South Island, amongst the assembled meats supplemented by a variety of salads and desserts. The BBQ’ed Halloumi cheese provided an exotic appetiser!

We then settled down to some stimulating conversation in the relaxing surroundings of our hosts’ house with its surrounding bush like views.

It was a great night and would have been even better to have connected with our Wellington cohorts, but that will have to wait.

Thanks again to our hosts in opening up their home to us all.

The (locally famous) Central Branch Wellington Brekky.

Early on 16 December, members new and old met for brekky at the usual haunt of the Old Bailey on Lambton Quay. This brekky draws out the early risers, those lucky enough to have finished their working careers and those not quite ready to head to work for the day! Ably organised

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Food New Zealand

On 30th November 2021, the OS branch hosted a national Zoom seminar by Associate Professor Miranda Mirosa on “Upcycling Food: A trend that will define the industry!” This event attracted a great turnout of 20 people in person with more than 80 via Zoom and at branch hubs around the country. This was a great way to engage with national members after another year of disrupted events. Local members in Dunedin got to try some upcycled vegan patties and chocolate cake made with spent grain from the brewing process. These were washed down with “Rescue Pale Ale” – a pale ale beer made by Otago University’s the Upcycled Food Lab by substituting 40% of the barley malt with rescued bread. See Miranda’s main article in this issue, page 34, for more information on New Zealand’s Upcycled Food Revolution.

Upcoming events in 2022 – watch this space!

Like many events, the OS branch’s favourite event, the International Dinner was cancelled in 2020 and 2021. Contingent on COVID restrictions, this event is scheduled for 10th March 2022. So pencil it in your diaries and expect more information soon. The committee are in the process of planning further events in 2022, so watch this space!

Dr Graham Eyres, MNZIFST

NZIFST

Left to right, The winning Quiz team, Kirin Harrison, Gerry Townsend, Bryan Powlesland and Kate James enjoying the branch gathering and quiz at Three Wise Birds Garden Bar in Hastings

Pictured at the gathering are, left to right, Andrew Cleland, Damian Fergus, Fiona Windle and Lydia Thomsen February/March 2022

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Student Essay

100% Pure Oat Milk Can it compete with bovine milk?

Stephanie McLeod, Student, University of Otago

This article was awarded third prize in the Food Tech Solutions NZIFST Undergraduate Writing Competition 2021. 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 Gone are the days when the only non-dairy milk alternative in local supermarkets was soy based. It would be hard to miss the myriad choices now available: brightly coloured Tetra Paks stacked floor to ceiling, their on-trend designs calling out to their target consumer.

Consumption of plant-based milk is growing steadily around the world, while sales of dairy products have declined (predominantly in western markets) (Euromonitor, 2020). One of these alternative milks is produced from the cereal grain oat (Avena sativa L.).

How to make oat milk At a basic level, oat milk consists of disintegrated oat particles suspended in water. Oats are de-hulled, flaked and wet-milled. A crucial and now patented step, as discovered by Rikard Oste, (who would go on to found the brand Oatly), is adding amylase enzymes (Lindahl et al., 1995). The amylase enzymes break down the starch, a process known as hydrolysis, and the resulting sugars naturally sweeten the product, and also increase the viscosity. Hydrolysis also prevents the starch from gelatinising upon heat treatment. The product is then decanted to remove solids such as bran. This process causes a decrease in micronutrients, notably calcium, iron and zinc (Zhang et al., 2007), so fortification is necessary. The final steps are adding salt, and also oil for a smoother mouth feel. The milk is ultra-heat treated and homogenised, then packaged (Oatly Inc., 2021).

Nutrition information Oat milk has an appealing nutrition information panel. When compared to Anchor Blue, Everyday M!lk, from Dunedin-based oat milk brand Otis, is lower in saturated fat by 5 g per 250 mL serve. Calcium levels are 42

Food New Zealand

similar, with Everyday M!lk containing 300 mg per serve compared to 292 mg per serve for Anchor Blue (Anchor, 2021; Otis Oat M!lk, 2021).

Otis Everyday M!lk has added Vitamin B12 (1.0 ug per serve), important for those following a vegan diet (Mann & Truswell, 2014). One thing to note is the low level of protein compared to dairy milk, resulting in an advisory statement from Food Standards Australia New Zealand being mandatory on packaging (not suitable as a complete milk replacement for children under 5 years old) (FSANZ, 2016). A key selling point for oat milk is a high level of oat β-glucan (OBG) a polysaccharide composed of D-glucose monosaccharaides. A 2014 meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials found more than 3g of OBG per day can lower total cholesterol by 0.30 mmol/L, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by 0.25 mmol/L (Whitehead et al., 2014). These impressive potential health benefits are marketed by (whole) oat brands such as Harraways, who have a specialised ‘Oat-activ®’ range. This porridgeoat product “works with the double action of plant sterols and betaglucan” to help reduce cholesterol (Harraways, 2019). Oat milk brands are yet to take this targeted approach. To gain the benefits of OBG via oat milk, consumers would need to drink at least three cups, every day (Otis Oat M!lk, 2021). Given oat milk’s low saturated fat content, switching from cow’s milk to oat milk could mean reduced cholesterol levels anyway.

Why choose plant based 'milks'?

The availability of plant-based milk alternatives is growing in response to consumer demand. More than 40% of consumers around the world are restricting animal based foods in their diet. These ‘flexitarians’ are not concerned with labelling themselves vegetarian or vegan, and are driven by health, animal welfare and environmental concerns (Euromonitor, 2020). This leads to another important part of the

Student Essay

story: consumer acceptance of oat milk. Previous research suggests the mainstream consumer is unwilling to try new foods they think are unappealing (Mäkinen et al., 2016), and studies have shown consumers prefer dairy milk compared to soy (Palacios et al., 2009).

However, neither of the aforementioned studies pertain directly to oat milk, which is a pleasant, neutral option, with the presence of OBG contributing to a smoother mouth feel. Further research is needed to gauge palatability and consumer acceptance of oat milk, to inform further product development.

A 2018 meta-analysis compared the impacts different forms of food production have on the environment. Bovine milk production produces significantly more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to grains (including oats), with a mean of 3.2 kilograms of CO2 equivalent (kg CO2eq) per 100 g protein, and 2.7 kg CO2eq respectively. The unit of measurement is important to note, and was chosen for grains because they make up a large proportion of global protein intake, despite their low protein content (Poore & Nemecek, 2018). In New Zealand, exclusively pasture-based dairy farming means subsequent GHG emissions are lower than the global average, yet still contribute almost half of the national total. New Zealand’s commitment to the Paris Agreement (“reduce emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030”) has seen policy begin to change accordingly (Ministry for the Environment, 2019). Interest in regenerative farming practises championing crop diversity and less intensive grazing (Evans, 2020) is an emerging addition to the picture. Could oat milk and dairy milk be produced side by side?

Business investment Heavy investment into plant-based beverage manufacturing suggests oat milk is here to stay. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment agree, with oat milk identified as a product category that can contribute to regional employment growth (Coriolis Ltd, 2019). Great South, Southland’s regional development agency, are finalising plans for their carbon neutral plant-based beverage factory in Makarewa, near Invercargill, with oat milk the first product to be produced. On a broader scale, Fonterra has recently purchased a stake in Motif Ingredients, a North American company creating innovative plant-based products, including dairy alternatives.

Conclusion Oat milk is a long way from competing directly with the dairy industry.

With its pleasant flavour and texture thanks to hydrolysis, associated positive health outcomes, increased consumer demand for plant-based alternatives, fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and business growth opportunities, it is quickly gaining momentum.

References

Euromonitor. (2020). Post-Dairy Era: The Unstoppable Rise Of PlantBased Alternatives. Retrieved 9th March, 2021 from https://wwwportal-euromonitor-com.ezproxy.otago.ac.nz/portal/Analysis/Tab Evans, K. (2020). Regeneration. New Zealand Geographic. Retrieved 9th March, 2021 from https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/regeneration/ FSANZ. (2016). Plant-based Milk Alternatives. Retrieved 9th March, 2021 from https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/nutrition/ milkaltern/Pages/default.aspx Harraways. (2019). Harraways Oat-Activ. Retrieved 8th May from https://www.harraways.co.nz/oat-activ/#products Lindahl, L., Ahlden, I., Oeste, R., & Sjoeholm, I. (1995). Homogeneous and stable cereal suspension and a method of making the same. http:// europepmc.org/patents/PAT/US5686123 https://www.surechembl.org/document/US-5686123-A http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX= US5686123 Mäkinen, O. E., Wanhalinna, V., Zannini, E., & Arendt, E. K. (2016).

Foods for Special Dietary Needs: Non-dairy Plant-based Milk Substitutes and Fermented Dairy-type Products [Article]. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 56(3), 339-349. https://doi.org/10.1080/1040839 8.2012.761950 Mann, J., & Truswell, S. (2014). Essentials of Human Nutrition. Oxford University Press, Incorporated. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ otago/detail.action?docID=1591378 Ministry for the Environment. (2019). Action on Agricultural Emissions; A Discussion Document On Proposals To Address Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Agriculture. Ministry for the Environment. Retrieved 15th March 2021 from https://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/ files/media/Climate%20Change/action-on-agricultural-emissionsdiscussion-document.pdf Oatly Inc. (2021). Wait, So What Is Oat Milk Anyway? Retrieved 8th March, 2021 from https://us.oatly.com/pages/process Otis Oat M!lk. (2021). Nutritional Information. Retrieved 9th March, 2021 from https://otisoatmilk.co.nz/collections/otis-oat-m-lk/products/ everyday-otis-oat-m-lk-1l Palacios, O. M., Badran, J., Drake, M. A., Reisner, M., & Moskowitz, H. R. (2009). Consumer Acceptance Of Cow's Milk Versus Soy Beverages: Impact Of Ethnicity, Lactose Tolerance And Sensory Preference Segmentation [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-459X.2009.00236.x].

Journal of Sensory Studies, 24(5), 731-748. https://doi.org/https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1745-459X.2009.00236.x Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216

Anchor. (2021). Anchor Blue Milk. Retrieved 9th March, 2021 from https://www.anchordairy.com/nz/en/products/fresh-milk/anchor-bluetop-milk-2l.html

Whitehead, A., Beck, E. J., Tosh, S., & Wolever, T. M. S. (2014).

Cholesterol-lowering effects of oat β-glucan: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials1 [Article]. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 100(6), 1413-1421. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.114.086108

Coriolis Ltd. (2019). Regional Growth Opportunities In Food & Beverage Processing Employment In New Zealand. Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. Retrieved 9th March, 2021 from https://www.mbie. govt.nz/dmsdocument/7249-regional-growth-opportunities-in-foodand-beverage-processing-employment-in-new-zealand

Zhang, H., Önning, G., Triantafyllou, A. Ö., & Öste, R. (2007). Nutritional properties of oat-based beverages as affected by processing and storage [https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2987]. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 87(12), 2294-2301. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/ jsfa.2987 February/March 2022

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NZIFST CONFERENCE 2022 July 5th to 7th, 2022 Distinction Hotel, Rotorua Your suggestions for topics of interest are welcome Conference Committee Chair is Rob Archibald

An event worth attending, for the science and technology, and for the people For more information contact NZIFST, rosemary@nzifst.org.nz

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Food New Zealand