Food New Zealand, October/November 2020

O ctober /N ovember 2020

NZ’s Authority on Food Technology, Research and Manufacturing

FeatureS: Food Ingredients focus Cloud-based process and food safety management Kombucha III - microbiological, chemical and sensory analysis Should infant formula contain cholesterol?

Sensory analysis of bovine, goat and sheep milks

The official Journal of The New zealand institute of food science and technology inc.

Contents

NZ’s Authority on Food Technology, Research and Manufacturing

O ctober /N ovember 2020 | Volume 20, No.5 ISSN 1175 – 4621

4

Editorial

5

In-Brief

14

FOOD SAFETY

FSANZ: 2020 Hindsight - Lessons learned and opportunities for better food regulation MPI: New Zealand Food Safety Update

16

OVERVIEW

22

PACKAGING

25

cholesterol

Laurence Eyres, Anny Dentener, Sally Xiong, Jing Zhou

28

REVIEW

16

News, views and information from around and about

5

Information management: Latest technologies

Tekplas – Food safety in plastic moulding

Should Infant Formula lipids contain cholesterol?

14

40

Kombucha: Microbiological, chemical and sensory analysis

Anthony N Mutukumira, Kay Rutherfurd-Markwick,

Xiaolei Wang, Boying Wang and Richard Archer

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 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 © 2020 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, NZIFST or MIA.

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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 dave@foodnz.co.nz Advertising Anne Scott, anne@foodnz.co.nz 021 901 884 Design and Layout Johanna Paynter, Pix Design, Regular Contributors Richard Archer, Laurence Eyres, Dave Pooch, Rosemary Hancock

Published by Peppermint Press Limited Printed by Print Lounge Auckland 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

22 38

32

RESEARCH

Differences in sensory profiles of Sheep, Goat and Cow milk

36

GLOBAL NUTRITION

Dr Nick Smith, Dr Andrew Fletcher, Olivia Finer & Professor Warren McNabb, Sustainable Nutrition Initiative, Riddet Institute

38

ENGINEERING

Reducing our environmental footprint

40

L&N NEWS

Lipids and Nutraceuticals

42

RESEARCH

Li Day, Marita Broadhurst, Siyu Chen, Keegan Burrow, Linda Samuelsson

Sustainable Nutrition Initiative – Feed our Future

Laurence Eyres FNZIFST and Mike Eyres B.Sc.

Plant-based protein costs Michael C. Morris, PhD and John H. Livesey, PhD

45 NZIFST News, including:

45

50

New Members Branch News

49

BOOK REVIEW

50

STUDENT ESSAY

New kid on the block –Application of blockchain technology in the food supply chain

Barker's of Geraldine: 50 Years Preserved

Ha-Young Kim Massey University, Albany

On the cover 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

We live in interesting times - our uncertainty about the future is impacting on planning – for ourselves and our industry

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

Next editorial and advertising deadline: November 20, 2020 Features for December20/January 21 Packaging with AIP: • Inline and online marking and inspection • New technologies and materials for food packaging • Natural antioxidants for foods

October/November 2020

3

EDITORIAL EDITORIAL Interesting times There is a curse, incorrectly attributed to the ancient Chinese: "May you live in interesting times." It first appeared in the 19th century, and was most famously quoted by President John F Kennedy, in 1966, in a speech in Capetown.

The "interesting times" are inferred to be changing, unpredictable, stressful - in fact difficult, as our times are now.

Interesting times always bring change and for some they present an opportunity for change.

This is the case with your NZIFST journal, Food New Zealand. We have, for some time, been considering a change to an online publication and the Level 4 Lockdown in April was the opportunity to test the waters - to see just what would happen with an online-only publication. Only our delivery method changed: the magazine looked the same and was produced with the same editorial values, supported by excellent contributions from many of our members.

Anne Scott NZIFST

Via reports from our online platform, ISSUU, we now know just how many of those who are sent the link open and read the magazine.

We know how long they spend reading and we know which pages they linger on.

We can see which links they click-through on - particularly which ads are noted and acted upon.

None of these data are easily obtained with a print publication.

In addition, through Nibbles, NZIFST's fortnightly e-zine, between our bi-monthly issues we are able to highlight particular articles, add value for advertisers and drive more readers to the publication. During the last 6 months we have shown that each time we promote an article additional readers are drawn to the magazine.

Our concern regarding the human footprint on our world is also a factor. An online publication ticks the boxes of reducing use of paper, ink, plastic (filmwrap) and energy – in production and in distribution.

So, we are on the threshold of a new era. The NZIFST journal, Food New Zealand, that has always been viewed by members as a significant benefit of membership, will be delivered online from the next issue. Same look, same content, on-screen rather than on paper.

...and now, let's hear from the President of NZIFST, Richard Archer There once was a time (or so I hear) that Food New Zealand magazine was inscribed into damp clay tablets, then carried to members by slaves. But that technology was surpassed by papyrus scrolls, then later by quill on vellum (vegan readers had the herald’s oral version). This technology was overtaken by Caxton’s press, then mechanical presses. Some of us will remember the typed and cyclostyled versions, then early photocopiers. And the glossy print format wrapped in sleek clear plastic of the last few years. But now we get the electronic version!

I have to admit my love is to read from a paper magazine with my feet up and stereo going and not a screen in sight. I love building my metre high stack of old issues that I might look up one day. But I too was converted when lockdown forced me into flipping pages of our magazine on my Dell screen. It is exactly like the real thing! But better. Virtual has become virtuous.

Lower carbon. Lower plastic. Lower costs. Happier advertisers. Immunity from the perils that are killing off other magazines…..

Food New Zealand is one of the greatest treasures of NZIFST. We are a smallish industry in a small country. But we maintain a truly great professional society. Its branches hold great events. Its annual conference is great. And now its great magazine has found a way of staying alive for decades more. Enjoy!

Anne Scott, NZIFST

4

Food New Zealand

IN-BRIEF

In-Brief In Brief 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.

2020 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference: Virtual Edition 70 Speakers. 7 Countries. 4 Days The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is pleased to announce that the 2020 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference will be moving to a Virtual Edition from 27th-30th of October.

The Virtual Edition of the 2020 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference will bring together over 70 leading international and national technical experts that will discuss the theme Packaging: Fit for the Future.

The beauty of the Virtual Edition is that if you are unable to attend all of the sessions you will not miss out.

The conference will be designed so that delegates can choose to: • Join live via Zoom software and watch and interact with the sessions while they are happening.

• Watch the ‘live stream’ - watch a live video of the session.

• Watch a ‘recording’ of the session at a later time.

Executive Director of the AIP, Nerida Kelton said that “As added value, delegates who are unable to join any of the sessions live will be able to access the recordings of all sessions using their unique conference website with login details live until the end of December 2020. This will allow everyone the flexibility to view the presentations as many times as they wish, and in their own time,” “There will also be live interactive opportunities during the morning tea and lunch breaks to learn about new innovations, materials and equipment that the industry has to offer. These sessions will be designed so that delegates can bring their coffee, or lunch, into the live room and learn about a new innovation and ask questions,” “The AIP’s goal is to re-create the physical conference planned for April into a Virtual Edition. Delegates will be able to have a coffee and network with all of the conference partners during the breaks: just as you would during a physical conference.” she said.

Registrations are open to book your place at the virtual edition of the largest technical packaging conference run in Australia by the industry for the industry. http://aipack.com.au/event-registration/?ee=248

Real-time RT-PCR test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in environmental surfaces.

Eurofins Food and Water Testing NZ process follows the WHO guidelines and is ISO- 15216 compliant.

Studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 can be detected on surfaces such as plastic and metal for up to 3 days.

Easy sampling and fast results

Thorough cleaning is important to avoid further spread of COVID-19.

Applications include hospitals, stores, manufacturing, hotels, restaurants and other service providers.

Eurofins.

Really Local. Truly Global.

Discuss your needs with our team of experts...

ASMNZ@eurofins.com | 0800 EUROFINS | www.eurofins.co.nz

October/November 2020

5

IN-BRIEF

Mätt Solutions' and Formula Foods' new premises, designed to accommodate both companies' businesses

NEW ZEALAND’S LEADING FOOD QUALITY SPECIALISTS

Mätt Solutions Remember FF Instrumentation? Now relaunched as Mätt Solutions, the product range and ethos haven't changed, and the company still operates out of the same site as Formula Foods.

When Mätt was created, Bob Olayo and Dave Rout decided the time was right to move some of the Formula Foods services, such as shelflife testing, that used Mätt instrumentation, under the Mätt umbrella.

Formula Foods Corporation Ltd, www.formulafoods.co.nz, commenced business in 1987 in Christchurch. During the 1990s the business expanded into supplying a range of technical services, consultancy, ingredient labelling, shelf life improvement, then flavour and ingredient supply and then, instrumentation.

Techniques were developed to accelerate the ageing of food products through controlled atmosphere chambers – humidity and temperature control. Real time shelf life was compared against the accelerated trials of many different food products, to determine methods to verify shelf life faster for clients wanting to launch new products quickly.

“SAFE ON THE SHELF, GIVING YOU PEACE OF MIND”

From the mid 1990s the instrumentation division grew from specialising in water activity [aw] to an extensive range of equipment, and in 2012 became a separate business which after starting as ‘FF Instrumentation’, is now known as ‘Mätt Solutions Limited’. www.matt.nz In 2018, due to growth of both Formula Foods and Mätt Solutions operating from one building, new premises were designed and built to house each business separately, now side by side in the new Wigram industrial subdivision.

Formula Foods has now transitioned into a flavour house business, concentrating on flavour development and ingredients designed for specific clients’ projects. The area of R&D is now focused on formulation of flavours and ingredients, with a large flavour laboratory and separate development lab. The shelf life testing is now housed in the Mätt Solutions facility.

info@shelflife.nz | 03 5952368 | www.matt.nz 6

Food New Zealand

With almost 33 years serving the food industry, the companies endeavour to partner with our clients in order to fully understand and supply their needs.

Bob Olayo, Dave Rout and their teams will support your business.

IN-BRIEF

End-to-end cargo care.

We’ve got it down cold.

Hamburg Süd’s cold care credentials go Goodness! That's tempting. WB circa 1954

way beneath the surface. First there’s our

Photo credit - Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand

reefer equipment – high-tech is an under-

‘90 Years Yum’

statement. Then there’s our Remote

Weet-Bix celebrates ‘90 Years Yum’ in milestone birthday celebration

Container Monitoring (RCM) capabilities

The past 90 years have certainly dished up an unprecedented number of challenges and changes, but one thing is for sure – Weet-Bix™ has been there for Kiwis throughout.

Weet-Bix has been the go-to breakfast for New Zealanders since 1930 – once a Weet-Bix kid, always a Weet-Bix kid, no matter what your age. It has been with us through good times and the bad, enjoyed at the kitchen bench, inf front of TV, in the office lunchroom and out on the farm.

“What’s become pretty clear over the years is that Weet-Bix has been a staple in the kitchen pantry for many Kiwi families,” says Pete Davis, Sanitarium New Zealand’s National Marketing Manager.

Fuelling the ordinary to the extraordinary, Weet-Bix has been a popular breakfast choice for a long list of New Zealand legends over the decades, including Sir Edmund Hillary, who ate eight a day!!

Kiwis hold fond memories of topping Weet-Bix with fruit before school, tucking into Weet-Bix before sporting matches or waking up to a bowl of Weet-Bix as a breakfast in bed treat while staying at their grandparents’ houses. The more adventurous among us may remember smothering Marmite™ over Weet-Bix as an after-school snack.

which include real-time reporting and prelanding certification. You get the ultimate in cold-chain protection plus the security of on-line status updates and remotecontrol options too. How cool is that?

For hands-on help from our local experts: Outbound: 0508 222 444 Inbound:

0508 333 666

No matter what.

Over the years, Weet-Bix has adapted to meet the changing dietary requirements of New Zealanders adding gluten free and cholesterol lowering options to its range.

www.hamburgsud-line.com

October/November 2020

7

IN-BRIEF

Harraways Oats partners Salvation Army to feed locals Dunedin-based Harraway & Sons, New Zealand’s only oat manufacturer, is working with the Salvation Army donating oats to locals in need. Since August/September oats are flowing through to the key South Island Salvation Army food bank depots in Nelson, Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin, and Invercargill.

Over the next 6 months Harraways, alongside the Salvation Army, will provide over 100,000 South Islanders with a serve of nourishing porridge as the Salvation Army manages the 300% increase in food parcel demand.

“The Salvation Army centres around New Zealand are doing wonderful work to support Kiwis in need and the organisation stretches its effort even further in times of great challenge like we are seeing presently. They truly are ‘Always There’!”, says Henry Hawkins, Harraways CEO. This is certainly a good example of a successful, locally owned business helping local Kiwi families at a very tough time!

Members of the Christchurch Salvation Army HQ and Distribution Centre, (Left to right) Henry Hawkins (CEO – Harraways), Tessa Reardon and Paul Smith from the Salvation Army, Peter Cox (Marketing Manager – Harraways), and Christine Ivers, from the Salvation Army

New block-bottom packaging machinery Jet Technologies has launched the first Vertical Form Fill Seal (VFFS) Machinery in their market capable of producing and filling Block-Bottom Gusset Bags at high speed. Suited to high output coffee production environments, this feature allows roasters to produce their own ‘Block-Bottom Gusset Bag’ without needing to purchase a pre-made bag.

This innovation, made by Goglio, is able to achieve the desirable block-bottom coffee packaging design at half the cost of purchasing pre-made bags. The attractive aesthetic and practical design of the Block-Bottom Gusset Bag allows products and their branding to be showcased neatly, upright and with a strong shelf presence.

Until now, brand owners have needed to purchase a pre-made bag to achieve the desired block-bottom look, which is more expensive, and was typically filled either by hand or required a stand-alone filler, which added further overhead costs. Now coffee brands can use high productivity VFFS machinery to simultaneously make and fill the Block-Bottom Gusset Bag to order and in line with demand.

The block-bottom design works uniquely to combine the functionality of a stand-up pouch with all the benefits of a side gusset bag. The Block-Bottom Gusset Bag is ideal for packaging a wide variety of coffee products such as whole bean or ground bean coffee.

Working in collaboration with Goglio, Jet Technologies is set to showcase the machinery as the latest addition to its range.

About Jet Technologies Jet Technologies is a specialist importer and distributor of products to the rigid and flexible packaging industry, the industrial manufacturing industry and the print and finishing industry. Jet Technologies was founded in Australia over 40 years ago and remains a family owned Australian company, employing highly skilled staff who service a broad spectrum of needs with printing, packaging and industrial solutions. They operate throughout Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.

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Food New Zealand

IN-BRIEF

Hot off the press The Role of Red Meat in Healthy and Sustainable NZ Diets

By Fiona Windle, Beef + Lamb New Zealand Inc The role food plays in our lives has never been so top of mind in the face of a pandemic. Covid-19 has provided a catalyst to addressing how we feed our own population and how we support our economy: a cascade of conversations themed around access to healthy food for all.

One of those continuing conversations is that of questioning the place red meat has in today’s modern diet.

There is no shortage of factors that have played into the mantra that red meat may not have a place in a sustainable and healthy production system and diet. These include; emergence of and investment into alternatives, the reshaping of the food industry due to Millennials’ eating-patterns, global agencies and government putting the impact of meat production and consumption on the agenda, misinterpretation of the science in the media, and an explosion of influencers creating a new cultural narrative around meat.

Given this narrative, you might ask, "Have New Zealanders fallen out of love with red meat?"

In the absence of current national nutrition survey data, which 10 years ago told us 94.5% of New Zealand adults identified as omnivore, we turn to consumer and market insights for a spotlight on today. Colmar Brunton research tracks a representative sample of Kiwis on their behaviours and attitudes red meat and the red meat industry. This tells us 9 out of 10 households include red meat in their diets and that consumption patterns reflect a moderate intake. Not surprisingly, there is a growing interest in those taking up diets with little or no red meat, but it’s not in the droves we are led us to believe. There is room to grow and enhance New Zealanders’ knowledge of the meat industry as a whole, as well as the functional benefits a meal with red meat delivers, underpinned by sound science.

So what does the current science say about red meat in healthy and sustainable diets?

That’s where the latest report, The Role of Red Meat in Healthy Sustainable Diets comes in. The 2020 report is a revised version of a 2015 report originally written by nutrition expert Amanda Wynne and peer reviewed. The 2020 report has been revised by the team of dietitians at Foodcom, peer reviewed by nutrition experts, with sections added on food systems by Emily King of Spira and a section on sustainable nutrition by Riddet Institute’s Professor Warren McNabb and Dr Lakshmi Dave. Along with the farming and production practices of New Zealand beef and sheep, the report navigates through the evolving nutrition and environmental science to help inform the ongoing discussions around sustainable diets.

Brenntag NZ office has a new look Brenntag New Zealand Ltd continues to grow and has some exciting news involving new team members and a new address.

In early May 2020, Brenntag New Zealand welcomed Melanie Salberg as General Manager. Melanie has a passion for food and nutrition, studied Food Science and has many years of experience in Food, Pharma Brenntag has welcomed Melanie and Personal Care industries. Her Salberg as General enthusiasm, energy and momentum Manager is truly amazing and she just continues to make her own indelible positive mark on the team and business.

Complementing their existing and vibrant Food team, Brenntag NZ recently appointed another new team member, Carley Sheerin, as Product Manager, ANZ. Carley also brings a wealth of experience to the table having previously worked in areas of early life nutrition and dairy industries as part of her portfolio.

In July Brenntag moved to new premises in Ellerslie. Boasting new, bright and expansive office space, it includes a state-ofthe-art Food Application & Development Centre. Their team and Food Applications Technologist are on hand to support the development of tailor-made, novel formulations and creative concepts.

To request a copy, email Fiona Windle fiona@beeflambnz.co.nz October/November 2020

9

IN-BRIEF

Food Ingredients in Focus Organic ingredients to continue trending in Asia Pacific postCoronavirus The coronavirus pandemic has led to a surge in demand for more sustainable and organic foods. Now, more than ever, consumers want to make healthier choices.

Even before the pandemic hit the headlines and impacted markets around the world, the issue of well-being has already been highlighted as a major trend for 2020 and beyond. Consumers want to avoid products that contain chemicals, synthetics, and artificial ingredients. In Asia Pacific, about half of consumers seek out food and drink products that contain recognisable ingredients. Additionally, transparency has become a powerful purchasing driver for consumers in the region, with about two-thirds agreeing that they want simplicity and transparency when choosing products.

in particular, the gut microbiome, has been a big focus for Beneo’s research for several decades and will continue to remain a key area of interest as demand for inulin and oligofructose grows.

The introduction of Beneo’s organic waxy rice starch and organic chicory root fibre opens many new opportunities for food manufacturers looking to introduce organic convenience foods — where the region’s organic packaged food market is expected to grow the fastest. These not only allow them to formulate future-forward foods and drinks that can support consumers’ preferences, but their overall health, as well.

Ingredient lists still aren't clear enough

The rise of organic According to Grand View Research, the global organic market is set to surpass the USD320 billion sales mark by 2025 — with Asia Pacific expected to grow the fastest, accounting for 12% of global revenue.

Organic foods have, unsurprisingly, benefitted from a heightened interest in health. This is due to the fact that consumers generally consider organic foods to be safer and healthier during these unsettled times. The demand is also expected to remain even after the pandemic surge calms. According to the research company Ecovia Intelligence — which has analysed the buying patterns that followed in Europe after the BSE crisis, and following SARS in Asia —demand for organic products will remain strong post-pandemic.

As more customers proactively seek out organic solutions, Beneo has been working in partnership with manufacturers, exploring areas to help them meet the increasing demand for organic food and drink products. This has led to Beneo recently announcing the expansion of its ingredient portfolio with two new organic solutions.

The first, Remyline O AX DR, completes Beneo’s existing portfolio of rice starches with the availability of organic solutions for both regular and waxy rice starch. Rice is widely considered a familiar and natural product, with 61% of consumers worldwide seeing rice starch as natural. When asked about key starch ingredients (rice, corn, potato, tapioca and wheat), rice came out on top as ‘a cupboard ingredient’ (67%), that is ‘healthy’ (58%) and ‘easy to digest’ (51%). As a waxy rice starch, it contains no amylose and therefore maintains a stable texture throughout a product’s shelf life. Remyline is suitable for fruit preparations, meat and poultry applications. Technical trials have shown positive results for these applications, as well as for improving the texture of creamy desserts and yoghurts.

Beneo also recently launched Orafti®Organic, a carefully grown and selected organic variant of its popular chicory root fibre, and yet another first to market. Orafti®Organic enables manufacturers to add natural prebiotic fibres that will improve taste and texture, while also allowing for fat and sugar reduction in products across key applications such as dairy, cereals, bakery and confectionery.

Inulin and oligofructose, such as those produced by Beneo, are the only plant-based prebiotics available in the market. According to the International Scientific Association for Pro- and Prebiotics, they are also two of the very few proven prebiotics. Digestive health, and 10

Food New Zealand

Ingredient lists still aren't clear enough, a survey finds Many food and beverage products do not offer the clear labelling that consumers want, according to new research.

In a survey of 1,000 adults in the UK and USA, commissioned by Ingredient Communications and conducted by SurveyGoo, 50% of people said they are more likely to buy a product if they can recognise all of the ingredients listed on the label. However, only 19% of respondents said they always recognise all of the ingredients on the pack.

More than one third of respondents (36%) admitted they are less likely to buy a product made with an ingredient they do not recognise.

Conversely, 44% said they are happy pay a higher price for a product when they recognise all of the ingredients it contains.

The findings of the survey indicate that a large number of consumers consider clear labelling to be a priority but also raise questions about how successfully the industry is catering to their preferences.

Richard Clarke, Managing Director of Ingredient Communications, said: “Ingredients companies have taken big steps forward to optimise their portfolios to include clean label ingredients that can be declared on-pack in clear language that most consumers will recognise.

Manufacturers of finished products should consider formulating – or reformulating – their products to include these ingredients, or they risk being left behind.”

Most respondents to the survey, which was conducted in September 2020, also expressed a preference for natural ingredients and an

IN-BRIEF

aversion to artificial additives. As many as 81% of consumers said they consider the label claim ‘made with natural ingredients’ to be very appealing or quite appealing. A similar number (78%) said they consider the label claim ‘free from artificial ingredients’ to be very appealing or quite appealing.

About Ingredient Communications Ingredient Communications specialises in global PR & communications for suppliers of ingredients to the food, beverage, dietary supplement and personal care sectors. To find out more, visit www.ingredientcommunications.com

New buzzword for ingredients Nootropic Every day, everywhere, more and more people are turning to foods and beverages to boost their memory, focus, attention and energy levels – and, particularly during the pandemic, to manage their mood and wellbeing.

“Over the last few years industry has introduced a new buzzword to describe this space – nootropics – and a growing segment of business is paying attention to it,” says Julian Mellentin, author of a new Strategy Briefing on the subject.

Nootropics are substances taken to improve cognitive function or mental performance in healthy people – things everyone wants.

According to a survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), a third of American consumers are looking for memory, focus and cognition benefits from their food and drink.

“The challenge of delivering a product that both tastes good and delivers a feel-the-benefit effect, and is convenient, has been a major barrier to success in this category,” he says. “Products such as Ārepa’s blackcurrant beverage in New Zealand, which deliver on these two requirements, are rare. Successful products usually use ingredients that consumers understand and accept, from caffeine to B vitamins.”

“If you choose ingredients such as cordyceps mushrooms or tulsi, you have a major challenge of low consumer familiarity. That makes it hard for anyone but a niche of health-active people to believe in the benefit your product is offering,” says Mellentin.

In this concise Strategy Briefing, Mellentin highlights six strategies for success in this emerging area and explores common pitfalls.

Nootropics – strategies and ingredients to deliver success in an emerging market is available to buy at www.new-nutrition.com.

Eat better, live well.

Power up with functional ingredients.

Future wellbeing has become the common goal for consumers worldwide. Nutrition is the starting point in our journey towards the good life, even more so, it is an essential part of it. Strong mental and physical health are the first line of defence and safety net to face new and everyday challenges. Formulate food and drinks that power consumers’ lives without compromising taste or health. Functional ingredients, like prebiotic fibre and slowrelease carbohydrates, set them on their way to a fulfilled and healthy life.

Follow us on:

www.beneo.com

October/November 2020

11

IN-BRIEF

YO-MIX® PRIME yogurt cultures, were developed to create ultimate mildness and premium texture for consumers

Dupont receives award DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences (DuPont) has been awarded the first prize “Technology Progress Award” at the 26th Annual Conference of the China Dairy Industry Association (CDIA).

The CDIA Science and Technology Awards has two categories, the "Technology Invention Award" and "Technology Progress Award".

DuPont’s project, titled YO-MIX® PRIME yogurt cultures with ultimate post-acidification control: Research, development and promotion to dairy companies was entered in the “Technology Progress Award” category.

The YO-MIX® PRIME yogurt cultures, which were launched globally earlier this year, were developed to create ultimate mildness and premium texture for consumers and provide a new level of indulgence in yogurt. The cultures can help yogurt manufacturers save on formulation costs by reducing the amount of skimmed milk

Brenntag Brenntag are the industry’s leading distributor and service provider for food ingredients.

Linking formulation expertise, market knowledge and quality products from our world class suppliers, we deliver the best performance in a product’s taste, texture, nutritional composition and shelf life for our customers and the markets we serve. Our specialists work with customers to choose the right ingredients for their products: we develop solutions that are tailor-made for each customer’s unique and specific needs – from milk to meat, from bread to beverages, from confectionery to convenience food.

powder added to boost yogurt texture, enable them to add less sugar while keeping the same sweetness perception, and maintain product quality throughout challenging distribution channels with variations in storage temperature.

With ultimate post-acidification control and excellent fermentation performance, Du-Pont's YO-MIX® Prime cultures can effectively help yogurt manufacturers to overcome post-acidification issues and uncertainties in distribution channels while bringing a mild, clean, smooth and creamy taste to their yogurt products.”

To learn more about the YO-MIX® PRIME series and other DuPont™ Danisco® yogurt culture offerings, visit yomixprimeyogurt.com

Our experts use ingredients to develop formulations at our own inhouse Application and Development Centres. Brenntag Food & Nutrition will work with you to find the right ingredient combinations, interactions and processing conditions to have ingredients perform to their fullest. Our teams will help you achieve cost optimisation and flexibility with alternative ingredients, or develop new formulations fitting current market trends in a range of areas: • Food Design • Food Technology • Health & Nutrition • Food Safety and Shelf Life

SENSE THE DIFFERENCE

We are at home everywhere in the world Brenntag New Zealand Limited Level 2, Building C 602 Great South Road Ellerslie, Auckland 1051 New Zealand Phone: +64 9 275 0745 info-nz@brenntag-asia.com www.brenntag.com/food-nutrition

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34117_BT_NZ_Food_184x128mm_En.indd 1

Food New Zealand

Brenntag Food & Nutrition is well positioned to cater to its business partners’ needs at a local level. Thanks to our strong infrastructure in 73 countries and 30 application & development centres, we are engrained in the local culture and business. You will benefit from this extensive market, industry and product know-how, including our understanding of regulations, policies, challenges and developments.

We are passionate about Food & Nutrition.

From bringing you the right ingredients and

innovative solutions, through to optimising your formulation and supply chain, our team lives and breathes the world of food.

We are the partner who puts your needs in the centre of everything we do. We have a broad and deep product offering, and work with the best suppliers in the industry. We reduce your compliance burden with a dedicated quality and regulatory team and seek to lead the way in safety and responsibility, managing the many complexities of the food industry.

24.07.20 11:41

IN-BRIEF Our experts can offer you our expertise and knowledge in the following sectors: • Dairy and Ice cream • Bakery and bread • Chocolate and confectionery • Functional food, food supplements, dietetic foods • Meat, poultry and fish • Convenience food, ready meals, soups and sauces • Fruit and vegetable processing • Beverages • Pet Food Our Food & Nutrition teams are geared to turning trends into marketable products, always having the fingertip at the pulse of the newest developments and trends.

Brilliant yellows with long life New carrot-based EXBERRY® powder delivers brilliant yellows with a long shelf life Available worldwide in addition to the existing liquid format, the EXBERRY® Shade Yellow Cloudy Powder enables manufacturers to deliver a brilliant yellow colour shade in a wider range of applications.

The powder is ideal for bakery applications as well as dry mixes including custard, brioches and biscuits.

Both the liquid and powder formats are made from carrots grown by GNT’s farmers and are manufactured without chemical solvents. As such, they ensure high levels of consumer acceptance and can provide a perfect replacement for colorants such as carotenes.

The EXBERRY® Shade Yellow – Cloudy Powder is pH independent and provides good light and heat stability, along with a 12-month shelf life at <25°C. Sonja Scheffler, Product Manager at GNT, said: “Building on the huge popularity of our carrotbased liquid yellows, this new powder opens up even more possibilities for manufacturers.

Extensive testing has shown it performs extremely well across a wide range of applications, with great stability and a long shelf life.”

Based on the principle of colouring food with food, EXBERRY® products are made from fruits, vegetables and edible plants using gentle, physical processes such as pressing, chopping, filtering and concentrating.

About EXBERRY® EXBERRY® is the global market leader in Coloring Foods. The brand is synonymous with high performance colour solutions based on the most natural concept of colouring food with food.

The brand provides the widest range on the market, comprising more than 400 shades. It is suitable for practically all food and drink, including confectionery, dairy and bakery products, soft and alcoholic beverages and savoury applications.

About GNT The GNT Group is a family-owned company pioneering in the creation of specialized, futureproof products from only natural ingredients.

Both the liquid and powder formats of the EXBERRY® Shade Yellow are made from carrots grown by GNT’s farmers and are manufactured without chemical solvents

October/November 2020

13

FSANZ

FSANZ News Glen Neal, General Manager Risk Management and Intelligence, Food Standards Australia New Zealand

2020 Hindsight - Lessons learned and opportunities for better food regulation

resilience of the food supply – which has performed admirably despite the short-term demand shocks from panicked consumers.

She pointed to the recent difficulties presented by Auckland’s second lockdown which meant that movement of essential workers was made more difficult by the differential lockdowns at the region’s perimeter and spoke of the likely prospects of a company’s fishing fleet being stranded by the unavailability of international expertise.

Alan wowed us with insights, courtesy of internet analytics, which showed what people were doing to prepare for impending lockdowns.

Becoming self-sufficient in good coffee and freshly baked bread was key. When called on to explain the phenomenon of panic buying he cited the lack of learned behaviour to draw upon that normally governs human response to risk and threat.

“2020 vision” isn’t a term used much anymore.

If this year was a fish it would be a ‘blind eel’ (Ophisternon candidum) – one to throw back: snip your line and forego your hook, line and sinker while you’re at it. 2020 vision was a term borrowed from the optometry profession and it was used profusely at the turn of the millennium when undertaking long-term planning.

“2020 hindsight” is a much more constructive and engaging application for those four digits. And so it provided on 10 September when FSANZ hosted a webinar by the above title. It attracted an audience of over 800. While the title had pulling power, it was the star quality of the panellists that drew the crowd.

Online seminar: 2020 hindsight The earliest of Aotearoa New Zealand’s navigators relied on the stars to guide their journeys and so the webinar was put together to enable our stars of the food system provide insight and a sense of which way is forward. Stars such as business leader and food industry guru, Katherine Rich (CEO NZ Food and Grocery Council), the ‘People’s Champion', Alan Kirkland (CEO of the Australian equivalent of Consumer NZ, Choice), nutrition expert Professor Linda Tapsell (Wollongong University), tech nerd Peter Carter from GS1 and last, but not least, Dr Lisa Szabo (CEO NSW Food Authority).

Leadership is about the future and the future is no longer the same as it used to be.

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Linda colourfully described the Covid-19 pandemic and obesity as ‘parallel synergistic pandemics’ and very constructively talked about dietary patterns being much more important than particular nutrients.

She issued a challenge to the food industry: “How can we better prepare the food economy in terms of achieving improved health outcomes?”

Peter highlighted the need for quality data to underpin the response to any disruption and talked about the big change in food in 2020 – outsourcing the identity of the person taking charge of the last mile of the food supply chain. Supermarket-order delivery, click-and-collect and food bags stepped up here.

Lisa spoke of a hoax, that was circulating in January, citing the alleged ‘Bureau of Diseaseology’ and its concerns that linked Covid-19 to imported foods. Not helpful.

She outlined the steps taken as food regulators ‘stepped-up’ to support the essential supply of food. She also highlighted the concurrent threats regulators were grappling with in Australia (African Swine Fever, a 1000-case multi-state Salmonellosis outbreak, Avian influenza and the interception of the Khapra beetle) thus illustrating one of the golden rules of a crisis – “there is no rule that says you can only have one crisis at a time".

A glimmer of hope A glimmer of hope has emerged in 2020. The resurgence of critical public institutions such as science and public health has certainly inspired many involved in tackling other ‘wicked problems’ and perhaps the ‘table has been set’ for the importance of food’s role in chronic disease prevention to emerge among the masses.

The panel helped us unpick some of the more interesting aspects of the pandemic’s impact on the food system and they shared thoughts on the way forward.

Change – never has it been this fast and never again will it be this slow – Graeme Wood, WOTIF.

Katherine opened with a 1906 quote from Sir Alfred Lewis: “There are only 9 meals between mankind and anarchy." Reflecting on the

The webinar is available for viewing from the FSANZ website here: https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/media/Pages/FSANZ-webinar.aspx

Food New Zealand

MPI

New Zealand Food Safety Update In this edition, we’re focusing on New Zealand Food Safety’s new tool for starting a food business, updates on COVID-19 food safety guidance, and the prohibited retail sale of raw apricot kernels.

Notebook – Starting a Food Business

When eaten, this toxin can react with stomach enzymes and release cyanide. It can cause a wide range of symptoms ranging from nausea, stomach aches, headaches and respiratory symptoms through to cardiac arrest, depending on the amount eaten. This can be very serious, especially in children.

The sale prohibition does not apply to apricot kernel-derived ingredients.

For more information on Food Standards Code requirements, refer to Standards 1.1.1-10 and 1.4.4.

More information on cyanide poisoning and food product recalls is available at foodsafety.govt.nz.

We’re excited to announce the release of the Notebook, a tool for anyone on their journey to starting a food business. This publication contains comprehensive one-stop-shop guidance to help people find out what food rules apply to a new business, how to find a verifier and get registered. It has helpful tips on everything from contracts to council consents.

If you know anyone thinking about starting a food business, please direct them to www.mpi.govt.nz/thinking-of-starting-a-new-foodbusiness/ so they can access resources, including videos and the Notebook.

Retail Sale of Raw Apricot Kernels Following the recent recall of raw apricot kernels from a Christchurch supplier, to manage the risk of poisoning, we’d like to remind food importers and retailers that the sale of raw apricot kernels is prohibited under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Our Food Compliance team has identified several importers and sellers of raw apricot kernels in Auckland and Christchurch and is liaising with local councils in these areas. It is possible further recalls may follow.

Raw apricot kernels contain a naturally occurring toxin (amygdalin).

MPI Exemption Audits | Food MPI Food Safety Audits FoodAuditing Auditing|

COVID-19 and Food Safety For the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, go to: MPI for primary industry exporters and food businesses –www.mpi. govt.nz/covid-19-coronavirus-information-and-advice/ These pages include workplace safe practice guidance for primary industry and food businesses, and a checklist for re-opening a food business.

Unite Against COVID-19 website for general advice – www.covid19. govt.nz/ Ministry of Health’s guidance – www.health.govt.nz/diseases-andconditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/ Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment for workplace advice www.mbie.govt.nz/coronavirus-covid-19/

Wine Safety Auditing Wine Safety Auditing

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•• Food and WineinSafety We specialise FoodAuditing and Wine Safety Auditing • Food Safety Programme Management • We are MPI approved for the following; • We are an ISO17020 - Recognised agency Accredited (Food Control Inspection BodyPlans, National Programmes and Wine) • We are aparty MPI verifiers approved food auditing - Third and wine verification have (Food Control Plans,agency; National Programmes MPI approvedand foodWine) safety programme - Evaluators (Food Control Plans) auditors and wine verifiers October/November 2020

15

OVERVIEW

Information management Latest technologies support manufacturers in monitoring process, product, plant and systems maintenance. They also help ensure that their consumer interface, whether labels or promotional material, is compliant and informative. The sector is ever changing, improving efficiencies and supporting communication, collaboration and traceability.

GS1 ProductFlow drives more sales Study: 85% of consumers conduct online research before making a purchase online The ability for consumers to research purchases is one of the key reasons people shop online instead of in-store.

What’s the key takeaway then? Provide online shoppers with detailed and accurate product pages (and information) that answer any and every question they may have. Product pages should have plenty of high-quality product images as well as descriptions and specifications, because this instils trust and confidence in shoppers to make the right purchasing decision. Trust is hard to build and easy to lose, so it’s critical to get this right.

80% of shoppers will stop doing business with a company because of a poor experience – especially online.

GS1's ProductFlow service is an industry-developed, one-stop-shop, specifically designed to ensure products get on-shelf and online 16

Food New Zealand

correctly, first time, every time. Productflow is a system of quality assurance checks that identifies issues with a product before they become serious problems.

Wth ProductFlow, the barcode is checked to ensure it works properly.

The product image is checked to ensure it’s high quality, which is essential now, because so many buying decisions are made on what a customer sees. Finally, the information on the product label is checked to ensure it meets consumer and retailer requirements. This is also important, because more than ever, customers study label information before they buy.

Major New Zealand grocery retailers are strongly encouraging their suppliers use GS1’s ProductFlow service for the significant benefits on offer including quicker product turnaround, and more sales given the richness and accuracy of the information that customers are demanding now.

OVERVIEW OVERVIEW

iMonitor Why the future of Food Quality Management is Digital New Zealand food manufacturers are still relying on time-consuming and failure-prone paperwork or Excel spreadsheets when it comes to ensuring food safety compliance and managing their food quality, according to iMonitor’s latest industry survey. Food businesses commonly invest in inventory management systems that handle product flows and production planning. However, capturing in-process quality data for manufactured batches often remains paper-based.

By automating these operations, manufacturers can ensure complete regulatory compliance, decrease the risk of recalls and the amount of wastage while increasing productivity. Kiwi OpTech company, iMonitor, helps food businesses automate their food safety and quality management processes by digitising these processes along the complete product lifecycle. Their cloud-based quality management solution combines real-time monitoring with standardised processes, saving businesses time and money while they ensure ongoing regulatory compliance.

Continuous monitoring of machine performance, food quality metrics and product-critical control checks ensures that customers receive a high-quality product. Each deviation is recorded in real-time by smart environmental monitoring devices, and the system alerts the operators or supervisors automatically if corrective actions are needed.

Furthermore, real-time monitoring reduces waste and inventory losses significantly, decreasing costs and the impact on the environment.

iMonitor's automated workflow management system assigns tasks to each operator, reminding them proactively of upcoming tasks or overdue checks. The user-friendly dashboard, which is accessible from all mobile devices, guides operators through their tasks and gives access to standard operating procedures. Consequently, real-time visibility, transparency and food safety culture among staff are facilitated. iMonitor’s quality management system also ensures traceability of sensitive ingredients, allergens and traceable details, such as date of delivery, delivery temperatures and process CCP’s, over the complete production process, reducing the risk of recalls significantly.

Being fully compliant with FDA, European, New Zealand and Australian food safety acts (FSANZ), iMonitor’s solution ensures ongoing compliance with the most recent regulations. It guides businesses through their whole food safety process and proactively manages their food safety plan. The continuous update of food safety data automates the compliance processes and ensures data integrity, preventing human error and manipulation of data. As the food safety status is tracked in real-time along the complete manufacturing process, the company is 24/7 audit-ready. iMonitor’s cloud-based solution can be easily integrated into existing ERP systems, allowing for seamless food safety and quality management from farm to fork.

Monitoring and workflow automation Decrease business risk Reduce waste Increase efficiency www.imonitor.net

October/November 2020

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OVERVIEW

mitech CoLOS information management systems CoLOS information management systems increase production efficiency while reducing coding and printing related waste. It also protects your brand by ensuring coding integrity and making recalls easier to execute.

Live and historical production reports are available to give enhanced

visibility and insights into your coding and printing performance, quality and compliance.

You can run CoLOS from your office, shop floor or server room.

Connectivity to printers, production devices and company data sources is established over Ethernet. A user management system ensures employees access the CoLOS interfaces most appropriate to their role and location, from desktop, tables and mobile devices. CoLOS works within your cyber security environment and has various backup options

Tronics Tronics can label and code anythingVideojet 1280 Tronics is the region's leader in marking and coding to support your products' date marking, traceability and compliance.

If you need to put a label or a date code on your products Tronics can manufacture a robust solution that will thrive in any manufacturing environment.

Locally built and supported, Tronics can create a solution for any labelling requirement.

Tronics are also New Zealand's sole distributor of market leading Videojet coding machines. Built on over 40 years of expertise in the continuous inkjet coding market, the Videojet 1280 is the latest printer in the Videojet CIJ range. Designed with two key focuses, reliability and simplicity, the Videojet 1280 is easy for operators to use and maintain.

The SIMPLICiTY™ interface greatly reduces operator printer interactions to help eliminate potential user errors through an intuitive, tablet-inspired 8” touchscreen interface. This Code Assurance capability means manufacturers don’t need to be CIJ experts in order to manage their day-to-day operations.

Combined with one reliable and easy-to-replace Videojet SmartCell™ service module, manufacturers can benefit from only 5 minutes of user-performed annual preventive maintenance, either every year, or when the printer reaches 3,000 hours, whichever occurs first. There is no need to be a CIJ expert for standard maintenance, because with predictable preventive maintenance, the 1280 can help to eliminate nasty surprises that can cause unscheduled downtime.

More information at www.tronics.com.au

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Food New Zealand

OVERVIEW OVERVIEW

nutrition labelling Get 3 MONTHS FREE

Xyris Nutrition labelling software for label compliance Australian software company, Xyris, knows that providing accurate nutritional information on your food product labels can be a tricky business. To comply with food labelling regulations, complex and technical calculations are required.

with FoodWorks 10 Nutrition Labelling for recipe development and label compliance.

When the FSANZ Food Standards Code became law nearly twenty years ago, Xyris recognised the demands the new regulations placed on food companies.

“We were already selling our FoodWorks nutritional analysis software to dietitians and hospitals,” said CEO, Declan Goodsell. “It was clear that there was a role for our technology in reducing the labelling overheads that food companies faced.”

In 2003, an edition of FoodWorks specifically designed for food companies - FoodWorks Nutrition Labelling - was born. Since then, to keep up with the changing regulation landscape, there have been many significant upgrades culminating in the current version, FoodWorks 10.

Over the years FoodWorks has become a widely used and well-regarded solution in Australia and New Zealand for customers ranging from neighbourhood bakeries to large multinationals. The diverse array of food businesses choosing FoodWorks for their nutrition labelling requirements is a testament to its competitive pricing and trusted reputation.

FoodWorks doesn’t shirk from the hard work, and calculates the label information for a product directly from the data entered for its raw materials – including for NIPs, ingredient statements, allergen declarations, and Health Star Ratings.

“Our aim with FoodWorks Nutrition Labelling is to take the pain out of producing the complex information required for label compliance. We want to make the whole process as easy, efficient and accurate as possible.”

FoodWorks is Australian-made and owned, and is tailored to the requirements of the food industry in Australia and New Zealand.

To find out more, visit xyris.com.au. A 14-day free trial of FoodWorks 10 Nutrition Labelling is available at xyris.com.au/free-trial

Design new product formulations and recipes according to nutritional criteria.

Generate nutrition labels (NIPs, ingredient statements and allergen declarations) that comply with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and other regulations.

Calculate HSR values from a recipe's raw materials and generate graphical marks.

Integrate with label-printing software.

No more complicated spreadsheets.

Better recipes. Compliant labels.

FoodWorks is trusted Australian software with friendly expert support.

Offer ends 30 November 2020

Call 07 3223 5300 Visit www.xyris.com.au Email info@xyris.com.au

October/November 2020

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OVERVIEW Pervidi - helping achieve ISO standards ISO/TS 26030 and Digital Inspection improving Food Chain accountability

By Karl Ahlgren – Marketing Manager at Pervidi Social responsibility may be the next thing all organisations and businesses want to properly master, but this is more than just how you interact with employees or attract new hires. To help to clarify this, the Industrial Organization for Standards (ISO), released ISO 26000 in 2010.

However certain industries found that guidance was either missing or not specific enough to their operations. One such industry is the food industry, a cornerstone contributor to economies and life as we know it. It's therefore imperative that the food industry runs efficiently, and ideally acts in a sustainable and socially responsible fashion. ISO have now released ISO/TS 26030; a guideline on how an organisation in the food chain can help contribute to sustainable development on any scale or level. Titled ‘Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development – Guidance on Using ISO 26000:2010 in the Food Chain’.

ISO/TS 26030 outlines opportunities for sustainable development, covering local laws, stakeholder expectations and larger regulations.

Organisations and businesses such as farms, cooperatives, retailers, wholesalers, food companies or processors can all develop socially responsible and sustainable activities and operations, no matter their location or size. ISO Manager Sandrine Espeillac, head of the committee that developed the guidance, noted that ISO/TS 26030 will “have a positive impact on society as a whole” and that it helps organisations to “contribute to many of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals”. In light of ISO/TS 26030 being released to the global food industry, it is also important to note the requirements that modern assessment and monitoring of socially responsible activities require top inspection methods. For this many organisations and businesses are choosing to pair ISO/TS 26030 with paperless inspection solutions.

simplifying the management and assessment of whether employees or an entire organisation is working with social responsibility goals in mind. Activities and operations can quickly be found to not comply with IS/TS 26030 or any other industry standard. By integrating these standards and regulations directly with the paperless checklist or digital form, it is easier to gain data and insights into how the standards are being used throughout the business. This also allows the audit trail to be greatly simplified and streamlined, allowing a quick process for management to follow. Employees and other stakeholders can directly make use of standards as reference material on the paperless checklist and highlight possible deficiencies in line with or that violate the industry guidelines. This can then be shared with the management for the audit trail but also with other employees and stakeholders to highlight things to watch out for, or simply encourage best practice.

It’s clear to many businesses and organisations however large or small that industrial standards such as ISO/TS 26030 can only be best utilised when they have a powerful paperless inspection system to use it alongside. Today that means making use of mobile devices and paperless inspection applications.

To learn more about ISO/TS 26030, please visit: Source: https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:ts:26030:ed-1:v1:en To learn more about digital solutions for inspection and their use with ISO standards within your organisation, visit Pervidi.com.au

Digital inspection solutions can work hand-in-hand with ISO/TS 26030,

FOOD TESTING Cawthron delivers industry leading analytical testing, reliable results and market changing insight.

• Method development and validation team • IANZ (ISO) accreditation • Food safety • GMP certified for Nutraceuticals • Export certification • Label claims 20

Food New Zealand

Ph: +64 3 548 2839 www.cawthron.org.nz

OVERVIEW OVERVIEW

Thermo Fisher Cloud services for laboratory management Thermo Fisher’s cloud services enable easy, cost-effective, compliant and secure cloud deployment of Thermo Scientific SampleManager LIMS (Laboratory Information Management Systems)software Thermo Fisher Scientific has expanded deployment model options for SampleManager LIMS software, offering laboratories end-to-end support of the software deployment in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud.

Under a contract agreement, Thermo Fisher will manage the entire deployment process from installation and maintenance to backup and recovery. As a result, laboratories will benefit from significantly reduced financial and human resource investment associated with setting-up, running and maintaining traditional on-premise deployments or deployments to their own cloud hosting service.

At the same time, laboratories will retain control over the software upgrades and validation schedule, while taking advantage of unlimited and secure access to data from anywhere at any time, which will drive well-informed decision making and easier crosscollaboration. Furthermore, AWS Cloud deployment will enable unparalleled levels of scalability, with the LIMS expanding to meet evolving business needs.

Decades of science, imagination, and commitment that help bring your best products to market Heat and Control has been on a mission to modernise equipment solutions since our founding in 1950.

For 70 years, our passion for advancing the food, pharmaceutical, and other industries has guided our work. From the machinery we manufacture and

the customers we serve, to our process breakthroughs and the partnerships we develop, we have always found new approaches, believed in bold ideas, and put people first. That is the essence of who we are and how we lead.

Managing deployments to a laboratory’s own cloud hosting service can be a costly and resource-intensive process. Thermo Fisher have developed the new cloud services to alleviate this burden and enable SampleManager LIMS software customers to access superior functionality and integration capabilities without having to invest significant resources into the setup and ongoing management of a cloud environment.

In addition to the security features available through standard AWS Cloud deployments, Thermo Fisher also implements its own robust Corporate Information Security (CIS) programme, which outlines additional measures in line with security-bydesign principles to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of data.

info@heatandcontrol.com Learn more > heatandcontrol.com/alwaysinnovating

For more information about Thermo Fisher’s cloud services for SampleManager LIMS software, please visit thermofisher.com/ samplemanagercloud.

FoodNZ_OctNov2020_90.5w x 260h_3mmBleed_70yrs.indd 1

28/08/2020 21 PM October/November 2020 12:24:51

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The Tekplas site at Rolleston

Tekplas – Food safety in plastic moulding Food safety is paramount in new plastic moulding facility

Introduction The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code broadly mandates the requirements for food packaging: it must be safe for the end consumer. For a food packaging manufacturer, a handful of key food safety attributes will will ensure packages for food are safe, whichever material is in use.

Key food safety attributes for food packaging • The packaging must be fit for its intended use • The packaging must not impact the safety and suitability of the contacted food • The packaging must not transfer any toxic substances into the food it is holding i.e. it must be of food grade • Packaging must be made from a material that will not migrate into or contaminate the food • Packaging used in contact with food must not cause the food to exceed the permitted levels of metal, non-metals, or natural toxicants Ian McDougal, Technical Director of Tekplas, provides further insight on key food safety features for plastic food packaging, and how Tekplas incorporated these into their new purpose-built facility.

Identify the end-goal Plastic is a very stable product manufactured by a process considered to be low risk, so it is well suited to packaging of food products, where food safety in the end product is paramount.

Ian McDougal,

Technical Director “With this as our end goal, we focus on of Tekplas good product design, effective quality management systems, and robust control measures to prevent contamination throughout the manufacturing process. These measures are critical,” Ian says.

The typical situation in most plastic packaging facilities is a clean-room (or controlled area) used for preventing contamination. But there are significant differences in the extent of use and the capabilities of cleanroom facilities. An internationally recognised class system is used to identify the standard of a clean-room. Facilities differ depending on the proportion of the manufacturing process that is performed within the clean-room environment.

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Food New Zealand

What is a clean-room?

A clean-room is defined as an environment free from dust and other contaminants that is used in the manufacturing processes of many industries, including those requiring a hygienic environment such as food packaging.

Clean-rooms are classified according to the cleanliness level of the air inside them, with the allocated class depending on the quantity and size of particles per volume of air. The primary standard used is the ISO certification system (ISO 14644-1).

Achieving accreditation involves collecting air samples from the clean-room and testing on a periodic basis. Based on the test results the certification of the facility is graded to a certain class of clean-room. This classification relates to the maximum number of allowable particles, of a certain size, within a standard volumetric air sample.

Most facilities use a clean-room for inspection and packing processes, where the risk of contamination is considered to be the highest.

However, many neglect the manufacturing area – where raw material is loaded into machines and the product is moulded before going into the controlled inspection and packing areas. This can be due to operating in older buildings, where any alterations to existing infrastructure to improve food safety becomes almost impossible or a significant financial commitment.

Tekplas were experiencing this challenge in their own facility and at a time when their sites were reaching capacity saw an opportunity to create a New Zealand first – an entire plastic moulding facility inside an ISO certified clean-room environment. “This would ensure our products remain in a highly controlled hygienic environment throughout all phases of production and allow for greater efficiency in the manufacture of products for food use.”

Construction project The location for the new Tekplas site was found in Rolleston, a key industrial hub of the South Island and just down the road from one of their key clients. “We really value the relationship we have with our clients and are always looking for ways to better service their needs.

We knew we wanted to expand into the South Island to better support clients around the country and having this key partnership in the area was the catalyst for us choosing this site.”

There was a list of main elements they wanted to achieve with the build so food safety was ingrained in the blueprint from the very

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beginning. “We had a real opportunity to build our Food Safety and Quality Management System from the ground up, with a specific focus on food packaging – and we wanted to make the most of every little detail," says Ian. This started right at the foundations, where the concrete slab utilised a post tensioned reinforcing system to ensure no cracking or cut marks.

With a surface area of 2000m2 this was no easy feat, “it meant that no dust, bacteria or foreign bodies could settle into hard-to-reach areas.

We are pretty proud of that one."

With a firm focus on creating the first ISO Class 7 clean-room moulding room in New Zealand, other features include having a robust security system to ensure protection from food fraud and other threats of adulteration, and utilising automation where possible to reduce the added risk of contamination that comes with additional handling of a product.

With a lengthy planning phase to fine tune all design features to specification, construction was a straightforward process, commencing in May 2019 with the facility fully operational by March 2020.

Recognition Tekplas’ dedication to food safety and quality has seen them become the first plastic moulding company in New Zealand to receive the FSSC22000-Q certification, with the Rolleston facility certification

due to be finalised around the time of this publication. “Our design philosophy, staff expertise and quality management systems have been there from the start, but this new facility provided the missing piece of the puzzle to get to that next level, and this certification will really support that."

What is FSSC 22000-Q Food Safety System Certification & Quality Management System Certification?

FSSC 22000 has been a Global Food Safety initiative scheme since 2010, meeting the highest standards globally for the international food industry. The scheme uses international and independent standards such as ISO 22000, ISO 9001, ISO/TS 22003 and technical specifications for sector specific Prerequisite Programs (PRPs), such as ISO/TS 22002-4 for Food Packaging Manufacturing.

While FSSC 22000 focuses on the food safety scope only, FSSC 22000-Q also includes food quality management standards, to ensure food safety and quality are well integrated throughout the manufacturing process.

October/November 2020

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Close view of a Sumitomo machine with staff in full personal protective equipment

Production Parminder Kaur, Tekplas South Island Quality Manager, talks us through their manufacturing process, showcasing the food safety elements achieved through this new facility.

Starting in the loading bay, raw material is transferred by vacuum directly to each injection moulding machine, utilising automatic gravimetric blending of resins. Magnets are used at the bottom of each receiver to capture any ferrous material before manufacturing begins.

“These features provide efficiencies and minimise contamination risk at the critical start point of the manufacturing process.”

Manufacturing and packaging spaces are within the ISO Level 7 cleanroom environment, controlled via sealed access points and red line floor markings. Each space utilises an HVAC system to provide a constant supply of filtered air. “Differential pressure helps the cleanest air flow into spaces with less clean air, flushing out any unwanted dust particles or foreign bodies.” The air inside this environment is replaced 22 times every hour and a dual dependency system is utilised on air filters to ensure redundancy protection if one system fails. “This ensures we can consistently manufacture in our clean-room environment without any risk of interruption or delay.”

A restricted entry with bio-metric palm-scanners eliminates the risk of any contamination by unauthorised/not trained individuals entering cleanroom areas. Additional to the robust, three-level entrance system, the use of personal protective equipment such as overalls, dedicated shoes,

About Tekplas Proudly New Zealand owned, Tekplas was founded to deliver the highest quality plastic injection moulding in New Zealand.

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hair nets, face coverings and gloves ensures the hygiene levels inside the clean-room are not compromised, “It’s a bit like preparing for space exploration, but our staff have become very efficient at the process.”

Machinery was selected based on proven best performance in a cleanroom environment. The facility operates all-electric Sumitomo moulding machines from Japan and uses robot technology for in-mould labelling, assembly, packaging and transfer before sealed product exits the cleanroom environment into warehousing. “The process of automation significantly reduces human touch points – all supporting hygiene control, product quality and manufacturing efficiency.”

Future Plans Building on the success of the Rolleston factory build, Tekplas has now started construction on a new Hamilton facility to replace their existing North Island sites. Expected to be in production by August 2021, this site will step up automation throughout production to further reduce human touchpoints and will have two separate clean-room moulding facilities, providing flexibility to operate two different environments if needed. Ian and the team are excited about what this new vision will bring, “All of our facilities will be 100% fit for purpose, providing greater capacity for projects requiring hygienic moulding in food packaging and human health, and the opportunity to achieve food safety excellence without compromising on efficiency. We are really looking forward to the challenge.”

– accommodating high volume orders with ease. The facility under construction will create additional capacity in Waikato.

With a 25-year history in hygienic design and manufacture, Tekplas’ core business from the very beginning has been in the production of scoops and reclosures for many of New Zealand’s prominent manufacturers of infant formula products.

Growing their capacity to service the wider food packaging industry, Tekplas have a relentless focus on quality management systems and food safety standards through all phases of manufacturing, packaging and distribution, and work with quality engineering technology to achieve the highest accuracy and fastest cycle times.

Tekplas already have two purpose-built facilities conveniently located in the main industrial areas of Canterbury and Waikato with over 100 staff and ability to run 39 electric moulding machines

Tekplas can partner with a customer from any stage of the design process and customises every journey to deliver a product on time, every time, exactly as ordered.

Food New Zealand

DISCUSSION

Should Infant Formula lipids contain cholesterol?

Authors: Laurence Eyres, Anny Dentener, Sally Xiong, Jing Zhou Big business Infant nutrition is a major food industry segment especially in strong dairy-orientated countries like New Zealand and Australia. The latest figures from Statistics NZ show infant formula exports in 2019 of about 120,000 tonnes. The business grew by 30% over the year before to earn export revenue of more than $1.7 billion NZD. For comparison, exports in 2015 were worth $450 million. Four major blenders, packers and exporters dominate the trade â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fonterra, Synlait, Danone Nutricia and GMP. A2 Milk markets and sells a major brand of infant formula in China but is not a manufacturer. New Zealand accounts for about 7% of the global trade in formula.

Considerations The nutritional superiority of human breast milk has instigated much research over the last 50 years and lipids have been a major part of that work, especially in New Zealand.

The lipid work has explored options for matching the fatty acid composition and adding both arachidonic acid (omega-6) and

Clinically proven SN2 palmitate ingredient

DHA (omega-3). Modified triglycerides and complex lipids such as phospholipids and gangliosides that simulate the human milkfat globule membrane (MFGM) have also been studied but as far as we know few studies have investigated adding fats with known cholesterol levels to attain a certain targeted value.

The original infant formula, based on bovine, ovine or caprine milks, has had little modification of the fat structure nor ingredient implementation over the years. Animal fats have been substituted by vegetable fats because of theoretical nutritional advantages and, in the case of anhydrous milkfat (AMF), cost and the commercial opportunity in AMF sales.

Several aspects are significant about this substitution. Milk fats are present in milk as droplets surrounded by the milkfat globule membrane. They also contain cholesterol and its esters whilst vegetable fats contain little or no cholesterol in any form.

An early and popular global formula â&#x20AC;&#x153;Enfamilâ&#x20AC;?, (Eyres,1989) had a traditional fat blend of soft beef fat, maize oil, and coconut oil to produce a refined blend with a fatty acid profile closer to typical human milkfat combined with skim milk powder.

Night sleep

that mimics the fat structure and properties of human milk.

Ph: 09 272 2092 enquiry@invita.co.nz www.invita.co.nz

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25

DISCUSSION The fatty acids composition compared to human milk fat is shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Human milk fat

Formula blend Dairy based

Enfamil

Milk fat/CNO/ Maize oil

Oleo/CNO/ Maize oil

378

100

120

Saturates < C12 (%)

3

4

4

Saturates> C12 (%)

34-36

38

41

Monounsaturated (%)

38-40

38

Polyunsaturated omega-6 (%)

7-16

18-20

Cholesterol (mg/100g)

20-24

Notes to table 1. Milk fat and oleo source of saturates > C12 CNO (coconut oil) source of SFA < C12 2. Maize oil source of PUFA 3. However, the cholesterol in these products is not in the form of the complex lipid in intact membranes.

The major differences between breast milk and formulae lie in the variety of component saturated fatty acids (such as palmitic acid, including its structural position) and unsaturated fatty acids (including arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid). The functional outcomes of these differences during infancy and for later child and adult life are still largely unknown, but there is consensus that opportunities exist for improvements in the qualitative lipid supply to infants through the mother's diet or infant formulae. Much work has occurred on PUFA, structured lipids (OPO, OPL) and MFGM complex lipids such as gangliosides, however, little has been done to study the effects of adding cholesterol or its complex lipids. The triglyceride structure (i.e., the position of the fatty acids on the glycerol molecule) is also of importance because it has been shown that long-chain saturated fatty acids in the centre (sn-2) position are more efficiently digested and absorbed. Human milk and bovine milk are rich in the saturated fatty acid palmitic acid (C16:0, approximately 25% of fatty acids), of which approximately 70% of molecules in human milk and 45% in bovine milk, but <20% in most plant oils are esterified in the sn-2 position of triglycerides (Bracco U, 1994). In infant formulae, this translates into

a lower proportion of palmitic acid in the sn-2 position in formulae containing only vegetable oils compared with formulae containing milk fat or β-palmitate (a structured triglyceride with palmitic acid esterified preferentially in the sn-2 position).

Mammary alveolar cells produce milk fat globules containing a core predominantly consisting of triglycerides (comprising 98%–99% of milk lipids) and small amounts of monoglycerides, diglycerides, and nonesterified fatty acids, surrounded by a milk fat membrane with different phospholipids, esterified cholesterol, glycosylated polypeptides, filaments, mucin, lactadherin (Milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein), and other components.

Cholesterol benefits Human milk contains 90 to 150 mg/L cholesterol, in contrast to no appreciable cholesterol content in vegetable oil–based infant formulae and to approximately 40 mg/L in dairy fat–based infant formulae (Kamelska et al., 2013). The range of observed total cholesterol in made-up milks seems to be 0-10mg/L. Some of these values have been calculated from label declarations in per 100g, then assumed a standard conversion to ml. of 13.2g powder in 100ml liquid IF. Over the past several years, the market share of sheep and goat infant formula has grown in New Zealand as well as export markets. Sheep milk contains around 14-29 mg/L and goat milk contains around 1018mg/L cholesterol, respectively (Renata PF and Anna M KS, 2020).

The majority of goat and sheep infant formulae in New Zealand market contain goat whole milk and sheep whole milk. The cholesterol level for those infant formula is approximately less than 50mg/L which depends on the goat whole milk and sheep whole milk usage in the formula.

Cholesterol is the substrate for the synthesis of bile acids, lipoproteins, vitamin D, and hormones. It also acts by stabilising the structure of cellular membranes and is incorporated into brain lipids, mainly during the first months of life (Kinney HC et al., 1994). The balance and interaction between DHA and cholesterol might modulate membrane rafts and functions of channels, enzymes, and receptors associated with membranes, but clinical consequences in infants are not known.

The higher cholesterol concentration of human milk is most likely the reason for the higher blood levels of cholesterol and low-density

Cholesterol in synthesis of essential nutritents CHOLESTEROL Synthesis of Vitamin D Skin exposed to sunlight

7 dehydro cholesterol

Pregnenol One

Hydroxylation at 1,25 position in liver/kidney

Progesterone

1,25 di-hydroxy cholecalciferol (Vitamin D)

26

Synthesis of Steroid Hormones

Food New Zealand

Cortisol

Aldosterone

Estradiol

DISCUSSION lipoprotein cholesterol levels in breast-fed infants compared with formula-fed infants.

Lasting effects were reported in meta-analyses of studies on the association of breast-feeding with modestly but significantly reduced concentrations of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adults. A greater difference (0.15 mmol/L) was observed for exclusive, rather than partial breast-feeding, suggesting that exclusive breast-feeding of 30% of infants could reduce population prevalence of cardiovascular disease by 5% (Owen CG et al., 2008).

Indeed, the longitudinal study of 87,252 nurses born in the first half of the 20th century found being breast-fed is associated with a 10% risk reduction for cardiovascular disease (Rich-Edwards JW et al., 2004).

Conclusion Research is required in several areas, including the needs of term and preterm infants for cholesterol, the sites of action and clinical effects of lipid mediators on immunity and inflammation, the role of lipids on metabolic, neurological, and immunological outcomes, and the mechanisms by which lipids act on both short and long-term health.

We feel that overall, however, cholesterol should be a key component of modern and effective infant formula products.

Laurence Eyres and Anny Dentener are consultants and are part of FoodInc Dr. Sally Xiong is Chief Food Technologist, Synergy Nutrition Limited Jing Zhou is R&D Innovation Manager, Winston Nutritional Limited.

Thanks are due to Angela Rowan of Fonterra for valuable commercial insights and for nutritional information.

References Eyres, L. Linking product development of milkfat with the marketplace, Fats for the future,1989, Ed. R.C. Cambie, IUPAC, p 233-250.

Bracco U. Effect of triglyceride structure on fat absorption. Am J Clin Nutr 1994; 60(6 suppl):1002S–1009S. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Kinney HC, Karthigasan J, Borenshteyn NI, et al. Myelination in the developing human brain: biochemical correlates. Neurochem Res 1994; 19:983–996. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Owen CG, Whincup PH, Kaye SJ, et al. Does initial breastfeeding lead to lower blood cholesterol in adult life? A quantitative review of the evidence. Am J Clin Nutr 2008; 88:305–314. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Rich-Edwards JW, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, et al. Breastfeeding during infancy and the risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

Epidemiology 2004; 15:550–556. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Kamelska AM, Pietrzak-Fiecko R, Bryl K. Determination of cholesterol concentration in human milk samples using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. J Appl Spectrosc 2013; 80:148–152. [Google Scholar] Renata PF, Anna M. KS. The Comparison of Nutritional Value of Human Milk with Other Mammals’ Milk. Nutrients 2020, 12, 1404; doi:10.3390/ nu12051404

Abbreviations MFGM - Milkfat globule membrane AMF - Anhydrous milkfat OPO- Oleic-Palmitic-oleic triglyceride OPL - Oleic-Palmitic-linoleic triglyceride

Heavy Metal Issues? b Solution = ultra-pure minerals by October/November 2020 27 www.hawkinswatts.com

REVIEW

What do you we know about Kombucha today?

Microbiological, chemical and sensory analysis

Authors: Anthony N Mutukumira1, Kay Rutherfurd-Markwick2, Boying Wang 1, Xiaolei Wang1, and Richard Archer1 1

. School of Food and Advanced Technology 2. School of Health Sciences, Massey University

Preamble This is the third in a series of articles on Kombucha in New Zealand.

Kombucha is a sparkling sugared tea beverage fermented with a symbiotic culture of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) and yeast. Despite increasing demand for the beverage due to its perceived health benefits and naturalness, the precise microbial composition, often claimed to be probiotic, is largely unknown. The popularity of kombucha is also derived from components of the infused tea and from fermentation metabolites. Characteristics of the cultures are important to the beverage producers and ultimately to modern consumers. In this article, we provide an overview of some of the methods that are used to determine the fermenting cultures, metabolites and inherent chemical components in fermented kombucha. The methods listed here are not necessarily the most modern, but rather those which are broadly available and not capital intensive â&#x20AC;&#x201C; methods more likely to be accessible to a Kombucha manufacturer.

Background to Kombucha fermentation During the fermentation of Kombucha, sucrose is hydrolysed by the yeast invertase into fructose and glucose, then the two monosaccharides are metabolised by the yeast to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide.

Some of the ethanol produced is then further utilised by acetic acid bacteria to produce acetic acid. Much of the glucose is metabolised by the acetic acid bacteria into gluconic acid and glucuronic acid and yeast cells provide vitamins and other nutrients by autolysis to support the bacterial growth. The microbial spectrum in Kombucha is carried within a symbiotic culture (SCOBY or â&#x20AC;&#x153;tea fungusâ&#x20AC;?) of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) and yeast (Figure 1) which may vary between fermentations.

Purine derivatives from infused tea such as caffeine and theophylline provide the essential nitrogen source for the tea fungus culture metabolism. Green tea contains higher caffeine (5%) than black tea (2%), providing more nitrogen for the tea fungus culture to utilise for growth (Velicanski et al, 2013).

The chemical components of Kombucha are complicated and variable as they are influenced by the type of microorganisms in the SCOBY, as well as by fermentation conditions such as temperature, time, substrate content (like sucrose) and types of tea. The main chemical components of Kombucha are identified as organic acids including acetic, gluconic, glucuronic, usnic acid; sugars such as sucrose, glucose and fructose; B-group Vitamins and Vitamin C, ethanol, carbon dioxide, minerals, polyphenol, D-saccharic acid-1,4 lactone (DSL) and other yeast and bacterial metabolic products.

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Food New Zealand

Yeast

Acetic Acid bacteria

Figure 1. Electron micrograph of kombucha colony.

(Greenwalt, Steinkraus & Ledford, 2000)

Yeast Growth characteristics, enumeration and identification Yeast cell counts initially increase with fermentation time, then decrease gradually as fermentation continues. This reduction in yeast cell numbers in the late phase of fermentation may be due to the increasingly acidic environment. Also, as fermentation progresses, carbon dioxide produced by the yeast may accumulate at the interface between the liquid broth and the cellulose pellicle, thus blocking the transfer of nutrients from the broth to the pellicle and affecting the transfer of oxygen from the surface of pellicle to the broth. These two factors can generate an anaerobic and nutrient-depleted environment, in which few genera of bacteria and yeast can survive.

Isolation and enumeration of yeast Standard enumeration of yeast is carried out by conventional spread plating methods, which allows microorganisms to be exposed to the air to avoid stress caused by hot or warm culture medium. There are numerous commercially available media for the isolation and enumeration of yeast from food. Traditional acidified media such as malt extract agar (MEA) and potato dextrose agar (PDA) are widely used for general isolation purposes. These media provide the basic nutrients to support the growth of yeast and inhibit the growth of bacteria and moulds to obtain better results.

Acidified media are recommended for yeast isolation and enumeration from high-acid food including pickles and fruit purees. In addition, acidified media supress the growth of bacteria. Acidification of the media

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(pH adjustment) is usually carried out after sterilisation, as acidified agar can be hydrolysed during autoclaving. Growth of bacteria can be also suppressed by adding antibiotics such as oxytetracycline, penicillin G, chlortetracycline, chloramphenicol, gentamicin and streptomycin sulphate at 150-500 mg/L to the sterilised media. Preservative-resistant yeast can be detected on malt extract agar containing acetic acid.

Xerotolerant yeast can cause spoilage in foods with water activity of 0.65-0.85. These yeasts are commonly detected on modified basal media by increasing the sugar content to lower the water activity such as in malt extract yeast extract agar with 30% glucose (MY30G) and dichloran 18% glycerol agar (DG18). Samples cultured for yeast are commonly incubated at 25ยบC for 5 days before enumeration, although a longer incubation is recommended for xerotolerant yeast.

Genomic identification of yeast Different commercial kits such as API 20 C and 32 C (Figure 2) are convenient and popular for rapid yeast identification, however, these kits are associated with minor differences in biochemical profiles due to the variation of test conditions. Results obtained from commercial kits must be combined with morphological examinations to identify the yeasts at species level. Some yeasts, like the genus Dekkera, are the anamorphs of the genus Brettanomyces and are deficient in sexual characteristics. The biochemical profiles of these yeasts are similar, and it is difficult to distinguish them as the morphological features are not stable. The PCR and sequencing of genes are more accurate, reliable, and reproducible for identification than phenotypical tests.

The ribosomal DNA (rDNA) is the most common target for DNAbased yeast identification. The ribosomal DNA regions, including 18S, 5.8S, and 26S subunits, are separated by internal transcribed spacers called ITSI and ITS2. Several universal primers are available and allow the amplification for these rDNA regions. The large subunit of rDNA D1or D2 regions have also been chosen for genomic sequencing of clinical yeasts. PCR-enzyme immunoassay (PCR-EIA) method uses PCR amplified rDNA to detect the yeasts with labelled probes. Realtime PCR methods are widely used in detecting fungal pathogens such the genus Candida as it is rapid and more sensitive than traditional PCR techniques. Other PCR-based techniques such as the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and repetitive-sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) are also effective in rapid identification of yeasts.

Figure 2. Typical application of the API 32 kit. (www.biomerieux.com) Figure 2 Typical application of the API 32 kit (www.biomerieux.com)

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REVIEW

Acetic acid bacteria

Tea fungus

Growth characteristics, enumeration and identification Acetic acid bacteria can be isolated from certain fermented beverages such as vinegar, cider, lagers and kombucha. The isolation and enrichment media used are designed based on the metabolism and nutritional requirements of acetic acid bacteria. The carbon sources are mainly from D-mannitol and D-glucose. In addition, different concentrations of ethanol and acetic acid are added to the media. The nitrogen sources are obtained from peptone and yeast extract. Some mineral salts including KH2PO4, Na2PO4, and MgSO4, may be added to the medium to aid the recovery of the acetic acid bacteria cells. The cultivation techniques include streaking, spread-plate technique, pour plate method and drop-plate technique. The streaking plate method is often used to obtain qualitative information. For enumeration of acetic acid bacteria, pour plating and spread plating methods are commonly used. However, some AAB species produce a continuous biofilm on the surface of solid agar plates, which interferes with the development of colonies and enumeration. Consequently, the traditional pour plating method may not be the optimal method to determine the AAB population. The population of non-cultivable AAB can be achieved by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with specific primers.

This method is effective and accurate for enumeration of AAB from vinegars and wine. Alternatively, the epifluorescence staining technique is also regarded as a fast and simple method for the enumeration of total viable/non-viable AAB. The preservation of AAB cultures is commonly achieved by sub-culturing, storage under mineral oils, freeze-drying and cryopreservation. Sub-culturing involves the transfer of the existing colonies to fresh medium successively for storage at low temperatures (0-4ºC) to preserve the AAB cells for several weeks or months. Cells may be preserved under sterile mineral oil to inhibit dehydration and reduce metabolic activities at controlled temperatures (15ºC to 18ºC).

This method allows the cells to be preserved for months or years. The activation of the culture is achieved by streaking a retrieved portion of the colony to appropriate media.

Freeze-drying is described as one of the best methods for long-term storage of AAB and other microorganisms. The culture is frozen, and moisture is removed by sublimation. The residual moisture level of the dried culture should be controlled between 1-3% (w/v) for long shelf-life. The freeze-dried cells are suspended in a medium with cryoprotective agents such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), glycerol, dextran, skimmed milk, mannitol, sucrose, inositol, trehalose and malt extract for preservation.

Cryopreservation is one of the most effective methods for long term preservation of bacterial cultures. The frozen culture can be stored in a freezer at temperatures between-70ºC and -150ºC. Cell damage caused by ultra-low temperatures can be reduced by adding cryoprotectants such as glycerol (10-25%) and DMSO (5%). However, glycerol is not suitable for cellulose forming AAB such as Komagataeibacter xylinus as it can influence the cellulose structure. In this situation, DMSO is preferable as it can maintain the stability and high viability without affecting the cellulose structure.

Genomic identification of AAB The most advanced techniques in molecular biology are used to determine the species identity of the AAB isolates. These include multiple locus sequence analysis (MLSA) of four housekeeping genes in addition to the sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The results will help define the phylogenetic relationships among these AAB isolates.

30

Food New Zealand

Fermented tea broth

Figure 3. Kombucha tea fungus and liquid broth

Next, representative AAB strains will be subjected to whole genome sequencing. The obtained genome data will be analysed with regards to the specific phenotypic characters of the bacterial strains. Together, the genotypic, genomic and phenotypic data will provide a reliable species identification and further unravel the functional traits encoded in the genomes of these AAB strains.

Biofilms and planktonic organisms There is an important caveat to the discussion above of enumeration techniques for yeast and bacteria in Kombucha beverages. The culture techniques listed here assume that each bacterial or yeast cell is planktonic – floating free in the kombucha, but many will lie trapped in flecks of SCOBY (Figure 3) – so the plating techniques may under-estimate the true population. The genetic techniques can, if applied well, reach all the cells, including those deep in the SCOBY, but they may register all organisms, whether live or dead – so genetic techniques may over-estimate populations. Thus, Kombucha is not an easy material for the microbiologist. It is therefore important to know the type of sample, whether it is a culture, fermenting beverage or final packaged brew. Cultures and fermenting brews are expected to containing SCOBY, while the final packaged brew, ready for distribution may not contain the matrix.

pH and organic acids During fermentation, the pH of the kombucha beverage decreases due to the production of different organic acids: acetic acid and gluconic acid. The concentrations of which are usually analysed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) which can be costly. In addition, development and validation of the methods is timeconsuming and requires competent, skilled personnel.

Fermentation conditions such as time and temperature can have a significant influence on the final concentration of metabolites in the kombucha product. Investigations into the effect of inoculum concentration and fermentation temperature on metabolite concentrations showed that about 4g/L of total acids were obtained from kombucha inoculated with 15% of starter culture broth and fermented at 30℃ for 10 days, while only 2.2 g/L of total acids were detected in kombucha fermented at 22℃ with 10 % inoculum.

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Sugar content and total soluble solids (TSS) Sucrose, as the most common carbon source in kombucha, decreases linearly during fermentation. This decrease is caused by the metabolism of the sugar by the yeast and correlates with a reduction in total soluble solids (TSS), which is used as an indicator of the amount of remaining sugar in the beverage. Previous studies reported rapid decreases in sucrose concentrations of 2.3 g. L -1 . d-1

Ethanol During fermentation, sucrose is first hydrolysed to two monosaccharides (glucose and fructose) by yeast invertase. Ethanol is then produced via glycolysis, with preference for fructose as a substrate. Several studies have reported that the ethanol content in kombucha first increases and then decreases during prolonged fermentation. Changes of ethanol content during fermentation of kombucha can be analysed by gas chromatography (GC) equipped with a flame ionisation detector.

The decrease in ethanol content during prolonged fermentation may be attributed to the oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid by acetic acid bacteria. In a nutrient-depleted environment, ethanol is used as a source of carbon by acetic bacteria, provided there is enough oxygen available.

Increased ethanol levels in kombucha during storage have been attributed to continued sugar metabolism by yeasts. Under anaerobic conditions, yeast hydrolyse glucose to pyruvate by glycolysis, and pyruvate is then metabolised into acetaldehyde which is further hydrolysed to ethanol through the fermentation.

Several methods have been used by brewers to assess ethanol levels.

In beer the hydrometer is effective as sugars in solution are replaced by much smaller quantities of ethanol, while CO2is bubbled out of solution: specific gravity declines as ethanol levels climb. Hydrometers are coarse at the best of times and far too coarse for measuring ethanol in a complex medium like Kombucha. These days near infra-red reflectance (NIR) instruments are available. They measure a few select wavelengths of light reflected from liquid sitting against an optically clear window and interpret what the ethanol content is likely to be.

These can be quite accurate if calibrated against exactly the liquid in question. NIR devices do not analyse a single characteristic of a simple compound in solution and rely on the balance of interfering compounds to be exactly the same in the test solution as in those used for calibration. They are moderately cheap, very easy to use, but only give an indication of probable ethanol content. Various forms of chromatography now offer the best analysis methods. Some methods sample the gas headspace above the liquid Kombucha. This has the advantage of giving a clean sample to the instrument but relies on getting little interference from other volatile compounds. Once the sample is injected, the chromatograph will do a good job of separating ethanol from other compounds and quantifying it separately. It is also possible to inject a liquid sample directly into a chromatograph. This avoids the problems of absorbing quantitatively from the headspace but means the analyst must be careful to filter out particulates from the sample which may otherwise stick inside the instrument. Direct injection chromatography is probably the method of choice for accuracy and NIR for pace and low cost.

Colour The colour of kombucha beverage changes during fermentation, becoming lighter as fermentation progresses. The redness and greenness (a*) of the beverage increases during fermentation and then decreases during storage. Meanwhile, the yellowness and blueness of

fermented kombucha initially decreases then increases during cold storage. The degradation or biotransformation of polyphenols by enzymes liberated by bacteria and yeast under the acidic environment, especially (degradation) of theaflavins and thearubigin may be responsible for the changes in colour. The spectrophotometer is commonly used to measure the colour of the beverage following calibration of the instrument with distilled water. The colour of the sample is directly measured by illuminating D65 artificial daylight at a 10° standard angle, and the corresponding L*, a*, b* values are immediately recorded after the measurement.

Vitamins and minerals Changes in the levels of water-soluble vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins B1, B12, B6, C and minerals (manganese, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt, chromium) in fermented kombucha drinks have been reported. Generally, most of the soluble minerals increase after fermentation when compared to levels in the unfermented tea infusion. These increases have been attributed to the metabolic activity of the kombucha starter cultures (Jayabalan et al., 2014), which lower redox potential and pH, helping to leach free cations into solution.

Vitamins and minerals in Kombucha can be analysed by standard analytical equipment such as HPLC and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Sensory attributes of kombucha beverage The taste of kombucha is slightly acidic, sweet and sparkling, and is significantly affected by fermentation temperature, time and the materials used for the fermentation. Thus, the concentration of added sugar, the fermentation temperature and fermentation time must be well-controlled to produce a healthy product with acceptable sensory properties. The traditional 1-9 hedonic rating scale can be used to evaluate fermented Kombucha by a consumer panel.

Conclusion Knowledge of symbiotic starter culture composition allows producers to have better control of fermentation factors. However, microbiological analysis of the culture of yeast and acetic acid bacteria is complex due to the presence of a large diversity of the microorganisms.

Preliminary work done in our laboratory has shown that some of the microorganisms are not available in the databases, which suggests that they could be new species. Analytical methods for analysing sugar and important metabolites can be developed relatively quickly, but they demand the use of capital equipment. In support of the growth of kombucha products in New Zealand, Massey University has built capacity over the last few years to assist producers of kombucha and related products to analyse their products. We therefore hope to feature informative and more in-depth articles on Kombucha in future publications of this journal.

For more information and for the full reference list email: a.n.mutukumira@massey.ac.nz Dr Tony Mutukumira and Associate Professor Kay Rutherfurd-Markwick are working on kombucha at the Food Fermentations Laboratory, Massey University, Auckland Campus. They have microbiological and chemical analytical methods for the analysis of kombucha available to assist producers.

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RESEARCH

Differences in sensory profiles of Sheep, Goat and Cow milk Authors: Li Day1, Marita Broadhurst1, Siyu Chen2, Keegan Burrow2, Linda Samuelsson1 1.

2.

Te Ohu Rangahau Kai, AgResearch Ltd., Corner University Avenue & Riddet Road, Massey University Manawatu (Turitea), Tennent Drive, Palmerston North 4474 Food Science Department, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand

Introduction The emerging New Zealand dairy sheep sector has experienced very strong growth in the past 5-10 years. Increasing interest in non-bovine milks globally provides an export opportunity, particularly to Asia due to perceived nutritional and health benefits. On a global level, New Zealand is a small participant, producing just 0.1% of the total global volume of sheep milk. Current New Zealand exports of sheep milk products are valued at about $20 million. Expanding the industry through the production of high value products such as infant formula has potential to increase the sector’s export to $250 million in 2024 (Hales et al. 2020).

Often sought after for their perceived health benefits and the belief of lower allergenicity and more easily tolerated than cow milk (Claeys et al. 2014), sheep milk products attract a premium over their cow milk equivalents. However, the consumption of sheep milk is less universally accepted, due to the perceived sheepy/goaty flavour. Our recent research has shown that the volatile branched-chain fatty acids (vBCFAs), responsible for the distinct sheepy/goaty flavour, are higher in sheep milk compared with cow milk, but much lower than goat milk (Teng et al. 2018a).

Consumer preference and liking can be influenced by sensory properties (appearance, flavour and texture) of liquid milk and milk-based protein beverages. For example, it has been reported that Korean consumer liking of milks was positively correlated with sweetness, sweet cream flavour, and smooth texture (Chung 2009). The sensory properties of milk are influenced by many factors such as the nutritional composition (e.g. macronutrient and mineral components), lactation time, onfarm practices (e.g. feed and animal genetics), post-farm processing (e.g. pasteurisation, cream separation, ultra-high temperature (UHT) and spray drying) and other interventions (vitamin fortification, and packaging) (Schiano et al. 2017). Most of the research in understanding the sensory properties of milk and milk-based beverages has been carried out on cow milk and ingredients/products produced from cow milk. To date, there is only limited knowledge on consumer perception of milk from other animal species.

In this work, we aimed to evaluate how the differences between sheep, goat and cow milk are perceived by people of Chinese ethnic origin.

Spray dried milk powder products produced in New Zealand were collected at the early, mid and late stages of the production season to 32

Food New Zealand

identify the sensory attributes that potentially drive the differentiation of the sensory profiles of milk from different animal species. The research focused on understanding Chinese consumers’ sensory perceptions, due to China being the largest export market for New Zealand Dairy industry.

Experimental Three sets of whole milk powder samples from sheep, goat and cow (produced in November 2016, January, February and March 2017) were kindly provided by NZ producers (Teng et al. 2018b). Liquid milk samples were prepared by reconstituting milk powders in warm water (40°C) at a final concentration of 16.7% (w/v). The milk samples were then chilled to, and stored at 4 °C for a minimum of 3 hours prior to use.

The proximate composition (total fat, protein, lactose and solids) were analysed using the Fossomatic™ method (Teng et al. 2018b). The mineral content was analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) (Burrow et al. 2018).

Sensory quantitative descriptive analysis was conducted in accordance with the method described by Lawless and Heymann (2010) at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Sessions were held over a two-week period, including an initial screening, eight trainings, and two final evaluations. Individuals of Chinese ethnicity were recruited from the general Dunedin community to establish a sensory panel.

Prospective panellists were required to be Chinese citizens, Mandarin speaking, in New Zealand for less than 5 years, and at least 18 years old. Individuals with lactose intolerance or dairy product allergies were excluded from participating in the panel. The sensory panel was run using Mandarin Chinese language by a native speaker. All work involving human participants was approved by the University of Otago Human Ethics Committee (Approval No. 13/278O/17).

The final evaluation of the milk samples was conducted in standardised sensory booths at the University of Otago, Department of Food Science (Dunedin, New Zealand). An intensity scale (0-150) was used to quantify the intensity of the attributes (Table 1). Samples for evaluation were coded in three-digit random numbers and were presented to the panellists in a random order. Data was collected by Compusense Five® (release 5.6, Compusense Inc., Guelph, Canada). Each individual

RESEARCH

Table 1. Total protein, fat and lactose content and selected minerals in the milk samples.

Milk (16.7% solids)

Protein (%)

Fat (%)

Lactose (%)

Sheep 1

5.35

5.73

Sheep 2

5.21

Sheep 3

Mineral (mg/100g) Ca

P

K

Na

Mg

5.10

178.7

144.8

129.4

39.6

15.5

5.61

4.98

170.3

142.8

129.9

44.1

17.5

5.23

6.27

4.80

161.8

132.1

126.6

51.3

18.5

Goat 1

4.14

4.65

6.29

155.0

133.1

295.6

51.9

18.5

Goat 2

3.61

4.27

7.41

132.3

110.1

245.5

51.9

18.0

Goat 3

4.41

4.85

6.48

148.0

138.1

309.0

57.6

20.4

Cow 1

3.91

4.75

6.95

137.3

109.7

175.4

35.6

12.3

Cow 2

3.91

4.75

6.98

130.4

101.9

162.7

34.2

11.9

Cow 3

3.86

4.69

6.91

131.4

97.9

152.0

36.6

12.8

panellist conducted the evaluation in duplicate, spread over two consecutive days.

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out followed by Tukey's post hoc testing (where appropriate) to determine significant differences between sample types for each dependent variable within a given analysis method. Spearmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s correlation was used to determine relationships between variables. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out to visualise the relationships between milk type (cow, sheep, and goat) and the quantitative descriptive analysis results.

Results and discussion The total protein, fat, lactose and several key minerals are shown in Table 1. The reconstituted milk samples were made up to the same total solids content of 16.7%. The total protein, fat and lactose concentrations between the goat and cow milk were similar, and slightly different to the sheep milk. The sheep milk was higher in protein and fat, but lower in lactose compared with the goat and cow milk. This is largely due to that the concentrations of total protein and fat are naturally higher in sheep milk, but with a similar concentration of lactose to that goat and cow milk (Day et al. 2016). Therefore, the total protein-to-lactose and fat-to-lactose ratios are different between sheep and goat or cow milk (Day et al. 2016). As the result, the reconstituted sheep liquid milk samples used in this work had higher protein and fat content and lower lactose content compared to the goat and cow milk samples (Table 1).

The sensory panel developed a list of attributes by evaluating samples of the sheep, cow, and goat milk over the course of 3 sessions. A total of 12 attributes were selected for evaluation (Table 2). For all sensory

Table 2. Descriptors developed by the sensory panel and used in the quantitative descriptive analysis.

Attribute category

Attribute Chinese descriptor*

Appearance

English descriptor (translation) Viscosity

Odour

Dairy odour

Taste

Sweetness Bitterness Saltiness Livestock Dairy taste

Mouthfeel

Creaminess Astringency

Aftertaste

Sweetness Saltiness Dairy taste

* Descriptors are as generated by the panel October/November 2020

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RESEARCH

Figure 1. Quantitative descriptive analysis of sheep, goat and cow milk prepared by reconstituting whole milk powders to the same solid basis.

The results are mean intensity ratings of three milk samples for each animal species collected throughout one production season. * The attribute is significantly different between sheep, goat and cow milk samples attributes, there were no significant differences between replicate milk samples from the same species (P>0.05), however there were significant differences between milk samples from different species (P<0.05). There was also no significant interaction between the panellists and replicates (P>0.05). This means that panellists had consistent performance in rating replicates and the results were not affected by the order of presentation. The mean intensity rating of the attributes for sheep, goat and cow milk, are shown in Figure 1. Sensory attributes known to be closely linked were grouped together.

Dairy odour, dairy taste and dairy aftertaste There was no significant difference in dairy odour between the cow milk and goat milk. However, the sheep milk collected in Nov (spring) was significantly different from the sheep milk collected in Feb (autumn), resulting in a large variation among the 3 sheep milk samples. Overall, the dairy odour in sheep milk was not different to either goat or cow milk.

Both sheep and goat milk samples had lower intensity scores for dairy taste and dairy aftertaste, compared with the cow milk samples. The results show that the perception of dairy taste is strongly associated with the consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s familiarity with cow milk.

Viscosity and creaminess The sheep milk was rated highest in viscosity, followed by cow milk, and with the goat milk samples rated lowest. Milk protein content, particularly casein concentration, is known to drive sensory perception of viscosity (Cheng et al. 2019). The total protein content of the sheep milk used for this study was higher than that of goat and cow milk (Table 1), when all the milk samples were prepared to the same total solids content. Although the total protein content between the cow and goat milk are similar, the ratios between the casein and whey proteins are likely different (Claeys et al. 2014), which could contribute to the perceived differences in viscosity. It is possible that other factors may also influence the perception of milk viscosity such as fat content.

All milk samples were rated similarly in creaminess. Creaminess can be influenced by fat content, fat globule structures and fat-soluble flavour attributes in milk (Schiano et al. 2017). Although the fat content was slightly higher in the sheep milk compared with the goat and cow milk, 34

Food New Zealand

Figure 2. The intensity map showing the correlation scales between the concentrations of total and free vBCFAs and the sensory flavour taste attributes. Blue â&#x20AC;&#x201C; positive correlated; red â&#x20AC;&#x201C; negative correlated this difference does not appear to influence the creaminess perception between the milk samples from the three animal species. Given all three liquid milks were prepared from spray dried powders, the fat globule structures are expected to be similar in size and morphology.

This implies that other factors such as flavour associated attributes may influence the creaminess of milk when comparing milks produced by different animal species.

Sweetness and sweet after taste The cow milk samples were rated highest in both sweetness and sweet aftertaste. The intensity ratings of cow milk samples were significantly higher than the ratings of the other two species. There were no differences in the ratings of sweetness and sweet aftertaste

RESEARCH

between goat and sheep milk. The sweetness and sweet aftertaste are mostly influenced by the level of lactose in milk. The lactose content in the reconstituted cow milk was 7.0%, which was higher than both goat (6.7%) and sheep milk (5.0%). Interestingly, although there was a difference in the lactose content between goat and sheep milk and the lactose content in the goat milk was closer to the cow milk, the ratings in sweetness and sweet aftertaste for goat milk were quite different from the cow milk, but not from the sheep milk. This indicates that other taste associated factors might have implicated the sweetness and sweet aftertaste perception of the goat milk.

Saltiness and salty aftertaste The cow milk samples had very low intensity scores for saltiness and salty aftertaste. In contrast, the goat samples had relatively higher saltiness and salty aftertaste intensity scores. The sheep milk samples were rated only slightly higher than the cow milk, and were much lower than the goat milk. Minerals in milk impart a salty taste to milk and milk products. Sodium (Na) and potassium (K) are the largest contributors to salty taste (Schiano et al. 2017). Both Na and K content in goat milk were higher than the sheep and cow milk (Table 1). Strong correlations were found between Na and saltiness/salty aftertaste (r=0.996/0.996).

Our results also show that there were also strong correlations between magnesium (Mg) and saltiness/salty aftertaste (r=0.946/0.946).

Bitterness and astringency All milk samples had low intensity scores in both bitterness and astringency. The cow milk samples were rated the lowest, followed by sheep milk, and with goat milk being rated highest. The intensity scores for goat milk were significantly different from cow and sheep milk.

Livestock taste The ratings for livestock taste of milk samples were significantly (P<0.05) different between the sheep, goat and cow milk samples.

In addition, the 3 sheep milk samples collected at different time points were also significantly different from each other. Overall, the cow milk samples had very low intensity scores for livestock taste, whereas the goat milk samples had highest intensity scores. The sheep milk samples were rated between the cow and goat milk. Livestock taste is correlated positively with saltiness/salty aftertaste (r= 0.79/0.82) and negatively with sweet/sweet aftertaste (r=-0.700/-0.667), suggesting that these taste attributes are interlinked and strongly influence each other.

Goat and sheep milk and dairy products are characterized by a strong and unique flavour. The volatile branched chain fatty acids 4-methyloctanoic acid (4-Me-8:0) and 4-methylnonanoic acid (4-Me9:0), as well as 4-ethyloctanoic acid (4-Et-8:0) are considered to be key flavour compounds of sheep and goat milk and cheese. The strong flavour of goat milk originates from the free fatty acids 4-Me-8:0 and especially 4-Et-8:0, which are not present or only barely detectable in cow milk. Figure 2 shows the correlation in intensities between the concentrations of total and free vBCFAs and the sensory attributes. The results show that livestock taste is positively correlated with all 3 vBCFAs, particularly with the total 4-Me-8:0 (r=0.88) and 4-Me-9:0 (r=0.84) concentrations. Since saltiness/salty aftertaste are positively associated with livestock taste, they are also found to be highly correlated with the concentrations of total and free form of all 3 vBCFAs.

Conclusion Milk samples were collected from sheep, goat and cow. Their sensory properties were compared on the same solid basis using a panel of Chinese ethnicity. Dairy odour, dairy taste and dairy aftertaste were strongly associated with cow milk.

The differences between the sensory profiles of sheep, goat and

cow milk are largely influenced by the taste intensities of sweetness, saltiness and livestock taste. These three key taste attributes are strongly interlinked and likely to be the confounding factors in overall sensory perceptions of sheep and goat milk, compared to cow milk. Although the goat milk had a similar lactose concentration to the cow milk, the goat milk was rated lowest in sweetness due to its high livestock taste and saltiness. The high concentrations of minerals such as K, Na and Mg contributed to the high saltiness taste of goat milk. Similarly, the high concentrations of vBCFAs contributed to high livestock taste intensity. The saltiness perception of sheep milk was very close to the cow milk and much lower than the goat milk. This could be due to the mineral concentration (K, Na and Mg) in sheep milk being lower than in goat milk. Sheep milk had an intermediate livestock taste intensity compared with milk from the other two species. This could be due to the concentrations of all three vBCFAs being lower than the goat milk.

Sheep milk was rated higher in sweetness than goat milk, even though it had lower lactose content. This could be because sheep milk was perceived lower in livestock taste and saltiness compared to the goat milk.

Acknowledgement This research was conducted as part of the research programme â&#x20AC;&#x153;Boosting Exports of the Emerging NZ Dairy Sheep Industryâ&#x20AC;? funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE, contract C10X1305). The authors would also like to acknowledge Dr Fei Teng for the data analysis to establish the correlation between the vBCFAs and sensory attributes and Drs. Aladin Bekhit and Mei Peng for their assistance for the sensory work.

References Burrow, K., W. Young, M. McConnell, A. Carne, D. Barr, M. Reid and A. E.-D. Bekhit (2018). "The distribution of essential, trace, and non-essential minerals in weanling male rats fed sheep or cow milk." Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 62(21): 1800482.

Cheng, N., D. M. Barbano and M. Drake (2019). "Effects of milk fat, casein, and serum protein concentrations on sensory properties of milk-based beverages." Journal of Dairy Science 102(10): 8670-8690.

Chung, S. J. (2009). "Effects of milk type and consumer factors on the acceptance of milk among Korean female consumers." Journal of Food Science 74(6): S286-S295.

Claeys, W. L., C. Verraes, S. Cardoen, J. De Block, A. Huyghebaert, K. Raes, K. Dewettinck and L. Herman (2014). "Consumption of raw or heated milk from different species: An evaluation of the nutritional and potential health benefits." Food Control 42(0): 188-201.

Day, L., M. Broadhurst and L. Samuelsson (2016). "New Zealand sheep milk-nutritional composition." Food New Zealand 16(4): 20.

Hales, J., S. Kells and J. Morgan (2020). Opportunities for New Zealand Sheep Milk Products, New Zealand Food Innovation South Island.

Lawless, H. T. and H. Heymann (2010). Sensory evaluation of food: principles and practices. New York, New York, USA, Springer Science & Business Media.

Schiano, A. N., W. S. Harwood and M. A. Drake (2017). "A 100-Year Review: Sensory analysis of milk."Journal of Dairy Science 100(12): 9966-9986.

Teng, F., M. G. Reis and L. Day (2018a). "Research in sheep milk: Influences of processing on flavour related volatile compounds in New Zealand sheep milk." Food New Zealand 18(2): 28.

Teng, F., M. G. Reis, Y. Ma and L. Day (2018b). "Effects of season and industrial processes on volatile 4-alkyl-branched chain fatty acids in sheep milk." Food Chemistry 260: 327-335.

Teng, F., M. G. Reis, Y. Ma and L. Day (2018c). "Volatile 4-alkyl-branched chain fatty acids in NZ sheep milk." Food New Zealand 18(1): 26.

October/November 2020

35

GLOBAL NUTRITION

Sustainable Nutrition Initiative – Feed our Future Authors: Dr Nick Smith, Dr Andrew Fletcher, Olivia Finer & Professor Warren McNabb, Sustainable Nutrition Initiative, Riddet Institute For the global food system to be considered sustainable it must deliver enough nutrients to meet the needs of the global population. Researchers at the Riddet Institute have formed the Sustainable Nutrition Initiative (SNI), aiming to analyse how food production meets the nutritional needs of the world.

Goal: global nutrition Global nutrition means supplying the calories, macro-nutrients (fat, carbohydrates and protein), micro-nutrients and trace elements to individuals, regardless of their place on the planet. To achieve global health, we need global nutrition. SNI research will help to create a better understanding of the world’s food system and identify opportunities for improvement, to sustainably feed everyone with the nutrients required.

A sustainable food system is “a food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all, in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised. Our food system should be profitable throughout (economic sustainability), have broad-based benefits for society (social sustainability); and have a positive or neutral impact on the natural environment (environmental sustainability)”1.

While it is essential to examine the environmental and socioeconomic

Dr Andrew Fletcher, Professor Warren McNabb and Dr Nick Smith

The Delta Model Delta is the mathematical operator for the difference between two values. The DELTA Model is so called because it examines the fundamental differences between the nutrients produced versus the nutrients required to keep a population healthy. It also lets us examine the difference in nutritional performance between two future scenarios. consequences of the global food system, ensuring adequate nutrition for future generations should be a priority.

SNI has developed a modelling approach to test various scenarios for globally sustainable future food systems: the DELTA Model. This model is unique. It explores the ability of different food production scenarios to adequately feed the global population. It does not try to provide the answer to the perfect sustainable diet for individuals, since what might work for one individual does not necessarily work on a global level. SNI developed the DELTA Model to generate informed discussion around the possibilities for how the world can feed the world. And for the world to feed the world, nutrient-rich foods are required.

Sample output of the DELTA Model comparing the 2018 global food system (left-hand bars) with the same system applied to the 2030 population (right-hand bars). The black horizontal lines show the RDI. Although sufficient macronutrients are supplied, there are deficiencies in fibre, calcium, iron, potassium, zinc and vitamin E in the 2030 scenario. This emphasises the need for research in these areas to ensure adequate nutrition for future generations 36

Food New Zealand

GLOBAL NUTRITION The food system must be built from nutrient rich and bioavailable foods

daily requirement per person per day is a weighted average based on the demographics of the global population.

Diets cannot work on a global scale if there are insufficient nutrient-rich foods. In order to produce enough food to meet global requirements within global resource constraints, it is important to start with foods rich in bioavailable nutrients. Moreover, it is not enough to compare nutrient composition directly against requirements; the comparison must also take the bioavailability of individual nutrients in foods into account. Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a consumed nutrient that is absorbed into the bloodstream and used for normal bodily functions. For example, only 1.4% of the iron in spinach can be taken into the body, while 20% of iron from red meat can be absorbed. If bioavailability is accounted for, 1.04kg of spinach needs to be consumed to obtain the same amount of iron as you can get from 100g of beef (our team discussed this in a recent article in North and South Magazine).3

The DELTA Model considers the fact that protein quality is not equal in different foods. Foods differ in their essential amino acid composition, and the bioavailability of these amino acids is affected by a range of food factors. The Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS) is a method to measure protein quality4. A score of 1 or greater is considered a complete source of protein, while a score of less than 1 indicates the food is limiting in one or more essential amino acid.

For example, the DIAAS score for wheat is 0.45, for oats 0.67, for soy protein isolate 0.84 and for cow’s milk 1.16.

For most food production system scenarios, a balanced food system with nutrient-rich plant and animal foods is important. Equally as important to address are micro-nutrients and trace elements: the vitamins and minerals that are vital for human function. It is often not the macro-nutrients that limit the provision of adequate nutrition, rather, it is the micro-nutrients and trace elements such as iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin B12 and vitamin C. The richest and best-absorbed sources of calcium are milk products, which are also rich in other nutrients such as high-quality protein and vitamin B12. On the other hand, the best sources of vitamin C and fibre are plants.

The most common cause for concern with global diets is the need for increased protein supply, both now and in the future. Proteins consumed by the body supply essential amino acids - the 9 amino acids that cannot be synthesised by the human body. It is important to consider bioavailable, essential amino acid supply and not simply protein when assessing a global sustainable diet. These amino acids are required to manufacture proteins needed for bodily functions, such as building muscle, transporting nutrients and fighting infection.

Essential amino acid deficiencies can result in a range of health issues including decreased immunity, digestive problems, lower mental alertness or slowed growth in children. Long term consequences then have impacts both at the individual level and on national economic development and human capital.

A key observation from the model is that it is not feasible to meet global nutrient requirements with only plant-based sources of nutrition, even with active sourcing of a wide variety of foods, and possibly supplementation and fortification, which may not be a practical or affordable solution on a global scale. The options available to feed the world are not the same as options available to feed individuals, particularly in more affluent parts of the world where people have a lot more choice in their foods and diets. This does not mean the answer to the global food system is an abundance of animal foods.

The current food system is plant dominant: 85% of all biomass that leaves the world’s farms is plant-based. The key is that a food system must be optimised with nutrient-rich foods to ensure global nutrient requirements are met. This means plant-food based and animal food optimised.

Once possible scenarios of how the world can be nourished are established, the practicality of the food system and improvements required to deliver optimal outcomes must be considered. A solution that can nourish the average global citizen may not necessarily be a viable solution from a holistic view. Wider socioeconomic and environmental factors must be evaluated, such as land and its use, greenhouse gas emissions, water availability and quality, social and economic viability, and so on. If the other consequences of a scenario are not acceptable, then the performance of the environmental or socioeconomic outcomes need to be the focus for improvement.

However, the DELTA Model puts nutrition first when assessing sustainable food production systems. Any food production systems that cannot adequately contribute to nourishing the world will be an inadequate use of the world’s scarce and valuable resources.

How does the Delta Model work?

The Delta Model calculates the bioavailable nutrients supplied in a global food production scenario. This encompasses food production, processing, waste and other uses (e.g. animal fats in soap or sugar cane in biofuels). The model output displays whether a food production scenario delivers adequate nutrition to everyone on the planet, or where it falls short if not. The model assumes that nutrition should come first in assessing future food production scenarios, and will then move to consider the other aspects of sustainability, examining the associated environmental and socioeconomic consequences in later versions of the model. The model draws on food system and nutritional data from the FAO, USDA and the EFSA3. Other models and recommendations of sustainable diets largely make the over-simplification that all foods are equal in bioavailability. The DELTA Model is an improvement on such models, because it adjusts for bioavailability when comparing nutrient supply against requirements.

Many other models and recommendations for sustainable diets compare nutrient composition against a generic adult recommended daily intake (RDI). However, this is inaccurate because RDIs vary depending on age, gender and a multitude of other factors. Since the DELTA Model takes a global view of the world feeding the world, the

The Sustainable Nutrition Initiative team includes food scientists, nutrition scientists and mathematical modellers.

Drs Nick Smith and Andrew Fletcher are currently working on improvements to the DELTA Model including land use, environmental footprinting, and examining New Zealand’s role in the global food system. SNI is led by Professor Warren McNabb. In addition to the DELTA Model, SNI also produces scientific articles on food system sustainability and provides commentary on food system sustainability research.

Website: https://sustainablenutritioninitiative.com/ www.riddet.ac.nz Contact: Professor Warren McNabb Email: W.McNabb@massey.ac.nz References/Footnotes: http://www.fao.org/3/ca2079en/CA2079EN.pdf https://anemiacentral.com/spinach-for-iron/ 3.

“In Defence of Meat and Dairy”, North & South Magazine, December 2019 Issue 4.

FAO: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation; USDA: United States Department of Agriculture; EFSA: European Food Safety Authority 5.

DIAAS https://www.riddet.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Impact -Case-01-Measuring-the-protein-in-your-diet.pdf 1.

2.

October/November 2020

37

waste management

Reducing our environmental footprint New Zealand's horticultural crops have a global clean, green reputation which extends from growing through to production.

Management of waste streams is an important factor in ensuring the smallest possible environmental footprint. Sludge dewatering technology is being used internationally to handle food and beverage waste in an environmentally sensitive manner.

Sustainable handling of fruit processing waste A New Zealand food producer is cost-efficiently reducing waste volumes and their environmental footprint using a sludge dewatering installation. They are the country’s first adopter of a sludge dewatering technology engineered to cost-efficiently reduce the sustainability footprint of food, beverage, and wastewater treatment.

The company is installing a compact and cost-efficient KDS Multidisc Roller system from CST Wastewater Solutions, to dewater wet, sloppy, screened waste from the peeling process. The process transforms fruit waste from a wet and sticky heavy mass to a much drier product that is less messy and easier to handle and transport for stockfeed or landfill.

The technology will reduce volume by up to 90%, thus reducing transport costs and helping prevent any potential spillages during transport. There are also both operational and Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) benefits, with the site being cleaner and easier to maintain. Additionally there is saving in not paying for transport and disposal of unnecessary water.

“Heavy cakes of by-product from growers and food processors can 38

Food New Zealand

cost upwards of $150 a ton to dispose of, including the specialised transport to centres where compacting, drying, recycling and disposal can take place in controlled environments,” says CST Wastewater Solutions Managing Director, Michael Bambridge.

KDS technology, with its multi-roller system eliminates sticky, sloppy sludge and spillages by producing a drier, much lighter and hygienic waste that is more easily transported and recycled.

The NZ producer – that cannot be named because of contractual confidentiality provisions – is adopting KDS technology to handle a highly variable quality and volume of up to 5m3 per hour.

“The company had previously tried alternative technologies, but none handled the variable volume involved or dewatered the fruit waste enough to prevent excess water and product from creating an unhygienic site and causing leakage,” said Mr Bambridge.

The New Zealand company selected a model SS611 KDS with a longer press zone, to achieve optimum dewatering of the sloppy and wet mix of peelings, leaves and pulpy fruit material.

“The dewatering concept being employed in this instance spreads the waste over the table width to maximise the surface area and dewater a mat of solids, minimising water retention and producing a dryer sludge cake.

“This globally proven technology is eminently suited to the food and beverage processing industry. It also very cost-efficiently advances the environmental credentials of a significant member of the New Zealand fruit industry and a major contributor to the local and export agricultural market,” said Mr Bambridge.

The lighter, dryer waste, in addition to being easier and cheaper to

waste management

Closeup diagram of the KDS multidisc roller system

'Liquid' fruit waste is transformed to a much drier product transport, reduces the need for manual labour in cleaning and transport operations and curtails the need for staff to handle sloppy heavy waste that is potentially hazardous to health. Applications include fruit and vegetable producers, juice processing and production facilities, food kitchens and catering facilities, as well as livestock, horticulture and agribusinesses producing waste during processing of grains, cereals and grapes.

The KDS technology limits the possibility of spillages on public roads while sludge is being transported, as well as reducing the carbon footprint required to transport the much lighter and more hygienic byproduct.

Specifications The high quality, Japanese-manufactured stainless-steel technology: • Uses minimal energy, consuming as little as 0.06kW hr of electricity • Operates at low (63dBa) non-intrusive noise and vibration levels • Does not need water to keep clean, eliminating aerosol OH&S problems • Requires minimal daily maintenance, saving cost and enhancing OH&S performance • Occupies typically half the space or less of conventional dewatering plants • Is engineered to overcome the limitations of technologies such as screw presses, belt presses and centrifuges typically employed by small-to-medium applications to treat the sludge produced by their operations.

"The largest KDS unit can handle about 100kg DS (dry solids) an hour at 98% solids capture," says Mr Bambridge.

The dewatering units can be fixed or mounted on skids for optimum efficiency on production sites

Also used for thickening of dissolved air flotation sludge – a very common application throughout wastewater operations – the KDS achieves solids capture of 97% thickened sludge at a a dryness level of 17%. Waste activated sludge dryness levels are typically 15-18% dryness.

KDS technology is also available in a skid-mounted version which can be easily transported by truck or trailer to remote, sensitive or difficult to access sites The technology is also suitable for municipal and remote industrial worksite waste handling where its cost-effectiveness and lowmaintenance operation is a major advantage where engineering support may be far distant.

For further information go to www.cstwastewater.com October/November 2020

39

L&N

Lipids and Nutraceuticals A review of the latest news in the realm of natural compounds and health

Laurence Eyres FNZIFST and Mike Eyres B.Sc. AGM and annual meeting This as usual was a jolly event at the Northern Club and happened just before the second Auckland lockdown. After toasting the group’s 37 year history, the members voted in the existing committee.

To learn more about the Oils and Fats group visit: http://www.oilsfats.org.nz/

Regulated standards needed for Avocado Oil According to experts at the National Centre for Food Protection and Defence, “food fraud” is a collective term used to encompass the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients, or food packaging; or false or misleading statements made about a product, for economic gain.

As reported in the last newsletter, researchers in the USA at UC Davis found that 80% of the avocado oil for sale in the US is rancid or fraudulent. This is the same research group that investigated fraudulent olive oil a decade ago. There are two parallel markets for olive oil. One is for high quality oil, and one is for discount products.

The fraudulent discounted products ruin the whole market for ethical and quality olive and avocado oil producers and importers. There is a romantic element to the gold-green olive oil, conjuring up images of sun-drenched landscapes and deep blue Mediterranean waters. Its traditions date back thousands of years, and the fruit is still harvested in rocky environs by whacking it off trees with long poles. But in the modern era, it is a big business, shipped in tankers and sold by the ton. European Union countries exported more than $6 billion worth of olive oil in 2018.

Avocado oil is different. As an edible it only has a 20-year history commencing in New Zealand. The volumes traded are much smaller than olive oil. Virgin avocado oil is a lovely green colour due to its chlorophyll content and has a unique taste. Most of the avocado oil in the USA and Mexico is refined from poor quality crude oil so is yellowy brown in appearance and has a poor flavour profile.

There is a necessity for accurate and practical standards for avocado oil. Codex are currently working on standards for avocado oil and New Zealand has representation by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI). Massey University and Plant and Food Research, who have been involved in avocado oil research for almost 20 years are liaising with MPI. There is a danger that if standards do not reflect the varietal and geographic variations in products, then we in Australasia may find ourselves excluded from global markets. The exposure of the fraudulent oils that seem to predominate in America may ruin the image of avocado oil for ethical producers from Australasia.

Olive oil competitions in NZ How does a consumer know which boutique oil to purchase? The purpose of competitions is to highlight the best quality and authenticity of branded oils which sell at a premium over cheap and usually fraudulent products. Recently, two major competitions were held in 40

Food New Zealand

There is a romantic element to the gold-green oil of Olives but in the modern era it is big business, and a target for fraudulent activities. Similarly, Avocado oil quality is compromised for gain New Zealand. The Northland Olive Growers Association, Oliveti, had 24 high quality entrants. The best in class gold medal winner was Duck Creek olive oil. www.duckcreekoliveoil.co.nz The Auckland A&P show had over 80 really high quality entrants and the best in class gold medal was won by Kapiti olives. New Zealand olive oil has improved in taste and consistency over the last 20 years.

The oils are a delight to consume. www.kapitiolives.co.nz

Fonterra Formulae containing MFGM NZMP in Europe have recently been granted a patent for their SureStart MFGM Lipid 100 and Lipid 70. This follows a great deal of work work studying the importance of milkfat globule membrane composition in human milks. Human milk contains more MFGM (Milkfat globule membrane) components, including gangliosides and phospholipids, than standard infant formula. Cow’s milk provides one of the closest phospholipid profiles (in particular sphingomyelin content) to human milk and is the only alternative source of gangliosides. SureStart™ MFGM Lipids are inspired by the MFGM profile of human milk for use in paediatric applications. The innovative ingredient SureStart™ MFGM Lipid 70 can be used to achieve an infant formula composition closer to that of human milk. https://www.nzmp.com/content/dam/nzmp/pdfs/surestart

Complex milk lipids (CML) in infant formulae The CLIMB (Complex Lipids In Mothers and Babies) study is a multicentre, three-group, parallel randomised controlled trial. They aim to recruit 1500 pregnant women and randomise them into three treatment groups. Their primary objectives are: (1) to evaluate the impact of maternal dietary CML intake on maternal and infant complex lipid status by comparing outcomes of product A with product B and a reference group and (2) to investigate the benefits of the fortified maternal milk products (containing CML) on maternal health and nutritional status, and general infant health and neurodevelopment.

New Zealand’s expertise in maternal and infant health research has led to the University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute and its research transfer company, Auckland UniServices, completing its first clinical trial, the

L&N

CLIMB study, in collaboration with Chongqing Medical University (CQMU), in South-Western China.

Huang S, et al. BMJ bmjopen-2017-016637

Open

2017;7:

e016637.

doi:10.1136/

Structured lipids for infant formulae Advanced Lipids have just published two remarkably interesting brochures on specialty fats for infants. Infat Plus for infants is Advanced Lipids new structured lipid designed for Chinese mothers. The structured lipids offer several nutritional advantages for babies such as improved digestion, better sleep, and improved calcium absorption.

Invita are the New Zealand agent for Advanced Lipids. See their ad on page 25.

Immunity boosting – Dr. Robert Corish Dr Bob Corish MD, a well-known author in the field of natural health is currently working in the USA in the front line of the Covid-19 response. Recent communications from Dr Corish detail a preventative nutritional therapy programme that offers some good news and hope.

This programme has been used successfully to reduce hospitalisations.

The programme consists of supplementation of Zinc and Quercetin, Vitamin C, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and Vitamin D. Zinc’s importance for normal immune function has been known for years and it is very commonly found in current nutraceutical products for immunity. It has shown specific promise for cases of Coronavirus through its demonstrated ability to inhibit viral replication. Zinc is being currently investigated in clinical trials for the treatment of Covid-19.

The current evidence for zinc and other micronutrients was recently summarized in a review by Galmés, Serra, and Palou (2020) and is worth a read. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2738 Quercetin, a flavanoid, is also a well-known food bioactive and common nutraceutical ingredient. It has recognised antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Specific to Covid-19, quercetin looks to work in synergy with zinc to inhibit viral replication by increasing the cellular zinc concentration through acting as an ionophore (Dabbagh-Bazarbachi et al., 2014). Quercetin, although commonly found in nutraceuticals, is also readily found in foods and food-based ingredients produced in New Zealand. Onions and apples and berries are particularly good sources.

Vitamin C and NAC are thought to be effective due to their antioxidant actions which theoretically should reduce superoxide radicals produced by inflammatory cytokines. The success of these two nutrients raises the question of the effectiveness of food-based Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD) enhancers and the upregulation of endogenous antioxidant defences through activation of the transcription factor NRF-2. There are multiple plant-based ingredients that have these mechanisms of action with sulforaphane from broccoli sprouts considered the most potent food-based activator of NRF-2. For those interested in further reading on this topic, the following papers are recommended reading.

SOD - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464620 301419 Nrf-2 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7359808/ www.robertcorishmd.com Vitamin D has also long been recognised as having a vital role in the

normal functioning of the immune system. Covid-19 has highlighted this recently with Vitamin D deficiency being associated with increased rates of infection and poorer outcomes. Recently, high dose Vitamin D was investigated in a pilot clinical trial. It was found that high dose Vitamin D treatment given to hospitalised Covid-19 patients reduced the severity of symptoms and the need for ICU treatment (Entrenas Castillo et al., 2020). Details of this clinical trial have been summarised well by Dr John Campbell in a recent YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Ks9fUh2k8

Antibacterial effects of Samoan medicinal plants Chronic wounds and the rise of antibacterial resistance have researchers searching for antimicrobial bioactives from plants around the world.

Samoan traditional medicine has a long history of using medicinal plants for treating wounds. A recent paper has been published which details the in-vitro investigation of 14 traditional Samoan medicinal plants for their antibacterial properties. The research highlighted several species that showed antibacterial efficacy, a lack of toxicity to dermal cells and efficacy at increasing migration of dermal fibroblast cells. It will be interesting to watch this line of research progress (Frankova et al., 2020).

References Dabbagh-Bazarbachi, H., Clergeaud, G., Quesada, I. M., Ortiz, M., O'Sullivan, C. K., & Fernández-Larrea, J. B. (2014). Zinc ionophore activity of quercetin and epigallocatechin-gallate: from Hepa 1-6 cells to a liposome model. J Agric Food Chem, 62(32), 8085-8093. doi:10.1021/ jf5014633 Entrenas Castillo, M., Entrenas Costa, L. M., Vaquero Barrios, J. M., Alcalá Díaz, J. F., López Miranda, J., Bouillon, R., & Quesada Gomez, J. M. (2020). "Effect of calcifediol treatment and best available therapy versus best available therapy on intensive care unit admission and mortality among patients hospitalized for COVID-19: A pilot randomized clinical study". J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 203, 105751. doi:10.1016/j. jsbmb.2020.105751 Frankova, A., Vistejnova, L., Merinas-Amo, T., Leheckova, Z., Doskocil, I., Wong Soon, J., Kokoska, L. (2020). In vitro antibacterial activity of extracts from Samoan medicinal plants and their effect on proliferation and migration of human fibroblasts. J Ethnopharmacol, 264, 113220. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2020.113220 Galmés, S., Serra, F., & Palou, A. (2020). Current State of Evidence: Influence of Nutritional and Nutrigenetic Factors on Immunity in the COVID-19 Pandemic Framework. Nutrients, 12(9). doi:10.3390/ nu12092738

Mike Eyres, BSc. BNatMed Mike Eyres is a technical consultant, researcher and Registered Medical Herbalist and Naturopath (NZAMH) with 18 years professional experience in the food, beverage, and natural health industries. He was a co-author of a peer reviewed, scientific article in the journal “Nutrition Reviews” on coconut oil and cardiovascular risk factors. Consulting projects have covered herbal, food and nutraceutical products in various formats including gel caps, soft gels, sachets, bulk powders, tablets, and topicals. mike.eyres@gmail.com

October/November 2020

41

SURVEY

Plant-based protein cost survey Authors: Michael C. Morris, PhD 1 and John H. Livesey, PhD 2 1

. 29 Oran Road, Panmure Auckland. Michael.morris@actrix.co.nz

. 109a Pine Avenue, South New Brighton, Christchurch. John.livesey@protonmail.com

2

Introduction Animal agriculture is one of the largest causes of global environmental destruction (Poore and Nemecek 2018), responsible for up to 23% of global warming from greenhouse-gas emissions (Reisinger and Clark 2018). Consequently, the EAT-Lancet Commission has recommended a healthy reference diet largely consisting of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and unsaturated oils (Willett et al. 2019). This echoes the conclusion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that a move towards plant-based diets is essential in order to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change (Shiermeier 2019).

A plant-based diet requires that all nutrients, including protein, are sourced primarily from plants (Willett et al. 2019). However, it has been argued that protein from plant foods is more expensive than that from animal sources (Coles et al. 2016). We test this claim in an Aotearoa/ New Zealand context by surveying the cheapest forms of animal and plant protein available in retail outlets in some lower income areas of Auckland and Christchurch.

Methods The protein and energy composition of cheap protein-rich foods that are commonly consumed in New Zealand foods was obtained from the Food Composition Database (Ministry of Health and Plant and Food 2018), or from the USDA Food Data Central tables online if no data was available for New Zealand.

The protein composition was adjusted by percentage digestibility to provide the amount of bioavailable protein. Digestibility percentages were from WHO (2002) data, or from an experimental finding (Nosworthy et al. 2017), where these were not available.

Auckland prices were obtained from an online search of the Auckland Pak N Save branch in Clendon (a low income area), visits to Pak N Save in Sylvia Park and Botany, from three Chinese and Indian supermarkets in Panmure/Pakuranga, and from the Bin Inn franchise in Onehunga.

Christchurch prices were obtained from a visit to the Pak N Save branch in Wainoni, and by telephoning an Indian supermarket in Linwood. These shops represent the cheaper options available to the residents of Wainoni, Aranui and Linwood, low income suburbs in east Christchurch.

All searches were made during March 2020. Specials were included, since buying items on special would reflect the spending habits of lowincome consumers.

New Zealand scientists have asserted that the nine essential amino acids are not always available in sufficient quantities in plant-based foods (Coles et al. 2016). It is however generally accepted that these are available in plant foods, albeit in varying proportions, and that eating a variety of plant foods prevents deficiencies (Day 2013; Gardner et al. 2019). The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics state in a position paper that â&#x20AC;&#x153;vegetarian, including vegan diets, typically meet 42

Food New Zealand

or exceed recommended protein intakes when calorific intakes are adequateâ&#x20AC;? (Melina et al. 2016). For these reasons, we used calculations for total protein, not individual amino acids.

The amount of energy in the required quantity of each product to reach the protein Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) was calculated, in order to exclude foods that may be too energy dense in comparison with their protein composition.

Energy requirements and protein RDI values were obtained from pages 19 and 28 respectively of the Australian and New Zealand reference values (National Health and Medical Research Council et al. 2020).

Protein RDI for adult men and women of reference weight were 64g and 46g respectively. Energy requirements vary according to activity level.

Results Table 1 shows the costs of 100g protein for the 20 cheapest readilyavailable protein sources in Auckland (a) and Christchurch (b).

In Auckland, the six cheapest sources of protein and eight out of the cheapest ten products were plant based (containing no animal derived ingredients), and suitable for a complete protein food. The smaller number of speciality grocers near low income areas may be the reason that prices in Christchurch were higher. The cheapest six products were still plant based, but tended to be more energy-dense.

A diet made up solely of some relatively energy-dense plant-based products (wheat biscuits, oats and wholemeal flour) may not be suitable for some inactive adults. The total energy of these foods would make up more than 90% of energy requirements for sedentary adults if consumed in sufficient quantities to achieve the RDI for protein.

Sufficient white flour to meet protein requirements would contain too much energy for some older and moderately active male adults. White rice would be unsuitable as a complete protein source, even for young and active adults.

Vital wheat gluten provided the cheapest protein source, and is also not energy dense. It is half the price of the cheapest animal protein (chicken drumstick) (Table 1a).

Key to table Sources of protein and energy content: a) USDA data b) New Zealand Food Composition Tables (note 11). In the case of dried rice, the protein and energy was calculated from the wet weight in the tables, based on wet weight being three times that of dry weight.

Sources of digestibility: c) WHO (note 12) d) Experimental findings (Nosworthy et al. 2017) Sources of the cheapest price: e) Pak N Save f) Asian supermarkets g) Bin Inn (Auckland only)

SURVEY Table 1: Prices, bioavailable protein and energy in the cheapest sources of protein available in Auckland (a) and Christchurch (b).

Product

Protein in 100g

Digestability

Bio-available protein in 100g

Cheapest price (NZ$/100g)

Cost per 100g protein (NZ$)

Energy (MJ) in amount required to make up protein RDI (male, female)

Flour, vital gluten

75.16a

96c

72.15

$0.55f

$0.76

1.4, 1.0

Flour, wholemeal

12.1b

86c

10.41

$0.13e

$1.22

8.5, 6.1

Lentils, red, split

25a

91d

22.75

$0.30f

$1.31

2.6, 1.9

Textured Vegetable protein

51.46a

95c

48.89

$0.70f

$1.43

1.8, 1.3

Pasta

13.04a

96c

12.52

$0.18e

$1.44

7.9, 5.7

Flour, white

9.1b

96c

8.74

$0.14e

$1.60

10.6, 7.6

Chicken, drumstick

25.4b

94c

23.88

$0.40e

$1.68

1.9, 1.4

Peanuts, raw

23.7b

94c

22.28

$0.39f

$1.75

7.4, 5.3

25a

88d

22.00

$0.40f

$1.81

2.7, 1.9

Mackerel, canned in soy oil

21.7b

94c

20.40

$0.42e

$2.06

2.6, 1.9

Chickpeas, dry

22.4b

85d

19.04

$0.40f

$2.10

4.5, 3.2

Ox liver, fast fried

23.3b

94c

21.90

$0.48e

$2.19

1.7, 1.2

Oats, raw, made into porridge

14.3b

86c

12.30

$0.28e

$2.28

8.3, 6.0

Ox heart, simmered

31.3b

94c

29.42

$0.68e

$2.31

6.8, 1.2

Bread, wheatmeal

10.5b

86c

9.03

$0.21e

$2.33

1.6, 4.9

Tofu

14.2b

78c

11.08

$0.27f

$2.44

3.1, 2.2

Cow milk powder, skim

38.2b

95c

36.29

$0.89e

$2.45

2.6, 1.8

Kidney beans, dried

25.9a

78c

20.20

$0.50f

$2.47

3.6, 2.6

Egg, boiled

12.2b

97c

11.83

$0.30f

$2.50

3.1, 2.2

Split peas, dried

23.12a

85d

19.65

$0.55g

$2.80

5.0, 3.6

Pasta

13.04a

96c

12.52

$0.14e

1.10

7.9, 5.7

Oats, raw, made into porridge

14.3b

86c

12.30

$0.14e

1.14

8.3. 6.0

Flour, wholemeal

12.1b

86c

10.41

$0.13e

1.22

8.5, 6.1

Oats, raw

14.3b

72c

10.30

$0.14e

1.36

9.9, 7.1

Lentils, red, split

25a

91d

22.75

$0.52f

2.30

2.6, 1.9

Flour, white

9.1b

96c

8.74

$0.13e

1.45

10.6, 7.6

Chicken, drumstick

25.4b

94c

23.88

$0.40e

1.68

1.9, 1.4

Bread, wheatmeal

10.5b

86c

9.03

$0.19e

2.12

6.8, 4.9

Chicken, whole, raw

21.43a

94c

20.14

$0.44e

2.16

1.4, 1.0

Mackerel, canned in soy oil

21.7b

94c

20.40

$0.44e

2.18

2.6, 1.9

Bread, white

9.1b

96c

8.74

$0.19e

2.19

7.4, 5.3

Rice, white

8.4b

72c

6.05

$0.14e

2.15

17.6, 12.6

Milk powder, trim

38.2b

95c

36.29

$0.85e

2.34

2.6, 1.8

Peanuts, raw

23.7b

94c

22.28

$0.54e

2.41

7.4, 5.3

Peanut butter

22.4b

95c

21.28

$0.55e

2.58

7.8, 5.6

Mackerel, raw, whole

19.08a

94c

17.94

$0.70e

3.90

2.8, 2.0

Eggs, size 6

12.2b

97d

11.83

$0.47e

3.97

3.1, 2.2

Milk, liquid, trim

3.9b

95d

3.71

$0.15e

4.04

2.9, 2.1

Biscuits, wheat

9.37a

86d

8.06

$0.45e

5.57

10.3, 7.4>

a) Auckland

Lentils, green, dried

b) Christchurch

October/November 2020

43

SURVEY

Discussion In a fully costed market, animal agriculture would be unviable, due to externalities passed on to animals (de Boo & Knight 2020), the environment (Poore and Nemecek 2018, Reisinger and Clark 2018), and the public health system (Drew et al. 2020). Animal agriculture is also believed to be responsible for a number of infectious disease outbreaks (Klous et al. 2016), including COVID-19 (Rabi et al. 2020),, and an emerging pandemic threat from pig farms in China (Center for Disease Control 2020).

Correcting these market distortions is the role of central government agencies, or their mandated bodies such as the New Zealand Productivity Commission (2018). The role of health professionals, budget advisers and communicators of nutritional information is to work within the present market economy in order to help low income earners achieve best health outcomes at the lowest cost.

In Auckland, this can best be met through recommending a diet containing vital wheat gluten, lentils and textured vegetable protein (soy chunks). Lower quantities of energy-dense wholemeal flour and pasta can be added for variety (Table 1a). In Christchurch, a relative lack of speciality supermarkets in low income areas limits options somewhat. There were fewer less energy-dense plant-based options, and all foods were more expensive, other than lentils (Table 1b).

When considering the use of plant-based proteins, health providers, budget advisers and communicators need to be mindful of the need to develop new ways of cooking with unfamiliar plant-based protein items. Those wanting to cut down on animal products are familiar with simply substituting a meat sausage or burger for a more expensive plant-based one. This has fuelled the misconception that a nutritionally adequate plant-based diet is more expensive.

If the public were to be taught how to cook nutritious plant-based meals, this should serve to dispel this myth. It would also prevent the situation that arose when women’s refuges refused food gifts of tinned tomatoes and chickpeas because clients did not know how to cook with them (Fallon 2017).

Drew J, Cleghorn C, Macmillan A., Mizdrak A. (2020). Healthy and Climate-Friendly Eating Patterns in the New Zealand Context.

Environmental Health Perspectives; https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5996.

Fallon V. (2017). Give generously - but please no tinned tomatoes or chickpeas, say charities. Stuff 2017. Gardner CD, Hartle JC, Garrett RD, Offirnga LC., Wasserman A. (2019). Maximizing the intersection of human health and the health of the environment with regard to the amount and type of protein produced and consumed in the United States. Nutrition Reviews 77, 197–215.

Klous G, Huss A, Heederik DJJ, Coutinho R. (2016). Human-livestock contacts and their relationship to transmission of zoonotic pathogens, a systematic review of the literature. One Health 2, 65-76.

Melina V, Craig W, Levin S. (2016). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets.ital Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 116, 1970-1980 Ministry of Health, Plant and Food. (2018). The concise New Zealand food composition tables, 13th edition. Authors: Wellington.

National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, New Zealand Ministry of Health (2006). Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand.

National Health and Medical Research Council: Canberra.

New Zealand Productivity Commission (2018). Low-emissions economy: Final report Author: Wellington.

Nosworthy MG, Neufeld J, Frohlich P, Young G., Malcomson L., House JD. (2017). Determination of the protein quality of cooked Canadian pulses. Food Science and Nutrition 5, 896–903.

Oakley G. (2018). Vegan 100. Quadrille: London.

Poore J, Nemecek T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science 360, 987–92.

Vital wheat gluten is a particularly useful resource for those on a limited budget, with high protein and low energy content. Vital wheat gluten is the major ingredient in Chinese seitan products, and gluten flour is easily cooked at home to prepare nutritious, tasty and cheaper alternatives to animal meat (Oakley 2018).

Rabi FA, Al Zoubi MS, Kasabeh GA. Salameh DM, Al-Nasser AD. (2020).

Pathogens 9: 231. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9030231.

References

Schiermeier Q. (2019). Eat less meat: UN climate-change report calls for change to human diet. Nature 572, 291-292

[CDC] Center for Disease Control (2020). CDC Takes Action to Prepare Against “G4” Swine Flu Viruses in China with Pandemic Potential. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/spotlights/2019-2020/cdc-prepare-swine-flu. html Coles GD, Wratten SD, Porter JR. (2016). Food and nutritional security requires adequate protein as well as energy, delivered from whole-year crop production. Peer J. https://peerj.com/articles/2100/.

Day L. (2013). Protein from land plants – potential resources for human nutrition and food security. Trends in Food Science and Technology 32, 25-42.

44

De Boo J, Knight A. (2020). The green protein report: meeting New Zealand’s climate change targets by 2030 through reduced reliance on animal agriculture. Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand: Wellington.

Food New Zealand

Reisinger A, Clark H. (2018). How much do direct livestock emissions actually contribute to global warming? Global Change Biology 24, 1749-1761.

Willett W, Rockström J, Loken B, Springmann M, Lang T, Vermeulen S, Garnett T, Tilman D, DeClerck F, Wood A et al. (2019). Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet North American Edition 393, 447–492.

[WHO] World Health Organisation (2002). Joint FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultation on Protein and Amino Acid Requirements in Human Nutrition (2002 : Geneva, Switzerland). Protein and amino acid requirements in human nutrition :report of a joint FAO/WHO/UNU expert consultation (WHO technical report series; no. 935).

NZIFST

NZIFST News New Members NZIFST welcomes the following new members, new student and new Graduate member.

New Members Raise Ahmad

AgResearch

Post Doctoral Scientist

Palmerston North

Toni Deas

Cawthron Institute

Key Account Manager

Nelson

Ray Haddad

Food Surety Limited

Trainer and Managing Director

Auckland

Jamie Hoey

HWL Group

Product Specialist

Hamilton

Hay Wah Leung

Auckland

Kesar Rane

Kraft Heinz Company

Food Safety & Quality Technologist

Emma Swadel

bioMerieux

Application Specialist - Industry

Christchurch

Anthony (Tony) Wallace

HWL Group

Product Specialist

Hamilton

Robin Wyllie

Aurecon New Zealand Ltd

Associate

Palmerston North

Product Release Co-ordinator

Taupo

New Graduate Member Jingjing Wang

Miraka Ltd

New Student Members Auckland University of Technology Devin De silva Jayasinghe, Hannah Santos, Lifu Wang Lincoln University Madhuri Kanala Massey University - Albany Rachel D'souza, Clarissa Gouw, Matt Haycock, Gabrielle Lobo, Jesse Lyu, Gia Perez, Marija Radevska, Amy Wand Massey University - Turitea Abayomi Ajala, University of Otago Louis Dale-Emberton, Amir Amini Khoozani, Sian Menson, Eldho Varghese

NZIFST Directory executive manager

president

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

vice president Phil Bremer phil.bremer@otago.ac.nz 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

October/November 2020

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NZIFST

Student Awards Awards are made annually at both the Turitea and Albany Campuses of Massey University. NZIFST donates cash prizes to the Students.

Australian Institute of Packaging Online Courses NZIFST members are invited to attend at NZIFST member, discounted price.

Bookings are now open for the sixth Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) virtual training course ‘Use of Lifecycle Assessment Tools for Sustainable Packaging Design’ which will be held on 30th of September 2020. All participants will attain 12.5 Certified Professional Development points towards the Certified Packaging Professional (CPP) Designation.

The course trainer will be Dr Simon Lockrey, Senior Lecturer/Research Fellow - School of Design, RMIT University, Australia and is open to anyone to attend from anywhere in the world.

The Use of Lifecycle Assessment Tools for Sustainable Packaging Design training course is aimed at providing an introduction and learning framework for packaging industry professionals to apply lifecycle thinking to their working contexts. This includes an understanding of the reasons why lifecycle thinking is critical, as well as how the method may be used for packaging design projects they manage.

Additional AIP Training Courses in the virtual series include

Livinia Ngadi won the Kelvin Scott Prize for best student in Process Engineering in 3rd year of the BFoodTech(Hons) or BE(Hons) Chem and Bio major

Tools to Help you Meet the 2025 National Packaging Targets: ARL & PREP (October), Tools to Help you meet the 2025 National Packaging Targets: PREP & ARL, Future of Sustainable Labelling, Flexible Packaging: Now and Into the Future, How to Implement the New Sustainable Packaging Guidelines, Introduction to Sustainable Packaging Design and New World of Plastics Technology: Polymers & Recycling.

Book your place today http://aipack.com.au/event-registration/?ee=292

Who’s gone where?

NZIFST members who are changing jobs, moving overseas, starting their own businesses...

Two NZIFST members have recently joined ADM Nutrition:

Winner of the Manawatu campus 4th year BFoodTech(Hons) Oral Presentation 2019 was Rosie Graham for her Oral Presentation titled Improving Temperature Control on a Pilot Scale UHT Plant during the Processing of Whipping Cream 46

Food New Zealand

Dinuk Peiris – Key Account Director Lara Arderne – Technical Account Manager (on maternity contract)

NZIFST is now on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Have you joined us on Linked in yet?

NZIFST has a group page.

Have you “friended” us on Facebook yet? Our page address is https:// www.facebook.com/groups/Food.

New.Zealand/ This moderated group page is available for all members of NZIFST to upload and comment on media misinformation, and for branches to share upcoming events and activities. Come and join in.

Links to both LinkedIn and FB are on the NZIFST home page.

NZIFST

Branch News

Auckland Branch Committee members hard at work...

Auckland The Auckland Branch AGM was held (finally, phew!) via the magic of Zoom with a noticeably larger than quorum attendance. Nice to see some members who haven't been visible for sometime.

Branch Chair Margie Hunt presented a review of activities over the last year, first showing the Committee's goals for the year • Drive membership value through networking and engagement to increase numbers • Hosting Interesting events using 4 key event pillars: tech-based, factory tours, leadership and student events.

• Increase our communications and presence via updates on LinkedIn, Facebook, Branch Newsletters • Mentoring: Personal and Career development of those who are coming through into the industry, lead by those who are at the other end of their career.

The year's activities were going really well until "you know what" which is still impacting activities, with nothing going ahead since. However, the Branch Speed Mentoring Event is planned for 13 October and is attracting keen interest from mentors and potential mentees.

The new Committee was elected unopposed, some familiar faces and some new faces. Congratulations to all.

Chair - Sarah Leakey, Vice-Chair - Jess Chong, Secretary and Treasurer - Bonnie Lam. Committee members - Jeen Tae Hwang, Theresa Calman, Paul Harrison, Jo Kelly-Tuckey, Grace Van Tilborg, Margie Hunt, Bethany Glenn, Nick Parker, Neala Hart, Shu Sin Chong, Wendy Divall Student Representatives - Georgia Hacker, Angela Liu, Gabrielle Lobo, Gia Perez, Hannah Hady, Amy Wang Anne Scott October/November 2020

47

NZIFST

Hawkes Bay/Poverty Bay members sample some of the 20 sauces and relishes made using Orcona produce Right: Orcona's owner Alvin Watson shows the group through the greenhouses

Hawkes Bay/Poverty Bay In July the Hawke’s Bay/ Poverty Bay branch had a long overdue catch up. A group of about 15 met first at Orcona, a local grower of chill and pepper plants, and producer of a large range of secondary processed chilli based relishes, sauces and more.

The visit began by touring the 2,500 sqm of greenhouses that grow over 12 varieties of chillies, peppers and jalapenos. We then got to do sampling of around 20 sauces and relishes (including some international award winners) ranging from sweet and mild through to as hot as you’ll find for those who were brave enough!

The group then got together after the tour at local cidery, Three Wise Birds, to cool our palates and enjoy a catch up, discovering where everyone was at with jobs and business plans.

Rachel Campbell

Waikato The Waikato AGM was held on 30th June 2020 attended by 26 members and guests, at Wintec marae Te Kōpu Mānia O Kirikiriroa.

The Waikato branch committee elected for 2020-2021 is: Chair and Board Rep: Chathurika Samarakoon, Secretary: Margot Buick.

Committee members: Colin Pitt, Richard Gray, Rob Archibald, Margaret McCracken, Roger Collins, Amy Pitt, Clive Bleaken and Prianshu Chawla Following the AGM, a few Wintec students presented their Bachelor research project concepts and rationale. Valuable discussion and questions were raised by the NZIFST members. Students were happy with their successful presentations and the interactions. Following the Pizza and drink break we enjoyed a half-hour presentation by 48

Food New Zealand

Mohammad Zahra, the distribution and quality lead at Inghams Enterprises (NZ) PVT Ltd. His talk was entitled “A potential eye of evidence in the food industry”.

He outlined the importance of blockchain in the food supply chain and how it works in the food industry. The audience found the presentation very interesting. The NZIFST Waikato branch chair addressed the students at the end of the event and invited them to join with the institute for more networking and employment opportunities in the future.

The committee is busy organising events, visits and other networking sessions for the second half of the year. The committee has launched "FED Talks” which is stands for Food Exploration and Discussion where members get together to hear and engage in scientific and interesting talks each month. For further information visit our Facebook page.

NZIFST-WAIKATO https://www.facebook.com/NZIFSTWaikato.

Chathurika Samarakoon

BOOK REVIEW

Barker's of Geraldine: 50 Years Preserved Author: Michael Barker "50 years ago, Michael Barker's father decided to make 1200 gallons of elderberry wine for commercial sale."

So opens this story of a New Zealand company that began life in the traditional Kiwi style, make do and mend, beg borrow or "acquire" to equip your plant, and don't give up.

Written with a deep love for his family, home and company, Michael's book describes the development of a family business, and how, through many years of hanging onto solvency by their fingertips, the family slowly developed a successful company.

Michael's father Anthony, if he had been born into a different (more recent) era, would likely have done an engineering degree and designed and built world-beating projects. As it was, he held the patent for the "Kent Barker Woodburner", later the Kent Tile Fire, reaping the benefit of a royalty paid on every unit sold until Kent Heating, a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary of Shell Oil, was sold. While lucrative, this was a tiny part of his output. He also built or modified much of the processing and analytical equipment used in the factory, until his death in 1999. He was expert at adapting, updating and improving. From 1969 to 1981 he scrounged, home-built, modified and repurposed his processing gear in the back of an old milking shed.

Michael's mother Gillian exemplifies hard work and support for her family, adapting from homemaking duties to shopkeeping, logistics management (particularly of staff) and whatever else needed doing.

Michael and his sisters enjoyed a classic farming family childhood.

Adventurous, free and hard work when needed. Michael studied Horticulture at (then) Lincoln College and returned home in 1980 and happily engrossed himself in the business, studying winemaking to support his father's fruit wine business.

The Barker's didn't do it alone. Much of the story describes the people who helped, such as Michael Mellon, Michael Barker's old marketing lecturer from his Horticultural Degree at Lincoln College who provided enormous, voluntary advice and hands-on support in the eighties.

Another major contributor was Sue Suckling who shared her business management expertise from the mid-1990s, eventually serving on the Board from 1999-2015.

And then there were the locals. The local women who worked on various production projects and bottling lines, the families who picked and delivered the wild elderberries for elderberry wine, initially at 10c per pound of fruit without stems: those who helped feed the workers.

Like many a family business in the 70s and 80s, staff were family.

During the 70s, 80s and early 90s Barkers were a fruit wine company,

selling from the 'cellar door' wines and liqueurs made from their own and local fruit. They expanded distribution but still the elusive profit eluded them, most years.

The breakthrough came with Barker's Blackcurrant Juice, designed to compete with Ribena on the basis that it contained no artificial colours or preservatives due to a hot filling process.

The company invested in a new factory and plant for the product. Anthony's expertise saved the costs of buying everything new but it was a significant investment for a barely viable company.

At first they distributed in Canterbury and places south. As demand grew product went on sale into the North Island.

By 1998 Barker's Blackcurrant Syrup (conforming to the new regulatory definition, i.e. not a juice because of added sugar) had become the third most consumed fruit juice (by volume consumed) in New Zealand.

Where to from here? Their next successful syrup product was Lemon and Honey, highly commended at the 1990 Printpac UEB Food Awards.

At the same time as the fruit syrups were growing market share, the company began using fruit previously made into wines to supply fruit pulps into the baking industry. By developing bake stable jams, fruit fillings and toppings at selected quality levels for different operations, and then cream fillings in popular flavours, they expanded their market share. This led to supplying bespoke fruit preparations to the yoghurt and ice-cream manufacturers.

Barker's is now the leading supplier of these products into the New Zealand baking industry.

The story goes on: how Barker's began making high quality jams and spreads for FMCG, how their pickles and chutneys built market share.

And lately, the company is responding to market demand for low-sugar fruit products, whether syrups, jams (sorry, fruit spreads - those pesky regulatory definitions again!).

Much of the history of Barker's since then is remembered by New Zealanders.

The company regularly wins awards for its products and leverages these awards into its marketing stories.

The subheading to this book is Our story of innovation and industry on the family farm. It's also a very Kiwi story and exemplifies the 'number 8 wire' mentality that comes out of our colonial heritage. If you can't buy it, find something you can alter or adjust to fit the bill.

So here we have it, Barker's of Geraldine, a record of a family, and of a New Zealand heritage.

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STUDENT ESSAY

New kid on the block - Application of blockchain technology in the food supply chain

Ha-Young Kim, Massey University, Albany This article was awarded first prize in the Food Tech Solutions NZIFST Undergraduate Writing Competition 2020. 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 Rapid globalisation of the food sector has drastically altered production, trade and distribution of food products (Trienekens & Zuurbier, 2008).

Markets are no longer limited to local supply, as retailers and industries obtain goods from all over the world. International food trade, expanding production and complex supply chains are increasing the risk of food safety incidents, such as microbiological food outbreaks (Hussain & Dawson, 2013). These incidents can cause severe economic losses as a result of notifying consumers, discarding food from shelves and reparation from lawsuits. The impacts of food safety incidents extend beyond financial loss, as other consequences include lost markets, decreased consumer demand, lawsuits and company closures. This highlights the necessity of traceability systems in the food industry.

Traceability systems are designed to establish food product origin, protect food in transit and reduce the time and cost of food recalls (Qian et al., 2020). A well-designed system records each stage, starting from harvest, processing, transport and storage, and continuing all the way to distribution and sales. There has been a push to utilise new and emerging technologies to improve the traceability system. One such novel technology is blockchain.

The boundaries of blockchain Blockchain technology (BCT) was initially used in Bitcoin, a peer-topeer digital currency system. The basis of blockchain is a collectively maintained, decentralised ledger of transactions. Transactions which occur within a period of time are recorded in a ‘block’. Successive blocks are connected to their predecessors through cryptography to form a chain. The system forms a chain of blocks, hence the name – blockchain. Following the increased popularity of the technology, blockchain was adopted for use in multiple industries, including insurance, logistics and supply chain management (Behnke & Janssen, 2020). BCT for supply chain management promises to increase product traceability by permitting the exchange of transactional data between supply chain partners. Furthermore, the data is securely stored and maintained in the system without need for an intermediate third-party and has low risk of tampering.

Despite the immense potential BCT demonstrates in food traceability, the system has technical constraints and limitations. First, transaction rate is restricted due to the limited size of a block. Blockchain is confined to seven transactions per second, while VISA can manage 47,000 transactions per second (Bruce, 2013). Second, use of BCT in the supply chain is reliant on safeguarding sensitive information. The original blockchain system permits all users to join the network and 50

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confers read rights. However, BCT for commercial use must allow for confidentiality by preventing unauthorised access to information in the blockchain. Third, BCT relies on programming code, making it vulnerable to hacking. Therefore, the code of the software must be robust and well maintained to prevent exploitation of confidential information in the supply chain by hackers.

BCT Pilots in pork and mangos Although application of BCT in the food supply chain is currently limited, collaboration between retail giant Walmart and multinational technology company, IBM produced two promising pilots (Kamath, 2018). In the first, Walmart utilised BCT in China’s pork industry. A combination of bar code smart-tags, radio frequency identification, cameras, temperature and humidity sensors, and global positioning and geographic information systems enables monitoring from the pig pen to distribution of pork to retailers. BCT permits all data acquired, as well as information regarding farm origin, batch numbers and processing data, to be accessible to procurement managers.

Consequently, individual pork products can be tracked instantly if adulterated goods reach the shelves. This traceability system reduces the cost and improves the efficiency of product recalls as product disposal can occur in a targeted manner.

In their second pilot, Walmart harnessed BCT to follow the mango supply chain in Central and South America to North America. At the pre-seedling stage, BCT can be used to trace damaged and decayed mangoes back to producers who potentially take shortcuts by using adulterated fertilisers and exploit workers. The technology also facilitates the compilation of data concerning the quality and marketability of mangoes at each point of the supply chain. This could be utilised to predict potential losses due to disease or damage to the fruit and gauge industry performance. With respect to mango importation and distribution, BCT streamlines the process by storing all necessary data, such as shipment information, certification and cargo temperatures. Future extensions could include recording produce damage during distribution by smart sensors logging temperature and humidity.

The technology gives supply chain members a competitive advantage due its traceability capabilities. Walmart will be able to trace each item sold through point-of-sale systems, thereby diminishing risk while reducing recall costs and building profits. If a consumer becomes unwell, retailers are able to retrieve important data about individual packages, such as food origin, production and inspection information, from a single receipt. Customers benefit from BCT by receiving fresher produce at reduced prices and the ability to supply

STUDENT ESSAY

Blockchain technology (BCT) was initially used in Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer digital currency system. Image: Lurii Motov, Dreamstime.com retailers with feedback on quality which can be connected to growers and sources. For restaurant owners, BCT allows for confirmation of food provenance and assurance of its quality and safety. Finally, BCT is capable of recording post-cumulative losses. This could pinpoint inefficiencies within supply chains, leading to improvement of food safety measures and reduction of disruptions in the supply chain to prevent food waste. Therefore, blockchain could provide a portrait of the whole supply ecosystem.

Conclusion Blockchain shows promise in improving transparency, credibility and confidence in information passed along the food supply chain.

Harnessed correctly, the technology can support a comprehensive traceability system that averts or reacts rapidly to food contamination, disease or attempted bioterrorism. Furthermore, the precision of BCT allows for traceability to be achieved at the item level, rather than the current batch level. The blockchain pilots conducted by Walmart were intended to fix the societal problems of disrupted food chains.

The appeal of IBM’s blockchain system for this purpose was the technology company “not recreating supply chain, but leveraging existing technologies to enhance supply chain traceability” (Burkitt, 2014). Other companies will also have to augment available devices and sensors to produce viable blockchain solutions for food supply chain traceability. It is only when this occurs and the technology is successfully adopted that people will restore their trust and confidence in food.

References Behnke, K., & Janssen, M. (2020). Boundary conditions for traceability in food supply chains using blockchain technology. International Journal of Information Management, 52, 101969. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.05.025 Bruce, J. D. (2013). Purely P2P crypto-currency with finite miniblockchain. Bitfreak.Info. http://www.bitfreak.info/files/pp2p-ccmbcrevl.pdf Burkitt, L. (2014, June 17). Walmart to triple spending on food safety in China. Wall Street Journal. www.wsj.com/articles/Walmart-to-triplespending-on-food-safety-in-china-1402991720 Hussain, M. A., & Dawson, C. O. (2013). Economic impact of food safety outbreaks on food businesses. Foods, 2(4), 585-589.

Kamath, R. (2018). Food traceability on blockchain: Walmart’s pork and mango pilots with IBM. The Journal of the British Blockchain Association, 1(1), 3712.

Qian, J., Ruiz-Garcia, L., Fan, B., Robla Villalba, J. I., McCarthy, U., Zhang, B., . . . Wu, W. (2020). Food traceability system from governmental, corporate, and consumer perspectives in the European Union and China: A comparative review. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 99, 402-412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2020.03.025 Trienekens, J., & Zuurbier, P. (2008). Quality and safety standards in the food industry, developments and challenges. International Journal of Production Economics, 113(1), 107-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ijpe.2007.02.050 October/November 2020

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NZIFST Conference 2021 July 6th - 8th 2021, Palmerston North Convention Centre Come in person, or enjoy virtually This will be our first Conference for two years so at last you can reconnect face-to-face with your peers This is the first call for topics of interest and the first call for volunteers to develop our best Conference ever Contact Conference Chair, Don Otter deodairyconsulting@gmail.com Diary the date now NZIFST Conference 2021 July 6th - 8th 2021 Palmerston North Convention Centre

It's going to be outstanding, choice, the bee's knees!

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Food New Zealand