|
Dietary fibre and low glycaemic index cereal foods 
Ongoing research at CCFRA may facilitate the development of starchy products with a low glycaemic index (GI). GI is a measure of how quickly foods that contain carbohydrate raise blood glucose levels, and a low GI diet may be effective in the prevention and management of a number of chronic diseases. Incorporation of certain dietary fibres can lower the GI of a food product. The interactions between various dietary fibres and the main food components during various processing stages are being investigated. An in vitro method for evaluating starch digestibility has been developed. It involves mechanical disruption and multienzymic digestion based on proteolysis, followed by incubation with pancreatic a-amylase. This method allows the calculation of a hydrolysis index (HI), which is a prediction of the food’s GI. This is a more convenient and rapid method than in vivo testing, which involves feeding the trial food to human volunteers and measuring blood glucose levels over time. Although the in vitro method can only give an approximate indication of GI, this is likely to be a very valuable tool for product developers, when trying to formulate reduced GI foods. Anton Alldrick Health and identification marking - CCFRA factsheet To coincide with the entry into force of the package of new EU Hygiene Legislation on 1 January 2006, CCFRA has published a Factsheet for Members on one important aspect of the new rules, about which the RA's Food Law Advisory Team has received numerous enquiries. Health and Identification Marking of Products of Animal Origin discusses the changes to the previous health marking rules, the timescales for their implementation and the process by which the decision to apply health/identification marks to products should be made. It is available via the Members only section of the CCFRA website at: http://www.campden.co.uk/ membersonly/members/health.pdf Greg Pearson Pangborn 2007 Following on from the very successful conference in Harrogate in 2005, attended by 800 delegates from all over the world, CCFRA will again be involved in the organisation of the 2007 event to be held in Minneapolis in the USA on 12-16 August. A number of commercial opportunities are again available to companies with business links within the international sensory science community. All sponsorship packages will include the following:
More benefits can be added, depending on the level of sponsorship reserved. Daphne Llewellyn Davies Predicting centre temperature in heat processed foods 
CTemp is a software program for predicting temperatures in thermally processed foods, and can be used for establishing processing conditions and in optimisation studies. It has been thoroughly tested on a wide range of product types (both animal and vegetable-based), packages (cans, jars, trays and pouches) and processes, including:
Among its key features are:
Gary Tucker CCFRA Panels in 2006 CCFRA's fourteen Technical Advisory Panels meet three times a year and play a vital role in ensuring that our activities are relevant to members' requirements. All full RA members are eligible to be represented at panel meetings, free of charge, which bring together members with common interests in a particular discipline or sector. Amongst the many activities of panel members, they:
Full details of the particular remit of each of the Panels, along with meeting dates and minutes of meetings, can be found on the CCFRA website at: http://www.campden.co.uk/research/panels.htm. The individual panels are:
Determining difficult chemical analytes 
In any type of food chemical analysis, it is important to have a full understanding of what the analyte is and how it might interact with the food, at what levels it might be present in the food, and what other similar or ‘interfering’ compounds (i.e. those that might be mistaken for the analyte) might also be present. Misunderstandings could result in the analyte being ‘missed’ or being wrongly attributed to a sample. When looking for groups of related analytes that may be present in very low or very variable quantities, the task of developing reliable analytical methods is all the more difficult, as Nick Byrd of CCFRA's Chemistry Department explains: "Sudan red dyes are used as colourings for waxes, petroleum, and shoe and floor polishes. They are not permitted as food colourings in either the EU or many other parts of the world. As they were not meant to be present in foodstuffs, there was no validated method available for their analysis in foods. Therefore, when they first began to be detected in chilli powder and products containing chilli powder, the methods available sometimes gave ‘false positive’ results, with carotenoids (either present naturally or as permitted additives) being wrongly reported as Sudan dyes. Also, because of the very small quantities involved in secondary products (i.e. products containing contaminated chilli powder), false negatives also arose (i.e. the analyte was 'missed'). A very sensitive analytical method was required that was capable of eliminating any interference from carotenoids. A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method was developed which could reliably and simultaneously quantify different Sudan dyes at levels of parts per billion in processed foods containing adulterated chilli powder." This UKAS accredited method is one of many available as an analytical service from CCFRA. Similar analytical services for 'difficult' analytes have been developed for the determination of trichothecenes and aflatoxins in cereal products, and the quantification of metals in foods by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Nick Byrd Hair Guidance 
New guidance on preventing contamination of food with hair is now available from CCFRA following a Club project involving food and protective clothing manufacturers. Contamination of food with hair is unacceptable - mainly from an aesthetic perspective, though it also carries a risk of introducing bacterial contamination. Good hygienic practice involves protecting food from hair contamination through the use of protective clothing. Guidelines for preventing hair contamination of food (Guideline No. 48) from CCFRA will help food producers identify important aspects of protective clothing designed to prevent food contamination with hair - including head coverings and beard snoods. It is extensively illustrated with colour photographs of hair protection clothing and the materials used to produce them. For copies contact: Carol Newman Technical contact: John Holah 25 years service 
A 25-year service award was presented to Dr Richard Stanley in December by Professor Colin Dennis, Director-General of CCFRA, who thanked him for his commitment to the RA and service to Members. Richard has a wealth of expertise and knowledge in all aspects of agronomy, and has particularly specialised in potato varieties and end uses. In recent years, Richard has become involved in HACCP systems in agriculture and in auditing. He has also developed considerable expertise in the use of pesticides, as well as in the development and managing of organic production systems. He has been Technical Secretary to the Crop Protection Working Party for some years. Foreign Body Identification Service 
CCFRA has many years' experience in the identification of the diverse range of materials and objects that are reported as foreign bodies in food. It is important to clients that they can receive rapid and reliable information on the origin of the object and so put in place procedures to prevent recurrence of such incidents. In some cases the contamination originates in the consumer's home - usually accidentally - and it is equally important to be able to explain to the consumer what may have occurred. The standard turnaround time from receipt of sample to the issue of a preliminary report (by fax, e-mail or telephone call) is now just 4 days. In addition, a premium 24-hour turnaround service remains available for most types of foreign body. 
Dr. Mike Edwards, the manager of the Microscopy Section, responsible for this work, commented, "We deal with all kinds of foreign body, handling many different types of sample each day - from glass, metal and plastic to insects, bits of vegetable matter and even, very occasionally, some very unusual objects. We know that a key requirement for our clients in responding to complaints is speed of response" Mike Edwards Welcome to New members CCFRA is delighted to welcome the following new members who joined in December 2005:
More and more companies are recognising the value and benefits of membership and the ability of CCFRA to deliver award-winning services designed to meet their current and future needs cost-effectively. As a reflection of the ever growing world-wide reputation of CCFRA, over 130 new members joined the Association in 2005. They represent all sectors of the agri-food chain, ranging from small individual operations to large international companies - strengthening CCFRA's key interface role in the food chain and CCFRA's position as the largest organisation of its kind in the world. CCFRA now serves over 2,500 member sites. A quarter of these members are based outside the UK in 60 countries world-wide. Bertrand Emond or Sally Easton Please notify the Membership Department of any name or address changes with respect to our mailing list. |