News @ CCFRA
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Wheat variety identification 
Reliable identification of the wheat variety is paramount for flour milling and related industries - to help ensure that supplied grain is suitable for the intended end-use. Research at CCFRA, funded by nabim, has established a standardised method for varietal discrimination. Its simplicity and total analysis time of less than 50 minutes enhance its suitability for use in mill intake laboratories, enabling millers to make more confident decisions in accepting grain consignments. Traditionally, wheat varieties are identified by protein profiling of the grain using the technique of acid-PAGE (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). While this is widely used in analytical laboratories, including CCFRA, it is unsuitable for use at mill intake: it is time-consuming, requires highly skilled operators to prepare, run and interpret the gels, and requires use of hazardous materials. We therefore explored the Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100 LabChip® Protein Assay system with Phoretix computerised pattern recognition software, to provide a reliable but easier and more rapid approach to wheat protein profiling. The system produces well resolved protein profiles suitable for varietal discrimination, and its wider use as an effective policing tool within the grain industry is being encouraged. Contact: Dhan Bhandari Are your readings accurate? 
Monitoring processes is an important part of product safety assurance and involves the use of many instruments - from thermometers and pressure gauges to balances and micrometers. Accurate calibration of these instruments is essential. Our instrument calibration service is specifically designed to meet industry’s calibration needs, as Robin Thorn of the Food Manufacturing Technologies Department explains: "Regular, well planned calibration helps to assure the accuracy, quality and relevance of measurements, aids traceability and comparability, and can provide evidence of due diligence. Everything that is used to perform a measurement should be calibrated, but it is important to be realistic about the level of accuracy that is needed calibrations do not always need to be complex or expensive and can sometimes consist of just a quick check every 2 or 5 years. The important thing to find is the approach that gives you the accuracy and assurance you require without excessive cost. As well as conducting independent calibrations, with UKAS accreditation for thermometer calibration, we can advise on all aspects of calibration, scheduling and potential problems, to develop a system that will work for you." Contact: Robin Thorn Sustainable food packaging In the quest for sustainable packaging options - including biodegradable and compostable materials - CCFRA’s expertise can help companies to make the right choices. Understanding the packaging, the food and the interaction between them enables us to assist in all areas of the development and implementation of sustainable food packaging for your products. Our consultancy advice and services include:
CCFRA Review No.56 ‘Sustainable food packaging: biodegradable and compostable options’ has also recently been published, discussing the options available. It is priced at £40 (CCFRA members) and £60 (non-members). Technical Contact: Alan Campbell Publications Contact: Carol Newman TTIs exploiting LINK Gary Tucker was invited to present to the Advanced Food Manufacturing LINK committee on the successful exploitation of two time-temperature integrator (TTI) LINK projects. The group from the project team also included Professor Peter Fryer and Karin Mehauden (Birmingham University) and Gary Mycock (Unilever). The project team emphasised how the projects were able to apply TTIs to tackle real industrial problems in measuring heat processes, while undertaking high quality science in proving the TTI principles. Examples were given for cost savings in reduced energy needs and in increased production efficiency. Key reasons why these projects were so successful were the strong industrial partners, creative researchers who knew what each partner wanted from the project, and of course an excellent idea in the TTIs themselves. Contact: Gary Tucker Learn at your convenience 
Distance learning offers many advantages - not least flexibility and convenience. The Open University is a world leader in distance learning with an unparalleled infrastructure for its development and delivery. CCFRA and the OU have collaborated to deliver CCFRA’s expertise in food science, technology and production in the form of four distance learning courses, aimed at industry newcomers or those moving between sectors:
Each course includes around 50 hours of study and includes two books, a multimedia DVD and a dedicated course website, together with access to a course tutor. The courses follow the OU’s highly successful approach of ‘supported open learning’. Members of CCFRA are entitled to a 10% discount on the course fees. For further details see www.campden.co.uk/training/dlearn.htm with its links to the relevant OU webpages. Contact: Leighton Jones Measuring antioxidants There is growing evidence that dietary antioxidants - such as vitamins C and E, anthocyanins and polyphenols - can help reduce risks of cardiovascular disease and some cancers. This has stimulated interest in measuring the antioxidant capacity of foods. Claims relating to dietary sources of natural antioxidants have provided a marketing opportunity for food producers, while nutritionists and consumers are looking for data to compare products. 
We offer analytical services to meet this demand. For example, ORAC - the oxygen radical absorbance capacity - can provide a comparative measure of the antioxidant capacity of foods. Total polyphenols can also be measured by a fast yet robust test method - again allowing useful comparisons. For wider comparisons we can also compare the data obtained for particular products with values published by the United States Department for Agriculture, for over 100 different foods. Contact: Helen Brown Food law alert The 10,000th item was recently posted to the web-based archive of Food Law Alert - our legislation alerting bulletin. Whilst the bulletin itself provides a free (member-only) fortnightly update on developments in food law, the archive allows members to scan back through these, organised by categories of interest (e.g. additives, hygiene). It can be found in the legislation section of the website (member password required - available from membership@campden.co.uk). Contact: John Hammond Training in China 
‘Traceability’ and ‘pesticide safety controls’ were the subjects of a two-day course run by CCFRA in Laiyang, China, in collaboration with Sino Analytica and funded by the EU-China Trade Project. Part of the EU’s support to China’s integration into the world trading system, this attracted around 200 delegates each day. Projection of slides in English and Chinese and simultaneous translation, allowed for good interaction and constructive question and answer sessions. The clear interest from local officials in running the courses at other venues (e.g. Qingdao) reflects its success and our growing activities in the Far East. Contact: Chris Knight (CCFRA) Fresh produce washing forum 
CCFRA's Washing and Decontamination of Fresh Produce Forum was established to help members keep up to date with opportunities, technical information and trends in this increasingly important area. In particular, with increasing interest in alternatives to chlorine for produce washing, the meetings stimulate an exchange of ideas between academics and industrialists regarding novel and alternative methods of safe, effective and practical fruit and vegetable washing. The newsletters for forum members complement the meetings by providing relevant feature articles and reviews of current research. Set to continue for a further twelve months, on the back of another successful year, the forum is open to new members. Contact: Linda Everis Microbiological methods guide 
Sixty-eight standardised methods for microbiological analysis of food, drink and water are included in the latest (fifth) edition of the long established Manual of microbiological methods for the food and drink industry. With ten new methods and significant updates to others, the manual covers detection, confirmation and enumeration of a range of established and emerging pathogens and spoilage organisms. As well as detailed methods protocols, it refers, where appropriate, to supplementary information such as validation studies and British Standards, and is ideal for laboratories seeking laboratory accreditation (e.g. CLAS, UKAS). It is priced at £160 (members) and £240 (non-members) with a 50% discount for owners of the fourth edition wishing to update to the fifth edition. Contact: Carol Newman Welcome to New members CCFRA is delighted to welcome the following new members who joined in April 2007:
Contact: Bertrand Emond Please notify the Membership Department of any name or address changes with respect to our mailing list. |