Global food and drink sector challenges come under the spotlight at the Food Innovation Centre

Bioenergy and Brewing Science Building

Experts will be sharing the latest updates on some of the key challenges facing the food and drink sector at a one-day workshop to be held at the Food Innovation Centre.

Aimed at small and medium-sized food and drink manufacturers, the event will turn the spotlight on food waste utilisation and alternative proteins – all of which are major topics currently in the sector.

The Food Innovation Centre, based at the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington Campus as part of the Division of Food Sciences, is a unique collaboration project that provides free specialist innovation support to small and medium-sized food and drink manufacturers in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Providing top expertise and state-of-the-art equipment, the project offers access to scientists, students and facilities at the university – enabling eligible food and drink firms to seek free advice on how to overcome challenges and develop new ideas.

The latest workshop – to be held at the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington campus on Tuesday 28^th November from 9am until 5pm – will focus on the opportunities and challenges of food and drink waste, plant and insect-based alternative proteins, including information about nutrition and food allergy/intolerances.

It has been designed to give food and drink manufacturers in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire an introduction to these key topics with current updates on technologies, opportunities and sourcing.

Head of the project, Richard Worrall, said: “These are huge topics, but important to us all. The Food Innovation Centre has brought together a range of experts to talk about these key global subjects, making them relevant to SMEs and with additional input through case studies from SME businesses themselves. The workshop will share the latest knowledge and information for those working in food and drink manufacturing – hopefully inspiring them to boost efficiencies, reduce waste, develop new products and improve their competitive performance.”

The Food Innovation Centre is a three-year project funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

There are a few places left, so to attend the workshop (free for eligible businesses), contact Linda Molyneux on linda.molyneux@nottingham.ac.uk. 

For more information, visit www.nottingham.ac.uk/biosciences/business/food-innovation-centre.aspx

Follow on Twitter @UoNFoodInnovation

Press release issued by Nottingham based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Just add water into the unique Moonshine bag to brew quality ‘just like the pub’ real ale.

 A revolutionary new home brewing bag which creates 25 pints of beer in around 14 days simply by adding water to a unique and patented brewing bag has been launched by Moonshine Drinks Ltd.

The beer tastes just like any pub-pulled pint….and is the easiest way that’s ever been invented for brewing real ale at home.

Each bag contains only quality ingredients for brewing real ale. Simply pour tap water into the Moonshine bag, add the contents of the ‘Moondust’; their customised yeast and nutrient to mirror traditional brewing methods in this unique environment,……. and there you have it, in just a few days you’ll have 25 pints of naturally conditioned beer and it equates to around £1 a pint.

The real ale brewing bag, which won the Food and Drink iNet’s ‘Most Innovative New Product Award’ of 2012, brews ale to 4.2% ABV and is being branded as the simple and natural way to make real ale at home.

After the successful launch of Four Candles Bitter, which is being sold through Lakeland Limited stores and online, selected independent department stores and quality garden centres, two new beers have been developed. Cheese Maker’s Golden Ale and Dark Adder Ale have just gone on sale via the same outlets. And come the New Year, ciders and three wines will have been developed and for sale, all using the same ‘just add water’ method.

Key figures behind the launch include Robert Constable-Maxwell, a former CEO of Ind Coope, MD of Walker Cain, Liverpool (which later became brewer Tetley Walker) and marketing director of Allied Breweries UK.

Moonshine Drinks Ltd worked with experts at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University to develop the bag.

The product is suitable for vegans and vegetarians, and creates a natural, non-pasteurised, live beer which will keep for three to four weeks after brewing.

For more information, stockists and online sales please go to www.moonshinedrinks.com

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Food and Drink iNet grant helps apple snack idea to evolve

A Leicestershire company has developed a crunchy new apple snack using fruit that would previously have gone to waste, thanks to a grant from the Food and Drink iNet.

Omniceutica Limited has invented a process which transforms pulp from cider making, as well as surplus, ungraded or bruised fruit, into bite-sized servings.

The firm, based at Asfordby Business Park, near Melton Mowbray, was awarded almost £10,000 from the Food and Drink iNet under a Collaborate to Innovate project to develop the concept.

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and run by trade organisation the Food and Drink Forum, the iNet aims to encourage innovation in the East Midlands food and drink sector.

Glen Martyn, director at Omniceutica said: “We are converting a freely available resource that is currently seen as waste from the fruit processing and cider industries into a nutritious and commercially viable snack. The amount of food wasted throughout the food industry is of huge financial and environmental concern so the timing of this innovation is right.”

Jo Murphy, an advisor with the Food and Drink iNet, said that tackling waste and finding alternative uses for by-products in the food and drink sector was a key target for the industry.

“The Food and Drink iNet has funded a number of projects under its Collaborate to Innovate programme which focus on positive ways of reducing waste in the sector,” she said. “Omniceutica has come up with an inventive way of creating a new product using ingredients that would previously have been thrown away.

“The technology will also benefit small and medium-sized enterprises in the East Midlands, such as cider makers and other producers, who could now have a productive outlet for some of their waste products – saving money on disposal costs and creating additional revenue.”

Omniceutica is a specialist product developer and offers other services through its consultancy. One of its specialist areas is in food, offering its research and development services to companies, ranging from start-ups through to larger global organisations.

Omniceutica develops and produces pilot-scale production batches to test ideas and concepts in readiness for commercial scale up.

The iNet grant has funded work to source ingredients and develop a new drying process that is less energy intensive and retains more nutrients than conventional systems.

The work has also involved experts from the University of Nottingham carrying out initial analysis of the snack’s nutrient content.

Omniceutica is exploring patent issues before the product is prepared for marketing and sale through licensing agreements to larger manufacturers.

Since the company was formed in 2010, its staff have collaborated with clients locally, nationally and around the world. It also works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and has substantial expertise in intellectual property and patents.

The Food and Drink iNet, is managed by a consortium, led by the Food and Drink Forum and including Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and The University of Nottingham.

It is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, with advisors covering the East Midlands region to offer a range of support to small and medium-sized enterprises that work in the sector.

For more information about the Food and Drink iNet visit www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Food and Drink iNet event to help stop waste being a drain on business

East Midlands food and drink companies are being invited to discover ways of transforming waste into energy.

The Food and Drink iNet is staging an event on June 19th which will turn the spotlight on innovative ways of dealing with waste products created during food and drink processing.

It will focus on how to reduce the cost of waste removal, how to match one company’s waste with another firm’s desire to use it, and good waste management.

It will also reveal details of a project being supported by the Food and Drink iNet which is aiming to harness the energy from food production waste using microbial fuel cell technology.

The technology has already been proved to work with dairy effluent, but now Lindhurst Engineering, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, researchers at The University of Nottingham, and dairy products co-operative Arla Foods are working together to see if the system could also be used on food waste.

The team will be looking for volunteer companies to help trial the idea when they showcase the project at the Food and Drink iNet event on June 19th at Hothorpe Hall, Theddingworth, near Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

“Waste removal is a challenge in the food and drink industry,” said Food and Drink iNet director Richard Worrall. “As consumer demand for sustainable products and processes increases, companies must strive to gain the competitive edge in waste management.

“Businesses usually associate waste with additional cost and resources, but there are ways of reducing this.”

Also taking part in the event, which runs from 8.30am to 11am, will be representatives from the University of Northampton’s Centre for Wastes Management and the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP), which matches companies producing waste to those who may have a commercial use for it.

Small or medium-sized food or drink companies that would like to attend the event on June 19th, which is free, should call 0115 9758810 to book or email enquiries@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), The Food and Drink iNet co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands.

It has developed an effective network to encourage the collaboration of academic expertise and knowledge, and local food and drink business innovation needs. It aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and drink industry in the region by helping to create opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and implement new products, markets, services and processes.

The Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by The Food and Drink Forum and including Nottingham Trent University, The University of Lincoln, and The University of Nottingham. It is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, with advisors covering the East Midlands region.

For more information visit www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk Issued by Nottingham PR company

Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Salt reduction strategies coming under the spotlight for food and drink firms

East Midlands food manufacturers are being invited to discover more about how they could reduce the amount of salt in their products.

They are also being given the chance to take part in ground-breaking salt-reduction research, which is being supported by the Food and Drink iNet.

The iNet is running an event at The University of Nottingham’s Food and Biofuel Innovation Centre at Sutton Bonington, near Nottingham, which will turn the spotlight on some of the latest innovations in how to manage salt use in food manufacturing, whilst retaining eating quality.

The session, which is being held on Wednesday February 29th from 2pm to 6pm and is specifically aimed at small and medium-sized companies, comes amid calls by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) for an acceleration of the reduction in salt intake in the population.

There is a strong link between high salt intake and high blood pressure, and the food industry has successfully reduced the amount of salt in many processed products. NICE is aiming for a maximum intake of 6g per day for adults by 2015 and 3g daily by 2025.

The Food and Drink iNet is now one of the key contributors of two pieces of research at The University of Nottingham which are looking at ways of cutting down on salt use in some foods.

The first is focusing on how salt crystals could be developed to get across the saliva barrier faster. This would enable less salt to be used in food products, but with the same salt perception by the consumer.

The second piece of research centres on developing physically modified hydrocolloids, so that they can thicken food products, whilst retaining the great flavour characteristics associated with foods like soups, stocks and gravy granules.

Both projects could have major implications for the food industry in the East Midlands and beyond, as well as the nation’s long-term health.

“Reducing salt use is a key industry issue, and the Food and Drink iNet has helped to fund a number of different research projects that are looking at overcoming the challenges,” said Food and Drink iNet director Richard Worrall. “The event on February 29th will be the chance for SMEs to find out about the very latest research and case studies that demonstrate success to date. There will also be the chance for some companies to work with a University of Nottingham researcher on solving salt reduction issues.”

Small or medium-sized companies that would like to attend the event on February 29th, which is free, should call 0115 9758810 to book or email enquiries@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), The Food and Drink iNet co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands. It has developed an effective network to encourage the collaboration of academic expertise and knowledge, and local food and drink business innovation needs.

It aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and drink industry in the region by helping to create opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and implement new products, markets, services and processes.

The Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by The Food and Drink Forum and including Nottingham Trent University, The University of Lincoln, and The University of Nottingham. It is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, with advisors covering the East Midlands region.

www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Food and Drink iNet supports project to turn waste into energy

An exciting project to convert food and farming waste into renewable energy has received backing from the Food and Drink iNet.

Sutton-in-Ashfield firm Lindhurst Engineering, scientists at The University of Nottingham, dairy products co-operative Arla Foods and treatment systems company Clearfleau are working together to refine a technology which produces renewable energy from farm and dairy industry effluent.

Named Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), the technology has been developed to help farmers and dairy producers to dispose of waste water and slurry, and at the same time harvest energy which can be re-used on their sites.

Trials have proved that the system works and now the team has been awarded funding from a number of sources, including the Food and Drink iNet, which has given the project a £154,000 grant to develop a pre-treatment process to enable the Microbial Fuel Cell to take solid food waste as well as waste water.

Pilot testing is being undertaken at dairy and farm sites over the next two years to develop a commercially viable and affordable production model. Meanwhile, the iNet’s contribution will focus on looking at how the process can also be used to harness energy from the different types of waste produced during food manufacturing.

Testing will be carried out with selected food manufacturers that produce a range of different food waste products, before three large-scale trials later this year.

“This project has tremendous potential for the food and drink sector, as the disposal of food waste can be a costly affair,” said Food and Drink iNet director Richard Worrall. “If the waste can be disposed of easily on-site, and at the same time create hydrogen which can be turned into electricity, it’s a win, win situation.

“One of the Food and Drink iNet’s roles is to support collaborative research projects that have potential benefits for the sector, and this fits the bill perfectly.”

As well as investment by the companies involved, the development has also received funding from the government’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB), involving a two-year KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership).

“With the grant monies we have received through the Food and Drink iNet we will be able to involve a diverse range of manufacturers in this sector,” said Martin Rigley, managing director at Lindhurst Engineering. “This will give us chance to trial our technology on a range of waste food products and enable us to tailor our system to various waste streams. In addition to the funding, the access to market the iNet can provide will be invaluable to us, communicating our technology to a wider audience.

“The ultimate objective is to have a cost-effective way of releasing the inherent energy contained within waste at source. This will lead to cost savings in handling the waste with the added advantage of a payback from the energy released.”

Current methods of dealing with the organic content in industrial effluent are costly and waste the potential energy contained within it. MFC, however, is able to harness the energy - hydrogen rich bio-gas – using a series of anodes and cathodes.

It needs only bacteria to convert the slurry or dairy by-products into carbon dioxide, water and energy.

After trialling the technology last year in a one cubic metre capacity pilot plant, the team has calculated that a larger production scale sized cell will be able to supply a farm with a large proportion of its annual energy needs if fed with slurry from 200 cows.

Now the team is also turning its attention to how the technology could be used to help food manufacturers to dispose of food waste and create energy at the same time. They are currently looking at the different types of food waste produced by food manufacturers during processing with the aim of developing a pre-treatment system to transform solid food waste into a suitable consistency for the MFC.

This will be followed by trialling with a number of manufacturers to look at commercial viability of the MFC and pre-treatment process, along with analysis of how much energy and bio fuel would be created and the cost savings incurred from the type and volume of waste the business generates.

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), The Food and Drink iNet co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands. It has developed an effective network to encourage the collaboration of academic expertise and knowledge, and local food and drink business innovation needs.

It aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and drink industry in the region by helping to create opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and implement new products, markets, services and processes.

The Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by The Food and Drink Forum and including Nottingham Trent University, The University of Lincoln, and The University of Nottingham. It is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, with advisors covering the East Midlands region.

www.foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

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Food and Drink iNet (Innovation Network) looks into disappearing beer casks problem

The East Midlands microbrewery industry is feeling the cost, as thousands of pounds worth of beer casks go missing every year. Nationally, the British Beer and Pub Association estimates the problem costs the UK brewing industry £50 million annually.

Now researchers at The University of Nottingham are stepping in to help microbrewers in the region by trying to discover the best way to keep track of the casks after being invited to study the problem by the Food and Drink iNet (Innovation Network).

The university’s Food and Biofuel Innovation Centre has been commissioned by the iNet to team up with the Derbyshire Brewers’ Collective under the iNet’s Collaborate to Innovate project, which brings together academic experts and industry to solve specific challenges in the food sector.

The university will liaise with the collective in a bid to pinpoint the best approaches for tracking devices for the casks and ways of raising awareness about the problem in the hope that it will save the microbrewery industry thousands of pounds in the future.

Breweries are believed to lose up to 10% of casks per year.

“Some casks can be stolen but more than likely they are lost – just left in yards, pubs and units, and not returned to their rightful owners. They could be there for ages,” said John Baldock, chairman of the Derbyshire Brewers’ Collective and a director at Derventio Brewery near Ashbourne.

“If you pay £74 to buy a cask and it gets left in someone’s back yard, you can’t use. It’s dead money. It’s not working for your brewery. A lot of breweries rent casks, but if these casks go missing then we are paying rent per month for casks that we can’t use. The upshot is that there are a lot of disgruntled small brewers who haven’t got their own casks in their own yards. A lot of it is down to the fact that many wholesalers, landlords and draymen just aren’t aware of the cost to a brewery of not returning casks.”

The major breweries barcode their casks to keep track of them. But even then, a proportion goes missing.

The University of Nottingham will be working with the Derbyshire Brewers’ Collective – made up of 16 breweries in the county - to come up with cost-effective ideas to help solve the problem.

Food and Drink iNet director, Richard Worrall, said: “The iNet is committed to bringing academics and businesses together so that they can work collectively to solve common problems. When we heard how much money was being lost as a result of disappearing beer casks we wanted to do something to help find a solution which will benefit the microbrewery industry.”

The commission by the iNet is one of the first pieces of research work gained by the new Food and Biofuel Innovation Centre, based at The University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington site. The centre is a combination of three interconnected areas – one for brewing science, one for food processing and one for bioenergy production. Each area has the plant and equipment to carry out research, development and teaching.

“We are hoping to provide a range of solutions that will help microbrewers increase their profitability because the loss of casks, whether they are rented or owned by the microbrewers, does represent a loss of profit,” said Dr Jerry Avis, project manager at the Food and Biofuel Innovation Centre.

“A small brewer has to have roughly five times the number of casks he’s going to fill at any one time. If we can help reduce that ratio it’s a big improvement.”

The Food and Drink iNet, which is funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), is one of four regional iNets developed to link academic and private sector expertise and knowledge with local food and drink business innovation needs.

The Food and Drink iNet aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and drink industry in the region by helping to create opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and implement new products, markets, services and processes. It is managed by a consortium, led by the Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham. For more information visit www.eminnovation.org.uk/food

For more information please contact the Food and Drink iNet on info@foodanddrink-inet.org.uk

Nottingham PR consultant Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Keeping soft fruit ‘fur free’ for longer idea wins support from the Food and Drink iNet

Scientists researching a new way of keeping soft fruit ‘fur free’ for longer have been given support by the Food and Drink iNet.

Experts at The University of Nottingham have joined forces with colleagues at Loughborough University to look into how cold plasma technology might be used to prevent fruit from going mouldy so quickly.

The cold plasma expertise is already used in the medical world to safely clean bacteria from wounds. But now the team is hoping the technology can be applied to soft fruit, like strawberries, so that bugs that cause moulds can be eradicated before the fruit is packed.

This would give products an extra five days of shelf-life and help prevent the large amount of spoilage and waste currently experienced by the soft fruit industry.

The project is one of five Collaborative Research and Development grants worth a total of more than £235,000 announced by the Food and Drink iNet, which co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Food and Drink iNet is one of four regional iNets that has developed an effective network to link academic and private sector expertise and knowledge with local food and drink business innovation needs.

“We are pleased to be able to support this innovative research project between The University of Nottingham, Loughborough University and soft fruit supplier Berryworld, which has important potential for the soft fruit sector,” said Food and Drink iNet Director Richard Worrall. “Discovering a non-destructive, non-contact and non-residue leaving process that helps extend the shelf-life of soft fruit and prevent wastage could bring major benefits.

“Our Food and Drink iNet Collaborative Research and Development funding is designed to provide help for innovative research schemes that will benefit the food and drink sector in the future, and we are proud to be associated with this project.”

The work is being led by researchers in the Division of Food Sciences in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington campus, who are working with the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering at Loughborough University and in conjunction with soft fruit supplier Berryworld.

The Food and Drink iNet has awarded the team almost £46,500 of the just over £73,500 cost of the research project.

It was a chance discovery that led them to believe that cold plasma technology might be useful in the fruit sector. They had previously been using the technology – which involves a tiny controllable beam of plasma, similar to lightning - to control micro-organisms and to clean surfaces.

“While we were doing that we discovered that we could treat soft fruit with the plasma,” said Dr Cath Rees, senior lecturer in microbiology at The University of Nottingham.

Soft fruit is notoriously difficult to keep ‘fur free’ for long, as it bruises easily when handled and becomes contaminated. The cold plasma technology would present a way of eradicating moulds early in the packing process.

“Our findings showed that we could prevent that perennial problem of fruit going mouldy once you get it home. This means better value for the customers and fewer losses for the producers, who normally remove the mouldy ones before the fruit is sold,” said Dr Rees.

Millions of tonnes of soft fruit is lost and wasted each year through mould, and the team hopes this could prove to be a practical solution to the problem.

“Allowing us to try the cold plasma technology in a food context is all down to Food and Drink iNet sponsorship,” said Dr Rees.

The Food and Drink iNet aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and drink industry in the region by helping to create opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and implement new products, markets, services and processes. It is managed by a consortium, led by the Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham. It is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, with advisors covering the East Midlands region.

For more information visit www.eminnovation.org.uk/food


Nottingham PR consultant Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Blue cheese under the microscope thanks to Food and Drink iNet

Dr Kostas Gzatzionis & Food & Drink iNet advisor Jo Murphy 

Scientists are putting the East Midlands’ famous blue cheeses under the microscope in a research project that aims to explain exactly what gives the cheeses their distinctive taste, texture and smell.


The Food and Drink iNet is supporting research being carried out by The University of Northampton in conjunction with The University of Nottingham to delve into the microbiology of blue cheese production.

The researchers hope to unravel the mystery of exactly how the microorganisms in blue cheese work…leading to greater quality, consistency and fewer defects in production.

The project could ultimately help East Midlands’ blue cheeses to take a larger slice of the global blue cheese market by making regional cheese producers more competitive.

The research project is one of five Collaborative Research and Development grants worth a total of more than £245,000 announced by the Food and Drink iNet, which co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Food and Drink iNet is one of four regional iNets that has developed an effective network to link academic and private sector expertise and knowledge with local food and drink business innovation needs.

“This is an exciting research project between The University of Northampton and The University of Nottingham, with far-reaching potential for one of the East Midlands’ most famous products and exports,” said Food and Drink iNet interim director Richard Worrall. “We don’t really know exactly how the various microorganisms in blue cheeses are interacting and working, so if we can help to provide a clearer picture about their role in blue cheese production it will help cheese producers in a number of different ways, and ultimately make them more competitive.

“The Food and Drink iNet Collaborative Research and Development support is designed to provide help for innovative research schemes that will benefit the food and drink sector in the future, and this fits the bill perfectly.”

The team, which also includes Stichelton Dairy Ltd, based on the Welbeck Estate, Nottinghamshire, has been awarded almost £49,000 towards the cost of the research project of just over £79,000.

The research is being run by Dr Kostas Gkatzionis, a researcher in the School of Health at The University of Northampton, in conjunction with his colleague Prof Carol Phillips, and Prof Christine Dodd and Dr Robert Linforth from The University of Nottingham. Dr Kostas Gkatzionis studied the microflora of Stilton for his PhD. Now this research is being widened to look at the role played by secondary flora - microorganisms that have not been added or controlled by the producer but which appear in the cheese during production.

This secondary flora has a significant impact on the properties of the final product in both a positive way by contributing to the flavour of the cheese, but also in a negative way by producing bitter smells and poor formation of the blue veins.

By discovering exactly how this secondary flora works, researchers hope that blue cheese producers will be able not only to improve current varieties of cheese but also that this will pave the way to the development of new cheeses.

“We are very pleased to receive this grant from the Food and Drink iNet for our research, which will help us to understand in more detail the microbiological issues that concern the production of cheeses, and as a result should bring a range of benefits to the blue cheese industry of the East Midlands, and also the cheese industry more generally,” said Dr Gkatzionis.

The research findings will be shared with cheese producers across the UK.

The Food and Drink iNet aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and drink industry in the region by helping to create opportunities to develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and implement new products, markets, services and processes. It is managed by a consortium, led by the Food and Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham. It is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, with advisors covering the East Midlands region.

For more information visit www.eminnovation.org.uk/food

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iShowcase event organised by the Food and Drink iNet as part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival

A foretaste of future developments in the food and drink sector will be unveiled as part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival.

Details of nine research projects being undertaken by the region’s universities which have the potential to shape the future of the food and drink industry will be revealed.

The projects have received grant support of £445,000 for research and development through the Food and Drink iNet’s Higher Education Collaboration Fund.

The schemes will come under the spotlight at an iShowcase event on March 23rd at the Sir Colin Campbell Building, The University of Nottingham Innovation Park, Nottingham.

The event is part of the 2010 East Midlands iFestival taking place from 12th March to 23rd April, which is the largest annual celebration of innovation in the UK and features more than 150 activities across the region. The iFestival is being co-ordinated by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and East Midlands Innovation (the region’s innovation council).

“For those involved in the food and drink industry, this event provides an insight into the science that sits behind the future innovations and technologies of the food and drink sector,” said Peter Maycock, Food and Drink iNet Director. “It’s also a fantastic opportunity to explore potential solutions to the challenges faced by food and drink sector businesses across the East Midlands.”

Among the projects being unveiled at the iShowcase event is a research project between De Montfort University and Loughborough University to reduce the problem of lumps in powdered food, known as caking, which has challenged food manufacturers for decades; a collaboration between The University of Lincoln, Nottingham Trent University and The University of Northampton to improve heat sealing for packaging to help reduce waste and provide higher levels of performance by getting it right first time; a research project by The University of Leicester and The University of Nottingham to measure the quality and ripeness of fruit without touching it using real time mass spectrometry; and a collaboration between Nottingham Trent University and The University of Nottingham to study the most common cause of bacterial food-borne illness worldwide, campylobacter coli, in organic and free-range poultry.

Other projects include a collaboration between Loughborough University and The University of Nottingham to kill bugs using Cold Atmospheric Plasma; a project between The Food Packaging Research Laboratory at Nottingham Trent University and the University of Lincoln to develop a new food packaging material that destroys bugs and reduces waste; a study to look at food structure effects on body hydration being carried out by The University of Nottingham and Loughborough University; a collaboration between Nottingham Trent University, The University of Nottingham and Cosmos Biomedical Limited to assess the safety of powdered foods; and The Silica Joint Health Supplement Project to improve welfare by strengthening the legs of poultry, being undertaken by Nottingham Trent University in collaboration with The University of Nottingham.

Running from 9am to 4pm, tickets for the iShowcase event are free. Delegates can attend all or part of the day, but must pre-register. Visit www.eminnovation.org.uk or email enquiries@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk for more information.

The Food and Drink iNet is aiming to foster innovation in the region’s food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn new ideas into new business through the development of new technologies and products. It’s also hoping to stimulate new processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help boost the sector.

Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the Food & Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Nottingham.