Saturday, January 23, 2016

Food Waste Recovery Trends in 2016: Research, Innovation, Commercialization and Funding

                                                          Recovering Food Waste. Source: Wikimedia
Research
Over the last years, the number of published studies dealing with the valorization of processing by-products has been rapidly increased. This is proved by the numerous special issues organized by important Journals, such as these organized by Food Research International: (i) Recovery and utilization of valuable compounds from food processing by-products and (ii) Byproducts from agri-food industry: new strategies for their revalorization.
Following information received by individual members of Food Waste Recovery Group (SIG5) of ISEKI Food Association, more studies dealing not only with the recovery of valuable compounds from food waste, but also with their application in particular food and other products will be published within 2016. Moreover, proof-of-concept projects (e.g. sustainable plant ingredients for healthier meat products) targeting to establish health benefits of relevant products have been funded and are expected to launch their first results soon.
Following EU’s and other countries’ growing interest and funding policy promoting bio-based products and industries, the biorefinery approach is placed in a central role, too. Taking into account the impressive interest of the food science community in the above subjects, it is rather clear that new, emerging and more subject-targeted reference tools are needed. SIG5 works to this direction and plans to launch new initiatives within 2016.
Innovation & Commercialization Efforts
During food waste recovery book editing, only 35 companies with related products were identified around the world. Many of them have not been fully commercialized yet or were in an early stage of development. These products include dietary fibers from vegetable waste, proteins from cheese whey, fish oil from fishery by-products, lycopene from tomato waste, proanthocyanidins and oil from grape seeds, polyphenols from pine bark, keratin from chicken feathers, sugar and flavonoids syrup from citrus peel, protein from meat processing by-products and fish skin, yeast extract and lactic acid from sugar beet pulp, albumin from soy protein isolate wastewater, chitosan from shrimp shells and others. After publishing the book, we find out that there are much more companies activated in the field. This gap was created not only by the lack of available information (due to companies’ secrecy policy), but also due to the fast growing applications in the field.
Read More in the following link:
http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/food-waste-recovery-trends-in-2016-research/

Some Book Reviews






Here you can find some book reviews:

“There is no doubt that with rising populations, food wastage is of ever growing significance. We are now at a point that it is no longer sufficient to simply reduce the amount of industrial or supply chain waste, whether agricultural or processing by-product, but to eliminate it. To achieve such targets, the inherent value; nutritional or functional, must be recovered from any waste stream. This requires a deep knowledge of the potential of such waste material, which in turn can drive the innovation process to realise that value. Food Waste Recovery edited by Dr. Charis Galankis provides the detailed insight needed to address these challenges head on. With detailed reviews of food wastage sources, potential value of waste streams and the traditional, innovative and emerging extraction and recovery technology, this book achieves the editors vision of producing an essential reference tool for food and drink professionals tackling the increasingly important issue of food waste.” -- Steve Osborn B.Sc. (hons), M.Phil., C.SCI., FIFST, Principal consultant - Food and Beverage, The Aurora Ceres Partnership Ltd.


"This book successfully captures the current outlook with regard to food waste valorisation, compiling the collaborative contributions of academic institutions and commercial organisations. Encompassing a breadth of separation and extraction technologies, both conventional and emerging, the book provides rich insight into the techniques which could either be employed in isolation or regarded as building blocks in a comprehensive biorefinery. Food Waste Recovery represents a much-needed toolkit, increasing the prospect of recovering high added-value compounds from organic byproducts. Moreover, it serves as a bridge between academia and industry, a vital handbook for anyone wanting to develop a food waste recovery application. Crucially, the book places priority on the ethical responsibility to maximise the efficient recovery of bioresources against the backdrop of ever-increasing pressure on natural resources due to climate change and rising populations. Thus, food waste valorisation is presented not simply as a commercial teaser; rather it is regarded as a vital activity as part of a coordinated strategy to ensure a sustainable food supply. Fundamentally, Dr. Galanakis has succeeded in drawing together accounts of the key technologies which will form the basis of any future biorefinery and this compilation marks a milestone in the journey towards that destination." -- Andrew Gadd, Link2Energy - Industrial Symbiosis Services - Medium


"There were times in human history where we had no access to information because it was unavailable. Now, we have an overload of information and it is a time taking process for each of us to identify our sources. This book makes it easier for those who are looking for the latest latest information and knowledge on processing food wastes in industrial settings. The book has expanded my knowledge about the variety of chemicals that can be recovered from food wastes and their final markets. Chapter 4, The Universal Recovery Strategy provides a good framework for approaching value recovery out of food waste. The framework can also be applied to recovery of food and organic waste in cities. This strategy will be more valuable when it is adopted widely, and researchers and decision makers expand on it according to their requirements. Given my background in engineering and consulting, I found Chapter 14 especially useful. It lays out the cost and safety issues of emerging and conventional technologies, which can be a good starting point for further research and decision making." -- Ranjith Annepu, Co-Founder, be Waste Wise, New York City

"The Food Waste Recovery book is a very complete overview on the possibilities for food waste use, focusing specially on added value products. The information provided in the book is very well organized and offers a comprehensive access to the information scattered in many technical and scientific publications. The books makes easy to find the potential of a specific waste or how to recover a molecule of economic interest with different technologies.

The book opens with an interesting introduction on valorization and the sustainability of the food industry and the valorization as alternative to other common food waste disposals or low-value recovery processes. The second chapter deals with the list of different by-products, potential added value molecules to be extracted and recovery alternatives. The book is very illustrative with many examples, graphs and scientific cites, making the search of literature on an specific product or technology much easier. It is especially interesting the description of the five stage universal recovery strategy in order to assess the technical and economic feasibility of the recovery.

Section II presents a wide range of traditional recovery pre-treatment technologies such as milling, thermal and vacuum concentration, evaporation, freezing, membrane separation, among others and the extraction technologies, like ultrafiltration, isoelectric precipitation, extrusion, use of solvents, nanofitration, etc. are described. Also state-of-the-art technologies like microwave and supercritical fluid extraction are mentioned including the advantages of the technologies with the economic implications when scaling-up. Examples of applications of these technologies in the food industry are also provided. Chapter eight describes an interesting range of options for industrial use of the recovered products.

But one of the most innovative and interesting parts of the book is the one in Section III dedicated to emerging technologies such as radio-frequency drying, electroosmotic drying, the use of low temperature plasma, high hydrostatic pressure, ultrasounds, pulsed electrical fields or magnetic fields and the applications and implementations in different food sectors beyond the applications at laboratory or pilot stages. Advantages and difficulties compared to the traditional techniques are described in detail. On the other hand, section IV provides very valuable information on the safety aspects and costs of the different recovery technologies so the food industry interested in recovering value added compounds can make calculations, therefore facilitating the decision in selecting the most convenient technology.
Definitely, the book is a “must have” for all those working with food waste recovery."
 Aintzane Esturo  -  Technical Manager -PMP
SGF International e.V. I  Sure – Global – Fair 
Am Hahnenbusch 14b I  55268 Nieder-Olm I Germany  


Monday, January 11, 2016

What 2016 brings in the field of Food Waste Recovery? Teaching Tools, Events & Networking

Today, many food waste recovery projects progress around the world, whereas the publication of several scientific articles, the obtainment of related patents, the organization of congresses and industrial efforts in the field have emerged a wealth of literature.
Special Interest Group 5 (SIG5) of ISEKI Food Association (IFA), which is the biggest network worldwide in the field of food waste recovery, aspires to fill in the gap between academia and industry in the particular field. The group complements three years of operation  and has already attracted the attention of the scientific community (recently recommended by EU Food Waste - Good Practices in the category of Awareness, information and education), acting as an umbrella that observes all the research, innovation, commercialization and teaching efforts and leads many of them.


Teaching Tools
Lifelong learning is often considered to be a normal part of working and personal life, as technological trends are always bringing new challenges in the field of food science. SIG5 is leading efforts for the development of teaching activities in its subject of interest, mainly by volunteering actions. Starting with a webinar series three years ago (accounting 15 lectures with a total of >500 individual scientists from >60 countries), the group contributed to the further development of the "5-Stages Universal Recovery Process" (referred in a review article) to a book that explores in depth the theory and methodologies behind the recovery of high added-value compounds from food wastes. The book was recently recommended by FAO and EU Food Waste - Good Practices, in the category of Research & Innovation.

Heading in 2016, more initiatives are planned with a final purpose of offering integral teaching tools for researchers, academics, students, professionals and industrial partners activated in the field. Therefore, "basic reading" will be enhanced with a chapter entitled "High value-added material recovery from food waste" included in Elsevier Reference Module in Food Science and numerous chapters in more than four scientific forthcoming books of Elsevier Food Science Resources.
Read More in the following link:
http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/food-waste-recovery-2016/

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Online Book Presentation (11th Feb, 14:00 UTC): "Food Waste Recovery: Processing Technology and Industrial Techniques"

Free Registration here:



Food Waste Recovery: Processing Technologies and Industrial Techniques acts as a guide to recover valuable components of food by-products and recycle them inside the food chain, in an economic and sustainable way. The book investigates all the relevant recovery issues and compares different techniques to help you advance your research and develop new applications. Strong coverage of the different technologies is included, while keeping a balance between the characteristics of current conventional and emerging technologies. This is an essential reference for research outcomes.
Key Features
  • Presents a holistic methodology (the so-called "5-Stages Universal Recovery Process") and a general approach (the so-called "Universal Recovery Strategy") to ensure optimized management of the available technologies and recapture of different high added-value compounds from any waste source
  • Includes characteristics, safety and cost issues of conventional and emerging technologies, the benefits of their application in industry, and commercialized applications of real market products
  • Demonstrates all aspects of the recovery process such as preservation of the substrate, yield optimization, preservation of functionality of the target compounds during processing, and more
Book chapters, content and relevant feedback will be discussed in the forthcoming webinar.