The Global Miller

May 04, 2016

04/05/2016: Wolfson Centre: Introduction to the processing of dry solid materials: short course

http://www.gre.ac.uk/engsci/research/groups/wolfsoncentre/coupro/sc/introduction-to-the-processing-of-dry-solid-materials

Image: Jason Bolonski

When faced with an array of options for your processing equipment, how do you know which one to choose?

Find out by attending the 'Introduction to the processing of dry solid materials: short course' at the University of Greenwich's Wolfson Centre, 7 – 8 June 2016.

This course will clarify the pros and cons of each type of hardware and help you to make an informed selection.

The following topics will be considered:

Formation / agglomeration of powders
Blending operations (tumbling vs high shear)
Particle size reduction (mill types)
Drying or moisture modification
Classification
Particle coating

Is this course for me?
If you are a plant designer, plant manager or work in maintenance, this course will improve your ability to deal with the design and troubleshooting of plants. You'll also benefit if you are from operational staff or senior management through a better understanding of potential pitfalls and how to make your plant as efficient and trouble-free as possible.

Fee: £765 per delegate

Read more and register HERE.

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine GFMT
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

04/05/2016: Evonik to showcase new products and technologies at the 2016 Vitafoods

Evonik will unveil innovative solutions at the Vitafoods trade show in Geneva, Switzerland.

The company is the first to offer glycine in gamma form – a product which does not cake, is easy to store and is free of additives. Evonik will also present a new technology that enables the formulation of nutritional supplements with a longer gastric retention time for increased bioavailability. Both innovative solutions underline Evonik’s commitment to provide customers in this space with differentiated solutions.

Previously, Evonik manufactured glycine in its alpha form, as is conventional in the industry. However, while this method of production is relatively straightforward, it is difficult to store the resulting glycine for extended periods. Glycine is the smallest and simplest of all amino acids and it can transform into the gamma form relatively quickly and independently, leading to caking. This can make glycine processing extremely difficult and cost-intensive.

Evonik has patented a process to manufacture glycine in its stable gamma form without adding any ingredients. The product will soon be available to customers in a highly pure form for use in pharmaceutical and food-industry applications.

Glycine is also used in pet foods (Image: pauljoelhancock)

“This innovation will alleviate many of the logistical and manufacturing-related challenges our customers face,” comments Thomas Hermann, Head of the Pharma and Food Ingredients Product Line.

Formulation experts at Evonik have also developed ‘floating capsules’ – ideal for nutritional supplement ingredients that only achieve maximum effectiveness if retained in the stomach for an extended period. Evonik has combined EUDRAGUARD® control with a gas-generating agent to design capsules that remain buoyant and gradually release the ingredients over a period of up to four hours inside the stomach. This gives the human body more time to absorb the active substances.

Ludger Eilers, Director of the Food Segment at Evonik Health Care explains, “This system is particularly suited for substances which have a very limited absorption window in the stomach or proximal small intestine.”

One example is anthocyanins, known for their antioxidant properties and health-enhancing characteristics. Research shows that their bioavailability can be increased by higher residence time in the stomach.

This innovative floating capsule technology – named EUDRATEC™ GRS – can also be used to ensure effective administration of other polyphenols or green tea extracts. Customers can obtain a license to use the solution, which will be presented at Vitafoods during a poster session.

Vitafoods attendees can visit the Evonik booth (L78) to find out more about these innovations as well as the REXIVA® range of amino acids and the EUDRAGUARD® family of functional polymers designed for use in nutritional supplements.

Evonik will also be showcasing a berry extract derived from wild Scandinavian blueberries and blackcurrants grown in New Zealand. This product has particularly high, stable anthocyanin content. The extract will be sold via the MEDOX® brand in Scandinavia, and is marketed as Healthberry™ 865 for functional food and drink applications.

Visit the Evonik site HERE.

May 03, 2016

03/05/2016: To fortify or not to fortify - Scotland’s big question

First published in Milling and Grain, March 2016

Discussions unfolding from the start of this year have revealed that Scotland is edging ever closer to a decision some 16 years in the making, whether or not to fortify flour with folic acid.

As concerns rise over the potential for an increase in birth defects, Scotland moves towards mandatory fortification, as Westminster continue to delay their decision.

The uncertainty surrounding the issue of fortification has led to a reduction of the amount of folic acid added to products by companies who voluntarily fortify their foods, in order to comply with regulations should fortification be implemented. This has led to mounting concerns of the level of folic acid intake across the UK.

https://issuu.com/gfmt/docs/mag1603_w1/56

Folate, from the family of B-Vitamins, occurs naturally in foods such as nuts and green vegetables. Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate, often used for food fortification and in dietary supplements; it plays a pivotal role in the prevention of birth defects, specifically neural tube defects (NTD) such as spina bifida.

Since 1992 advice to women UK wide has been to begin to take folic acid supplements while trying to get pregnant to reduce the risk of NTD, but studies have shown that as little as 28 percent of women take the correct dosage of 400 micrograms three months prior to pregnancy, following this through until the 12th week of pregnancy.

As the required amount of dietary folate intake does not appear possible through diet alone, women who have unplanned pregnancies, as well as the those who have not taken the required supplement at the correct time, are at greater risk of NTD. It is believed that as many as 50 percent of births in Scotland are unplanned, expounding the need for the addition of folic acid into diets.

A study published in December 2015 concluded that the failure to implement mandatory fortification at the same time as the US in 1998 led to an estimated 2000 children being born with NTD, and ignoring it further could lead to an additional 150 children born with NTD year on year; where the US has seen a decrease of children born with NTD of 28 percent.

Extensive research has been carried out by a plethora of scientific bodies including the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), who were looking into potential adverse effects of folic acid. The conclusion of this research culminated in a collective call for fortification.

In a report to UK health ministers last autumn, officials at SACN testified that where mandatory fortification has been implemented in nearly 80 countries worldwide, none had not reported any adverse health conditions as a result of fortification.

Milling and Grain spoke to the Scottish Health Minister Maureen Watt about Scotland’s push to fortify flour.

Read the interview in Milling and Grain HERE.

İmaş Makine Sanayi AŞ company profile

İmaş started out in 1989 under the name of İttifak Makine in a small machinery workshop producing milling machines. In 1991 it added bandsaw systems to its product range. In 2003 İmaş completed its institutionalization and made a strong entry to the sector with the ‘Milleral’ brand of milling machines and the ‘Cuteral’ brand of bandsaw machines.

The Milleral and Cuteral product ranges aimed to compete with giant international companies in their respective sectors and became globally sought-after brands thanks to İmaş Makine’s quality standards, R&D efforts and human resources producing their own technology and effective marketing strategies.

Visit the website HERE.

03/05/2016: Grain groups caution APHIS against ill-advised revisions to biotech regulations

Image: Edwin Torres

Five national grain-based organisations have cautioned the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) not to make premature and ill-advised changes to its biotech regulations that could result in increased domestic and international market disruptions for grain and grain products.

The statement, authored by the National Grain and Feed Association, was in response to APHIS's notice announcing its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement concerning potential revisions to its so-called Part 340 biotech regulations. Under these regulations, APHIS makes science-based determinations of whether biotech-enhanced traits pose a plant pest or noxious weed risk.

The North American Export Grain Association, Corn Refiners Association, North American Millers Association and National Oilseed Processors Association joined the NGFA in stating that the outcome of any revision to APHIS's biotech regulations should be either acceptable to - or comparable and compatible with regulatory approaches used by - competent government authorities in important US markets so as to minimise or prevent the risk of market and trade disruptions.

"To create a truly workable biotech regulatory framework for the future, APHIS must take the necessary time and make the necessary effort to address the challenge of achieving regulatory coherence and compatibility in the global market," the organisations stated.

"We believe that any changes to US biotech regulatory processes - including Part 340 - should be considered only after advance, robust and thorough discussions with competent government authorities in countries that represent important US export markets, during which alignment in regulatory approaches is achieved to the maximum extent possible....This is even more important currently, given ongoing and potentially productive discussions occurring between the private sector and various foreign governments on whether and how to address the regulatory treatment of important new breeding technologies," such as gene-editing techniques.

To date, the groups said, there is no indication that adequate consultations or buy-in from foreign governments has occurred to date.

The statement also cited the need for APHIS to develop a clearly defined, specific regulatory process for biotech-enhanced agricultural products that have unique functional characteristics (eg, output traits) that may adversely affect the functionality and/or compositional and nutritional integrity of the product and downstream users if the trait becomes present in the commingled, fungible supply chain at levels exceeding certain thresholds.

The organisations also faulted APHIS for seemingly divorcing the review of its regulations that determine whether a biotech trait poses a plant pest or noxious weed risk from the Obama administration's ongoing comprehensive review of the so-called Coordinated Framework for biotechnology that involves other federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency, which have oversight of other aspects of pre-market reviews of biotech-enhanced products.

Further, consistent with previous NGFA and NAEGA statements to APHIS, the joint statement also urged APHIS to consider the concept of "conditional deregulation" in instances where scientific risk assessment has found a given biotech-enhanced trait does not present a plant pest or noxious weed risk, but the trait has not been approved in important US export markets or has a functionally different output trait. Under this concept, APHIS would continue to provide permit-controlled oversight over prudent stewardship and risk-responsibility plans put in place by biotech owners/providers to minimise the potential for traits that could pose market disruptions from becoming commingled in the fungible commodity supply stream.

The groups noted that the "conditional deregulation" concept is consistent with USDA's obligation to consider the potential economic impacts on US agriculture of commercialisation of biotech-enhanced traits. It also would contribute to preserving the efficiencies and cost-competitiveness of the fungible, commingled US and global grain and oilseed supply, in which commodities from various regions of the world can be sourced in a timely and efficient manner in response to customer demand without concern over regulatory status, thereby enhancing food security.

Click HERE to access the 11-page statement.

Visit the NGFA site HERE.

03/05/2016: Practical short course: Enzyme technology in oilseeds, oils & fats processing and transformation

Novotel Gent Centrum, Ghent, Belgium, Wednesday 21 & Thursday 22 September 2016 (following the EuroFedLipid Conference)

Full registration includes: access to all presentations, short course manuals, lunch and coffee breaks and free access to the oils + fats trade show

Early bird registration (ON or BEFORE August 21) 795.00 EUR
Academic registration 495.00 EUR
Group registration rates: 10 percent off for three or more; 20 percent off for five or more

Register HERE.

Draft program:
Day 1: Wednesday, September 21, 2016

8:50 Opening remarks
9:00 Fundamentals of enzyme technology, enzyme stability and quality control, TBN, Ghent University, Belgium

Session 1: Soft extraction technology
9:30 Enzymatic cell opening using (hemi) cellulases and proteases for higher palm oil yield, TBC, Advanced Enzyme Technologies, India
10:00 Enzymatic protein modification for functional protein isolates, TBC, USA

10:30 Coffee/tea break

Session 2: Enzymatic degumming
11:00 Optimising oil yield using phospholipases A, A1, A2 and B, Novozyme, Denmark
11:30 Oil degumming using phospholipases C and D, DSM Food Specialities, the Netherlands
12:00 Enzymatic degumming in practice, DeSmet Ballestra R&D, Belgium

12:30 Lunch break & networking

Session 3: Enzymatic interesterification technology
13:30 Novel lipases for enzymatic interesterification, Novozymes, Denmark
14:00 Enzymatic biodiesel: from lab to industrial application, DeSmet Ballestra R&D, Belgium
14:30 Interesterification in the production of concentrated l,c-omega-3 oils, Novozymes, Denmark

15:00 Coffee/tea break

15:30 Specialty fats CBE and CBS – SOS/OPO, TBC, IOI Loders Croklaan, the Netherlands
16:00 Free fatty acid reduction in edible oils, TBC, Advanced Enzyme Technologies, India
16:30 Use of lipases in laundry & detergent applications, TBN

Session 4: Industrial application of enzymatic interesterification
17:00 Analytical tools for optimising enzymatic lipid modifications, TBC, Bunge Global Innovation, USA

17:30 End of Day 1

Ghent (Image: Mislav Marohnić)

Day 2: Thursday, September 22, 2016

9:00 Large scale use of enzymatic interesterification in producing novel hardstocks, TBC
9:30 Scaling-up enzymatic glycolipid synthesis, TBN, Ghent University, Belgium
10:00 Working with enzymes in lipid industry, TBC

10:30 Coffee/tea break

Session 5: Application of (phospho)lipases in food technology
11:00 Enzymatic lecithin de-oiling as alternative for enzymatic oil degumming, DeSmet Ballestra R&D, Belgium
11:30 Enzymatic production of lysolecithin and lecithin fractions, DSM Food Specialities, the Netherlands
12:00 Enzymatic lipid modification in flavor production, DSM Food Specialities, the Netherlands
12:30 Using structured lipids in food applications, TBC, DuPont Nutrition BioSciences, Denmark

13:00 Lunch break & networking

BioBase Europe pilot plant visit
14:00 Visit to BioBase Europe pilot facilities with optional demonstration of lipid enzymatic interesterification

16:30 End of program

Read more HERE and register HERE.

03/05/2016: AFIA, NGFA foundations partner with University of Minnesota to develop generic hazard analysis to assist FSMA compliance

The research and education arms of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) and National Grain and Feed Association are partnering to finance a major project that will help animal feed, feed ingredient and pet food facilities cost-effectively comply with a core requirement of the Food and Drug Administration's final rules implementing the Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA).

AFIA's Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER) and NGFA's National Grain and Feed Foundation (NGFF) are co-sponsors of a hazard evaluation of typical ingredients and processes associated with the manufacturing and distribution of animal feed and pet food being conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine's Centre for Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS).

The results of the project are expected to provide a strong scientific basis for identifying hazards and developing a hazard analysis that companies can adapt to their specific operations, thereby potentially saving covered facilities millions of dollars were they to have to perform such an analysis from scratch.

FSMA requires covered animal food facilities to establish and implement an animal food safety system that includes an analysis identifying "known or reasonably foreseeable" hazards for each type of animal food manufactured, processed, packed or stored at a facility to determine if any hazards exist that require risk-based preventive controls. Under FDA's final animal food rule, a hazard analysis must be reviewed every three years, or earlier, if there are changes to equipment, manufacturing processes or other operations that make a review warranted.

Under the project, CAHFS will develop a generic hazard analysis and provide it to the two associations' foundations, which in turn will share it with AFIA- and NGFA-member facilities. Those individual facilities then will be able to use the generic analysis to determine what, if any, "known or reasonably foreseeable" hazards at their facilities need to be addressed with either current good manufacturing practices or preventive controls.

"We are very fortunate we were able to identify the CAHFS as an organisation capable of taking this on and at a reasonable cost," said Joel G Newman, AFIA president and CEO and IFEEDER president.

"The interaction with the Center and both of the sponsors to-date has been excellent, and we look forward to receiving the final document and to the symposium IFEEDER is sponsoring at the Joint Annual Meeting this summer to vet the process used to identify these feed hazards."

"This partnership between NGFF and IFEEDER should be indispensable in enabling covered animal food facilities to cost-effectively comply with this core requirement of FDA's FSMA final rule," said Randy Gordon, NGFA president and NGFF secretary.

"This project will enable companies to jump-start that process by leveraging the expertise at the University of Minnesota's CAHFS, making compliance as practical and cost-effective as possible."

The total project cost is expected to reach US$170,000. CAHFS intends to publish the study's methodology and other attributes of the assessment in a peer-reviewed journal. The projected completion date for the project is October 2016.

Click HERE for a summary of the project.

Visit the AFIA site HERE.

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