CHICAGO (Newswise) — At the opening general session of the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo®, IFT President-Elect Janet Collins and President-Elect designate Mary Ellen Camire announced and presented four companies with the 2013 IFT Food Expo Innovation Awards. The winners are Glanbia Nutritionals, NIZO food research, PerkinElmer, and Tate & Lyle.
“The Food Expo Innovation Awards are a showcase for amazing advancements made in our profession,” said Collins. “Exclusive to companies exhibiting at the IFT Food Expo, these awards honor outstanding innovation in products, ingredients, technologies, instrumentation, equipment, and services that were commercially introduced since January 1st of 2012.”
A panel of nine jurors from industry, academia, and government with broad expertise in research & product development, processing & packaging technology, and food safety selected the four companies and their innovations from 60 qualified entries. Judging criteria included degree of innovation, technical advancement, benefits to food manufacturers and consumers, and scientific merit.
Glanbia Nutritionals (booth 1029) garnered the 2013 IFT Food Expo Innovation Award for its Optisol 3000 egg replacement system, which is comprised of whey protein concentrate (WPC) and milled flaxseed. The WPC contains a unique protein profile to provide additional functional benefits, while the flaxseed component was developed to maximize the gum and fiber contributions from the flax. It can be used as a 100% egg replacer in baked products such as muffins, cookies, and cornbread. Sensory trials have shown no significant difference in appearance, taste, and texture.
NIZO food research (booth 1310) won the award for its new sensory technology, acoustic tribology. The technology records and analyzes the sound of rubbing of the tongue against the food, and can be used to predict the sensory effects of food innovations. Creaminess or astringency of new foods or prototypes can now be determined by measuring the sound generated by the food interacting with the tongue during consumption. Acoustic tribology has been demonstrated in a range of dairy systems. It can, however, be applied to any food.
PerkinElmer (booth 4019) was honored for its AxION DSA/TOF mass spectrometry system, which eliminates time-consuming sample preparation steps and front-end gas or liquid chromatography. This technology allows for the direct analysis of food samples in a few seconds. It can be used for rapid measurement of food adulteration, contamination, and characterization with minimal sample preparation and no chromatography. Examples of food characterization with DSA/TOF include caffeine in beverages, capsaicin in peppers and hot sauces, vanillin in vanilla extracts, and curcumins in turmeric powder.
Tate & Lyle (booth 1640) captured the 2013 IFT Food Expo Innovation Award for its SODA-LO salt microspheres, which can reduce salt content by 25–50% in a variety of foods without sacrificing taste. The ingredient is created with patent-pending technology that turns standard salt crystals into free-flowing hollow crystalline microspheres. These smaller, lower-density crystals efficiently deliver salty taste by maximizing surface area relative to volume. Successful applications to date include bread, peanuts, microwave popcorn, crackers, chips, French fries, and seasoned meat.
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About IFT
For more than 70 years, IFT has existed to advance the science of food. Our nonprofit scientific society—more than 18,000 members from more than 100 countries—brings together food scientists, technologists and related professions from academia, government, and industry. For more information, please visit ift.org.