Food EU 9

www.nextgenerationfood.com • Q2 2010

SWEET DEAL?Who really stands to benefit from Kraft’s

takeover of Cadbury?

THE WHITE STUFFArla Foods CEO Peder Tuborgh on the dairy

giant’s ambitious cost-saving programme

EMERGENCY RESPONSEHow Danone turned a crisis into an opportunity

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Over 600 in-house scientists in 30 countrieshave prepared my lunch.

Each day at Provimi we challenge 600 in-house scientists to come up with high-quality

animal nutrition solutions. Worldwide, over 800 products have been developed so far.

Numerous inventions are waiting to be discovered. Collectively, we continue to aim at

improving animal feed quality and safety. In fact, constant evolution is at the root of what

we do. Ever since our beginning in 1927, we have been at the forefront of our industry.

Every day is a new day of learning about animals, their environment and the best possible

ways of feeding them. As we continue to shape tomorrow’s nutrition, we are committed

to respecting the environment and animal welfare, and contributing to food safety – from

breakfast to lunch, dinner and beyond. Learn more about Provimi at www.provimi.com.

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We have a curious relationshipwith science. On the one hand,many of the things that make21st century life such a breeze

when compared to that of even our comparativelyrecent ancestors are a direct result of technologicaladvancement. On the other hand, humankind’stendency to play in God’s domain also generates aninordinate amount of unease. From the monster inMary Shelley’s Frankenstein to killer robots fromthe future in the Terminator films, the unintendedconsequences of scientific discovery have long hadthe ability to strike fear into our hearts.

This becomes a bigger issue for food produc-ers as the industry moves into increasingly high-tech areas. The research and developmentunderway at many food companies now closelyresembles in its complexity the work being doneby drug manufacturers in coming up with newpharmaceuticals. Foods are no longer just nicethings to eat; many now boast quasi-medicalproperties which claim to improve digestive health

nanotech argument to the doom-mongers.Our natural tendency to fear what we don’t

understand is largely at fault for the reluctance toembrace these new technologies. Therefore itstands to reason that food producers and regulato-ry authorities need to do a better job of allayingconsumer concerns. As it stands, bodies like theEuropean Food Safety Authority can be frustrat-ingly opaque when assessing new foods and ingre-dients. This leads to uncertainty that impedesconsumer acceptance. Likewise, food producers’reluctance to stand up and make a strong case forinnovation deeply harms their cause. Changing theview of science from bogeyman to benefit is one ofthe industry’s key 21st century challenges. n

Huw Thomas, Editor

or lower cholesterol. Genetic modification of bothplants and animals has become a reality, while therapidly developing field of nanotechnology is alsobeing explored as a potential ‘next big thing’.While such developments promise to bring bigbenefits in the way food is grown, processed andpackaged, the unmistakeable fact is that manyview them with a profound sense of disquiet.

GM crops have been hugely divisive. Theirproponents contend that genetically modifiedplants can be more resistant to disease and growmore easily in poorer conditions, characteristicsthat make them invaluable in the fight againstglobal hunger. Opponents worry about their po-tential to interbreed with native species and dam-age natural biodiversity. Nanotechnology isviewed with such suspicion that, after establish-ing the Nanotek Consortium in 2000, Kraft gotcold feet. It is now impossible to find any refer-ence to nanotechnology anywhere in its corporatematerials. Other major food groups have dis-played similar reticence, seemingly conceding the

Technological advances are radicallychanging the food industry. Now we needto beat the fear factor.

“It’s not only about innovating newproducts for consumers and customers.It’s also about ensuring that we are atthe front in terms of using the besttechnology that you can find.” ArlaFoods CEO, Peder Tuborgh (page 32)

“We leveraged a crisis by not onlyresetting the brand, but totallyresetting the company.” DanoneChairman and CEO, Franck Riboud(page 78)

“Science is great, but the people on theground have got to buy into it, so it’sgot to be doable at the same time.”Peter King, Chair of the EuropeanLivestock Association (page 96)

Future shock

FROM THE EDITOR7

ED NOTE_may10 11/05/2010 10:33 Page 7

32

Glass half full?As Kraft completes its takeover of Cadbury, Huw Thomas asks if thedeal is really good news for either party?

Making a splashAfter a period of freefalling milkprices, Arla Foods CEO PederTuborgh explains how his companyis getting back on track

26

CONTENTS8

Consumer concernsA report on concern about newfood applications

92

90

A taste of what’s to comeThe evolution of smarter foods,by Dr Trevor Davis

Tiny technologyThe hopes and hazards ofnanotechnology

84

THE FUTURE OF FOOD

CONTENTS_may10 10/05/2010 13:33 Page 8

42 A global perspectiveTackling food safety issues involves wide-ranging international cooperation in order toreduce health risks along the food chain, saysthe WHO’s Jørgen Schlundt

66 A healthy debate?The food industry may be at risk of sufferingthe same fate as the pharmaceutical industrywhen it comes to the effect that regulation canhave on innovation, says Ivan Baines

78 Looking upCEO Franck Riboud explains how Danoneturned a crisis into an opportunity and whythe future lies in emerging markets

96 Farm fitNext Generation Food sits down with PeterKing of the European Livestock Associationand hears about the organisation’s work toprotect both the continent’s animals and itsconsumers

67A healthy debate?

CONTENTS9

ASK THE EXPERT36 Raquel Lenati, 3M40 Adam Clements & Bjørn Hegstad,AcryliCon60 Kevin Hastings, NCH Europe100 Eric Chen, Raycome104 Ricardo Gobbi, Evonik DegussaGmbH110 Andrew Kinder, Infor120 Keith Smallwood, Selerant

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW62 Peter Bird, ExxonMobil64 Timo Jahen, Altro70 Victor Ferrari, Horphag Research76 Karl-Werner Quirin, FLAVEXNaturextrakte GmbH102 Dag Andersen, Rubinum AnimalHealth118 Debra Shumar, 3P Partners 130 Dieter Bergner, Huhtamaki

INDUSTRY INSIGHT74 Ivo van der Linden, Purac Biochem BV112 Mikael Nilsson, Minimpex138 Ulrich Nielsen, Ishida Europe Ltd

NEXT BIG THING38 Martin Brown, Exosect58 Nicolas Samman, Petro-Canada

TROUBLESHOOTER44 Martin Easter, HygienaInternational72 Emmanuel Michelot, Novozymes

42

A global perspective

44 46 130 Dieter BergnerMartin Easter Charles Deibel


106

IN THE BACK

Covering all bases

Cheese rolling

106 Covering all basesCompanies need to diversify their supply basein order to reduce the vulnerability of thesupply chain and increase efficiencies, saysDouglas Kent

114 Chemistry lessonsCarmen Doran and Domingo Traver ofNovartis explain how Lean Six Sigma ischanging the pharmaceutical industry andwhat food producers can learn from theirexperiences

124 Size mattersRachel Hackett of IGD explains how portionsizes given on packaging affect consumerbehaviour and what information consumersneed to see

132 Cutting cornersAnne Roulin divulges what Nestlé is doing toreduce its carbon footprint and remain at thecutting edge of innovation

CONTENTS10

140 Infographic142 Comment143 In review144 Photo finish

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

46 Safety with Raimund C. Hoenes ofGlanbia Nutritionials, Charles Deibelof Deibel Laboratories, Inc., ChristianJansen of Hunter AssociatesLaboratory, Inc., Zoe Grosser ofPerkinElmer, Franz Rappold of Mayr-Melnhof Karton AG and Jan Grøndalof Einar Willumsen


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It is a C-level event reserved for 100 participants that includes expert workshops, facilitated roundtables, peer-to-peer networking, and coordinated technology meetings.

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A Controlled, Professional and Focused Environment

The NGF Summit is a three-day critical information gathering of the most infl uential and important CIOs from the food industry.

The NGF Summit 2010Find Out More

Contact NGF+44 (0)29 2072 9300

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UPFRONT12

W ill April’s volcanic ash cloud prompt a rethink of the way

in which we consume food in Europe? Th at is the question on the lips of many of the continent’s farmers, retailers, suppliers and policymakers – not to mention consumers – following the recent grounding of European fl ights and its subsequent impact on global food supply chains.

For many in the food indus-try, the consequences of Eyjafj al-lajokul’s eruption – and the ash cloud it produced – have been as diffi cult to stomach as the volcano’s name has been hard to pronounce. Th e economic eff ects of Iceland’s still-spewing volcano extend beyond the hundreds of millions a day in lost airline rev-enues and tourism incomes, to include a devastating impact on

both retailers in the no-fl y zone and the growers and suppliers they buy from in far-fl ung loca-tions around the world. Farmers in Kenya, for example, were forced to dump hundreds of tonnes of vegetables, fruit and fl owers destined for the UK aft er the volcanic ash cloud over Europe grounded cargo shipments in and out of the country, while at the same time laying off thou-sands of workers; meanwhile, restaurants, grocers and super-markets across the region were left without countless products – grown on foreign soil and shipped within hours of harvesting to a store near you – that consumers have become accustomed to as a

result of the globalisation of the industry.

“Over the last generation or so, individual palates and whole cui-sines have been reshaped around the expectation that everything is accessible – regardless of where it

was harvested, hunted or caught – as long as one is close to

an airport and willing to pay for the privi-lege,” says Sasha Issenberg, author of Th e Sushi Econ-

omy: Globalization and the Making of a

Modern Delicacy. “Th e volcano has transported us

into a locavore fantasy, forcing us all onto the type of 100-mile diet that used to be imaginable only as a stunt.”

Issenberg believes the ash-cloud crisis was a huge wake-up call regarding the nature of today’s complex food supply chains, and

has brought a number of theoretical debates about food security – and in particular the way in which we purchase and consume foodstuff s in the West – to the fore.

For instance, the ‘just in time’ delivery and inventory models used today by most European super-markets mean that while there is some stock kept in reserve, it is only enough to last for two or three days. And while this is, on the surface, no big deal – Britain only air-freights between one and two percent of its foodstuff s, few of those count as staples, and nobody’s going to starve for want of an avocado – it does reveal the inherent fragility of the current system.

In Britain we grow only 60 percent of what we eat, while fi gures across the rest of Europe are roughly comparable. It begs the question of whether this is a sustainable (or even sensible) strategy given how other global supply chains have

THE BRIEF

Britain grows 60 percent

of what it eats

RETHINKING FOOD SECURITY

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UPFRONT13

been disrupted in the past by socio-political considerations and natural disasters. A growing awareness of the proximity of peak oil – if it is not already upon us – has much of Western Europe wondering about Vladimir Putin’s mood swings, feudal politics in the Middle East and a variety of fl awed energy al-ternatives. Th ere is also a nervous recognition that water might be the next big issue of the 21st cen-tury, and concerns about the way in which China is fl exing its economic muscle by buying up many of the world’s other resources. Is it time we started thinking in similar terms about the manner in which we source our food supplies?

Looked at through such a lens, much bandied-about terms like ‘local food’ and ‘provenance’ sud-denly feel less like marketing buzz-words and more like viable lifestyle choices. Supporting local growers and small producers, becoming more self suffi cient, and making an eff ort to understand the produce we eat and what it took to get it to our table can only be a good thing. It doesn’t mean that we need to abandon imports altogether; aft er all, there are sound arguments that our food security is greater today than ever before for the very reason that we do not depend on a small number of sources, but trade with producers all over the world. Aft er all, famines occur when local crops fail and people cannot buy supplies in from elsewhere.

As with most things, striking the right balance will be crucial. What the volcano has done, how-ever, is to kickstart the debate over how best to guarantee food security for the future and, hopefully, forced us to re-evaluate our whole approach to food – to value it more and waste it less. It sounds like common sense, doesn’t it?

THE BRIEF

Finance ministers from the United States, Canada, Spain and South Korea, as well as the leadership of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, meet on April 22 to announce an initial contribution of US$880 million for a new fund to tackle global hunger and poverty.

A farmer holds a crates with tomatoes damaged by the insect Tuta absoluta, in Herakleion on the island of Crete, south of mainland Greece.

NEWS IN PICTURES

French farmers drive their tractors on the Place de la Bastille in Paris on April 27 as they demonstrate against wage cuts and to denounce the European Farm Policy.


UPFRONT14

An unlikely newcomer has made the world of soft drinks a little more crowded: Bolivia has started producing a new fi zzy drink using the coca leaf. It is called ‘Coca Colla’ aft er the Colla people, the Andean tribes who culti-vate coca in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Th e new ‘energy soft drink’ is being made by a private company, but is backed by a govern-ment policy of industrialising the cultivation of the coca leaf. Th e leaf is a key element in the Andean people’s culture and economy.

However, it is also cocaine’s raw material. As such, the drink faces signifi cant hurdles as it looks to challenge beverage giants such as Red Bull and its near-namesake. With the notable exception of Coca-Cola, products using coca leaves are banned in most na-tions beyond the Andes, and exporting the beverage would require the International Narcotics Control Board to take the leaf off the list of dangerous drugs, where it has been since 1961.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

THE REAL THING? FOOTING THE BILL RUSSIA GOES ORGANIC

Every year the United States is faced with a staggering US$152 billion dollar bill for acute foodborne illnesses, according to a study from Produce Safety Project entitled Health-Related Costs from Foodborne Illness in the United States. A quarter of this burden can be attributed to fresh, canned and processed produce, which accounts for 19.7 million documented foodborne illnesses and costs US$39 million in economic losses. Each case costs an average of US$1960, with California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois and Penn-sylvania the states worst hit.Th e research also found that some foodborne diseases elicited a higher cost than others. Listeria moncytogenes had a total economic cost that was almost half that of Campy-lobacter. Th is was despite the fact there were more than 400 times fewer Listeria cases than Campylobacter. Th e Centers for Disease Control (CDC) esti-mates there are a total of 76million foodborne illness cases across the US each year, leading to 300,000 hospitalisations and 5000 deaths.

Aff ordable organic food is rarely seen on Russian retail shelves, but rising import costs and growing demand have domestic organic producers looking for a bigger seat at Rus-sian tables. And while the economic crisis has forced consumers to cut spending, new trends for healthier living could make Russia an exciting market for retailers and food pro-ducers alike.

According to Konstantin Vasilchishin, CEO of Organic Corporation, this market is set to rise substantially in the coming years. “Moscow’s eco market accounts for US$80-100 million and according to our estimates it can grow fi vefold in as many years,” he says. “We have two stores and plan to open a chain for our own productions to make organic more aff ordable.”

Most organic products are currently im-ported from abroad, and Vasilchishin believes products should be grown within 100 miles in order to make organic food aff ordable to a wider range of consumers. Th is would allow retailers to substitute imports and halve prices.


UPFRONT15INTERNATIONAL NEWS

MULTI-STOREY FARMING HOT STUFF PET MEAT BAN

A high-tech, vertical farm situated in the UAE hopes to solve the challenges of farming in the desert – namely, the lack of fertile soil and arid temperatures. Vertical farms such as the proposed Oasis Tower in Dubai’s Zabeel Park have been devised as a way to minimise land use, reduce emissions from transport and make regions self-sustainable. In recent years, fl oods, droughts, wildfi res and pollution have devastated traditional harvests and in many cases, it is expected to get worse.

For these reasons, inner-city farming makes sense. It would see uninhabited high-rise buildings turned into multi-storey mead-ows using the latest hydroponic and aeroponic technologies to cultivate crops. It is also hoped that by using water-and-nutrient solutions or nutrient-laced mist, the entire production would be soil-free, therefore enabling the projects to use 90 percent less water than con-ventional farming. A vertical farm would also behave like a functional ecosystem, in which waste is recycled and water is recaptured by de-humidifi cation for re-use.

In India chilli is set for a new use: fi ghting terrorism. Th e bhut jolokia, or ‘ghost chilli’, is to be used in teargas-like grenades to immo-bilise suspects, according to defence offi cials. Th e Indian army believes that the pungency of the ground seeds of the bhut jolokia – a cap-sicum hybrid that is reputed to be 100 times hotter than a jalapeño – could be harnessed in smoke grenades against rioters or to fl ush out terrorists in confi ned spaces. Th e army said the weapon could also be used in aerosol sprays by women warding off attackers.

Th e three-inch-long stubbly red pepper has been measured at 1,041,427 units on the Scoville scale, twice as hot as the next fi eriest pepper, the Mexican red savina, and 200 times hotter than Tabasco sauce – so much so that it gained a place in Guinness World Records. A jalapeño, by contrast, registers a measly 10,000 on the Scoville scale.

A Chinese culinary tradition that dates back thousands of years may come to end as Chinese legal experts propose a ban on eating cats and dogs, according to Th e Guardian newspaper.

Th e contentious move will see a recom-mendation submitted to higher authorities as part of a draft bill to tackle animal abuse since recent years have seen a rise in the criticism of such practices on the part of the affl uent, pet-loving, urban middle class.

Th e proposed ban calls for thousands of dog restaurants and butchers to be closed down and would impose 15 day prison sen-tences or fi nes of 500,000 yuan for individuals or businesses illegally selling or consuming pet meat.


UPFRONT16

FAST FACT

The EU imported 1.6 million tonnes of meat and meat products in 2007 (half of which came from Brazil), and 0.3 million tonnes of dairy products and eggs (mostly from Switzerland and New Zealand).

Source: Eurostat

HOW GREEN IS GREEN?

Reducing our meat con-sumption is oft en touted as a way

to drastically reduce greenhouse gas

(GHG) emissions but a new research

paper published in the journal Progress

in Industrial Ecology has concluded that going

vegan would only reduce emissions by a mere seven percent.

Helmi Risku-Norja and Sirpa Kurppa of MTT Agrifood Research Finland, work-

ing with Juha Helenius of the Department of Agricultural

Sciences at the University of Helsinki, have calculated

that emissions from the cultivation of soil ac-tually account for the majority of emissions created from food

consumption at 62 percent. GHG released

by cows and sheep account for 24 percent and energy con-

sumption and fertilizer produc-tion for eight percent each.

COUNTING THE CALORIE COST

On average, a woman should be eating 2000 calories a day, while a man should be eating 2500. Plenty to play with, you would think – until you see the latest food on off er to you.

Aft er KFC unveiled its Double Down Sandwich – a bun-less burger that substitutes fried chicken for bread – EU watchdogs have been set-ting their sights on the fast food industry over the calorie content in its food. And with good reason. For instance, the crispy ‘Original Recipe’ version of the Double Down Sandwich weighs in at 540 calories, its grilled equivalent 460.

But we can’t just point the fi nger at the Double Down; there are a plethora of other burgers on the market that are equally as bad. In fact, take a look at others on the market and you start to realise that the Double Down is just the tip of the iceberg. Th e Burger King Chicken Tendercrisp weighs in at 800 calories, for instance, while Jack-in-the-Box’s Ranch Chicken Club will reportedly set you back 700 calories. Turn your at-tention to beef burgers, and the calorie count gets even scarier. Th ere’s 1320 in a Hardee’s Monster Th ickburger, and 1350 for a Wendy’s Triple Baconator.

And it’s not just calories that are doing the damage. Enter cholesterol, salt and fat – the real heart stoppers. Th is is where the Double Down really comes into its own. Th e sandwich contains 145 milligrams of cholesterol (more than twice that of the Big Mac and about half of the recommended daily allowance) as well as 1380 milligrams of salt (the USDA recom-mends no more than 2400 per day) and 32 grams of fat (no more than 65 grams/day please, says the government).

KFC’s timing with the Double Down – which will be available through mid-May – may seem odd when many fast-food restaurants are promoting healthier menu items to please an increasingly health conscious public. “Th is is not a healthy choice,” says Walter Willett, Chairman of the Nutrition Department at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Going vegan would reduce

GHG emissions

by 7%


UPFRONT17

In a recent report published by the Food and Agricultural Orga-nization of the United Nations (FAO), the dairy sector’s green-house gas (GHG) emissions were calculated for the entire dairy food chain.

Samuel Jutzi, Director of FAO’s Animal Production and Health Division says: “Th is report is fundamental to understand and identify opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of the dairy sector while providing safe and nutritious foodstuff s.”

Th e results of the report show that the dairy sector accounts for around four percent of all global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Th is fi gure includes both emissions associ-ated with the production, processing and transportation of milk products as well as emissions related to meat produced from animals originating from the dairy system.

In 2007, the dairy sector emitted 1969 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, of which 1328 million tonnes are attrib-uted to milk, 151 million tonnes to meat from culled dairy animals, and 490 million tonnes from calves from the dairy sector that were raised for meat.

Taking this a step further, the FAO intends to use a similar approach to quantify GHG emis-sions associated with other major livestock species, including buff alo, poultry, small ruminants and pigs. A fi nal report will be published in 2011.

GAUGING GREENHOUSE GASES

The food industry accounts for

of worldwide usage of intense sweeteners,with the remainder destined for pharmaceutical products.Source: Leatherhead Food Research

Mobile phone apps are all the rage these days and there is practically an app for everything imaginable. Now, a group of young Germans has de-veloped an app that will allow shop-pers to point their mobile phone at the barcode of a product to reveal a brand’s ethical profi le.

Th e app is free to download and incorporates a price-comparison service as well as an electronic traf-fi c light system to show consumers

how healthy a particular product is and it can also give dietary and allergy advice. Barcoo, as the app is called, has been praised by consumer watchdogs for encouraging transpar-ency but has also come under fi re from retailers who believe that such an app arms consumers with too much information.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION?

FRENCH HALAL BOOM

FAST FACT

90%

French retailers and restaurants are enjoying the rapidly expand-ing and highly profi table market in halal food and drink. A boom in sales of halal products, including alcohol-free bubbly and goose liver paté approved by Islamic law, is being driven by the emer-gence of an affl uent middle class of young Muslims.

Known as the beurgeois – a play on bourgeois and the word beur, slang for a French person of North African descent – these new consumers have a spending power worth an estimated €5.5 billion a year, according to a poll by Solis.

Th e demand for halal products, currently increasing by an estimated 15 percent a year, has captured the attention of food giants such as the supermarket group Casino, which has stocked an increasing variety of halal foods – mostly meat products – for the last three years.

Th e fast-food chain Quick has a number of halal-only burger bars, while Muslim corner shops selling exclusively halal foods and drinks including eggs, turkey bacon and pork-free sausages

as well as alcohol-free ‘champagne’, known as Cham’Alal, are also fl ourishing.

Halal foie gras, fi rst introduced into supermarket chains across the country two years ago at the end of the Muslim feast of Ra-madan, has proved an unexpected success.

as‘chasfl o

fi saytmu


FULLY AUTOMATIC

In today’s high throughput, fast food environment, increasing the speed of customer service is a popular demand. Adding automation to the cooking process can eliminate potential manual errors, allow end users to create a ‘one-touch’ solution for setting cooking parameters and improve or maintain cook-ing consistency, and ultimately reduce production time and improve customer satisfaction.

Steel belt technology, such as that off ered by Belt Tech-nologies Europe, is key to manufacturing and improving automated food production systems. For example, a new automated commercial grill system, within which the pre-cise positioning of two cooking platens is critical, relies upon the steel belts. Th rough their precise movement, the belts help to ensure that a program-mable and repeatable distance is set between the two platens.

Steel drive tapes were chosen above cables and in-clined planes for this applica-tion, largely due to their proven success in precision positioning applications and their avail-ability in stainless steel to suit

the hygiene requirements of the food preparation industry. In addition, the steel belts are of low mass and perform well without any lubrication. Th ey are also highly durable and – in this application – provide near zero backlash, no stretch and off er high positioning re-peatability.

Th e design of the grill system incorporates the use of the steel drive tape, attached to both the upper cooking plates and a drive pulley. A single button on the operator control panel activates the drive as-semblies, moving the upper cooking plates to precisely the required position. As a result, the automated cooking system is providing consistent and pre-dictable cooking performance.

Before implementation, the grill system was tested to de-termine reliability. Aft er three million cycles it demonstrated no sign of fracture aft er review by an independent metallur-gist. In continual operation there has been no evidence of measurable stretch aft er repeated use and no change in the structure of the tape since installation.


UPFRONT19

Th e head of the European Commission’s water unit, Peter Gammeltoft , has suggested that one of the priorities in reforming the Common Agri-cultural Policy (CAP) should be water effi ciency.

Given that farming accounts for two thirds of EU water use Gammeltoft says: “We cannot talk about water effi ciency without talking about agriculture.” Th e CAP Health Check, which was the last reform, did seek to address this issue to some extent but more needs to be done, accord-ing to Gammeltoft .

He believes that rules regarding irrigation in Europe are currently not fully respected and he is also pushing for water use in biofuels and biomass to be addressed. In addition, he is call-ing for more data measuring the eff ect of changes in land use on water availability.

In 2012, the Commisssion will table a ‘Blue-print for Safeguarding Europe’s Water’, which will examine Member States’ implementation of EU water legislation and assess the potential for both water savings and increased water availabil-ity as well as climate resilience. W

ATER

WOR

RIES A study by scien-

tists at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida has found that binging on junk food is as addictive as smok-ing or taking drugs. According to the study, it could cause compulsive eating and obesity. American research-ers found burgers, chips and sausages programmed a human brain into craving even more sugar, salt and fat laden food.

Th e researchers found lab-oratory rats became addicted to a bad diet just like people who became dependent on cocaine and heroin, which could go some way to explaining the rising obe-sity rates and the success of fast food outlets.

While the fi ndings cannot be directly transferred to human obesity, the study found that over-consumption of high-calorie food triggered addiction-like responses in the brain.

Dr. Paul Kenny, a neuroscientist who led the research, which was published online in Nature Neuroscience, said the study, which took nearly three years to complete, confi rmed the “addic-tive” properties of junk food.

ADDICTED TO JUNK

DOWNSIZING UNHEALTHY FOOD

Th e UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has stated that manufacturers need to produce smaller portions of less healthy food and drink options. Th e agency claims that single portions of some biscuits, cakes, buns and chocolate, which are heavy on sugar and sat-urated fats, should be sold in reduced size. Th e FSA is also recommending that drinks containing added sugar should be available in 250ml servings, not just the standard 330ml cans.

In February, a survey by the FSA revealed that people are eating too much added sugar, which is currently responsible for 12.5 percent of food energy intake on average, compared to the recommended 11 percent.

With a population where one in four is seriously overweight, over eating is becom-ing part of everyday culture and so the initiative has been well received by government offi cials who are currently being held to account for such worrying fi gures.


UPFRONT20

In the previous issue of NGF we took a look at the rise of sugar substitute Stevia and asked why the European Union has been so reluctant to authorise its use.

To read more of the stories from this issue head to www.nextgenerationfood.com

Seven European countries will meet next month in the Hague following an initiative of Minister Gerda Verburg of Agricul-ture, Nature and Food Quality, aimed to create closer collabo-ration in the fi eld of sustainable food.

In May 2010, the directors of the ministries responsible for food in Denmark, Germany, France, Britain, Spain and Sweden will gather together for the fi rst time, in a meeting chaired by the Netherlands. Th e countries will compare notes on sustain-able food production, and determine common objectives and the government resources in place for achieving sustainable production and consumption.

Th e role of Europe and the European Commission will also be addressed, as Minister Verburg believes coordinated international eff orts are required to achieve sustainable food production. “In 2050 there will be nine billion mouths to feed in the world. Rising levels of prosperity lead to diff erent diets, such as increased consumption of dairy and meat. Th ere will also be less clean water and fertile land available, and we have to deal with the impact of climate change in the form of drought or fl oods. In view of these circumstances, sustainable global food production and consumption is essential,” said Verburg at the opening of the second edition of the international seminar Future of Food, in London.

Th e goal of the seminar, which will explore the role of bankers and retailers in the food system, is to bring together scientists, policy makers, entrepreneurs and civil society under the theme ‘Future of the global food system’.

Retailers are on the right track, according to Minister Verburg, prompted by a growing group of consumers who want sustainable products. She encourages supermarkets to continue off ering products made with respect for people, the environ-ment and animals.

Th e fi nancial sector can play a decisive role. Minister Ver-burg referred to the ING report on what it calls ‘the third indus-trial revolution’, which deals with multi-committed companies, or MCCs. A growing number of company strategies focus not only on profi t, but also on human rights, good governance and responsible use of raw materials. “What is remarkable about these MCCs is that they usually have a higher market value than comparable companies with lower scores for corporate responsibility.”

Verburg believes banks should support MCCs and similar businesses more oft en, encourage sustainability in other com-panies, and should not hesitate to withdraw fi nancial support from unsustainable projects and fi nancial investments. “I think that is their moral duty. It is certainly the case for those bodies which last year were kept afl oat by billions of Euros in govern-ment aid.” For more information visit www.future-of-food.com

SUSTAINABLE FOOD SEMINAR

SUPPLY CHAIN GUIDE

TNO, an independent research body from the Netherlands, has now published its supply chain guide online as a free down-load. Th e report, entitled Vulnerabilities in the food chain – a stakeholders guide, was fi rst published in hard copy last year as a limited edition and contains information aimed at helping food processors to assess weaknesses in the food supply chain.

Th e EU-funded project was compiled by TNO in conjunc-tion with 10 partners from Brazil and Europe and focuses on microbiological and chemical risks in the food supply chain and gives recommendations on how to manage and prioritise these risks.

Th e guide has two distinct sections, the fi rst being a description of the system and the second being a number of ar-ticles containing relevant background information on international legislation, consumer behaviour and governmental decision-making.


UPFRONT21

Organic sales may have previously held up during the re-cession, but new data has shown that in the last year, sales have fallen signifi cantly.

In the last year in the UK, sales of organic food, drink and other products has fallen 12.9 percent as producers battle against a downturn in consumer demand and the worst trading climate in 20 years. Th e new data has found that shoppers have turned their backs on organic fruit, vegetables, meat and bread in order to save themselves some pennies.

As well as a fall in the shops, home delivery organic vegetable and fruit boxes also fell, with a 9.8 percent slump in sales, while sales of organic goods in supermar-kets fell by 12.2 percent, and in the independent sector by 17.7 percent.

From a record high of UK£2.1 billion in 2008, sales of organic food fell to UK£1.84 billion last year, according to the Organic Market Report 2010, released at the Natural and Organic Products Europe show in London.

Th e three biggest categories of organic food in terms of retail value– dairy, fruit and vegetables, and fresh meat – saw supermarket sales fall by 6.5 percent, 14.8 percent and 22.7 percent respectively. But dairy remains overall the most popular food category, accounting for 33 percent of all sales.

Despite the slump, the report shows that sales of or-ganic food are still three times higher than in 1999 and more than 50 percent higher than fi ve years ago.

Organic sales hit

SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT

Research from Datamonitor suggests a need for producers to invest in more sustainable packaging as consumers believe that levels are currently excessive.

Consumer demand for sustainable packaging is on the up and customer surveys carried out by Datamonitor in 2008 and 2009 revealed that reduced levels of packaging strongly infl u-ences purchasing decisions. Th ese concerns, according to the review, were highest in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and India, followed by Australia, France, the UK and Germany. Consumers in Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden indicated that the issue would slightly infl uence their decisions.

Th e study shows that companies need to take action on pack-aging issues if they are to avoid alienating existing or new customers. It also highlights the fact that designing sustainability into packaging generates genu-ine operating effi ciencies for manufacturers – such as reduced transport costs and waste result-ing from utilising less packing.

The food industry in Denmark, a country recognised for its high levels of innovation by the World Eco-nomic Forum, has been the subject of a study into how food companies’ organisational set ups can aff ect how they commercialise innovative ideas.

Researchers from the Universi-ties of Copenhagen, Manchester and Saskatchewan in Canada looked at vertical integration within the food industry and examined how food companies work with diff erent levels of the food supply chain and network with external partners. Th ey also looked at industry alliances and whether companies draw up sales contracts with their customers or sell products ‘on the spot’.

Th e result showed that greater degrees of network linkage and con-tractual arrangements have a positive eff ect on innovation.

COLLABORATION BOOSTS INNOVATION


UPFRONT22

Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief

Executive of The Coca-Cola Company

We’re just at the beginning stages of what I believe will be an era of unprecedented sustainability innovations. Over the course of 123 years, the men and women of the Coca-Cola system have built one of the world’s most recognised and valued brands. In fact, today, Coca-Cola is the second-most universally recognised term on the planet. Only the term ‘okay’ is recognised by more people around the world.

Th e strength, the resolve and the sustainability of our brand is directly related to the social license that we have earned from bil-lions of consumers around the world over all these years. It’s an honour and a responsibility we don’t take lightly and which we will never take for granted.

In today’s connected global economy and interwoven social net-works, a brand with 123 years of credibility can be discredited – and even destroyed – in a matter of 123 seconds. I would contend that as business leaders there is absolutely no responsibility that is more important for us to manage and uphold than our social license to operate. Without it, we are lost.

History has proven this time and again. In fact, while ‘social responsibility’ and ‘sustainability’ have gained great attention in recent years, these are by no means contemporary 21st century concepts. Th e values of business social responsibility are as old as written history.

A sustainable brand – an enduring brand – must also be a so-cially responsible brand. A brand, of course, is more than a logo, a design, or a slogan. Much more. It has a heartbeat, a soul and a psyche. It is the very core, the very essence, of an organisation.

A brand is a promise made to your consumers and customers, your employees, your investors, communities, vendors and sup-pliers. And trust is the glue that holds all those relationships to-gether. Break a promise and you destroy a relationship. If a good brand is a promise, then a great brand is a promise kept.

As we endure a global fi nancial crisis brought on largely by a series of broken promises, the virtues of trust and socially respon-sible brands have never been more relevant.

Clearly, now is not the time to cut back on our sustainability eff orts. In fact, I believe that businesses that eff ectively invest in sustainability innovations today will not only be in a better posi-tion when we come out of this crisis but that many will also make leapfrog gains in the marketplace.


UPFRONT23

TOP 10

Major food and beverage companies ranked by their corporate social responsibility

Source: Two Tomorrows

Unilever 64%

10987654321

Nestlé 59%

Danone 58%

PepsiCo 51%

Coca-Cola 49%

AB-InBev 46%

Kraft 46%

Heineken 39%

Tyson 28%

Kirin Holdings 23%

TOP 10

Rice producing countriesSource: International Rice research Institute

China

10987654321

India

Indonesia

Bangladesh

Vietnam

Thailand

Myanmar

Japan

Philippines

Brazil

A new report published by the Confederation of the food and drink industries of the EU (CIAA) claims that the food and drinks industry is the largest manufacturing sector in Europe making up 13 percent of the industry and putting it ahead of the automobile and chemical industries.

Entitled Data & Trends of the European Food and Drink Industry 2009, the CIAA report states that the industry’s turnover increased three percent from 2007 to 2008 when it reached €965 billion.

The food and drinks industry is the leading employer in the EU, accounting for 4.4 million employees in 2008, making up 13.5 percent of the employment market, reveals the report. However, the sector is somewhat lagging behind the automobile and

FOOD AT THE FOREFRONT

chemical industries when it comes to labour productivity investing only €7500 per employee compared to €11,500 in automobile and €14,000 in chemicals.

R&D investment is also ‘insuffi cient’, according to the report, which says that expenditure in this area accounts for only 0.37 percent of food and drink output. This places the industry not only below other manufacturing industries in Europe but is also lower than the expenditure of food manufacturing sectors in other developed countries outside of Europe.

The CIAA also reports that the sector has experienced stable growth over the past decade although exports have decreased signifi cantly over the same period. In 2008, food and drink exports accounted for 18 percent of the global export market, a drop from the 25 percent witnessed 10 years earlier.

Today, almost

60% of European savoury snack manufacturers have salt-reduced products in their portfolio. This corresponds to more than 40% since the end of 2005.Source: CIAA

FAST FACT


UPFRONT24

A number of foods have shown compara-tively higher levels of growth since 2006, according to a report by Decision Analyst on ingredient and healthy food trends. Th e foods concerned include almonds, berries, cinnamon, dark chocolate, ginger, pomegranate juice and wal-nuts, which have become increasingly popular with the over-45s.

Interest and faith in whole grains has also risen and is particu-larly high amongst older consumers. Meanwhile, interest in fi ber has remained relatively stable since 2006.

Nearly 50 percent of consumers questioned for the report stated that they consumed vitamin and mineral-fortifi ed functional foods and beverages, with those over 45 years of age showing the strongest intentions to use dietary supplements.

Antioxidant foods have also experi-enced strong growth with 40 percent of

FOOD SUPERSTARS

respondents frequently consuming “rich in” antioxidant foods. Likewise, Omega-3s were named in the report as another ingredient with star status, whilst iron-rich foods on the other hand have experienced a

decline in consumer interest.“Consumers, particu-

larly those in older age segments, are demand-ing more from their foods as they seek proactive ways to manage their health,”

the report says. “If given a choice,

these consumers may opt for the product that is rich

in or fortifi ed with a key ingredi-ent, not only because it provides a ‘health boost’, but also because it provides the psy-chological satisfaction of positive lifestyle management.”

50% of consumers eat

vitamin and mineral- fortifi ed functional foods

FAST FACT

China’s sugar imports are forecast to rise to

1. 5 million tonnes in 2010-11

Source: the US Department of Agriculture’s Beijing offi ce.

According to research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, those who eat at least one bar of chocolate every week are more gloomy than those who only eat chocolate now and again. Th e fi ndings suggest that people who feel depressed eat about 55 percent more chocolate than their non-depressed peers. And the more depressed they feel, the more chocolate they tend to eat.

It’s believed by many that chocolate has the power to lift mood, but the US team says that scientifi c proof for this is lacking and that chocolate may be a cause rather than the cure for being depressed.

Of the 1000 adults who took part in the study, none of them were on antide-pressants or had been diagnosed as clini-cally depressed by a doctor.

SICKLY SWEET


UPFRONT25

Novartis Pharma Technical Operations 114

Novozymes A/S 72, 73

PerkinElmer 46, 47

Petro-Canada IFC, 58, 59

Pilgrim Software 123

Protected Harvest 90

Provimi 4

Purac 74, 75

Rainforest Alliance 90

Raycome 100, 101

Rubinum Animal Health 102, 103

Selerant 120, 121

Supply Chain Council 106

TNA Solutions 133

Wal-Mart 78

World Health Organization 42

WRAP 124

Food Standards Agency 84, 92, 124

Glanbia Nutritionials 46, 53

Grameen Bank 78

Henkel 137

Horphag Research 70, 71

Huhtamaki 130, 131, OBC

Hunter Associates Laboratory, Inc. 46, 55

Hygiena International 44, 45

IBM 90

IGD 124

Infor 2, 110, 111

Ishida 138, IBC

Kraft 78

Marine Stewardship Council 90

Marks & Spencer 90

Mars 90

Max Planck Institute 66

Mayr-Melnhof Karton AG 46, 57

Meettheboss.com 95

Minimpex 112, 113

Mintel 74

Nanotechnology Industries Association 84

NCH Europe 60, 61

Nestlé 132

COMPANY INDEX Q2 2010 Companies in this issue are indexed to the fi rst page of the article in which each is mentioned.

3M 36, 37

3P Partners 118, 119

AcryliCon 40

Altro 64, 65

Amcor 129

ANL Plastics 135

Arla Foods 32

Belt Technologies 18

Cadbury 78

Capricorn Cheeses 90

Carrefour 78

Confederation of the Food and Drink

Industries of the EU 84

Danone 78

Deibel Laboratories, Inc. 46, 49

E.LeClerc 78

EFSA 66

Einar Willumsen 46, 51

European Livestock Association 96

Evonik Degussa GmbH 6, 104, 105

Exosect 38, 39

ExxonMobil 62, 63

FAO 42

FLAVEX Naturextrakte GmbH 76, 77

DON’T MISS...

LOOKING UPDanone turns a crisis into an opportunityP78

FARM FITHow the European Livestock Association is working too protect thecontinent’s animals and consumers P96

SIZE MATTERSPortion size informatioin and its effect on consumer behaviour P120

CATTLE POPULATION % OF EU - 27 TOTAL

Other Member States 39%

Spain7%

Italy7%

Source: Eurostat

United Kingdom 12%

Germany14%

France

21%


FEATURE

GLASS

26 www.nextgenerationfood.com

Cadbury Kraft.indd 26Cadbury Kraft.indd 26 10/5/10 14:43:4810/5/10 14:43:48

www.nextgenerationfood.com 27

FULL?

As Kraft completes its takeover of Cadbury, Huw Thomas asks if the deal is really good news for either party?


On January 19, 2010 it fi nally happened. One of the biggest and most protracted business deals to hit the food industry for years

fi nally drew to a close as shareholders of UK confectioner Cadbury fi nally agreed to accept the £12 billion (€14 billion) takeover bid from US giant Kraft .

Th e deal was the culmination of an aff air that had been rumbling on for four months. Initially approaching Cadbury with a cash and share deal in September 2009 worth £10.2 billion (€12 billion), Kraft was rebuff ed, kick-ing off a period of fractious bartering between the two companies. It was only aft er a huge amount of public wrangling that Kraft fi nally got its man.


TWO BECOME ONETIMELINE OF A TAKEOVER

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September 2009

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January 2010

Kraft food launches Cadbury takeover bid

Cadbury tells Kraft to raise its bid or back off

Peter Mandelson suggests foreign ownership of British companies could damage the country

Kraft given November deadline for Cadbury bid

Pressure on Kraft as Cadbury upbeat on results

Kraft bid goes hostile

Royal Bank of Scotland heavily criticised for helping to finance Kraft's bid

Hershey and Ferrero emerge as possible bidders for Cadbury

Cadbury's shares hit a two-month high after speculation Nestlé could bid for the company

Kraft posts circular explaining bid to shareholders

Cadbury launches official defence to Kraft’s bid

Kraft sells pizza business to Nestlé to fund Cadbury offer

European Commission sets conditions for Kraft buying Cadbury

Cadbury issues final defence, attacking Kraft’s management

Cadbury board recommends £12bn sale to Kraft

For Kraft , the Cadbury deal represented an excellent opportunity for a company still largely centred on the US to expand quickly into the European market. Particularly at-tractive was the UK confectioner’s strength in areas like chewing gum, a sector that has experienced strong growth in recent years, despite the diffi cult trading environment. A combined Kraft -Cadbury would be ex-pected to control some 25 percent of the gum market in Western Europe. In addition, the acquisition will make Kraft the world’s largest confectioner and the leader in sweet snacks. Th e confections and snacks segments – at 30 percent and 21 percent respectively – will now make up the majority of Kraft ’s port-folio. Th e deal also gives Kraft a foothold in emerging markets like India, South Africa and Turkey. Kraft contend that the takeover will enable cost savings in the region of $675 million (€527 million) per year, leading Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld to confi dently predict a growth in earnings for 2011.

However, not everybody saw the tie up as such a good deal for the US company. Investor Warren Buff ett, the closest thing the business world has to a soothsayer, was quick to voice his concerns that the acquisition might not be in Kraft ’s best interests. In particular, he believed that the sale of Kraft ’s frozen pizza business to Nestlé – completed in order to fi nance the deal – did not provide the best amount of value. Buff ett’s words tend to carry a lot of weight in fi nancial circles. In this case their impact was potentially even greater as his fi rm Berkshire Hathaway is Kraft ’s largest shareholder. In a statement issued two weeks before the deal fi nally went through Berkshire Hathaway said: “To state the matter simply, a shareholder voting ‘yes’ today is authorising a huge transaction without knowing its cost or the means of payment. What we know with certainty, however, is that Kraft stock, at its current price of $27, is a very expensive ‘cur-rency’ to be used in an acquisition. In 2007, in fact, Kraft spent $3.6bn to repurchase shares at about $33 per share, presumably because the directors and management thought the shares to be worth more.”

Ultimately, Kraft ’s management were able to push the Cadbury deal through without shareholder approval, much to Buff ett’s cha-grin. Speaking at the Berkshire Hathaway



TAKEOVER TALK

Ahead of her company’s offi cial move for Cadbury, Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld outlined why the UK confectioner looked like such a sweet deal.

Why is this proposed transaction right for Kraft Foods?Irene Rosenfeld. I think it’s a logical next step in our transformation toward a high-growth, higher-margin company. It’s the opportunity to combine two companies to create a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionary and quick meals that I think has the potential to benefi t our brands, our employees, our consumers and certainly our shareholders. It would become a US$50 billion company. One that would have the scale, the scope and the resources to grow faster today and well into the future.

Why does this proposed transaction make sense for Cadbury?IR. We have great respect for Cadbury, for its brands, for its employees and for its proud heritage, but I believe that in the current global economy the growth prospects are constrained and so we believe by bringing together these two great companies the opportunity to create a global powerhouse will enable it to compete far more effectively in the future.

For Cadbury’s shareholders we believe that the premium we have offered is a compelling one and we believe that the nature of our proposal provides both value certainty in the near term as well as the opportunity to benefi t from the long-term upside in the synergies that come from combining these two great companies.

Why are you considering this proposal now?IR. We’ve been following Cadbury for quite some time. Both companies are on solid footing. Kraft just reported very strong second quarter results, which suggests that we have made excellent progress in our turnaround. We continue to benefi t from the integration of the LU Biscuit business that we bought back in 2007 and similarly, Cadbury has made excellent progress against the Vision Into Action programme. So I think it’s an opportune time for both companies to come together and move together to the next level.

What commitments are you making in regards to jobs or manufacturing facilities?IR. As you might imagine, it’s a little bit too early to make any specifi c commitments. But what I can say is that as we create this global powerhouse, there will be opportunities for talented employees from both companies to continue to have very attractive and successful careers. In addition, we can confi rm that the existing contractual employment rights, particularly pension rights, of all Cadbury employees will be totally safeguarded.

Where are the synergies you identifi ed coming from?IR. We see substantial synergies, pre-tax synergies, as a result of operational effi ciencies in combining the two companies. But equally important, we see excellent revenue synergies that come from increased investment in distribution, in marketing and new product development and so although it’s premature to talk about any of the specifi cs, we see tremendous benefi ts in combining the two companies.

Do you think this proposed transaction is feasible given the political considerations of acquiring a UK icon?IR.Absolutely. We have tremendous respect for Cadbury, for its brands, for its proud heritage and just as we have done, they have made signifi cant investments over the years in quality and innovation and marketing. Especially here in the UK it is an iconic business and it is one that has a very proud heritage and we have every intention of respecting that.

Are there differences in the cultures of the two companies that are going to raise the integration risk?IR. I think some of the great values that have guided the history of Cadbury have also guided the history of Kraft. And even if you look at some of the programmes that we have both chosen to pursue, our desire to make a difference in the communities in which we operate is similar. Kraft has pursued that avenue with our Kenco coffee – we’ve taken a very strong stance with respect to Rainforest Alliance coffee. Similarly, Cadbury has taken a very strong stance with respect to Fair Trade cocoa. In both cases our desire is to help improve the lives of those who raise the crops that we use as inputs to make our own products and so I think culturally the two businesses are quite similar and I’m quite optimistic about the possibility of combining these two very strong, very proud cultures.




shareholder meeting in May, the so-called Sage of Omaha maintained his hard line. “Both deals were dumb,” he said. “Th e pizza deal was particularly dumb. I just hated to see them give up a signifi cant portion of those businesses to buy Cadbury. We expect to do some dumb things, but we get mad when other people do dumb things.”

Th e fact that the whole takeover saga dragged on for so long has cultural as well as fi nancial roots. Cadbury is a British institu-tion, founded by devout Quaker brothers in the 1840s and closely tied to the communities in which it has been based ever since. Brands like Dairy Milk and Creme Eggs have been a

touchstone of childhood memory in the UK for generations. Th at these icons could soon be absorbed by a foreign corporation like Kraft has been tough to swallow for many patriotic and nostalgic Brits. Also, with its superpower days long behind it, Britain is unusually sensi-tive to any perceived imperialistic slight from its former colony. Viewed through this lens, the howls of protest that greeted news of the take-over make a degree of sense, even if they er-roneously depict Cadbury – a global company with an annual income of €440 million – as a naïve British innocent menaced by a ravening corporate monster from across the Atlantic.

Nonetheless, these reactions do raise issues around exactly what the Cadbury brand means to many consumers. In the wake of the highly publicised battle for the fi rm, any devi-ation from the qualities and characteristics of products that consumers have been purchas-ing for decades will be quickly seized upon. To preserve the value of its investment, Kraft must be extremely cautious about alienating customers who are notoriously set in their ways. Th e furore greeting Coco-Cola’s attempt to change its recipe in the 1980s should serve

“Th e pizza deal was particularly dumb. I just hated to see them give up a signifi cant portion of those businesses to buy Cadbury” Warren Buffet

British protesters voice their opposition to Kraft’s

takeover bid



as a stark warning to any company seeking to modify its well-loved products.

While concerns about perceived British-ness and recipe changes are essentially emo-tional in nature, there are obvious economic implications for the UK resulting from the deal. If Kraft is to fi nd annual savings of $521 million, then cuts are going to have to be made somewhere. Th e fear is, that when it comes to the crunch, American jobs and facilities will be prioritised over British ones. Th ough Kraft made many positive noises about its commit-ment to British manufacturing while attempt-ing to get the deal pushed through, considerable doubts remain over its long-term motives.

During the bidding process, Kraft made explicit promises about keeping open a UK factory at Somerdale. In a statement released in September 2009, the company said it would; “be in a position to continue to operate the Somerdale facility, which is currently planned to be closed ... thereby preserving UK manufac-turing jobs.” Cadbury had already earmarked the facility for closure, moving production to a cheaper centre in Poland, so this pledge was warmly welcomed by both Cadbury employees and supporters of British manufacturing.

Unfortunately, Kraft ’s enthusiasm for the Somerdale plant was to be short lived. Just days aft er the takeover was confi rmed, the US company declared that it would be shut-ting the factory aft er all, saying that plans for it’s closure were too advanced to be reversed. Th e factory would close and 400 British jobs would be lost. Called to answer for the u-turn at a House of Commons Business Select Com-mittee meeting, Kraft did its best to appear contrite. “We are truly sorry about that and I am personally sorry,” said the company’s Executive Vice President Marc Firestone in response to accusations that Kraft had raised and then dashed hopes. “I personally give you my apology for creating that uncertainty.”

It would be fair to say that the response to this mea culpa was not particularly positive. Also criticising CEO Rosenfeld for her failure to appear before the committee in person, Jennie Formby, head of food and drink for the Unite union said: “Th is does not augur well for Cadbury workers. Kraft have been extremely dishonest and highly manipulative.”

UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, who at least secured a face-to-face meeting

with Rosenfeld, also expressed disappoint-ment in the company’s actions. Speaking of his conversation with the Kraft CEO, Mandelson said: “She did reveal that over the next three months they would be looking at the manage-ment structures and personnel, and over the following four to six months, and only in that timeframe, would they be taking decisions about plants, production and the workforce that would be needed for that. So I think that ... rather than six months, we have decisions like this being taken and announced in six

days, is contrary to the working relationship that the CEO said that she would have, both with the company that Kraft were taking over here in this country, Cadbury, but also with the British Government.”

In fact, the government has been so per-turbed by Kraft ’s behaviour, and the possible impacts future such deals might have on the British economy, that a ‘Cadbury Law’ has even been proposed. Th is would prevent the

takeover of certain British companies deemed of particular importance to the nation unless two thirds of shareholders voted in favour. Th ough the law is unlikely to be enacted any time soon, that it was even fl oated and re-ceived strong support indicates the depth of feeling on the issue.

But from Kraft ’s perspective at least, all of the eff ort, the wrangling and the disagree-ments, will be worth it if the Cadburys deal eventually pays off . Unfortunately, this is far from certain. Th ough mergers and acquisi-tions are entered into to create synergies and effi ciencies, this outcome is no dead cert. A 2008 advisory from KPMG entitled All to play for: Striving for post deal success contains some major food for thought. According to the survey, only 42 percent of competitive deals deliver while 45 percent of them result in an actual reduction in profi tability.

Given the major cultural and organisa-tional diff erences between the two entities, successfully bringing them together in a way that can really deliver long-term shareholder value will be no easy task. Th ere are a huge number of potential sticking points, not least how Cadbury’s long history of social respon-sibility and its increasingly close relationship with the Fair Trade movement will gel with Kraft ’s corporate business model. Th ough the American company has pledged to maintain a commitment that would see 20,000 tonnes of cocoa sourced from Fair Trade-certifi ed suppliers in 2010, Kraft ’s involvement with the competing Rainforest Alliance buying scheme does present a potential challenge in the long-term.

Cultural issues aside, simple economics leave some big question marks. Th e fact is that Kraft ended up paying over 40 percent more than Cadbury’s share price over the last two years to make the deal happen. Even consid-ering the growth potential in confectionery, this means that everything will have to go very right if the acquisition is to be judged a success. Kraft have to hope they can beat the odds and deliver real value, or the only people who could end up benefi ting are the Cadbury shareholders who got such a good price for their stock. Th ere are plenty of ways this seem-ingly sweet deal could leave a bitter aft ertaste. Only time will tell if Kraft have bitten off more than they can chew.

Cadbury: key fi guresRevenue: €4.4 billionNet income: €440 millionEmployees: 45,000

Kraft: key fi guresRevenue: €31.4 billionNet income: €2 billionEmployees: 98,000



After a period of freefalling milk prices, Arla Foods CEO Peder Tuborgh explains how his company is

getting back on track.

THE BIG INTERVIEW

M A K I N G A

PederTuborgh_ArlaFoods ED_26nov09 10/05/2010 14:20 Page 32

A major focus for the company over the course of last year was makingsavings, with a target of KR840 million. What were the key challengesyou faced in making these gains without negatively impacting yourbusiness?Peter Tuborgh. The target was KR840 million, but we actually achieved sav-ings of KR1 billion, so we exceeded the target quite a bit. I think that the onemajor challenge in a big saving programme is, and will always be, an organi-sational one to convince the hundreds and hundreds of managers through-out the organisation in many countries, to buy into the idea of really goingthrough all kinds of costs and projects. After that it’s executing the savingprogramme with speed and swiftness. It was and will also in the future be anorganisational challenge to run such a programme, but I think we suc-ceeded very nicely. I also think, looking back on it, that it was very healthy.We are more competitive today than we were prior to this programme.

And that was something you managed to do without nega-tively impacting your organisational effectiveness?PT. Of course, there’s always a risk in doing such a thing, but we didit very quickly, defined the saving areas across the many countriesand many, many functions, and we did that in a few weeks. I thinkthe planning phase was in total three or four weeks, and fromthere on it was just about executing. The speed of the programmealso ensured that we didn’t hurt the organisation for too long.

You’ve unveiled an ambitious growth strategy over the next few years.How are you going to achieve this, given the difficult conditions, both inthe dairy industry and the wider economy?PT. We are very happy about our strategy here, the content of the strategy, howit’s described and the targets that we have. As regards to the overall turnovergrowth, we have moved the target a few years down the line so that it’s nolonger 2013, but 2015. That’s being very realistic about the market modusoperandi that we have seen in 2009. As you know, we have recently beenthrough some very tough times.

What are the key spokes of your strategy in terms of growth over thenext few years?PT. Basically it is about three areas. There is a lot of detail behind them, ofcourse, but it breaks down to three areas. One centres on innovation, andadding value to milk. Innovating new products and new product lines, the or-ganic growth area. Second, it is to participate in whatever structural changeswe see in our industry. We have a long track record over years and genera-tions of doing that, and we’ll try to see if we can team up with other industri-al players. There are many, many ways of doing that. If we can participate inthe restructuring of our industry, it will keep on going and I think it will speed


For anyone who made a living sellingmilk, 2009 was a difficult year. Raw ma-terial prices plummeted as global de-mand for the white stuff slowed to atrickle. For many dairy companies, theunfavourable market conditions were adeath knell, but for Denmark-head-

quartered Arla Foods, they prompted an ambitious pro-grammeme of cost savings that have exceeded even thecompany’s own targets. Now looking ahead to a futureof new products, territorial expansion and an ongoinggrowth strategy, CEO Peder Tuborgh has many rea-sons to believe that 2010 will be a far better year thanits predecessor.

Peder Tuborgh

“The one major challenge in a bigsaving programme will always beone to convince the hundreds ofmanagers to buy into the idea”


vestments in the future in growing economies like Poland, Russia and to some ex-tent the US. It’s definitely the Middle East, where we had the crisis back in 2006and 2007. We recovered as much as could be expected, actually more than wecould have hoped for, and so the Middle East is definitely on our radar going for-ward. And then it’s, of course, China, where we have a very good joint venturewith the Mengniu Dairy Company, one the biggest dairy companies in China .

Are there particular challenges in terms of expanding in totally dif-ferent territories? Do you have to modify your approach de-

pending on where you’re looking to expand?PT. Of course. On the one hand, we are very keen to globalise ourapproach to how we do processing, production and achieving syn-ergies in our organisation. But on the other hand, we have a longtradition of also adapting our approach to the markets, to whatev-

er local conditions are needed. So, it’s a mix of a very global intent,you can say, but being very realistic about how we do it so that we also

adapt ourselves to whatever global conditions we face. Especially in thefood area and in the milk area and the cheese area, consumption patterns

are different and one has to be flexible.

Investment in processing is a key priority for Arla. Why is processing seenas being so important?PT. It’s really about adding value, which is the right strategic way of express-ing it. We’re a cooperative owned by 8000 farmers, and we are teaming up inother countries also with other farmers. It’s our obligation to add value to themilk that they process on their farms. The biggest source of our milk is innorthern Europe, where the costs of living for our owners are higher thanother places in the world. This means that we have only one way of going for-ward, and that’s adding value to milk and through means of innovating ourproducts and innovating our technologies..Over the last year, companies like Nestlé have been able to take advan-tage of lower milk prices to improve their margins. I assume that the wayArla is structured meant that you couldn’t do the same?

up. Finally it’s also about keeping a very efficient and lean company. Thoseare the three strategic pillars.

The dairy industry has had to endure some very challenging conditionsover the last few years as milk prices plummeted. Was this purely downto a drop in consumer demand or can some blame be placed at the doorof the EU’s dairy policy?PT. I do not think that it has had anything to do with EU’smilk policy. I think the EU’s milk policies are more of aconsequence. I believe the real reason behind thetremendous drop in milk prices, if that’s what you’relooking at, was of course, the financial crisis, the eco-nomic crisis that the whole world came into. Thatalso hurt our industry. You can call that a drop inglobal consumer demand, and also a shift from moreexpensive products to cheaper products and more dis-counted products. I think that had a major impact. Onealso has to remember that at the end of 2008, where the fi-nancial crisis was really starting to hurt all industries, including ourown, we also had the melamine crisis in China.

For a while that led to a tremendous drop in consumption in China, and atthe same time, we also had, in the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008, and untilthe summer, one of the largest outputs of milk production throughout the world.So, there was a combination of a large output and then consumer demand global-ly dropping, which was exacerbated by the melamine crisis. What we see today isthat the Chinese consumption seems to be back on track and is growing very im-pressively, so we don’t have that factor at the moment.

What role does expanding into new markets play in Arla’s future plans,and which other places in the world are you currently targeting?PT. We trade with many countries, but we have our stronghold in the northernEuropean and European hemisphere. Our core markets are especially in north-ern Europe – UK, Scandinavia, Germany, Holland – those are the prime coremarkets, you can say. We have then also expressed that we will focus more in-


ARLA ACHIEVEDKR 1

BILLIONOF SAVINGS IN

2009


PT. We were born the other way around, you can say. We are a co-operative owned by farmers, which means that our prime ob-jective is to maximise the price of milk. That’s quitedifferent. This is a reality for all cooperatives, it is some-thing that we enjoy and it gives us a very clear obligationto add value to milk. If you look at many other coun-tries, in Europe you will find that there are many otherorganisations like us. There are many big cooperativesthat have exactly the same mission in life.

What role does technological innovation play in im-proving your processing capabilities and developingnew products for sale?PT. Innovation goes in all kinds of directions. It’s not onlyabout innovating new products for consumers and customers. It’s alsoabout ensuring that we are at the front in terms of using the best tech-nology that you can find.

You talk about adding value to milk. What kindof key trend and product areas are looking to dothat in?PT. We are very keen on health issues and healthyproducts. We are very keen on and investing a lot ofR&D in that area. We’re also focusing investing alot of our R&D in innovation efforts in the area ofmaking natural products. I think we are today oneof, if not the, largest milk or dairy cooperative interms of the size of our organic milk pool. We havemore than 500 million litres of organic milk, sothat’s just one example of something that we’re pur-suing. We believe that there are many other trends.There is one clear trend, that consumers wish tomake sure that the products, the food that they’reeating is as natural as possible. That’s at least theposition we’re looking at. So, health and naturalnessare very clear drivers in our innovation strategy. n


China crisisAs if the global situation was not hostile enough overthe last few years, the scandal of melamine taintedmilk powder in China further rocked consumerdemand. Officially responsible for the deaths of atleast six babies plus the sickening of tens ofthousands more – though there is widespreadbelief that even these figures underestimate thetrue extent of the damage caused – the deliberatecontamination led to the execution of two dairyofficials, numerous prison terms and millions ofdollars of fines. Centred around the firm Sanlu, thecrisis caused considerable embarrassment to theChinese authorities ahead of the Republic’s hostingof the Olympic Games. Despite the strong responsein this case unscrupulous, producers adding

melamine to products in order to artificiallyraise their protein content has become an

all too common problem in China,where regulators have struggled to

cope with the problem. Pet foodadulterated with the substancefound its way to the US in 2007 and,more worryingly, melamine tainted

dairy products have been found onChinese shop shelves as recently as

January of this year. In an age of globaltrade where contaminated products can

quickly find their way into the shoppingbaskets of consumers across the world, this is anissue with potentially massive implications. Thedairy industry in particular can certainly dowithout any more bad news.

Milk powderButterCheese

2006 2007 2008 2009

€/tonCommodities and prices

4000

3000

2000



Protecting companies and brands while maximising productivity is essential; however, providing the highest quality product is paramount. Together

with up-to-date Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) and prerequisite programmes, many food and beverage pro-cessors have proven proactive environmental monitoring and regular product testing are long-term money and time-savers. Th ese are also essential steps to ensuring people con-sume high-quality, safe and wholesome food products. A variety of microbiology testing methods and hygiene monitoring solutions are available to help meet processing plants’ needs and ultimately improve their overall profi t-ability. When considering microbiological testing of environmental and product samples, identifying cost-eff ective options that best utilise facilities’ available labour will aff ect the method companies select.

Internal versus external Typically, two options exist for microbiol-

ogy analysis: in-house testing, which involves starting or using an internal lab, or third party testing whereby all work is contracted to an external laboratory.

Besides situations where regulatory agen-cies require samples be tested in an accredited laboratory, sending some environmental and food samples to a third party lab for testing has its advantages. For instance, some testing methods may demand expertise beyond the scope of internal staff while other tests may require special equipment that companies do not have or may not be ready to acquire.

Fortunately, plenty of quality assurance and food safety checks exist, which can be easily done in-house. Th ese include microbial and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) testing. Th e methods that do not require enrichment steps and off er low to no risk of cross-contamination

in the lab are the best options for starting an in-house microbiology testing venture.

Off ering the quality and standardisation of rigorous manufacturing processes available in the market, many in-house testing methods are simple, provide quick results and are cost-eff ective as shipping costs and time in transit are eliminated and they do not require highly trained technicians.

Th e ability to produce environmental and product microbial test results in-house also awards manufacturers the power and freedom to further investigate their processes, materials and equipment. With this data read-ily available, food and beverage processing plants have a better understanding of potential contamination sources and can use such data to track any latent hot spots or growth niches

of microorganisms over time. Should plants wish to take testing a step further, eff ective data management, tracking and trending can help identify imminent issues, off ering the op-portunity to identify and prevent larger food safety and quality issues associated with the environment, ingredients or processes.

Testing in-house, however, does have chal-lenges. It is not easy to keep up with regulatory changes, international trends and new meth-odologies. By taking time to talk to suppliers, food industry colleagues, related industry associations and food safety experts, facilities will fi nd the best solution for food safety and quality verifi cations for their needs.

Certifi cation and education Upon selecting a testing method it’s

important to ensure it is properly validated and approved for the type of commodity and environmental surfaces being tested. Review whether the method is accepted by internation-ally recognised organisations, such as the In-ternational Organization for Standardization (ISO), Association of Analytical Communities (AOAC) and the French national organisation for standardisation, AFNOR, as well as domes-tic regulatory bodies, or provincial regulators. If exporting product, governing bodies of other countries will need to be consulted.

Further, learn about Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) by referring to guidelines such as ISO 17025, which specifi es the general re-quirements to carry out tests and calibrations,

including sampling. And understand the microbial limits the processing environment, raw materials and fi nished product samples should meet. International guidelines such as the Codex Allimentarius and the International Commission on Microbiological Specifi cation for Foods (ICMSF) as well as regulators’ guide-lines are great starting points to set microbio-logical specifi cations for environmental and product results.

The checklistRaquel Lenati outlines the key considerations for selecting an effective product

testing programme.

Raquel Lenati is a microbiology professional services advisor for 3M Canada. 3M is a trusted global leader of food and beverage safety and quality monitoring solutions. Lenati has earned a MSc in microbiology and BSc in food sciences. She worked within the food industry with HACCP and quality assurance programmes before joining 3M.

ASK THEEXPERT

“A variety of microbiology testing methods and hygiene monitoring

solutions are available to help meet processing plants’ needs and ultimately

improve their overall profi tability”

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NEXT BIGTHING

The launch of an environmentally-friendly, zero residue moth con-trol system by Exosect is being welcomed by the food production

industry as a key step in pesticide reduction management in stored product foods.

Exosect, established as an innovative provider of Intelligent Pest Management (IPM) solutions, has developed a sustainable, organic compliant, non-chemical solution, Exosex SPTab, which launched initially in the UK in February 2010.

Th e company has also developed its own Residue Reduction Charter to heighten the focus on chemical reduction in food process-ing and storage.

As the focus for food production moves increasingly from the farm to the factory, Exosect’s new product marks a response to the increasing demand from retailers and con-sumers for safe, high quality stored product foods with reduced pesticide residues.

Martin Brown, Managing Director at Exosect, explains: “Pesticides in food factories have traditionally taken the form of fumiga-tion or spray processes, which can produce residue levels that have already become unac-ceptable in some EU countries.

“We believe that there will soon be in-creasing consumer pressure to add to the regulatory pressure on retailers, suppliers and manufacturers to use residue-free pest man-agement solutions and demonstrate active reduction in pesticide use.”

Legislation is, however, not the only driver for change. Food manufacturers cur-rently rely predominantly on moth control processes requiring factory shutdown and lost production.

Th e Exosex SPTab is completely unobtru-sive and avoids the need for plant shutdown. In addition there is no adverse impact on monitor-

ing trap data collection. Th e product is placed inside a bespoke dispenser, located at fi ve metre intervals throughout a manufacturing facility. Exosex SPTab is easy to deploy, requires no special application equipment and can remain active for any required length of time.

To ensure that optimum performance is achieved from the outset, Exosect will work alongside expert Pest Control Operators to provide set up, training and technical support as and when required.

“Insightful retailers and manufacturers will not simply succumb to change but will lead in the challenge of pesticide reduction management,” says Brown. “By focusing on a move towards zero residue, the industry could revolu-tionise the way in which it manages the protection of products into the future. Exosex SPTab represents a fi rst step in intelligent and informed pesticide reduc-tion management.”

Exosex SPTab is a small tablet consisting of Exosect’s unique Entostat powder, which is combined with minute quantities of the female sex pheromone, common to all fi ve of the major moth pests in food pro-cessing: Plodia interpunctella, Ephestia elutella, Ephestia kuehniella, Ephestia fi gulilella and Cadra cautella.

A male carrying En-tostat powder will form a mobile pheromone dispenser, producing ‘false’ pheromone trails, which attract additional males. Contact be-tween the males ensures that the Entostat

powder and the confusion eff ect is automati-cally passed on. Th e result is a state of auto confusion amongst the male moth population leading to eff ective mating disruption and population control.

“Th e SPTab product is unique in that it is derived from a natural sustainable plant source. Organically approved products are ever increasing their appeal and this combines with the extensive range of other product ben-efi ts – such as enabling facilities to function as usual during treatment – to provide an unbeatable solution. We are already experi-encing very high levels of interest in the new

product,” adds Brown. Th e product was

made available in the UK in January 2010. Exosect is also preparing a Euro-pean rollout, with plans to launch the product in Germany, France, Hol-land and Italy in Spring 2010.

Exosect is focused on the development of Intel-ligent Pest Management solutions. Its innovative and cost-eff ective prod-ucts help growers, food manufacturers and pro-cessors to actively reduce their use of pesticides. Th ese products are used globally in a wide range of sectors including crop protection (agriculture, horticulture and stored

products), apiculture, amenity and public health. Exosect was a SOFHT (Society of Food Hygiene and Technology) award winner in 2008.

Martin Brown is Managing Director of Exosect and has over 25 years of experience in agrochemical sales, marketing and business operations roles with ICI, Astra Zeneca and Syngenta covering UK, Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Pakistan and Eastern Europe. Before joining Exosect, Martin worked in a senior management role within a major international agricultural distribution company expanding and developing their distribution and retail operations in Eastern Europe.

Moth to moth Martin Brown explains how innovative pheromone research is breathing new life into pest management.

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ASK THEEXPERT

In these hard economic times, we are all looking to save money. But sometimes saving a few pounds in the short term can cost an awful lot more long term. Th e EU regula-tion on the hygiene of foodstuff s states that “fl oor surfaces are to be maintained in a sound condition and be easy to clean and, where necessary to disinfect. Th is will require the

use of impervious, non-absorbent, washable and non-toxic materials.” Th is means that anywhere food is prepared, treated or processed, fl oors need to permit good food hygiene practice off ering ease of cleaning and protection against contamination, between and during operations.

Floors can therefore oft en be seen as a necessary evil as without them hygiene inspectors will not allow production. It is tempting to pick the cheapest option to satisfy the inspectors and comply with regulations, however poor quality fl oors not only lack performance, but will also require sustained maintenance.

Cheap epoxies and PUs oft en wear badly in wet and heavily traf-fi cked areas, cracks in the surface will oft en lead to delamination and the systems inherently contain micro-pores and pinholes. Acrylic fl oors degrade over time and become spongy and porous. Th ese areas need repairing to comply with EU regulations and will oft en be picked up during hygiene inspections. However, patching fl oors inevitably leads to further failures as each cut in a fl oor becomes a cold joint, which can also be described as a crack that allows water access to the bond line and promotes delamination. Th is patch will then need re-doing later on, and so the cycle continues. Floor wears. Patch repaired. Patch repaired again slightly larger. And so on, until the fl oor looks like a patchwork quilt and aesthetics demand the whole room re-done.

Th e cost of the patches may not be much materially, but the shut-down time soon adds up. Planning and logistics, extra shift work leading up to and aft er the works, loss of production, post operation cleaning and post work cleaning. With epoxy fl oors taking up to 14 days to fully cure, that’s a lot of shutdown to ensure the fl oor repair achieves full strength. In reality, most people begin operations far too early and water will damage the chemical cure process, thus weakening the fl oor repair further. Although PU fl oors cure within three days, this is oft en still too long. Th e acrylic fl oors have an advantage here with

their two-hour cure, but the area still needs shutting down or clearing suffi ciently. By paying for a quality fl ooring system, these repairs and shutdowns will be minimal, leaving you compliant, in production for longer periods and ultimately saving money.

Another way of preventing cross contamination or to improve mi-crobial counts within the factory is to add an anti-microbial agent to the fl oor, and lots of manufacturers are off ering this option. Th ere are many types on the market, from biocides like Microban, to active ions like silver. All will have some eff ect, but again some are better than others. Active ions and particles are simply stirred into the resin before application. Th is leaves them randomly distributed across the surface, and the evenness relies on the correct mixing ratio and thoroughness.

Certain biocides, however, are added to the fl ooring resins during manufacture. Microban for example is added at the polymerisation stage, and the particles actually disperse and migrate “inter-molecu-larly” around the resin. Only this type can be certifi ed, as there will be a known amount in any given section of fl ooring. Th is certifi cation can allow you to sell at the same or a higher price than your competition. For example, Noons Foods in Southall, London, a manufacturer of ready meals, chose Microban enriched fl oors over their whole facility. Th is enabled them to win a lucrative contract with Sainsbury’s – with-out competing on price.

However it is also important to note that anti-microbial fl ooring is not a substitute for good hygiene. Th e fl oors are designed to reduce peak microbial loads between washes, and not replace washing. So it is still important to have a fl oor that can be easily cleaned, one without pinholes, pores or abrasion.

Another area that is vitally important is slip resistance. HSE have updated their slip resistance guidelines in its Food Information Sheet No 22. Th eir previous coeffi cient of friction (CofF) guideline of 0.36 was updated. While the limit remains, what they now state is that consid-eration must be given to the likely contamination. Too oft en products are checked for slip resistance in the dry and wet only. If a fl oor is to be used in a food factory, it needs to have a CofF of over 0.36 with oils and fats or product on the fl oor. Supermarkets need to think about their slip resistance with grapes (far more slippery than bananas contrary to popular belief). Engineering workshops need to test with oil etc.

HSE recently published a case study on one accident. A kitchen worker slipped over and fractured her skull. Th e resulting injuries were severe and meant that she was unlikely to work again. HSE ended up prosecuting the employer, and the company was ordered to pay over €40,667 including prosecution costs. On hearing the case the District

Slipping up on regulationsAdam Clements and Bjørn Hegstad look at the most cost effective ways to stay compliant with current fl ooring legislation.

My fl oor is my money machine,” said one client, “from the moment I cannot work on the fl oor, I cannot earn money”

My fl ooMI cannot

money”

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many fl oors oft en considered compliant, could now fall foul of these updated regulations.

Please remember that almost everything you do in your factory will take place on a fl oor of some kind. Th erefore it is

vitally important to consider all the implications and lifetime costs of that fl oor, and how it may impact on future operations.

AcryliCon fl oors comply with current EU regula-tions, and we have EEC and FDA approval for contact with food. Microban can be added to the system, which is already the easiest to clean fl ooring on the market. With a proven lifespan of over 30 years, high compres-sive strength and excellent wear resistance, AcryliCon is fast becoming the safe choice in fl ooring. AcryliCon has offi ces across the globe, from the US to China. Please see our website for details of your nearest offi ce.

Adam Clements is Mnaaging Director of Acrylicon Distribution in the UK.

Bjørn Hegstad, is a chemical engineer and President of AcryliCon. He has made the challenges of industrial fl ooring his own and dealt with and solved these challenges during his 30 years of experience and expertise. He has developed and established AcryliCon in Norway, Sweden, Finland, England, Ireland, Middle East, Canada, USA and internationally to deal with contracts outside the company’s established areas.

Judge said: “Th is was a very serious accident, one which was wholly pre-ventable. Every employer has a duty under law to protect its employees from physical harm – something that [the company] blatantly failed to do. Th ere had been four similar accidents in their kitchen during the previous 12 months, yet they still failed to act.”

Th e inspector served an Improvement Notice on the company to require them to deal with the slip risks to employees. Aft er a number of other options were considered by the company, but concluded to be inadequate or inappropriate, they eventually re-placed the fl oor surface with one that was suitable for use in an area where the total elimination of fl oor contaminants would never be possible. Th e new fl oor was specifi ed to provide enough grip, even in wet or contaminated conditions.

Th e current recognised slip resistance test is the Pendulum Test as developed especially for HSE by Sheffi eld Laboratories. Ensure your fl ooring manu-facturer has HSE approved slip results for their fl ooring, and can prove that even with your likely contamination, the fl oor will remain above legal guidelines. It is wise to test your current fl oors as well, as

Bjørn Hegstad

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FOODSAFETY

A global perspectiveTackling food safety issues involves wide-ranging international cooperation in order to reduce health risks along the food chain from producer to consumer, says WHO’s Jørgen Schlundt.

The consumption of unsafe food poses a very real and serious threat to public health. Th e World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that foodborne and waterborne diarrhoeal diseases kill about 2.2 million people annually. Over the past 20 years there have been incidences of serious foodborne disease out-

breaks documented in every continent, which serve to illustrate the truly global nature of food safety.

WHO therefore responds to threats that arise from issues of food safety in an equally wide-ranging fashion. Jørgen Schlundt is the Director of the Department of Food Safety and Zoonosis at WHO and he stresses the need for issues of food safety to be tackled from a global perspective.

“Food that is produced in the world is constantly moving across bor-ders so there is no reason to look at this issue from a regional perspective. Also, if we want developing countries to progress economically we have to fi nd a way of allowing them to export what they can, and for most

developing countries this is food. Th erefore it’s very important that we try to look at food safety across the whole globe,” says Schlundt.

In its international approach, WHO focuses on three main areas, the fi rst of which is achieving scientifi c agreement. “At the global level we’re trying to get the best science together and present that to all member states,” says Schlundt. “Th ere is no need for 192 countries in the world to each defi ne the science for themselves. We are trying to make sure that we are a broker for good scientifi c knowledge.”

Once agreement has been reached, the next step is to turn this sci-entifi c knowledge into international standards. Th is is done through the Codex Alimentarius Commission, created in 1963 by FAO and WHO.

Th e third area of focus is communicating information. An impor-tant initiative that was set up in this area is of course the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN). Th e rapid globalisation of food production and trade has obviously increased the potential like-lihood of international incidents involving contaminated food. INFO-

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SAN, another joint initiative from FAO and WHO, ensures closer communication and collaboration among national food safety authorities at the international level.

“We now have 175 countries that all link into this network, reporting when they have problems. So if any major problems arise we can now share information between the countries, and we do that on a day-to-day basis,” says Schlundt. “Some of the big events recently have been related to melamine in China and dioxin in pork in Ireland, and we also have an ongoing issue with hepatitis in foods. INFOSAN allows us to share information between the food safety authorities so that they can take action when necessary.”

However, this communication does not stop with the au-thorities. Food safety programmes are increasingly focusing on a farm-to-fork approach as an eff ective means of reducing inci-dences of foodborne disease outbreaks. Th is holistic approach involves consideration of every step in the chain, from raw material to food consumption.

Schlundt therefore emphasises the need for clear communication with consumers in order to protect them from the various foodborne diseases they are threatened by. “Everybody involved in the food chain, including the consumer in their kitchen, has to take responsibility for food safety,” says Schlundt.

“Th ey cannot do that unless they know what to do. Th erefore we have developed very simple key messages that are the same all over the world. We are promoting them and they have been translated into 70 languages now. We also have training systems to go with that,” he explains.

Of particular concern at the moment, according to Schlundt, are microbiological hazards, many of which are related to food production animals. “Salmonella and campylobacter are two bacteria that we know we can do something about in the primary production sector, thereby limiting the risk for the consumer, says Schlundt.

“For a very long time now the EU has been implementing the Zoonotic Directive. Th is means that you must be able to report data for both animals and humans. If you do that you can link problems to their source and then do something about it”.

As far as these zoonotic diseases are concerned, the WHO strongly supports the integration and consolidation of the agricultural and food industries. “We have to get the diff erent sectors to work together,” says Schlundt. “Going back more than 10 years in the EU system, there was really no collaboration between the agricultural sector and the health sector. But now that has changed a lot, although it’s still not optimal.”

However, microbiological issues are not the only priority for WHO. Chemical hazards are also cause for concern. “Th ere are a number of chemical issues from mould in food, which is a particular problem in developing countries, to new substances that are found in food, such as acrylamide – a substance created when potatoes or other types of food are heated above 120 degrees Celsius.”

According to Schlundt, changing the available scientifi c knowledge into international standards in the Codex has actually been far more suc-cessful for chemical issues than it has been for microbiological issues.

“We have had chemical expert groups since back in the 1960s, so over the past 50 years the Codex has covered chemical issues very eff ectively, but only in the last 10 years have we really started to effi ciently move into the microbiological area. We initiated an expert group on microbiologi-cal risk assessment called JEMRA,” Schlundt explains.

Progress is being made though as further expert groups are being set up. Th e most recent scientifi c advice and knowledge on melamine has now been taken into the codex and standards are being discussed.

Assessing the risks posed by chemical and microbiological hazards, and by new food-related technologies, is something that is high on the agenda of WHO. Together with FAO, it has done a lot of work in relation to genetically modifi ed food and has had a number of expert consulta-tions on the topic since the 1990s, which have focused on the plants, the micro-organisms and the animals that could be genetically modifi ed.

“We have defi ned ways of doing the risk assessment and we have defi ned what should be done before putting something on the market. Most countries are now following our advice. Th e only region in the world where there is still concern for genetically modifi ed food is Europe, which I believe relates to poor communication from a lot of food safety authorities in Europe,” says Schlundt.

Nanotechnology, he believes, should be viewed in the same way. “We have initiated the fi rst FAO/WHO expert meeting on nanotechnology, which has been suggesting ways to think about doing risk assessments of nanotechnology. Th ere might be special issues with nanotechnology that we haven’t looked at before simply because the nanoparticles are so small. We need to get the science together, defi ne how we should do the risk assessment, and do it before putting something on the market,” explains Schlundt.

“Actually the only region in the world where there is still concern for genetically modifi ed food is Europe, which I believe relates to poor communication from a lot of food safety authorities in Europe”

Salmonella

Jorgen Schlundt.indd 43Jorgen Schlundt.indd 43 10/5/10 14:55:3110/5/10 14:55:31


Martin Easter replies: Adenosine Triphos-phate (ATP) bioluminescence is a technique that has been used as a monitor of the hygienic status in food production facilities since 1980. Th e application of ATP hygiene monitoring is intended as a direct, objective test of cleaning to verify the removal of product residues. Th is biological test has exquisite sensitivity but has a natural variability. Accordingly, the hygiene monitoring application is not intended to be used as a precise determination of ATP content. Th e results from ATP surface hygiene monitor-ing are diff erent to those of microbial enumera-tion methods and give additional information that the microbial test cannot provide. ATP tests are not intended to replace microbial tests but there is concurrent direct correlation between the results of the two methods because cleaning simultaneously removes both organic residues and microbes.

Th e components of ATP systems include instrument, its detector, and the reagents that are fi nely balanced. Th ese determine the back-ground noise and performance characteristics of the system. Th e most important features are repeatability, sensitivity and accuracy, as well as robustness, low capital cost and maintenance costs. Modern solid-state systems can deliver great performance but also great value because they are low cost, low voltage, and stable.

TROUBLESHOOTER

Making the right choiceHow do you choose the right ATP test system that delivers both performance and value for money?

Th e limit of detection of Kikkoman, Neogen and Charm systems was 10 fmols ATP, which is not suffi cient to meet typical industry Pass levels of fi ve to 10 fmols ATP.

BioControl and Charm have high RLU outputs per unit of ATP but this high RLU does not impart greater sensitivity or better performance to the system.

3M CleanTrace and Charm systems were the least accurate in that they detected only 50 percent of the sample.

Th e most precise, ac-curate and repeatable system was the Hygiena System-SURE Plus with either Ul-trasnap or Supersnap swabs with CV of nine percent and sensitivities of one and 0.17 fmols ATP respectively.

Dr. Martin Easter is an expert in rapid microbiological testing.

Working in the fi elds of food safety and quality management he has managed several government funded research programmes. As General Manager for Hygiena International he directs all business development activities to bring the market new and convenient test methods.

* does not detect below 10 fmols at which level the instrument shows 0 RLU+ systemsSURE is the only system with genuine low background that is linear to zero RLU

System

(r)Blank(Background at zero ATP)

BioControl MVP withLightning swab 0.982 975,941283 39 1.1

3M UniLite NG withCleanTrace swab 0.988 73864.3 26 1.3

Charm Novalum withPocketswab Plus 0.949 418,517*0 86 10.0

Hygiena SystemsSUREPlus with Ultrasnap swab 0.988 15890+ 28 1.0

Hygiena SystemsSUREPlus with Supersnap swab 0.987 49490+ 9 0.17

Kikkoman PD20with LuciPak swabs 0.985 122714.3 12 10.0

Neogen AccuPointwith Accupoint swab 0.976 15,649*0 123 10.0

Medium(at 1000 fmols ATP)

(CV%)Limit ofdetection(fmols ATP)

Linearity Output (RLU) Variability Sensitivity

Th e largest ever laboratory study of com-mercially available ATP hygiene monitoring systems was conducted by a leading indepen-dent food safety and quality laboratory.

Th e comprehensive study generated over 5000 results and it determined linearity, repeatability, and sensitivity of six systems from leading suppliers when tested against ATP, microbes and a vari-

ety of foodstuff s over a wide dilution range.

Statistical analy-sis was applied to

the results, which are summarised

in the table below. Neogen and Charm ceased

to become linear below a set RLU threshold where only zero RLU values were displayed by the instru-ment. Th ese systems also showed the highest amount of variation with CV of 86 and 123 percent compared to the average for the technology of 26 percent.

Hygeina.indd 44Hygeina.indd 44 10/5/10 13:49:3810/5/10 13:49:38

HYGENIA_AD:mar10 27/4/10 11:46 Page 1

What are the implications for food producers that fail totake sufficient care of safety issues? Raimund C. Hoenes. Recent food scandals have shown thatthere is still a lack of knowledge regarding food safety with-in the worldwide food and nutrition industries. Someplayers in the industry may be motivated merely byachieving high levels of profit and thereforeshow an alarmingly low level of businessethics as a result. The economic down-turn has caused additional victims asmany companies are under intense pres-sure to reduce their costs in order to re-main profitable. Compromising on foodsafety is a simple and immediate way toreduce overheads. However, the conse-quences that can and most certainly willcome with it over time are immense. A foodproducer that is exposed for delivering poorquality products runs the risk of perma-nently damaging its reputation. To recoverfrom a damaged reputation is a difficult taskin any industry, but in the food and nutrition in-dustries in particular, it is an undertaking deemednear to impossible.

Charles Deibel. The largest issue is the potential for the product to get intocommerce and potentially hurt consumers. Testing at all stages of productionfrom ingredients to finished products, as well as environmental samples andcorrect nutritional labelling, can all be considered a form of ‘brand insurance’.Those companies that do not protect their brand may not have a brand to pro-

tect in the event of a recall or loss of con-sumer trust. To provide financial pro-tection and brand protection, many

companies now use external labs to mon-itor their in-house labs and some test exclu-sively using external labs. This is one way tooff-load the risk of testing.

Franz Rappold. Food safety is not only the mostessential topic for a food producer but for the whole

supply chain, including the packaging angle. Mayr-MelnHof, representing one of the packaging materials most

largely in demand – carton board – takes that task incredibly seriously. Asmarket leader in Europe we constantly monitor our products in our own ex-cellently equipped laboratories as well as carry out external assessments by in-dependent institutions (i.e. ISEGA) and continuously improve all processesand procedures at our production sites and within the chain of custody.


ROUNDTABLE

SAFENext Generation Food consults theexperts on the issue of safety inthe food industry.

SAFETY RT_5May 10/05/2010 14:31 Page 46

PERKINELMER_AD:mar10 27/4/10 11:49 Page 1


Established standards are controlled and measured by quality managementsystems such as ISO 9001, and hygiene management systems EN 15593 andINREKA-HACCP-Standard, as well as chain of custody systems, likeFSC&PEFC. Risk management and the root-cause analysis are an essentialpart of our management systems and ensure a safe production of board andpackaging for food applications. Thus we have built up a strong reputationfor reliable food safety within the industry.

Christian Jansen. Appearance measurement techniques can be used to indi-cate safety. However, by the time the problem is visible to the human eye it is

already too big a problem. By the time the eye or an instru-ment can see the hazard it is already beyond safe consump-tion levels. There is also a connection between appearanceand quality. It is unacceptable for a customer to notice a dif-ference when comparing two of the same product, as he orshe will think the difference is caused by poor quality. It mayor may not be considered a safety issue but it could well beinterpreted as contamination or a mistake during produc-tion. For example, a pale tomato sauce may indicate a lack offlavour while a brownish tomato sauce may indicate toomuch processing or contamination from the container.

More serious concerns come from medical products where customers mayconsider this a problem with active ingredients for the medicine. Another ex-ample is peanuts, as they are roasted to a high temperature to ensure removalof salmonella bacteria. If the product is heated too high or stays in the oventoo long then the nut will appear far too dark for customer expectation andhave a burnt taste. So here you can see colour can be used as an early controlto ensure processing is correct and consistent.

Jan Grøndal. Food safety is the most important issue for any food produceror food ingredient supplier. It is core to our industry that consumers are safe

Charles Deibel is President of Deibel Laboratories, Inc., an internationallyrecognised firm providing food and product safety testing, qualitycontrol evaluations, scientific consulting and training for industryleading food manufacturers, as well as family run operations.

Christian Jansen joined Hunter Associates Laboratory, Inc., in 2004 as theEuropean Sales Manager, responsible for sales channel development,expanding the service and support network and key customer contact.He studied business administration and entrepreneurial finance at theTUM Business School in Munich.

Zoe Grosser, PhD is Director, Food and Environmental Markets, for theAnalytical Science Division of PerkinElmer. She has been withPerkinElmer for more than 20 years, holding a variety of marketing,product development and product support roles through the years.

Raimund C. Hoenes is the CEO of Glanbia Nutritionials CustomizedPremix Solutions unit, which provides micronutrient premixes to thefood, beverage and supplement industries and operates fourstrategically located plants on three continents. He has 15 years ofindustry experience and has held positions in Europe, the US and Mexicofocused on business growth. He holds a PhD and MSc from theUniversity of St Gallen, Switzerland.

Franz Rappold is a member of the Management Board of Mayr-MelnhofKarton AG with a dedicated responsibility for all sales activities of theGroup cartonboard segment, MM Karton. He is President of Cepi CartonBrussels (Confederation of European Paper Industry) and member ofVDP/VMK – Germany (Paper + Cartonboard Association).

Jan Grøndal has an MBA from AVT Business School, an MSc in FoodScience and a PhD in Food Chemistry and Food Technology. In 2008 hewas appointed CEO for the flavour company Einar Willumsen. Prior to hiscurrent position, he held various positions within Carlsberg, Lundbeck,Aqualon, Hercules Inc, CP Kelco ApS and Einar Willumsen. Dr Grøndal isChairman for the Danish Flavour Organisation and a member of the IFTand several other professional organisations.

THE

PAN

EL

“Carton board is the mostenvironmentally friendly

packaging, recyclable and biodegradable, madefrom renewable or even

recycled sources”Franz Rappold


DIEBEL_AD :mar10 6/5/10 16:49 Page 1

CJ. If a brand cannot control the consistent appearance of its product then whywould customers think they are able to produce a safe product? Quality isquality. If it is poor in one area than most likely it is poor in other areas. Peoplesee the product first with their eyes. The very first judgement they make is vi-sual. The colour of food can cause someone to become excited with anticipa-tion or push a plate of food away. Colour is a determining factor in whetherwe pick one fruit or vegetable over another, just as taste is. For these reasons,measuring the colour of food is essential for a manufacturer to provide a prod-

uct that a consumer will see as desir-able even before they taste or smell it.Manufacturers are concerned with theeffects of pasteurisation, freezing andshelf life on the colour of foods andhave developed additives to preservefood colour, such as acid solutions forfruits and sodium benzoate. Coloursthemselves, such as tartrazine andazorubine, are added to increase thenatural colour of a food and make itmore palatable to the human eye.Because customers are able to detectslight differences in colour in food andin packaging, accurate measurement ofthe desired colour for a manufactureris critical to their sales and profits.

RH. There are many challenges facinga company, particularly financial pres-sures in times of economic turmoil. Inan ideal case, nothing should ever in-fluence food safety, no matter what.Unfortunately this is not the case, as weall know only too well.

In times of an economic down-turn it is even more important to havesophisticated and effective quality sys-tems in place. It is vital to never com-promise the standards and aims thatwere once set. Businesses are forced toreact to pressures and challenges, butquality and therefore food safetyshould be maintained at all times.

Customers will notice a shift in quality standards. Though they may puttheir suppliers under pressure to lower prices, it is of tremendous impor-tance to show the value of quality. We see quality and safety playing a larg-er role than ever before. When many companies are inclined to take a stepback when facing tough times, it becomes the ultimate opportunity to fur-ther strengthen your market position and reputation. This can be achievedby continuously supplying premium quality products, thus ensuring a highlevel of food safety.

FR. Saving packaging is a permanent focus. The change over time, however,relates particularly to the fact that measurement devices are swiftly improv-

when consuming the finished food and beverage. This requires the highestfood safety standards in the complete supply chain. If food producers fail totake sufficient care of safety issues – either due to inadequate internal proce-dures or due to lack of control over the supply chain – the impact is huge.Consumers’ health and wellbeing is at stake, as is the reputation of the busi-ness. We have seen time and again that it takes many good examples to com-pensate for one bad. Any failure to comply in this area will eventually affectthe whole food business.

Zoe Grosser. As public concern and the globalunderstanding of human health issues associatedwith food safety and quality continues to in-crease, food producers that fail to take sufficientcare of safety issues will increasingly get moreand more public exposure. This may result in re-calls, fines and other unwanted publicity, andgovernment regulations will be tightened. Theultimate negative impact could be damage totheir brand name, which will result in longer-term business effects.

How have pressures, challenges or aims with-in the industry changed the needs of compa-nies when it comes to food safety?ZG. Globalisation of economies, increasing com-petition and increased population and affluence indeveloping countries have caused the world to be-come smaller and this global nature of businessalso extends to food. As the import and export offoods increases and ingredient suppliers can po-tentially be located several time zones away, it isbecoming more difficult to comprehensively in-spect suppliers, therefore testing and traceability ofingredients has become an increasingly importantissue. In addition, the appearance of adulterantspreviously unknown, such as melamine in infantformula, puts increasing pressure and stress on ex-isting processes and systems for food safety. As anexample, approximately 80 percent of the fish andshellfish consumed in the US is imported.Approximately 30 percent of the fruit and nuts isimported. So food is not being produced and eatenin the same place. Different local regulations on pesticides, soil cleanliness,antibiotic use, and other factors may potentially affect the quality of food de-livered to the consuming country, especially when examined in light of thedestination country’s regulations.

JG. Nowadays there is much more awareness about food safety than before.Due to the international free flow of information, an incident anywhere in theworld will immediately have global implications. Therefore any supplier inthe food supply chain must be fully updated on any rising (or potentially ris-ing) food safety issues within their respective sphere of interest, and be pre-pared to act appropriately.


“If food producers fail to takesufficient care of safety issues –

either due to inadequateinternal procedures or due tolack of control over the supply

chain – the impact is huge”Jan Grøndal


EINAR_AD:mar10 27/4/10 11:33 Page 1


ing allowing measurement in smaller scales. Five years ago we mea-sured concentrations in ppm (1ppm=1mg/kg); now we are talk-ing about ppb (1ppb=0,001mg/kg). Therefore MM scientistsare equipped with instruments of the latest technology to en-sure that all our products completely fulfil the legal require-ments and standards as well as support governmental andEU authorities with analysis and know-how fortheir future decisions.

CD. Most companies are sourcing higherend technologies to speed the produc-tion process, while still maintaining ahighly accurate assay. The need to getresults quickly, in order to increaseprofit for short dated products or elimi-nate storage costs when warehousespace is limited, has increased interest in tech-nology with fast turn-around times. The US indus-try in particular is overhauling its food safetyprogrammes, with companies performing process validations,as well as increasing surveillance testing on in coming raw commodi-ties. Many EU companies that have clients in the US are forced to followthese new initiatives as well.

How can your solutions and expertise help food producers to ensure thattheir products meet the high standards demanded by consumers andregulators?CD. We offer a complete solution towards food safety products from testingto consulting (audits, validations, training and special projects). Our labs, in-cluding our new European operation in Milan, Italy, offer a full testing solu-tion for microbiological and chemical testing as well as expertise in consultingservices. Dr Deibel was one of the founding fathers of HACCP back in theearly 1970s, with its roots in a prevention based approach to food safety. Thework that we do with our clients is to encourage more prevention-based ini-tiatives and testing programmes rather than a reactive strategy, such as fin-ished product testing alone.

FR. MM’s quality management covers the entire value chain, from raw mate-rial for carton board production to product checks on the point of sale. Allraw and process materials must pass our strict internal quality procedures inline with all regulatory recommendations, i.e. the recommendation XXXVIof the German “BfR”.

Our state-of-the-art production facilities are configured with onlinemeasurement devices. Together with the laboratory tests, dozen of para-meters are matched in our quality computer security system to ensure thatall our products comply with the provisions of valid regulations, i.e.No.1935/2004 of the European Parliament and the council of 27.10.2004concerning materials and articles for food contact. Additional traceabilityis key for us and therefore we keep samples of our products, including allmeasured parameters for more than two years. Beyond that, many multi-

national FMCG companies rely on our expertise for foodsafety analysis of their product packaging.

On the basis of these comprehensive and constantquality checks, we are able to issue a statement of applica-bility to all our products intended to be brought into con-tact with food. We can offer the broadest range of differentcarton board qualities for all kinds of food applications andalways evaluate the whole packaging against the specific de-mands of the packed food to recommend the most appro-priate carton board based on virgin fibre or recycled fibre.Furthermore, all our mills and printing plants producing forthe food industry are HACCP-certified.

JG. Einar Willumsen has decided to go all the way to en-sure our products meet the highest food safety standards.This means we have decided to implement a fully auto-mated traceability system in our factories to allow the

“Recent food scandalshave shown that thereis still a lack ofknowledge regardingfood safety within theworldwide food andnutrition industries”Raimund C. Hoenes


CustomizedPremixSolutionsInnovations in Functionality

Glanbia NutritionalsGewerbestrasse 3

78359 Orsingen-NenzingenGermany

Phone +49 7774-9397-0; [email protected]; www.glanbianutritionals.com

GLANBIA NUTRITIONALS AD:mar10 27/4/10 11:41 Page 1

grape juice and arsenic in domestic baby juice, can be measured with thistechnology.

Food and beverage producers face the challenge of meeting safety and in-creasing tighter quality standards while reducing costs to meet the challengesof global competition. Manual entry of chemical analysis data is labour in-tensive and creates the potential for typographical errors. Implementation oflaboratory information management systems (LIMS) that interface with lab-oratory instrumentation, such as our LABWORKS foodLIMS, can effective-ly increase organisational productivity and data quality in food labs.

CJ. Food products are tremendously varied and bestpractice requires a measurement approach that works foreach type of product. Different food products require dif-ferent instruments. You do not use the same techniqueto measure liquids as cookies or nuts. HunterLab hasbeen in the business of colour and appearance measure-ment for over 57 years. Our very first commercial in-strument was used to measure Crisco for Procter &Gamble. Since that time we have developed an array ofcolour instruments for portable, desktop and on-linemeasurement of food products. This broad range cou-pled with our many years of applied experience with foodproducts makes us the industry leader in this area.

What role does research and development play inyour business? Can you describe any recent innova-tions in your product lines?ZG. Research and development are critically importantin instrument development. New technology and newcomputer capabilities both contribute to what might bepossible in the future. Customers demand instrumentsthat are easier to use, take up less space and cost less.Regulatory agencies demand lower detection limits andinstruments that are less expensive to run, making taxdollars go further. The most recent PerkinElmer instru-ment introduction is the NexION 300 ICP-MS for tracemetal analysis. We talked to customers before startingthe project to ensure their perspective was incorporatedto the fullest extent possible. The instrument is smaller,highly stable and incorporates a choice of interferencecorrection techniques to ensure accurate results.Customers interested in the analysis of food can be high-ly productive using this technology for semi-quantitativeor quantitative metals analysis.

FR. Research and development plays a vital part in MM’s strategy. Combinedwith our long-term experience, financial solidity and the partnerships withsuccessful customers, we are confident we will continue to strength our lead-ership position. For example, the findings of our most recent in-depth trialsof unprinted and printed folding boxes resulted in the use of only ‘low mi-gration inks’ for packaging with direct food contact. The effect of migrantscoming from carton board, whether recovered or virgin fibre-based, is small.Nearly all migrants originate from ink, varnish and glue, with clear differences

fastest possible reaction in the event of an incident. Furthermore, EinarWillumsen has decided to implement a fully automated technical docu-mentation system in order to ensure our customers the fastest possible ac-cess to any technical information on the flavours and compounds we supplythat they may require. Manual traceability and technical documentation willcertainly meet the formal requirements of the regulators, but automated sys-tems are so much quicker. And if an incident should occur, fast and appro-priate reaction is crucial.

RH. At the core of our business is a proven and stringent quality system. Weapply a whole range of quality standardsto ensure peace of mind for our cus-tomers – amongst them: ISO 9001:2008,ISO 22000, IFS (International FoodStandard), GMP (Good ManufacturingPractices). Our quality system supportsus in our efforts to continuously im-prove the high standard of our products– even under the toughest economic en-vironment. Being an established busi-ness in the industry allows us to draw onour vast experience and make use of ourestablished relationships with producersand suppliers to ensure that our cus-tomers get safe products. Everythingfrom the purchasing to manufacturethrough to the packaging is considered,to ensure that the products meet thehigh standards demanded by consumersand regulators. We have supplier auditprogrammes in place and apply exten-sive testing regimes to incoming goodsas well as our finished products. Thisprovides our customers the guaranteethat the very sensitive micronutrientpremixes they receive from us, whichprovide the nutritional functionality intheir products, are safe to use and in fullcompliance with the specificationsagreed.

ZG. PerkinElmer is a global companyfocused on improving the health andsafety of people and their environ-ment. We are focused on the important outcomes that our technologiesmake possible, such as a safe and sustainable food supply chain. We are aleader in development and production of analytical solutions (instruments,consumables, software, applications and services) used in detecting conta-mination and adulterants in food, beverages, flavours and agriculture. Forexample, our Clarus GC/MS can be used to detect organic contaminationin food, such as melamine in milk. Inorganic techniques such as ourNexION ICP-MS family can be used to evaluate metal contamination infood. Several situations seen in the last few years, such as lead in imported


“It is unacceptable for acustomer to notice a difference

when comparing two of thesame product as he or she willthink the difference is caused

by poor quality”Christian Jansen


HUNTERMAN_AD:mar10 27/4/10 11:45 Page 1

ment geometry was further optimisedsince it is the ideal geometry for colourmeasurement in food, especially whendoing readings in glass containers (orpolycarbonate as an alternative).

The D25LT colorimeter’s largeviewing area of 95mm is optimised formeasuring the colour of coarse, non-homogeneous and irregularly shapedproducts. It can be used in the food in-dustry to measure samples such ascookies, crackers, chips, beans, spices orpasta. A brand new development is theSpectraTrend HT, an online non-con-tact colour and height measurementsystem providing full spectral informa-tion in the visible range and using longlife LED light source.

CD. Deibel Labs in Gainsville, FL, isdesignated the Special Projects lab andmuch of our R&D is performed at thislocation. The Technical ServicesDirector, Dr Steven Goodfellow, hasover 40 years of experience in food mi-crobiology, food safety and microbio-logical pathogens, sanitation, HACCP,TQC/TQM, food processing, and plantmanagement. Even though a test kitmay get AFNOR, ISO or AOAC ap-proval, it is still possible that the tech-nology may not be the best for a givenproduct line. We perform ‘method

performance qualifications’ for our clients to help them source the best rapidor cultural assays for their product lines. Due to the large numbers of testsperformed at Deibel Labs, on many occasions, we have seen trending priorto the manufacture of the kit. This early identification of trends has allowedus to not only make adjustments quickly to limit the impact on our clients

but also to notify the manufacturer so they can limit the impacton other users.

RH. In the global fortification business it is of utmost signifi-cance to be at the forefront in the exploration of science andthe dynamics that drive the nutrition industry. In order to de-fend our market position, we constantly search for new prod-uct ideas and innovative raw materials. The provision ofmicronutrient premixes that add a competitive edge to ourcustomers’ end product will ensure that they can stay aheadof their competitors – which in turn secures our position inthe market and ultimately ensures the survival of our busi-ness. We operate in a fast-moving industry. Consequently, itis imperative that we are on top of all trends and innovationsthat occur. n

detectable on the type of ink. The cooperation with allsuppliers enables ongoing improvements of raw andprocess materials and technologies.

Carton board – regardless if recovered or virginfibre-based – provides the end consumer with packagingthat is safe and compliant with food regulations.Furthermore, carton board is the most environmentallyfriendly packaging, recyclable and biodegradable, madefrom renewable or even recycled sources. In addition,carton board has some of the lowest CO2 emission valuesof all packaging materials, throughout the entire value-added chain.

JG. The flavour business is innovation driven. The soul ofmost food and beverage products is the flavour. A recentsurvey in Denmark by the Danish Flavour Organisationrevealed that more than 70 percent of consumers ratedflavour as the most important characteristic of a food andbeverage product. That is the reason the development ofthe right flavour of a new food and beverage product is thekey to success in many cases. Getting the taste right anddoing it fast is key to success in the flavour business. Thereis a limit to how many brand new tastes can be invented butflavour innovation involves new combinations of tastesand modification of already existing tastes. As an example,Einar Willumsen has launched a range of South African in-spired flavours to be used in food and beverages. This rangeincludes new existing taste combinations not commonlyseen in industrial food and beverages. Another example isour new range of vanilla flavours or our new range of pure,tasting natural tea extracts, which offer the possibility to de-velop delicious new food and beverages. Innovation is partof the daily routine in a world where speed and taste mat-ter more than anything else.

CJ. HunterLab has increased its efforts in research and development over thepast years. The variety of applications has driven us to develop systems de-signed for specific applications. Especially circumferential 45°/0° measure-


“Testing at all stages ofproduction from ingredientsto finished products, as wellas environmental samplesand correct nutritionallabelling, can all beconsidered a form of ‘brandinsurance’”Charles Deibel

“As public concern and the globalunderstanding of human health

issues associated with food safetyand quality continues to increase,

food producers that fail to takesufficient care of safety issues willincreasingly get more and more

public exposure”Zoe Grosser


MAYR-MELNHOF_AD:mar10 27/4/10 11:47 Page 1


by inhibiting their growth when it comes in contact with materials bearing the micro-organisms.

Th e 28-day Cream Cheese Challenge test is a standard test commonly used by microbiological laboratories to test lubricants and other materials used in food process-ing plants to determine the effi cacy of the anti-microbial additive product protection system under conditions sim-ilar to what is encountered in food processing plants.

Th e test consisted of three parts and was conducted at a food industry recognised external laboratory. In the fi rst part, the grease is exposed solely to water in the presence of the micro-organism. In the second part, the grease is exposed solely to cream cheese in the presence of the micro-organism, which simulates the nutrient for the micro-organisms. In the third part, the grease is ex-posed to the cream cheese as well as water in the presence of the micro-organism representing the real life condi-tions at the plant where wet conditions prevail and food particles can ingress into the lubricated parts of the food processing machinery.

On comparing the test results for the regular food grade grease and Purity FG2 with Microl MAX, the potency of the Microl anti-microbial product protection system and its effi cacy in preserving the grease from degradation by inhibiting their growth when it comes in contact with materials containing the micro-organisms is clearly demonstrated in the photograph below.

NEXT BIGTHING

Making a breakthroughNicolas Samman details the latest advances in anti-microbial effi cacy testing for lubricants.

Petro-Canada’s new research break-through in the fi eld of anti-microbial lubricant protection from degrada-tion by micro-organisms resulted in the development of Purity FG2 with Microl MAX. With an emphasis on

innovation, we sought out new technologies that would improve the product formulation performance relative to our fi rst generation pioneering product Purity FG2 with Microl.

Th is advance in Food Grade Microl anti-microbial product additive protection system is EPA registered, Na-tional Sanitation Foundation (NSF) and FDA approved as an anti-microbial preservative in lubricants that may have incidental contact with food. As a result, the food grade product with this lubricant preservative is consid-ered a Treated Article by EPA. Th e product is approved as kosher and halal as well as certifi ed as peanut-free and free from other major food related allergens.

Th e new Purity FG with Microl MAX line addresses the food processing industry’s ever-vigilant concern with the safety of products – including lubricants for inciden-tal contact. To satisfy our customers and meet their needs in this fi eld, we conducted several product anti-microbial preservation effi cacy tests at several test laboratories capable of assessing the microbiological stability of the product when exposed to such micro-organisms. Th e test protocols employed are similar to those used in the mi-crobiological and pharmaceutical industries. Th ere were two main tests conducted, namely the Zone of Inhibition test and the 28-day Cream Cheese Challenge test.

Th e Zone of Inhibition test was developed through collaboration with a pharmaceutical microbiology test-ing laboratory. Th is test entailed culturing the micro-or-ganism in a broth for a prescribed period of time, which was then mixed with the culture medium at a certain concentration and allowed to set. A plug of grease was then put into the culture medium, which was incubated at a prescribed temperature and duration.

Th e Zone of Inhibition was then measured for Purity FG2 with Microl MAX and compared to regular food grade product. Th e Purity FG2 with Microl MAX developed a Zone of Inhibition measuring 4-5mm in size around the grease plug compared to the absence of such Zone of Inhibition for the regular food grade grease. Th is proof of performance is a strong indication of the potency of the anti-microbial product protection system and its effi cacy in preserving the grease from degradation

Dr. Nicolas Samman is Manager, Grease Product Development and has driven Petro-Canada’s leadership position in new grease technologies. He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is a Chartered Chemist. Dr. Samman was also recognised as a fi nalist in the Best Product Development Team category for the International Stevie Business Awards in 2007 for his development work on greases with anti-microbial effi cacy.

ZONE OF INHIBITION TEST

Regular Food Grade GreasePurity FG2 with Microl Max Grease

Zone of Inhibition

This information is based upon standard laboratory tests and is provided for comparative purposes to substantiate antimicrobinl activity for non-public health applications. Microl product protection inhibits the growth of micro-organisms that cause odours and product degradation.

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ever it is oft en easy to diagnose by keeping a check on the operating temperatures. Th is not only helps reduce the operating cost of replac-ing expensive bearings, but can also reduce the amount of lubricant needed, not to mention the eff ects of downtime. Automatic lubrica-tion equipment, if set up correctly, can also help deliver the correct amount of grease at the right time to ensure uniform performance and steady operating temperatures.

Water and steam wash downs can also remove the grease, leaving the bearings ex-posed. However, moving to more resistant grease, especially if the system design does not allow good protection from the cleaning process, will resolve this problem.

An additional consideration that can aff ect equipment life is the mixing of old and new greases that are incompatible. Th is can increase operating temperatures for two separate and distinct reasons, even when the correct amount of grease is applied. If the combined mixture soft ens, it leads to the lu-bricant seeping away from the bearing. If the mixture hardens, it can reduce its ability to lubricate. It is always good practice to remove as much of the old grease as possible to avoid this issue.

We still have a mis-conception that food safe lubricants do not perform as well in critical situations as

standard lubricants. To the contrary, in many cases food grade lubricants stand up better to the eff ects of washer washout and steam. A critical issue we face in our industry is rather the eff ects of improper lubrication.

Having the best grease for the applica-tion does not always guarantee success. Over 36 percent of all bearing failures result from incorrect specifi cation or poor application of the lubricant. Bearings can be over lubricated or even starved of lubricant. Both situations

can lead to premature bearing failure. A bear-ing’s life could be increased dramatically by choosing the right lubricant, at the right re-lubrication intervals with the proper lubrica-tion application equipment.

Th e amount of grease can be calculated from the type of bearing used, the frequency of replenishment and the application conditions

(loads, temperature, environment, contami-nation risks, etc.). Continuous re-lubrication is oft en used when the re-lubrication intervals are short. A bearing that is running “hot” does not always imply that it needs more lubricant.

Th e correct amount of grease in a bearing will allow the oil to be squeezed out to lubricate the surfaces. If there is too much grease, then the oil cannot leak out properly. Th is causes poorer surface lubrication and increases fric-tional heat. Th is increased temperature can lead to accelerated oxidation of the lubricant, which increases the thickness of the lubricant. Th is, in turn, leads to poorer lubrication, higher temperatures and eventual bearing failure. On the other hand if the positive con-

dition is present, where a bearing is starved of lubricant, then the operating temperature will naturally also be high. Adding the right amount of grease is extremely important to lubricate the surfaces properly, which helps to reduce the operating temperatures.

Over-lubrication of bearings is one factor that can cause premature bearing failure, how-

Kevin Hastings has been working in the lubricating industry for 45 years and he has been lecturing and teaching for over 25. He has conducted over 3000 seminars around the world for major corporations such as General Motors, Ford, Boeing, Coca-Cola, and US Steel. He is also a member of the NLGI, ASLE, SAE, and API associations.

Kevin Hastings discusses the effects that over or under lubrication can have on bearing life in the food industry.

Grease is the word

ASK THEEXPERT

“Th e correct amount of grease in a bearing will allow the oil to be squeezed out to lubricate the surfaces. If there is too much grease, then the oil cannot leak out properly”

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What are the cost implications of selecting food grade lubricants?PB. By following the recommended guidelines from a lubricant manu-facturer, plant managers and maintenance professionals are better able to turn converting an entire food or beverage processing facility to H1 registered lubricants into a manageable task within their existing risk management systems – while at the same time helping their company optimise production, promote food quality and ensure the brand integ-rity of its products.

Do they offer good ROI for manufacturers?PB. Along with delivering exceptional performance and long lasting equipment protection, premium quality synthetic H1 lubricants can also generate signifi cant cost and energy savings. For example, in pro-prietary worm gear bench tests, ExxonMobil’s Mobil SHC Cibus 460 synthetic H1 registered lubricant demonstrated up to 3 percent overall effi ciency improvement compared to Mobilgear 600 XP 460, a mineral

oil based product. Moreover, high performance synthetic H1 hy-

draulic oils can last up to two times longer than con-ventional ExxonMobil mineral based hydraulic oils, whilst maintaining a high degree of system cleanli-ness. Long life and clean systems can reduce the costs and risks associated with frequent oil changes and unplanned component failures.

What different applications can food grade lubri-cants be employed in?PB. Most high performance H1 lubricants are ap-plicable for the full spectrum of hydraulic, gear and air compressor applications. In some instances, the same lubricant can be used in both compressors and hydraulic systems. Other applications include greas-es for medium and high temperature applications, vacuum pump oils, heat transfer oils and aerosols.

Do they offer versatility and fl exibility?PB. Absolutely. A high-performance synthetic H1 reg-

istered food machinery lubricant can help plant managers and mainte-nance professionals consolidate lubricants through its ability to provide excellent equipment protection in a wide range of applications.

Mobil SHC Cibus lubricants are designed to provide food and bever-age processors with high performance lubrication and long service life, even under extreme operating conditions such as freezers and cookers. In addition to being manufactured in equipment where cross contami-nation is minimised, Mobil SHC Cibus Series lubricants are formulated to nut-, wheat- and gluten free and suitable under Kosher and Halal dietary law.

SMOOTH OPERATORSFood grade lubricants can bring big benefi ts for producers, says Peter Bird.

What are the key benefi ts for food manufacturers in using food grade lubricants over traditional solutions?Peter Bird. Food processors oft en cite food safety, energy costs and labour as three important issues aff ecting equipment reliability and productiv-ity. Th anks to advancements in lubricant chemistries, using modern, premium quality lubricants that are suitable for food machinery applica-tions where incidental food contact with the machinery lubricants may occur, can help support all three of these areas. What’s more, they can help minimise the potential for product recalls, maintain brand integrity and improve equipment performance, potentially enhancing a company’s productivity in the face of these tight economic times.

What features and attributes should manufac-turers look for when selecting food grade lubri-cants?PB. First and foremost, the food processor should conduct a plant audit to run alongside local HACCP procedures and to establish whether contamination of the food is possible by lubricating oils or greases. If, based on that risk assessment, the answer comes back positive, the processor should select an H1 lu-bricant. H1 lubricants are formulated with base oils and components that comply with FDA 178.3570 and are suitable for applications in machinery that could result in the lubricant potentially having ‘incidental contact’ with the food or beverage being manufactured.

Th en the processor should look for other features and benefi ts on off er from the lubricant. High per-formance synthetic H1 lubricants are oft en engineered using advanced synthetic base stocks that fi rstly exhibit outstanding load-carrying prop-erties to help prolong equipment life and secondly low internal friction, which helps to reduce energy costs. Also look for a lubricant that off ers long term-oxidation stability, anti-rust and anti-corrosion features – all of which can reduce the potential of unscheduled downtime associated with component replacement. Finally, choose lubricants that can be used in applications for both below and above the processing line, helping to reduce inventory costs and the risk of contamination from using non H1 registered lubricants.

Peter Bird is Marketing Advisor for Food Processing Machinery Lubricants, ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties. Bird is part of ExxonMobil’s Europe, Africa and Middle East zone Industrial Lubricants marketing team with special responsibility for the food and beverage processing industry. He has been in the oil industry for 23 years.

EXECUTIVEINTERVIEW

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What specifi c properties are required from industrial interior surfaces in the food production and process-ing industry?Timo Jahnen. Th e food production industry presents some particular challenges when it comes to interior surfaces. Extreme temperatures at both ends of the scale, a high risk of spillages and exposure to chemicals make this a very demanding environment. Under EU regulations, interior surfaces must be smooth, non-ab-sorbent and easy to clean and disinfect. Furthermore, walls and fl oors must be durable and impact resistant. Health and safety is also a consideration. With the nec-essary handling of a wide range of food and drink sub-stances and chemicals it’s no wonder that accidents are common in the food industry, particularly slippages on wet fl oor surfaces.

Th e selection of correct interior fl oors and walls can help to reduce the risk of employee accidents as well as food contamination. Floor coverings in food produc-tion must be able to withstand spillages of foods and liquids, but also to provide a slip resistant surface for employees to walk upon. Specialist safety fl ooring is an ideal choice, off ering enough surface roughness to provide grip while still being easy to clean to meet food hygiene requirements.

Hygiene is of paramount importance in the food industry. What role do interior surfaces have to play in safeguarding against contamination?TJ. Th e food production environment is oft en hot and damp, providing a breeding ground for bacteria. Because of this, surfaces need to be impermeable and impact resistant so no cracks can appear and no water can penetrate allowing bacteria to grow. Impermeable surfaces with an integral bacteriostat to inhibit bacte-rial growth, combined with a fi nish that makes them easy to clean, can contribute enormously to providing a long lasting hygienic solution or the food production industry.

What is it about your product that sets you apart from the competition? Are there particular tech-nologies or techniques that are unique to you?TJ. Th anks to advances in technology and manufacture, specialist surfaces off ering advanced hygiene, durabil-

ity and ease of cleaning are now available to provide unrivalled performance in the extreme environments of mass food production.

Th e key diff erence with Altro’s PVC safety fl ooring and hygienic wall cladding is the impermeable surface that is watertight, does not crack and needs no grout. Floors and walls are fully bonded to the substrate, and corner installations are pencil rounded so there are no 90 degree angles. All this means that there is nowhere for bacteria to hide. Both the walling system and Altro’s heavy duty safety fl ooring range are tough and designed to withstand the demands of man and machinery in the food industry.

In the current business climate any downtime in a factory or processing plant has to be avoided. Is it possible to install durable and effective interior sur-faces while minimising disruption?TJ. Sheet material such as Altro PVC safety fl ooring and wall cladding are signifi cantly quicker to install than traditional materials; the fl exibility and simplic-ity of the system means less down time when installing. In the case of Whiterock wall cladding, there are also additional savings in substrate preparation as panels can be fi xed directly to most sound and dry substrates including good quality brick or block work, rendering, plasterboard, plywood, ceramic tiles and plasters.

Timo Jahen started his career in the fl ooring business over 12 years ago with Altro, one of the world leaders in specialist fl oor and wall covering. After two years experience in the fi eld and four years in marketing he takes over responsibility for the German speaking countries in Europe as Area Manager.

EXECUTIVEINTERVIEW

Flawless victoryA strong and reliable fl ooring system is an essential component in the fi ght to maintain hygiene and safety in food production, says Timo Jahen.

“Th e selection of correct interior fl oors and walls can help to reduce the risk of employee accidents as well as food contamination”

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The food industry may be at risk of suffering the same fate as the

pharmaceutical industry when it comes to the effect that regulation

can have on innovation, says Ivan Baines.

HEALTHCLAIMS

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Working for the Max Planck Society as part of the Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Ivan Baines has had plenty of experience working in partnership with both pharmaceutical and food companies on biomedical research. It is this ex-

perience that has enabled him to draw certain conclusions about the cur-rent regulatory landscape within the food industry, which, he says, has some strong parallels with the situation in the pharmaceutical industry.

“Th e pharmaceutical sector is subject to very stringent regulatory controls. Th e reasons are very well justifi ed, because at the end of the dayy patient safety is a critical element of health care practice,” says Baines. “However, it is also well recognised as having restricted innova-tion to some extent. Th e reason is because it now costs somewhere be-tween US$800 million and US$1.2 billion to bring a drug to market, and getting there takes about 17 years.”

To clear the regulatory hurdles, many pharmaceutical companies tend to play it safe in terms of the properties of the drugs that they develop. As the investment is generally so high, many companies avoid taking a higher risk approach as this increases the risk of falling afoul of the regulatory hurdles. “It is now well appreciated that it is quite hard to bring innovative new drugs to market,” says Baines.

Th is is the parallel that Baines draws with the evolution of the regulatory environment in the European food industry. Th e regula-tion that was adopted by EU decision makers in December 2006 lays down harmonised EU-wide rules for the use of health or nutri-tional claims on foodstuff s based on nutrient profi les. Th is regulation was implemented in 2009 and contains two particular articles that are proving problematic for many in the food and nutrition industry – Articles 13 and 14.

“What these two articles mean is that in order to make a generic health claim about a food based on an ingredient, one has to prove the same benefi t of the complete food with all of its ingredients as compared to the single ingredient,” says Baines pointing out that the extensive and costly preclinical trials are why it takes so long for the pharmaceutical industry to bring new drugs to market.

However, one thing that Baines does not dispute is the importance of regulation in ensuring food safety. “Th ere is consensus in the consumer sector and in the food industry that safety should not be compromised and in Europe there are very high standards for proving the safety of food products brought to market,” he says.

“Now the question is, if a food product states that it has a benefi t and the safety is proven, how critical is it that that product has the full extent of benefi t that it’s stated to have on the label? In other words, where a yogurt claims to contribute to a healthy heart, how important is it to prove that this is the case in a clinical trial?”

For Baines, as long as there are no safety issues concerned with food product, he doesn’t see the problem with making specifi c health claims. Whilst many opponents claim that these health benefi ts, if unproven, become mere marketing tools for food companies, Baines does not con-sider this a bad thing.

“I don’t see a huge harm in being able to use it as a marketing tool, as long as the foods are absolutely safe,” says Baines as he outlines that people who seek out food products that claim to have added health ben-efi ts are oft en in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle. “Th e conviction of having a healthy diet leads to a lifestyle change that actually has a benefi t well beyond the food product itself. In other words, the impact of having so-called nutraceuticals or health promoting food products goes beyond the ingredients in the foods themselves,” he explains.

Th e pharmaceutical model that is being used as the basis for these regulations is simply not the right model, according to Baines and he believes that the legislation has, to some extent, taken on a life of its own. “Everyone is a little confused as to why there’s suddenly this stringent re-quirement for proving the benefi ts in regard to health claims, when safety has already been proven and overall it’s well recognised that healthy food

products promote healthy living.”Where Baines does see a problem

and a risk is in what he refers to as negative marketing, a phenomenon he says is quite prevalent in the US where food products are marketed through the absence of an ingredient. Products that are sodium free or cholesterol free for example oft en have higher levels of other ingredients added to them in order to compensate for the lack of that ingredient and to ensure that the prod-uct remains tasty, says Baines. Th is, he says, creates an imbalance in food in-gredients, which can be harmful.

“What’s not good is to start preju-dicing the profi le of foods to have very high amounts of one ingredient, where

it’s not known whether it has benefi ts. Like pharmaceuticals, it’s all about dosing,” says Baines. “Th is may now happen in foods if they’re having to include single ingredients in much higher doses to be able to make the health claim, which in fact will end up being unhealthy because it’s disrupting the balance of ingredients,” he explains.

Th e regulation on health claims requires EFSA to assess all available scientifi c data submitted to substantiate the claims and then submit its opinion, before the European Commission and Member States decide whether to authorise the claims for use on food, taking into account EFSA’s opinions.

EFSA has already released two batches of Article 13 opinions, the fi rst in October 2009 and the second in February this year. Th e results have been a huge blow to the food and nutraceuticals industry, as two-thirds of the initial batch of claims were rejected by EFSA.

“What has happened is that a number of companies have actually withdrawn their products from the market, because they are afraid of

“Th e conviction of having a healthy diet

leads to a lifestyle change that actually

has a benefi t well beyond the food product itself”



Dear Mr Barroso,

Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation: Impact

on the European Food and Food Supplements

Industries.The undersigned

group of concerned com-

panies are writing to yo

u to ask for your per-

sonal intervention in t

he current application of

Articles 13. 1 and 13.3 of the Nutrition and

Health

Claims Regulation.

We believe that the planned

piecemeal ap-

proach to the adoption of the Community lists

of Article 13. 1 “permitted” and

“prohibited” health claims, distorts

competition in the market and

will have a

potentially devastating im

pact on industry.

The Member States submitted the claims for validation to th

e European

Commission, which passed them on to the European Food Safety Authority

(EFSA) for their evaluation and opinion.

Procedurally, it was understood that the Commission would regulate on

EFSA’s opinions at one tim

e, by 31st January 2010, as stipulated in the Regu-

lation. However, this deadline has slipped.

EFSA will not deliver all of its opin

ions at the same time, despite

the

DG SANCO Director General’s call last Ju

ly that opinions should not be

published in a batch-wise fashion. Subsequently, DG SANCO has decided

to

proceed with the piecemeal adoption of EFSA’s opinions

through until 201 1.

We call upon you to intervene and stop

this piecemeal approach, which:

• Distorts competition in

the market, giving a competitive adv

antage to those

companies who have received positive opini

ons on claims from EFSA and

are free to market their claims across Europe, over those companies that

await EFSA’s opinion for claims that are only

authorised in some national

markets.

• Creates unnecessary and dispro

portionate costs for manufacturers due to

successive label changes as t

hey await the opinions for each c

laim for the

ingredients in their products, which are dec

ided upon in batches at diffe

rent

times. This entails huge costs with the greatest

impact on SMEs.

• Creates confusion in the market as n

on-harmonised claims co-exist

with

harmonised claims for a per

iod of up to two years with unequal conditions

of access to markets acr

oss the EU.

We call for all EFSA opinions

to be delivered

before any further steps ar

e taken towards a form

al

decision on the fi nal list

of “permitted” Article 13. 1

health claims.

Yours Sincerely,

Industry appeal

In April a letter signed by over 350

large, medium and small companies

from across Europe in the food and

nutrition industry was sent to José

Manuel Barroso, President of the

European Commission, calling for

his personal intervention to stop

the adoption of the list of “positive”

functional health claims in batches.



companies have performed very innovative empirical research, for ex-ample where they’ve used model organisms to see which food products actually have an impact on longevity. Now these are studies you can’t perform in any kind of clinical environment. If you did they would take 15 generations and 300 years to be able to prove,” explains Baines.

“Th at’s extraordinarily useful research and it’s no longer admissible because it doesn’t satisfy the requirements of the review process. So it is compromising the scientifi c completeness of the peer review process, because in fact the types of studies that food companies have performed

are quite frequently good science.”With the threat of a European R&D exodus loom-

ing, Baines is convinced that ignoring the unrest in the ranks is not something that EFSA or the European Commission can aff ord to ignore. “It seems like there’s a fairly unanimous voice saying that this doesn’t make sense and I think that they will have to sit up and take notice. My fear is that it may be too late,” says Baines.

If the European authorities were to take action to al-leviate some of the burden that the new regulations have placed on the shoulders of the food and nutraceuticals industry, Baines suggests that broadening the scope of permissible scientifi c evidence to admit the types of studies that have been the basis for making claims in the past would be a good place to start.

“Th ey need to accept that foods are not like pharmaceuticals. Th ey’re not being taken to cure a life-threatening disease. Th ey’re helping to shift into a healthier lifestyle. And as such it’s acceptable to con-sider the full breadth of scientifi c evidence, including empirical observation and model organism studies, and the full breadth of studies that are performed by food companies,” he explains.

Th ere have admittedly been some changes taking place since the overwhelming number of EFSA rejections. Many of those claims originally submitted under Article 13.1 of the regulation have been rejigged and resubmitted under article 13.5 for proprietary and emerging science.

It’s not yet clear if this will prove successful, but what is clear is that something needs to be done if we are to avoid the potential brain drain of European R&D that many in the industry are starting to fear.

a negative review from EFSA and this has had a very serious impact on both their image and their marketing of the product,” says Baines.

He also highlights that the legislation on health claims is biased to-wards larger companies, as they are more likely to have the resources to fi nance the types of studies required to prove the health benefi ts of their products. Th is leaves smaller companies, who are more innovative than their larger counterparts, unable to compete.

“It’s also a concern with regards to Europe’s competitiveness in the health and wellness global market, which is a hugely growing market. It grew 60 percent from 2002 to 2007. It’s compromising European competitiveness because those regulations do not exist in Asia or in the United States.

“It’s putting a much greater burden on European companies and the European market, and it means that R&D in this area may move over-seas,” says Baines once again looking to the pharmaceuticals industry to draw his parallels.

And the occurrence of this R&D exodus is worryingly imminent in Baines’ opinion. He suggests that companies may even be looking to ship their R&D elsewhere before this year is out.

Research has unfortunately been profoundly aff ected by the health claims legislation. “What has been particularly aff ected is where food

“Th ey need to accept that foods are not like pharmaceuticals. Th ey’re not being taken to cure a life-threatening disease”


EXECUTIVEINTERVIEW

Describe the latest research on Pycnogenoland how this science transfers to foods andbeverages?Victor Ferrari.Pycnogenol has matured as a sup-plement ingredient and companies globally areembracing the product in functional foods andbeverages. Known as a ‘gold standard’ within thenatural products industry, Pycnogenol is sup-ported by over 40 years of research – making itone of the safest and most researched ingredientsavailable today.

Research and development is a top priorityfor us and on average a new Pycnogenol researchstudy is published every three weeks. Most re-cently, a study was published on how Pycnogenolnaturally reduces blood pressure, counteractingkidney damage caused by hypertension. Previousstudies on blood pressure have also revealedPycnogenol favourably affects the normalisationof blood pressure by releasing arterial constric-tion. Cardiovascular health is one of the strongestPycnogenol applications. Other basic propertiesinclude anti-inflammatory, potent antioxidantand the ability to restore a healthy production ofnitric oxide.

The opportunities for functional food andbeverage applications for heart health are abun-dant. In fact, several of our customers have trans-lated these scientific benefits to actual products,including antioxidant fruit drinks and functionalbeverages that combat inflammation caused byallergies and hay fever. Another recent study pub-lished in the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology andTherapeutics found Pycnogenol can improve mi-crocirculation, retinal edema and visual acuity inearly stages of diabetic retinopathy. Pycnogenolboasts a number of studies on eye health to sup-port these new findings, and we are currently ex-ploring functional food and beverage solutions inthis category.

We’ve also launched a proprietary combinationsupplement of Pycnogenol and bilberry and look forward to developing new partnerships

this year. I’d also like to note a recent study on theanti-inflammatory properties of Pycnogenol, pub-lished in International Immunopharmacology.Researchers found that Pycnogenol inhibits the gen-eration of COX-2 and 5-LOX, naturally occurringenzymes associated with a host of inflammatory con-ditions. In addition to this research, Pycnogenol pro-motes joint mobility and flexibility and naturallyrelieves aching. These are crucial benefits as we lookto developing joint health drinks and foods.

What do you look for in an ideal business partnerthat equates to a successful finished product? VF. Working with an ‘ideal’ business partner willmore often than not equate to a successful fin-ished product. It’s always exciting to work withsmart, global and local companies that have sim-ilar business practices and philosophies revolvingaround scientific research and development. Inmy experience, when Pycnogenol is used as an ac-

tive ingredient with other safe and efficacious in-gredients, backed by research, the result is a high-ly performing product with all ingredientssynergistically working together to deliver op-tional health benefits to the end consumer.

The European foods sector is looking forunique functional food and beverage productsthat can drive innovation forward. How doesPycnogenol fit into the mix?VF. Today, health conscious consumers are someof the savviest shoppers around. They are makingthe effort to educate themselves on specialty in-gredients in the foods and drinks they consume.While they may have their favourites, they are al-ways seeking innovative and unique products andingredients to incorporate into their usual mix,provided they bring specific health benefits to thetable. With fierce competition for store space, in-novation is paving the way.

It’s important to ask yourself the same ques-tions that are flashing through a consumer’s mindas they pick up a new beverage or food item. Whatmakes a product unique or stand out? What are thehealth benefits? What research or safety data backsup the claims? What is the added value? Pycnogenol

fits into the mix because it is an extremely versatileextract that offers an array of health benefits. Thebotanical antioxidant can either be the lead active in-gredient in your product, and stand alone, or be partof a combination of active ingredients. It’s that ef-fective – and we have the research to prove it. n

The gold standardVictor Ferrari sheds some light on recent Pycnogenol research areas

and its functional food and beverage applications.


As CEO of Horphag Research, Victor Ferrarioversees worldwide operations of the company,including international expansion and worldwideintroduction of Pycnogenol. Ferrari spearheadedGenerally Recognised As Safe (GRAS) certification,validated manufacturing processes followingGood Agricultural Practice (GAP), GoodManufacturing Practice (GMP) and continues toinvest millions of dollars a year in research,totalling more than 270 scientific publications.

“It’s always exciting to workwith smart, global and localcompanies that have similarphilosophies revolving aroundscientific research anddevelopment”

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TROUBLESHOOTER

firmed that studies indicate that acry-lamide is a human health concern.Although there are ways to decreaseexposure to acrylamide, there is noway to completely eliminate it.

The main mechanisms thatcause the formation of acrylamideare commonly found in starchyfoods – reducing sugars and theamino acid asparagine. During thebaking or frying stage, a processcalled the Maillard reaction – orwhen non-enzymatic browningoccurs – is essen-tial for impor-tant colour andflavour devel-

opments in baked, fried and toast-ed foods. Through a cascade ofreactions, the side chain of as-paragine is converted into acry-lamide. Intensive research is beingcarried out to investigate ways toprevent acrylamide formation infoods, but many of these methodslimit not only acrylamide forma-tion but also the formation of de-sired Maillard products, effectingtaste, appearance and other senso-ry characteristics.

Acrylaway enzymatically re-moves the amino acid asparagineby converting it into asparticacid, enabling the other ingredi-ents to remain part of theMaillard reaction. This meansthe level of acrylamide is sig-nificantly reduced, but thefinal products retain

their tempting flavour and appealing look – asizable bonus for food manufacturers that aresearching for acrylamide-reducing solutionsand worry about the continued allure of theirproducts for consumers.

Acrylaway was launched in 2007 and hasbeen proven to substantially reduce acrylamideacross a broad range of foods such as biscuits,crisp breads, crackers, and potato-basedsnacks, and lab, pilot and production tests inFrench fry production also indicate feasibleacrylamide reduction. With today’s consumersbecoming more conscious and cautious about

what they eat, society isdemanding that food isnot only tasty and of highquality, but also safe andhealthy. Acrylaway effec-tively reduces acrylamidelevels while preservingeating quality – and inturn, offers manufacturerspeace of mind in knowingthey are producing appeal-ing snacks with signifi-cantly reduced acrylamidelevels. n

Reducing acrylamide How do you effectively reduce the level of acrylamide in starchy foods that have beenbaked or fried? Emmanuel Michelot tackles your question.


Since the discovery in 2002 that acry-lamide is formed when starchy foods arebaked or fried at high temperatures,food manufacturers have been chal-

lenged as to how to effectively reduce its concen-tration in their products. The Confederation ofthe Food and Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA),launched an acrylamide reduction Toolbox tooffer the most efficient solutions to assist the af-fected industries. The Toolbox is a combinationof suggestions for changes in raw materials,processes and recipes, with importance placed onthe fact that the brand specific customer accep-tance of the final products should not be impact-ed. Asparaginases, such as NovozymesAcrylaway, are one of proven and effective op-tions within the Toolkit.

Although the potential risk to humans by di-etary exposure to acrylamide is not yet fullyknown, numerous studies are currently inprogress on an international level to collect thedata needed to make an informed evaluation.During their last evaluation meeting in lateFebruary 2010, JECFA, the joint FAO/WHOExpert Committee on Food Additives, recon-

Caroline from Dublin, Ireland writes:

“When acrylamide recently hit the news,

the food industry seemed confident

that it had been taking this matter

seriously for some time. What is an

effective way to reduce acrylamide

without seriously altering the taste

and texture of the final product?

Emmanuel Michelot graduatedas a Food Technologist Engineerand has over 20 years of sales,marketing and businessdevelopment experience atNovozymes A/S. He is currentlythe Regional Marketing Managerfor Europe, the Middle East andAfrica for Novozymes’ Food &Nutrition enzyme business.

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Conscientious consumers in all demographics are exam-ining the foods they eat more closely, steering clear of products they view as noth-

ing more than a chemical cocktail. Th ey are instead migrating to more natural products, made from ingredients with names they can pronounce and that they recognise from their own pantries.

Concurrently, from a microbial stand-point, it’s a veritable jungle out there. Sal-monella in peanut butter and frozen potpies. Listeria in cheese and meats. E.coli in ham-burgers and pepperoni pizza, are all pushing consumer demand for safer foods.

Th e convergence of these two issues means that food product designers need to carefully consider their product formulations and choose ingredients that mesh the latest product-protection technology with a natural ingredient list.

“Although convenience and the environ-ment are popular talking points today, these benefi ts did not receive anywhere near the same level of atten-tion as ‘natural’ claims did,” explains Lynn Dornblaser, leading new product expert, Mintel, in a release announc-ing this megatrend. “With economic struggles driving people toward a simpler way of life, we expect that food and drink manufacturers will continue to prize natu-ral, wholesome benefi ts well into 2010 and beyond.”

Th at’s not surprising, given the market for natural foods and beverages. Accord-ing to Th e Natural Market-ing Institute, 79 percent of consumers are natural food and beverage users. Th ey

believe the products are ‘better’ for them, and that they promote overall health, as well as help them avoid negatives such as toxins, pesticides and additives. Plus, many believe they taste better and have higher quality.

Not only are people looking for natural products, the majority – more than 70 percent, according to NMI – monitor food and bever-age labels. Half of consumers base their food selection on the ingredient list, and about half are also looking for a short list of ingredients.

NMI fi nds over a third of consumers (37 percent) rate natural preservatives as “benefi -cial”. But, because of the perception that arti-fi cial equals “bad”, half of consumers would be more likely to purchase a product with natural preservatives, rather than a product containing artifi cial preservatives. What’s more, 55 percent of the segment identifi ed as a “natural channel shopper” exhibit the high-est willingness to pay a fi ve percent premium for a food product with natural preservatives vs one with artifi cial preservatives.

Fermentation is recog-nised in most legislation as being a natural way to preserve foods. Clearly this fact puts Purac in an excellent position as it has been fermenting natural L+ lactic acid for more than 80 years and having a major share in preserving foods for decades with lactic acid and lactates.

Purac’s core compe-tence has always been the fermentation of lactic acid, so why not use that tech-nology to ferment other micro-organisms, creating products that we can use in food to inhibit bacteria growth? Th e resulting line of fermentation based non-microbial preservatives will

broaden the scope of problems that we can attack. Examples of application areas could include beverage, ready-to-eat meals, sauces and dressings, meat products, etc.

Th e company has developed new label-friendly products that can help extend shelf life and fi ght pathogenic organisms in a wide variety of foods. Th ese ingredients in the PuraQ family can carry simple label state-ments like cultured (cane or corn) sugar and vinegar. Th e ingredients include PuraQ Xtend to control spoilage organisms, PuraQ Safe to

control pathogens like Listeria and PuraQ Verdad for label friendly preservation solu-tions controlling spoilage and pathogens

Besides, consumers are becoming more label conscious, and value more natural products, the development of our new PuraQ portfolio is the way to answer the need of the market. Our products are made with ‘natural’ bio-based ingredients, not unsustainable petrochemicals, and we can call it ‘cultured sugar’ and ‘anti-microbial’, which doesn’t have the negative connotations that ‘preserva-tive’ could have. “Th e industry is complaining that there aren’t enough natural preservatives around, so these new products could become a signifi cant pillar of our company’s future success. Products like these will establish us as a leader in natural preservation in the food industry instead of merely being known as a lactic acid based preservatives company.

Nature preservesConsumers are looking for less artifi cial ways to keep foods fresh, says Ivo van der Linden.

INDUSTRYINSIGHT

Ivo van der Linden is Category Manager Preservation for Purac. based in The Netherlands. He has a Bsc. in Food Technology and a history of working in the food industry and food ingredients for more than 10 years. Van der Linden is responsible for the strategy of Purac to become leader in natural preservation.

“Our products are made with

‘natural’ bio-based ingredients, not unsustainable

petrochemicals”

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FLAVEX is already a long-term player on the market; can you explain its core activity?Karl-Werner Quirin. Th e company was founded 24 years ago by Dr. D. Gerard and myself in the form of a university spin off . Since that time, the focus of activity has not changed. Of course, over the years there have been developments in order to improve infrastructure, pro-cedures and products but we still concentrate on production of super-critical botanical extracts exclusively at our Germany-based site. Th is means we care about all the relevant steps from analysis of botanical starting materials, their conditioning, supercritical extraction, extract processing right up to batch related certifi cation of products. All this is done under one roof in a traceable and documented way. Th is allows us to guarantee product consistency, purity and authenticity. Our extracts are off ered worldwide in the B2B fi eld as fl avouring or active ingredi-ents for food and supplements, cosmetics and perfumery.

On the other hand our activity is not directed towards downstream pro-cessing especially not in food industry since this is a fragmented fi eld with beverages, dairy, meat, salty and sweet products to mention but a few. Such value added procedures are tradition-ally off ered by fl avour houses and not in our primary interest.

How did FLAVEX experience last year’s fi nancial downturn?KWQ. As a producer we depend of course on our industrial clients, which again rely on the purchasing patterns of the end consumer. It was our impression that the fi rst half of 2009 was characterised by some uncertainty on the markets. As an understandable consequence, custom-ers reacted with precaution by reduc-ing stocks and optimising procedures. Accordingly, we saw some slowdown in sales despite good positioning as clients come from diff erent countries and diff erent industries. Fortu-nately there was no lasting reticence and aft er the summer holidays we faced increasing demand, which more than compensated for the decline in the fi rst half of the year. Th is lets us look ahead with optimism.

How do you see the future of the company?KWQ. It is the intention to remain private and independent and further develop the strength of the business. We have just completed a €3 mil-

lion building project, which provides an additional 2000 square metres of space for laboratory, storage, handling and fi lling of extracts under improved standards, and additional offi ce area as well.

Besides that, we are presently installing another high-pressure extrac-tion plant, which will improve our capacity and fl exibility. Th e particular feature of the new plant is that it can handle high amounts of ethanol as co-solvent. Ethanol is the only solvent that fi ts to the natural character of CO2 and it can even preserve the organic certifi ed status of extracts if it is obtained from organic grain. Th e new extraction process expands the lipophilic character of pure CO2 extracts to more polar constituents for example phenolics, which are a big group of actives present in many in-teresting plants. Th e intention is not to replace traditional hydro-alcoholic extraction but to establish a new series of products that will be marketed as HPE (High Pressure Ethanol) extracts later on. But this needs some time

and further development.

What constitutes your business suc-cess?KWQ. On the one hand it is down to the sustainable long-term concentration on key business. On the other hand, it is because our activity has always been R&D driven. Th is includes improving procedures, looking for new opportu-nities and eff orts to present one to two new products per year. Th e company’s competence and its advanced extrac-tion technology were acknowledged by the Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award at the end of 2005. According to Frost & Sullivan, over the years FLAVEX has earned a reputation for producing the fi nest CO2 extracts. An important factor that has contrib-uted to our success is the excellent infrastructure facilities, which have continuously supported technological

breakthroughs and various product innovations. Other factors are the company’s foundation of strict quality measures and the detailed docu-mentation of products and procedures. It is our credo that knowledge creates innovation and innovation creates markets. Innovative strength is an essential element in global competition.

Dr. Karl-Werner Quirin is Managing Director of FLAVEX Naturextrakte GmbH. He is a chemist and received his PhD in 1984 from the University of Saarland, Institute of Pharmacognosy and Analytical Phytochemistry. For 24 years he has worked as CEO of FLAVEX Naturextrakte GmbH, a company producing specialty botanical extracts for cosmetics, food and dietary supplements on the base of supercritical CO2-extraction.

EXECUTIVEINTERVIEW

Extracting value from innovationDr. Karl-Werner Quirin explains how strong innovation is an essential element of business

success in a competitive global market.

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FEATURE

DANONE_26nov09 10/05/2010 13:17 Page 78

When does lowering your prices lead to a rise in profits?The temptation might be to say never, but it is precise-ly the approach Groupe Danone took with some of itsbiggest brands in response to the treacherous businessclimate of the last few years. As part of its ResetProgramme, the company took advantage of depressed

milk costs to lower its prices on products like probiotic yoghurt drink Actimel in keymarkets. Taking the results for Poland as an example, the process clearly yielded somepositive outcomes. By reducing the price of Actimel by 30 percent, the consumer basewas increased by 50 percent, reaching a record value in the final two months of 2009.

For the organisation’s Chairman and CEO Franck Riboud these results vindicateDanone’s response to an incredibly difficult trading environment. “The most importantthing for me, and I explained that last year, was to be sure that Danone will not sufferfrom the crisis but, rather leverage the crisis to reinforce our position,” he says. “If I lookat the market share of, and even the volume market share of all our brands in every coun-try, in every business of Danone, let’s say in 90 percent of the countries and the businesseswe gained market share, so that’s the best answer for us.”

Additionally, the way in which Danone has negotiated the recent turbulence givesthe CEO a great deal of hope for the future, hope that companies which failed to takesimilarly radical action might not be feeling this year. “If we look at 2010, we are moreconfident in our ability to deliver what we expect than we were in 2008. If you re-member we were one of the first to say that even in the emerging countries there willbe a slowdown,” Riboud continues. "We totally reset the group and we did it in a con-text that was more easy than the context you will have tomorrow, because we decidedto leverage the positive impact of the raw material to develop the volume of our brands.Those who are going to do that next year will have more trouble executing it. So thestrategy was a good one for sure. The most difficult thing is not creating a strategy, butensuring that you deliver the result you expect. And when I look at the figures for 2009,


Looking CEO Franck Riboud explains how Danone

turned a crisis into an opportunity and whythe future lies in emerging markets.

up

DANONE_26nov09 10/05/2010 13:17 Page 79

share.” In turn, as supermarkets rush to corner the market in lower cost al-ternatives to familiar brands, that puts them under pressure. Margins aretightened meaning that the increase in share might not provide the financialbenefits that the retailers seek. Riboud sees the best possible outcome to be afuture where producers like Danone and major retailers work more closelytogether to the benefit of all. “The vision I have is a positive one, because moreand more, we can’t find a solution just within our company. We must worktogether. So perhaps that was a disagreement a few years ago, but clearly nowif I look at the way we work with Carrefour, with E.LeClerc, with Wal-Mart,with all of them, we have a business plan, we have long-term objectives, andwe know what we have to put behind this to deliver the result.”

A key focus in Danone’s strategy is building customer base in emergingterritories. This has led the company into an unusual collaboration inBangladesh with Nobel Peace Prize-winner and founder of Grameen Bank,Professor Muhammad Yunus. In a break from the normal corporate model,the small-scale initiative is chiefly focused on making social rather than fi-nancial gains. In recognition of the fact that around 50 percent of Bangladeshichildren suffer from malnutrition, the small factory – 200km north of the cap-ital Dhaka – manufactures nutritionally reinforced yoghurt at a price afford-able to local people. Additionally, the plant sources most of its raw materiallocally, providing a much-needed economic boost to farmers in the area.Finally, much of the product is distributed to nearby villages by a network oflocal people, accompanied by Danone officials explaining the health benefitsthe yoghurt can bring. Given that a single cup of the yoghurt, marketed underthe name Shoktidoi (‘energy’ in Bengali) can provide as much as 30 percentof a child’s daily nutritional requirements, the initiative has some potentiallyfar-reaching benefits for the people of Bangladesh.

clearly the management of this company found a way to deliver what we ex-pected from the strategy.”

All in all Danone hit a growth in sales of seven percent last year. Whilenot a massive jump, it exceeded what many would have predicted at the endof 2008 and has clearly instilled a little more confidence in the organisation.Whereas the company declined to provide any concrete forecasts at the be-ginning of 2009, this year they have laid out some clear targets. Though cur-rent predictions place 2010 growth as being flat, only matching that of lastyear, analysts have indicated that this may be a conscious effort to underpromise and over deliver. This seems like a plausible assessment, especiallyseeing as any company seeking to emulate Danone’s reset plan is going to findit a far trickier proposition in 2010 than in 2009. Having already done muchof the hard work Danone is now in a position to explore other ways to achievebigger top line growth. “Is it easier for the competition to answer to our resetplan next year, or was that easier last year?” says Riboud. “That was defini-tively easier last year because everybody, every company was benefiting fromthe positive raw material impact. Tomorrow, you will have to answer not hav-ing the positive impact of the raw materials, so it’s going to be tougher to de-liver a reset plan. Not for us, it’s done.”

The impact of the last few years on Danone’s relationships with the re-tailers that sell its products has been significant. Some voices had even beenpredicting the ‘death of the brand’ with lower cost products grabbing marketshare as buyers became more concerned with price than the name on thelabel. Riboud however thinks that those writing eulogies for branded prod-ucts are acting prematurely. “For example in France, with the hypermarketchannel, they react and they gain share,” he says. “Hard discounts are not de-clining but they are stabilising which means that brands are gaining market


Central Europe13,648 employeesNo.1 in fresh dairy productsNo. 1 in medical nutrition19 plants

Danone worldwide

Asia-Pacific23,136 employeesNo.1 in bottled watersNo.2 in baby nutrition50 plants

Africa and Middle East4620 employeesNo.1 in fresh dairy products15 plants

North America2401 employeesNo.1 in fresh dairy products6 plants

Latin America21,084 employeesNo.1 in fresh dairy productsNo.1 in bottled waters33 factories

Western Europe16,087 employeesNo.1 in fresh dairy productsNo.1 in baby nutritionNo. 1 in medical nutritionNo2 in bottled waters36 plants

DANONE_26nov09 10/05/2010 14:33 Page 80

Unsurprisingly, there are also gains for Danone beyond just doing a gooddeed. This small-scale approach has allowed the company to test the watersrather than diving head first into entirely unfamiliar territory. Projects suchas this give invaluable insights into doing business in new markets, particu-larly the different approach to sales and marketing that is required in placeslike South Asia.

Riboud himself is adamant that successful expansion into traditionally lessaffluent territories is about much more than just keeping prices low.“Knowledge of the consumer is a real battle, especially in an emerging country,”he says. “Looking at the success we have with baby food in Indonesia, did we re-duce the price in baby food? Answer, no, because especially in emerging coun-tries where the buying power is less, if you reduce the price of your baby foodproduct, you will lose market share. It’s a direct link between quality and price.Is it a reason not to look at the consumer who doesn’t have the buying power tobuy your expensive product? No, our job is to find the right answer for the con-sumer, and that’s the reason why we launched this product in Indonesia. And,obviously, as usual in Danone, if it is a success in a country, we will roll out inthe other one, because the only thing we know, the best we know, is to roll outthe best practice, and we are organised to do that as quickly as possible.”

A common route for an organisation of Danone’s size seeking to expandinto new markets is large-scale acquisition. However, while acquisition cer-tainly plays a part in the company’s plans, anyone awaiting something on thescale of Kraft’s recent takeover of Cadbury is likely to be disappointed. “Lastyear, we opened two or three countries and we will continue to do it,” Riboudexplains. “The question is, how are we going to open the countries withoutstarting from scratch? For example, in Egypt we bought a very, very smallcompany, not because of the company itself, but because it helped us to growfaster. You get the energy, you get the facilities, you get the trucks, you get thewarehouse. In some countries you grow much faster by buying somebody,even if it’s a very small company, than to start from scratch.”

However, this doesn’t mean that the only expansion route is through ac-quisition. Essentially each new territory is evaluated on a case by case basis: itcould mean a completely new enterprise, the takeover of an existing compa-ny, a completely new product line or the promotion of an existing brand. Ithelps that Danone is already in possession of a network that covers much ofthe globe. “More and more we are going to see how we can open new coun-tries by launching new products or products existing in other countries, lever-aging the organisation we have,” Riboud confirms. Thus the business alreadyin operation in Russia can be exploited to extend the company’s reach east-wards, while Shanghai’s dairy business is seen as a jumping-off point to otherChinese regions. Given that China, even at a comparatively early stage, offersa potential market three times the size of Belgium, shows just how importantthese geographical footholds can be.

Moving forward, it seems Danone has much to be optimistic about.Having negotiated a rocky few years with a great deal of success, the compa-ny’s strategy has been vindicated and has left it in a strong position to contin-ue its recent momentum. For Riboud at least, 2009’s hard work has paid off,and 2010 promises more of the same. “We leveraged a crisis by not only re-setting the brand, but totally resetting the company, giving us all the tools weneed to continue to build and accelerate,” he says. “The balance sheet is partof that. And at the end, I think it’s a good illustration of the confidence of theBoard on the ability of the management to continue to build the companymid-term and long-term.” n

The latest chapter in the seeming-ly endless tussle between Danoneand the European Food SafetyAuthority over probiotics was writ-ten in April 2010 when the produc-er of Activia and Actimel withdrew

key health claims from EFSA’s as-sessment system. While cynics

might suggest that this underminesthe increasingly big promises somecompanies make about the healthimpacts of so-called functional foods,Danone contends that the with-drawal is merely a symptom of thefrustrating opacity of EFSA’s certi-fication process.

The story has a ring ofGroundhog Day about it. It wasalmost exactly a year ago thatDanone withdrew similarclaims from EFSA assessment.Indeed, the claims were only

resubmitted within the last sixmonths, each backed with nearly a

dozen specific clinical trials. So what’s the problem?According to Danone’s representatives, the virtual impossibilityof acquiring status updates or even clear instructions on EFSA’sscientific requirements has left the company, as well as manyof its peers, all at sea. Speaking of Danone’s decision, thecompany’s Vice President of external affairs and Head of EUregulatory affairs, Patrick O’Quin said:“This complete lack of contact is oneof the main issues we and the rest ofthe industry has.” This statement isbacked up by a letter recently sent to ECPresident José Manuel Barroso by theindustry group European HealthClaims Alliance, calling for majorchanges in the way health claimassessments are managed.

For Danone, attention is nowbeing turned to the EFSAstakeholder meeting scheduledfor June as the best chance toseek clarification and get thestalled approval process movingagain. Until then, the companywill temper the claims it makesabout its products. Better thatthan risk its long-term health bystaking future on a decisionseemingly being made in the dark.

Healthy skepticism?

DANONE_26nov09 10/05/2010 13:17 Page 81

FUTURE FOOD


IBM_FutureofFood.indd 82IBM_FutureofFood.indd 82 10/5/10 15:55:4010/5/10 15:55:40

THE FUTURE OF FOOD

In recent years, the long-term forecast for global food security has become increasingly worrying. Population growth, increased demand for meat and dairy products, adverse weather conditions and the use of traditional food crops for biofuel, amongst other things, have combined to create a perfect storm that has driven up food prices beyond all expectations.

Finding a solution to these challenges has become a priority and scientists are increasingly turning to new technologies as a potential means for averting a worldwide food crisis. Over the next 11 pages Next Generation Food takes a closer look at some of the innovations that are being explored and the concerns they are raising.

84 Tiny technologyIdentifi ed by many as a disrup-tive technology, it is undeniable that nanotechnology has the po-tential to completely change the game in many business sectors. The food industry has a lot to gain from nanotech but is tread-ing carefully due to the many concerns over its safety.

90 A taste of

things to come Mankind has endeavoured to improve agricultural yields and control pests through selective breeding since time immemorial, but new techniques used today involve biotechnology and nu-tritional science, as increasingly demanding consumers expect more from their food.

92 Consumer

concernsTechnological advances concerning the food we eat have always incited a certain amount of resistance. Awareness of novel technologies, trust in the regulatory authorities and the perception of the benefi ts and risks involved, all play an important role in the success or failure of emerging technologies.




NANOTECHNOLOGY



Tiny

When new technologies are introduced, a certain amount of scepticism and ap-prehension is to be anticipated, if only for the fact that people are unsure of what to expect. Food, of course, is one area where people are particularly sensitive to change and technological advances are oft en met with resilience and even hos-

tility, particularly when it comes to the scientifi c manipulation of food. Th is may be due to the fact that for most people, food is not seen in purely functional terms; rather, it is part of a much bigger social and psychological picture that includes attitudes to health, the environment, and science.

It comes as no surprise then to see that the developments in nanotechnology in the food in-dustry are eliciting concerns from the public. However, as we have learnt from past experiences, many new technologies – once they overcome the fear factor – can off er consumers a number of benefi ts. Th e mandatory pasteurisation of milk was fi ercely resisted in the 1930s and 1940s when it was introduced, despite the fact that it prevented approximately 2500 deaths a year from bovine tuberculosis in the United Kingdom.

Steffi Friedrichs is Director General of the Nanotechnology Industries Association and she believes that public perception is without a doubt one of the main hurdles to further development of nanotechnologies in the food industry. “Consumer perception is that if it is called technology it’s something to do with it being new and artifi cial and therefore it has to be bad.

Nanotechnology has been around for years now, but as its potential applications become of more interest to the food industry, questions inevitably arise as to its safety. Next Generation Food explores the hopes and hazards of this small-scale science.

technology



tivity, or changed electronic, optical or magnetic behav-iour. Such materials therefore have applications in many sectors, ranging from healthcare to construction and electronics. In the food sector, there are various possible applications for nanotechnology that would have wide-ranging benefi ts for both consumers and industry.

Beate Kettlitz, Director of Food Policy, Science and R&D at the Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the EU, says: “Food packaging products that are cur-rently under development, such as nanosensors in plas-tic packaging, for example, can detect gases given off by food when it spoils and the packaging itself changes colour to alert you that food has gone bad.

“Plastic fi lms are being developed that will allow the food to stay fresher longer. Th ese fi lms are packed with silicate nanoparticles to reduce the fl ow of oxygen into the package and the moisture that leaks out of the pack-age,” says Kettlitz.

“Nanoparticles are also being used to deliver vita-mins or other nutrients in food and beverages without aff ecting the taste or appearance. Research is also being conducted to develop nano-capsules containing nutri-ents that would be released when nanosensors detect a defi ciency in your body. Basically this research could result in a super vitamin storage system in your body that gives you just what you need, when you need it,” she explains.

Another potential use includes the development of anti-microbial and anti-stick surfaces for use in food manufacturing processes, which would reduce the ten-dency for machinery to clog, and as a result, the amount of downtime required for cleaning. Th e agricultural sector could also benefi t from the development of nanotechnol-

ogy in applications such as novel delivery systems for the more eff ective use of pesticides and the development of slow-release fertilizers.

Currently, it is diffi cult to gauge precisely the extent to which nano-technologies are being used in the food sector. According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), “it is not possible to provide a defi nitive list of nanofoods and nanoscale food contact materials on the EU market, primarily because of the absence of an EU-wide register or inventory”.

Th e UK House of Lords Science and Technology Committee rec-ommended in their (1st report of Session 2009-10) Nanotechnologies and Food that the FSA develop a confi dential database of information on nanomaterials in development in the food sector to assist in the de-velopment of appropriate risk assessment procedures.

Kettlitz stresses that no engineered nanomaterials are currently being used by CIAA members in Europe, to the best of her knowledge. She also emphasises the need to distinguish between the natural oc-currence of nanoparticles (such as in protein, fat or sugar molecules), their presence through conventional processing techniques (such as milling, homogenising and emulsifying) and where particle size has been deliberately engineered to behave diff erently.

“In the food area in particular, because people are ingesting it, the use of words that imply innovation are not normally what consum-ers would associate with the current drive for nostalgic, natural and healthy eating. When you’re saying that vegetables are much more healthy than processed foods, and at the same time you want consum-ers to buy something that has been enhanced by technology, there is a contradiction in terms,” says Friedrichs.

However, if the public had a better understanding of what nano-technology actually is and its potential benefi ts, their perception of it may likely be a little less negative. Aft er all, without a positive reception from the public, the future of nanotechnology within the food sector is anything but certain. Until now though, this information has not really been communicated to the public and industry has erred on the side of caution regarding the amounts of information being released.

Potential ApplicationsIn short, nanotechnology is the study of the controlling of matter

on an atomic and molecular scale. Within this size-range, materials can exhibit new and unusual properties, such as altered chemical reac-

Non-stick nanotech surfaces inside bottles could mean that hard to reach

ketchup becomes a thing of the past



Market growthCompanies may not actually be putting nanomaterials

into food on the European market at the moment but this may well change in coming years as the technology develops. Food packaging involving the use of nanomaterials is the applica-tion that will most likely appear fi rst in the mass market. But professionals working in the fi eld anticipate the availability of healthier food as a result of the application of nanotechnolo-gies in the relatively near future.

In 2007, Cientifi ca produced a report in which it predicted that the value of products containing nanotechnologies in the food sector worldwide would grow from €316 million in 2006 to €4.8 billion in 2012, a growth of 1400 percent within six years. Estimates also suggest that 400 companies worldwide are cur-rently involved in research into the applications of nanotech-nologies in food or food packaging.

However, until more is known on the issue of nanotechnol-ogy and its uses in the food industry, particularly with regards to the potential health and safety risks, widespread commer-cialisation of such products is unlikely. Concerns have arisen regarding the novel properties of nanomaterials and how such materials may react with the body following ingestion.

Th e small size of nanomaterials may be a cause for con-cern in itself, irrespective of any novel properties, due to their ability to breach cellular barriers. Th e exceptional mobility of nanomaterials, both inside and outside cells, is a particular worry for the scientifi c community as it presents the possibil-ity for nanomaterials to accumulate in certain organs. Nano-materials also have a large surface area to mass ratio, which tends to make them very reactive and potentially harmful.

However, there are also numerous gaps in our knowledge of the risks associated with the use of nanomaterials. Further research is said to be needed in the following areas: characterization and detec-tion of nanomaterials; behaviour of nanomaterials in the gut; eff ects on the human foetus; food specifi c research; subsequent movement of nanomaterials within the body; chronic eff ects; and development of validated toxicological tests.

Th e concept of nanotechnology was fi rst envisaged by Pro-fessor Richard P Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics 1965, in his 1959 lecture Th ere’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom in which he explored the possibility of arranging matter at the atomic level. Th e term ‘nanotechnology’ was not coined however until 1974, when Professor Norio Taniguchi of Tokyo Science Univer-sity used it to refer to the ability to engineer materials precisely at the nanoscale.

Source: House of Lords January 2010 report Nanotechnologies and Food

The concept of nanotechnology

In order to fi ll these knowledge gaps Friedrichs believes that a greater degree of co-operation is required. “Obviously there is a lot of money going into safety research now, but what we would like to see is a strengthened and consolidated safety approach rather than piecemeal monies here and there.

“Because of the uncertainties that are unfolding with regard to what we need to know, nanotechnologies and nanomaterials are some-thing that could only be dealt with on a global scale. So we are calling for a consolidated approach at OECD level. Th e OECD is in fact now running a project where it is looking into 40 diff erent nanomaterials that have been identifi ed as being of specifi c interest,” says Friedrichs. And she is not alone in taking this view. Support for increased inter-national cooperation on information-sharing and driving forward a shared research agenda appears strong.

However, simply fi lling the knowledge gaps is not suffi cient to ensure safety and regulation clearly plays a role here too. Until now, regulatory eff orts in Europe have concentrated on applying existing regulations to nanotechnologies and amending them as necessary. Questions have therefore arisen as to whether existing regulation is in fact adequate enough to protect consumers from the potential risks of nanotechnologies.

Kettlitz has total faith in the system. “Engineered nanomaterials require prior approval in the EU before they can be used. We trust that



Novel foods regulationRegulation EC/258/97 applies to novel

food and food ingredients. Novel foods are defi ned as foods and food ingredients that have not been used for human consumption to a signifi cant degree in the European Commu-nity before 15 May 1997 and the Regulation subjects all novel foods and foods manufac-tured using novel processes to a mandatory pre-market approval system.

In January 2008, the European Com-mission published a proposal to revise and update the Novel Foods Regulation. Various proposals have been discussed by the Com-mission, Parliament and Council. (Th e draft regulation is currently going through the co-decision procedure. A defi nition of nanoma-terials has been introduced at the request of the European Parliament, and supported by the Council. Discussions are continuing on

Current food

sector legislation

how to bring nanotechnologies specifi cally into the revised regulation.

Food additivesFood additives are regulated under Direc-

tive 89/107/EC and associated legislation. Th e Directive is based on the principle that only additives which are explicitly authorised may be used in food.

From early 2010, a list of approved addi-tives, including vitamins and minerals, will come into force. Inclusion of additives on the list will be decided by the Commission on the basis of an Opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Th ose included will oft en have limits set on their use, for example restrictions on the quantities permitted for use. Th e new regulations also specify that where the starting material used, or the process by which an additive is produced, is signifi cantly diff er-

ent (for example, through a change in particle size), it must go through a fresh authorisation process, including a new safety evaluation.

Food contact materialsRegulation EC/1935/2004 covers all mate-

rials which are intended to come into contact with foodstuff s, either directly or indirectly. Th e Commission or Member States may request the EFSA to conduct a safety evaluation of any sub-stance or compound used in the manufacture of a food contact material. Certain materials, including plastic, are subject to additional mea-sures. Th e Commission has proposed updating the Regulation governing food contact plastics to specify that a deliberately altered particle size should not be used, even behind a migration barrier, without specifi c authorisation.

Food supplementsFood supplements are regulated under

Directive 2002/46/EC, which states that only vitamins and minerals on an approved list may be used as food supplements. New substances may be considered for inclusion on the list, but only aft er a safety assessment by EFSA.




EFSA will evaluate potential applications and address any potential risk that could occur due to new properties,” she says. “Th e regulatory framework is appropriate both with EFSA and well-experienced risk assessors and we all agree that Europe has one of the strictest food regulation systems in place in the world.”

Friedrichs tends to agree: “Th e regulation in Europe at the moment is enough to protect the consumer from any health and safety risks with regard to nanotechnology because it guarantees the safety of the product. Th ere might need to be additional guidelines as to how that regulation is implemented, but the regulation as such is suffi cient.”

Regulatary controlHowever, as the technology advances, many are asking whether

current regulation will be able to adequately control the next genera-

tion nanotechnologies and nanomaterials. Whilst some experts believe that general legislation provides an adequate safety net for consumers, others disagree saying that it may well prevent companies from know-ingly placing unsafe foods on the market, however it off ers no protec-tion in situations where companies are not aware that their product may be unsafe.

In response to these concerns, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has recommended that the FSA formally reviews the suitability of legislation every three years to ensure that regulatory oversight and risk assessment keeps pace with developments in this technology.

However, even if there were no doubts regarding the suitability of legislation, the issue of enforceability is still a cause for concern. It is up to individual member states to ensure that legislation is enforced and there are two major issues of concern that have been raised in this area. Firstly, there is the issue of risk assessment and secondly that of imports and the availability of products over the internet.

Th e potential long-term eff ects of any new technology can be dif-fi cult to assess and it is therefore important that no products reach the market before undergoing thorough risk assessments by the relevant authority, which is usually EFSA. In order to provide consumers with the greatest security and ensure that products can be fully safety

assessed, risk assessments must be carried out on a case-by-case basis and products assessed on their own merits.

Regarding imports, the member states of the EU have a legal duty to ensure that all food products brought into Europe meet the neces-sary food safety requirements. However, this system is not without its weaknesses, especially when it comes to the internet, which is far harder to monitor and regulate. Furthermore, although local authori-ties have the power to check any food products that arrive at European ports, they do not currently have the tools to check for nanomaterials in imported foods.

Th is situation makes it clear that any regulations governing these technologies really need to be developed in a harmonised manner due to the fact that the resulting regulatory system will undeniably aff ect global food trade. Th e obvious body for ensuring this is the Codex Alimentarius, which held an expert consultation on the matter in June 2009. Other international bodies that may well play a role are the United Nations Environmental Programme and the WHO.

A number of experts have also raised the issue of a register of ap-plications of nanotechnology in the food sector, which could be used as an information tool to help clarify the state of the market. Amongst academic circles this idea has garnered a fair amount of support, whilst industry has already proven to be less than enthusiastic about the pro-posal. Th e idea of forcing companies to disclose commercially sensitive information about their research could have a negative eff ect on R&D and many now fear a migration of nanotech research to other countries where no such obligation exists.

Th e issue of nanotechnology in the food industry is clearly a com-plex one fraught with hazards. But at the same time it holds great hope for the future, depending on how things play out. Time will tell what direction it will take.

Nanoscience is the science of the very small. A nano-metre (nm) is one thousand millionth of a metre. A sheet of paper is about 100,000 nm thick, a red blood cell is about 7000 nm in diameter and an atom of gold is about 1 ⁄3 nm wide. Th ree hundred million nanoparticles, each 100 nm wide, could fi t on to the head of a single pin.


What is nanoscience ?

100,000 nm

7,000 nm

1/3 nm wide



FOODTECHNOLOGY

A taste of things to come

The use of technology is essential to create an increasingly instrumented, interconnected and intelligent food chain. For example, using sensing and tracing technologies such as radio frequency identifi cation and barcodes will enhance visibility as food moves through complex processing steps, lowering waste and confi rming provenance.

Bringing intelligence to the food chain also means supporting mar-keting claims through capturing, leveraging and sharing standardised data and integrated information on the functional properties of prod-ucts. Hence the expression “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” em-bodies two major trends in the future of food: the notion of a product that is at the same time authentic (traceable from ‘the farm to the fork’) and natural, yet also having health giving, functional properties in the same way as one might think of a medicine.

Much of what we eat today is simply a development of what nature has provided for us in the past. Historically, mankind has worked to-wards improving agricultural yields and controlling pests rather than understanding the impact of foodstuff s on human biology. Until the late 20th Century, changes in food consumption were driven by farmers and food processors. Th ey re-formulated older recipes and experimented with selective breeding of crops and animals in order to provide alterna-tive food options.

However, in recent years these practices are being overtaken by new techniques. Th ese techniques involve genetic modifi cation to develop plants and animals with more desirable traits, enabling better agricul-tural productivity and increased benefi cial eff ects of consumption. Ge-netic modifi cation also off ers the prospect of a reduction in pesticides and hormones in the food supply chain; not wholly natural cultivation, but a step towards those principles.

As technological advances increase in sophistication and consumers demand food that combines health benefi ts with authenticity and sustainability, we will see the evolution of smarter foods. By Dr Trevor Davis



land limitations and the diversion of land for biofuels are increasing pressure for greener alternatives.

Th e hysteria over what has been commonly described as “GM foods” is well documented – the public view of these ‘frankenfoods’ has typically been less than positive. It may be, however, that the widespread concern over sustainability issues lead to a less strident opposition to these foods as the public comes to understand the benefi ts of Genetically Modifi ed

Organisms. For example, a USDA-ARS, Mars, and IBM joint project is currently sequencing and analysing the cacoa genome. Th e aim is to produce a cacoa tree that can thrive in soil that has been depleted of nutrients, drought or water shortages. Th ese trees will protect the livelihood of small farmers in the Americas and Africa and at the same time enable Mars to achieve fully sustainable production by 2020.

Sustainability concerns are also fuelling the rise in fair trade as a global movement and the myriad of certifi cation schemes such as the Marine Stewardship Council and Protected Harvest. Recently there has been a dramatic rise in long-distance, cross-border trade in food: in the US, imports account for nearly 60 percent of the fruit and vegetables

consumed, and 75 percent of the seafood. Th e impact of food miles on carbon emissions is signifi cant, and despite complex regulations, inspection regimes do not prevent food scares occurring, some with tragic consequences on a vast scale. Is it any wonder that consumer desire for more local, ethical and authentic approaches to food produc-tion also continues to grow?

Th e global organic food market is one indicator of consumer prefer-ence for authenticity and that market alone grew to over €38bn in 2008. However, beyond the requirement for organic food, consumers are seek-ing a clear understanding of provenance (with full traceability and safety control), limited quantities of artifi cial additives, humane animal hus-bandry and traditional farming methods. Chain retailers such as Marks & Spencer include the name of the farmer or grower on labels as well as the specifi c UK county the food was produced in. Some producers, such as Capricorn Cheeses in Somerset even put the picture of named goats on their produce to re-enforce authenticity. RFID tags and sophisticated analytics are making all of this easier.

So where is this taking us? Th e twin trends of natural ingredients and increasing use of biotechnology and nutritional science will deliver more and more antioxidant fi ghting goji berry snack bars and pome-granate drinks, marshmallows that prevent wrinkles, and chocolates that make you smarter. You can be sure that those products will be fully traceable and sustainable as well. But this is only the start, as companies explore the potential for foods tailored to individuals and able to mitigate specifi c diseases. Th is combination of the old wisdom of healing herbs and the new science seems set to deliver a new era of smarter food for smarter consumers. Dr Trevor Davis is Global Subject Expert, NPDI in Consumer Products, IBM

Genomics isn’t the only game in town, however. Th ere is currently a rapid growth in the appliance of biological and nutritional sciences (and related disciplines such as bioinformatics) to foodstuff s. During the 1980s the Japanese coined the phrase “functional food” to describe products that could claim health benefi ts on their labels. Making these claims requires evidence-based science rather than marketing spin. Th e functional food – and related nutraceutical – market is expected to exceed €77bn this year, and so is a key focus for many R&D departments of food and bev-erage companies.

Th ere have already been scientifi c and commercial successes with fi bre and vitamin enrichment of cereals, omega-3 and 6 fatty acids in spreads, energy boosting formula-tions in sports drinks and probiotics in dairy products to aid digestive health. Even small improvements driven by scientifi c claims can have a big impact: within one year of reaching the US market, Campbell’s Reduced Sodium Soup exceeded €77m in sales.

Science isn’t the only driver for func-tional products. Consumers are more aware of the role of diet in health, appearance and wellness. For many years low-fat and low-sugar alternatives suffi ced, but today’s ‘omni-consumers’ have access to more information and are more demanding. Th is is particularly true in the wealthier markets with ageing populations where foods that pro-mote longevity and vitality are viewed as part of a preventative health regime and a means to delay the broader eff ects of ageing. Th is can mean natural ingredients with newly proven functionality, as well as the latest molecular engineering output. Products in the development pipeline even include ‘cosmeceuticals’ that will improve your hair and skin condition from the inside out.

Th ere is still a degree of scepticism about such marketing claims and this has led to the establishment of numerous specialist centres such the UK’s fi rst research centre dedicated to functional foods at Oxford Brookes University. Th e services off ered to the food industry show the direction that the leaders are taking: measurement of metabolic rate, analysis of blood glucose and lipids such as cholesterol, monitoring of hormones such as insulin, and provision of a wide range of exotic tech-nologies for measuring sensory responses and examining food struc-tures with electron microscopy. All of this is a far cry from the familiar chemistry laboratories of the 20th Century food scientist.

Added to which, the public is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of the sustainability implications of their food choices. Sup-port for NGOs such as the Rainforest Alliance is based on a growing realisation that the current model for food production, distribution and consumption is not sustainable. For example, based on current popu-lation trends, there will be a defi nite requirement to increase the food supply 70-100 percent by 2050. Agriculture is already the largest human use of water and occupies an estimated 69 percent of total landmass. Issues such as climate change and drought, volatile energy prices, arable

“the public is becoming increasingly aware of the importance

of the sustainability implications of their

food choices”


In March 2009, the Social Research Unit of the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) published a report that exam-ined public attitudes to emerging food technologies. Th e report is based on academic research and a number of surveys that have been carried out both in Europe and further afi eld.

It is not surprising that when faced with novel food technologies, the attitude of most Europeans is one of

wariness, uncertainty and occasionally negativity. Th is is nothing new and the public has a long history of suspicion towards and resistance to new technologies.

For many Europeans, food is a complex subject and attitudes toward it are not formed in isolation. Many other factors play impor-tant roles in helping us to develop our opinions including health, the environment, science and past experiences, the report says. Th ese ex-ternal factors may help to explain why the use of emerging technologies are deemed to be less acceptable in food applications than in industrial or medical applications.

In addition, most people are not wholly aware of these novel tech-nologies and their use in the food sector. For example, in the UK stud-ies have shown that the majority of consumers have not heard the term nanotechnology before. Th is is not the case with all novel technologies

Any new technologies are bound to cause a certain amount of apprehension, but none so much as those used in food applications, according to a recent report.

CONSUMER CONCERNS


PUBLIC OPINION

GM food

Unprompted awareness of genetically modifi ed food (GM) is low, and GM is not a front of mind concern for the majority of people.

In a 2005 Eurobarometer survey of Europeans and biotechnology 80 percent of the public were familiar with GM foods but only 27 percent actually supported it and 58 percent rejected it outright.

Several studies fi nd that consumers are more certain of the risks of GM than the benefi ts, and that risks have a stronger infl uence on overall attitudes.

The Eurobarometer study also showed that EU consumers have an overall positive view of medical applications of GM technology: despite viewing it as risky, they are strongly aware of the potential benefi ts, which leads to an overall evaluation that medical applications are morally acceptable and should be encouraged. In comparison, uncertainty about the benefi ts and usefulness of food applications mean that, for the majority, the risks outweighed the benefi ts.


however. For instance, an impressive 81 percent of UK consumers sur-veyed by Eurobarometer in 2008 had heard of animal cloning and 94 percent of those asked in another survey had heard of GM.

Th ese high levels of awareness in the UK can probably be put down to the amount of media attention that both technologies have garnered over recent years. But awareness of novel technologies does not necessar-ily mean that the public actually understands the science behind them.

Th e report details how consumers in the US would appear to have a more positive attitude towards the use of emerging technologies for food applications compared to those in Europe. One of the reasons that the report puts forward to explain this is the fact that attitudes towards science and technology generally tend to be more positive in the US as do levels of trust in regulatory authorities.

Th e potential benefi ts off ered by novel technologies, in particular GM, also means that more positive attitudes can be perceived in Asia and developing countries.

Meanwhile, attitudes within the EU diff er substantially. UK re-spondents to the Eurobarometer (2008) for example were signifi cantly

Novel foods

The public is generally reported to be suspicious of novel food processes, but some researchers have noted that if people are given an explanation of the technology and its purpose, their views tend to be more positive.

Attitudes are shaped by risk and benefi t perceptions, as well as trust in the food industry and regulators, and the perceived naturalness of the resulting food product.

Women and older people have been found to have the highest levels of concern.


Three-quarters of interviewees also agreed that there could be ethical grounds for rejecting animal cloning, and 69 percent agreed that animal cloning would risk treating animals as commodities rather than creatures with feelings.

38 percent of respondents answered that none of the potential benefi ts presented to them (health or economic) would justify breeding cloned animals for food production.

Respondents who agreed that such benefi ts exist, chose the fact that animal cloning might help to solve the worldwide food problems as the single most important benefi t to justify cloning (31 percent).

Only three out of 10 respondents agreed that using cloning for food production would be much more effi cient in the long run and lower the cost of food products for consumers, and 16 percent thought that animal cloning for food production would be necessary for the European food industry to be competitive.

A majority of EU citizens said that it was unlikely that they would buy meat or milk from cloned animals, even if a trusted source stated that such products were safe to eat: 20 percent said it was somewhat unlikely and 43 percent answered it was not at all likely.

Eight out of 10 EU citizens (83 percent) said that special labelling should be required if food products from the offspring of cloned animals become available in the shops.

Source: Europeans’ attitudes towards animal cloning (2008)

Animal cloning

In October 2008 Eurobarometer published an analytical report entitled Europeans’ attitudes to animal cloning. Over 25,000 randomly selected citizens aged 15 years and above were interviewed in the 27 EU Member States. The main fi ndings are featured below:

A large majority of EU citizens (81 percent ) said they knew the term animal cloning, and answered correctly that “cloning is making an identical copy of an existing animal”. Only seven percent of the interviewees said they had never heard of animal cloning.

Faced with several statements regarding the ethics of animal cloning, the vast majority of EU citizens agreed that:

· the long-term effects of animal cloning on nature were unknown (84 percent )

· animal cloning might lead to human cloning (77 percent ) · animal cloning was morally wrong (61 percent) · cloning might decrease the genetic diversity within livestock

populations (63 percent ).

A quarter of EU citizens (23 percent) answered that animal cloning to preserve endangered animals would be justifi able without constraints, while 44 percent were willing to accept such cloning under certain circumstances. Similar proportions accepted animal cloning to improve robustness of animals against diseases (16 percent and 41 percent, respectively).

EU citizens were signifi cantly less willing to accept animal cloning for food production purposes: 58 percent said that such cloning could never be justifi ed.



Nanotechnology

Awareness of nanotechnologies is low. In a 2004 public opinion poll published jointly by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering just 29 percent of the public claimed they had heard of nanotechnology, while only 19 percent were able to give some defi nition of it, whether accurate or not. Of those who were able to offer a defi nition of nanotechnology, 68 percent said it would make things better in the future.

Although general attitudes towards nanotechnologies seem fairly positive, people seem less convinced about the potential benefi ts of food applications and are sceptical about why these are being developed.

In general, use of nanotechnologies in packaging may be seen more positively than their use in food.

Women seem to perceive fewer potential benefi ts from food applications than men and seem less likely to want to buy food that has been treated using nanotechnologies. Meanwhile, older people may be more likely than others to see the usefulness of packaging applications.

Concerns towards nanotechnologies in general include their effectiveness, long-term side-effects and the ability of regulators and others to ensure safety and to ensure that developments benefi t the general public.

Other factors affecting peoples’ attitudes towards nanotechnologies include their scientifi c knowledge, their general outlook or worldview and where they have received information from.

Source: An Evidence Review of Public Attitudes to Emerging Food Technologies (2009)

Functional food

People are generally sceptical or suspicious towards functional foods and there is a degree of scepticism about food manufacturers’ motives and about the veracity of health claims.

Attitudes are not generally hostile though and the public do not consider them very risky.

Views on functional foods vary depending on the base product or ‘carrier’, the added functional ingredient, and the combination of the two (naturally occurring combinations are preferred).

Belief in the effectiveness of functional foods, and experience and/or fear of disease have been linked to positive attitudes.

Women and older people appear to have more positive attitudes towards functional food than men or younger people.

Consumption of functional foods is strongly infl uenced by a perceived need for the product, and to a lesser extent by a belief in the health benefi ts.

“Awareness of novel technologies does not necessarily mean that the public actually understands the science behind them”

less likely to think that animal cloning is morally wrong than the EU average, according to the report.

Likewise, attitudes to the diff erent technologies also vary and the most positive responses are currently received for functional foods. Th is could be down to a number of reasons but the report suggests that the most likely are probably the clear consumer benefi ts, low perceived risk and processes that are not unfamiliar or unimaginable to consum-ers, such as adding extra vitamins to certain foods.

Whilst functional foods are generally well perceived, consumers tend to have the greatest concerns regarding GM and animal cloning, closely followed by nanotechnologies, which are to be ingested. ‘Play-ing God’ and making irreversible changes to nature have been cited in the report as two of the main reasons why consumers display the most

moral and ethical concerns regarding these technologies in particular.From the evidence examined, the FSA report concludes that the

main determinant in shaping public attitudes towards emerging food technologies is in fact a personal evaluation of perceived risks and benefi ts. Whilst the risks, to both human health and the environment, have been well documented and reported in the media in recent years, uncertainty remains a major contributing factor to the concerns sur-rounding novel technologies.

Finally, the report highlights the fact that in most locations, the media, government and industry tend to be the least trusted sources of informa-tion. People are particularly sceptical about the motives of ‘big business’, suspecting that the driver is profi t, rather than consumer benefi t.


MTB_AD (B2B)_MAY 2010:mar10 4/5/10 14:11 Page 1


The ELA was set up initially in response to the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis in the UK. What was the thinking behind its formation?Peter King. One of the big issues over that was there were vast amounts of information and opinions that were coming from all over the place, and it was almost impossible with the sheer volume of data to actually fi gure out which things being said were credible and which weren’t, so a group of us in England and Europe decided it would be great if there was a forum where we could only publicise information that was credible and clean and not driven by political or commercial interests. It was like a platform really, and it took no time at all to attract some really eminent scientists and livestock keepers and consumers, so it was like a meeting place for those three groups, and ultimately for NGOs and people in the commission as well.

We’re strong advocates of vaccination, and we’ve got virologists and people who spend their entire lives studying diseases like foot-

and-mouth and so on. Th at was the foundation of it, but it’s gone from there really. Any other issues to do with livestock welfare and health and consumer wellbeing as well come within our interest and remit. We actually became a registered charity, fi rstly in Germany, but then transferred to Holland for administrative purposes. We’ve had support from the Dutch government. We’ve had support from the EU who were glad that we came in. It’s just gone from there really.

Most recently we’ve had some real concerns over H1N1. Do you think that better animal health practices could have stopped this becoming the big issue that it threatened to be?PK. We’re not unrealistic. We know that food has to be produced at an aff ordable price, but with industrial scale production there are inher-ent risks. Obviously if you squeeze thousands of chickens into a shed of a certain size, or pigs or whatever, then the chances of disease are

Next Generation Food sits down with Peter King of the European Livestock Association and hears about the organisation’s work to protect both the continent’s animals and its consumers.

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The ELA was set up initially in response to the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis in the UK. What was the thinking behind its formation?Peter King. One of the big issues over that was there were vast amounts of information and opinions that were coming from all over the place, and it was almost impossible with the sheer volume of data to actually fi gure out which things being said were credible and which weren’t, so a group of us in England and Europe decided it would be great if there was a forum where we could only publicise information that was credible and clean and not driven by political or commercial interests. It was like a platform really, and it took no time at all to attract some really eminent scientists and livestock keepers and consumers, so it was like a meeting place for those three groups, and ultimately for NGOs and people in the commission as well.

We’re strong advocates of vaccination, and we’ve got virologists and people who spend their entire lives studying diseases like foot-

and-mouth and so on. Th at was the foundation of it, but it’s gone from there really. Any other issues to do with livestock welfare and health and consumer wellbeing as well come within our interest and remit. We actually became a registered charity, fi rstly in Germany, but then transferred to Holland for administrative purposes. We’ve had support from the Dutch government. We’ve had support from the EU who were glad that we came in. It’s just gone from there really.

Most recently we’ve had some real concerns over H1N1. Do you think that better animal health practices could have stopped this becoming the big issue that it threatened to be?PK. We’re not unrealistic. We know that food has to be produced at an aff ordable price, but with industrial scale production there are inher-ent risks. Obviously if you squeeze thousands of chickens into a shed of a certain size, or pigs or whatever, then the chances of disease are

Next Generation Food sits down with Peter King of the European Livestock Association and hears about the organisation’s work to protect both the continent’s animals and its consumers.

ANIMALHEALTH

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greatly increased. So, once we understand there has to be commercial scale production, there’s a balance to be struck, and there are practices that can be involved that are good for the welfare of the stock and for the quality of the food.

Vaccines obviously play a big part in this, and the readiness of any particular country to be able to respond and in fact do anything it can to prevent a disease outbreak. It’s an easy thing for me to say in a sen-tence, but that’s a hugely costly enterprise to undertake, but you can’t responsibly do one without the other, in our opinion.

You say it’s an expensive business trying to tackle these issues. Is there a real will from both animal producers and government to work on these problems?PK. I think it varies. Most governments do take it seriously, but typically bureaucracy and the conditions imposed make it far less eff ective on the ground. Th e welfare issue is major, and there really is confused think-ing about it. We’re aware of gradual controls being placed on intensive farming, but we’re also aware of the wishes of the welfare lobby to ban

some types of livestock, which is another thing, like horned cattle for instance. Some supposed experts are proposing that horned cattle should not be used. Th ey regard horns on cattle as barbaric, vestigial traits, but those of us that care about native breeds would say that’s a load of rubbish. If you’re in a situation where horns are a problem you can dehorn them. And usually horned cattle are ok if you don’t overcrowd them.

But there’s another extreme, for instance with Belgium Blue Cattle, which can have diffi culty giving birth naturally. A lot of them have numerous caesarians. To quite a lot of people, that’s unacceptable, as is a turkey that has been bred to such a size that they can’t mate naturally. So, you’ve got two extremes. Sometimes people even suggest that ani-mals in their natural habitat, such as on a hill or in an extreme weather region where they’ve been naturally adapted over years and years, they’d argue that those animals are suff ering welfare problems because they look poorer in the winter, whereas they’ve been bred specifi cally to withstand that environment. It’s a very complicated situation, and we’re aware of the whole scope of it.

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What is that pan European cooperation like amongst both produc-ers and the regulators across the continent?PK. Fundamental principles can be agreed, but the problem is that condi-tions vary throughout Europe so that the techniques and systems that you’d want to apply in a particular territory are bound to vary, which is a diffi culty.

Th at might be an inherent weakness of the European union: Th e fact that the conditions in each of the member states vary both politically and fi nancially. In our case, the case of animal production and food produc-tion and so-on, everybody’s got a diff erent set of problems and diff erent infrastructures through which to operate. What is important is that systems in management that are applied in whatever territory are ap-plied or recorded very clearly and shown on the fi nished product so that it’s evident to the consumer in any particular country. Again, this is all really idealistic. Recognizing the diff erences in the diff erent countries is just as important. If you’ve got some guy keeping goats in the Pyrenees,

it’s diff erent than for somebody keeping goats on a commercial scale in Holland, so each individual territory has to have its own protocols. But there needs to be a combined approach and as much cooperation as possible, and for me, that’s the ulti-mate about Europe. Th e whole thing about Europe is you get so much bad press about it all, but it’s absolutely thrilling when we all get together. We really do feel like we’re all working together in one situation, and I think that we set quite a good example of a pan European approach.

How likely is it that some kind of framework of key standards could be agreed on any time soon?PK. I’m never optimistic on a timescale. It almost is like we’re pushing a rock up a hill. But the people that think this stuff up in central Brussels for in-stance, I think they always need to be reminded of

the fact that there may need to be delegations in particular territories for particular reasons. Th ere should be a fl exible approach but with an over-all umbrella that embraces the fundamental principles of how animals should be kept and how food should be safe and good.

What would the key features of a Europe-wide set of standards need to look like?PK. We have to work backwards, because I think the consumers are becoming more and more aware of industrial practices. I mentioned Belgium Blue. It was actually on the package that this beef is from the Belgium Blue and there was a list of the reasons why it was diffi cult beef to produce, it would put people off from ever buying it, so that’s the one extreme. And then you’ve got some other guy who wants to make cheese from unpasteurised milk who’s being prevented from doing so by legisla-tion, so it’s a huge, huge problem. I don’t think it’s an easy thing to do, but I think if organisations like ours were involved in the development of those plans, we’d come up with something that was practical and work-able. But we would build a huge amount of leeway for individual govern-

Would you agree that education is key in these areas?PK. Education is key. And, again, we like that we’re playing our part in that. But I think somehow the people responsible for the governments and responsible for implementing these health and welfare policies need to cut through the red tape and not make the administration of such programmes too burdensome.

You mentioned that as an organisation you are principally science-focused. Do you think that that science-based approach to animal health is something that is generally understood?PK. It’s science and practice. Science is great, but the people on the ground have got to buy into it, so it’s got to be doable at the same time. Again, it’s education. For example, when electronic identifi cation was being brought in, the perception on the ground of a lot of animal keep-ers was that this would be too burdensome and they might even stop keeping livestock. Again, that’s the bureaucracy slowing down progress; we believe in animal identifi cation because that helps to track and trace and contain disease. It’s a complicated issue, and more could be done on both levels. Obviously governments have to do something about disease control, because in the long run it costs them even more than not having a proper disease control program. But on the welfare side there’s a lot more that should be done in terms of education of both the consumers and the keepers, whether they’re small scale or industrial.

What from your perspective are the most pressing health and welfare issues currently facing European livestock pro-ducers?PK. Finding a better way of keeping animals with better guarantees for their welfare and health. More investments into developing vaccines for emerging diseases ahead of the game rather than doing some fi refi ghting job and having to wait for vaccines. Th e downside of that, of course, is you may end up with stocks of vaccines for a threat that didn’t materialise. But I would argue that that would be a better outcome than the disease appearing without anybody being ready with the fi nancial consequences and the welfare consequences and the economic consequences to the keepers. So it’s a tough nettle to grasp, but more resources for preemptive vaccine production are essential.

If we all work together on this we can tackle it. Th at’s the whole thing about the ELA. It’s European rather than just English or UK or Dutch. If we all work together on that, then there should be consensus. On the other side, perhaps if we had a unifi ed approach with the vaccine produc-ers, they could take a more long-term view. If they could plan far enough ahead to know that there would be a concerted eff ort to produce pre-emptive vaccines, perhaps they might actually be able to come up with a better price. Again, I know all this sounds very idealistic, but we all know the outcome of not being ahead of the game.

“Th e bottom line is animals are

sentient beings, and they need to be kept properly with full considerations

for their health and welfare”

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food and livestock production, but we’re also very committed to genetic conservation. Native breeds, and all that comes with them, need sup-port and encouragement and development and publicity in order that they don’t disappear, so genetic variation in livestock in Europe is a huge issue, and that’s something we’re also very committed to and do a lot of work on. Native breeds make a huge contribution to habitat con-servation and climate change. And you know what they say, eat them to save them.

ment. Th e bottom line is animals are sentient beings, and they need to be kept properly with full considerations for their health and welfare. If you don’t have that, the rest of it is just not acceptable.

We don’t say we’ve got the answer for the whole problem, but what we’d like to be able to do is present information that is reliable and un-biased. A lot of information that is publicised is generated by sources sponsored by special interest groups. Quite oft en companies or scientists are sponsored by commercial interests.

Th e only information we’ll publish is stuff that’s independent and that isn’t written by political or commercial interest. Th at’s the biggest need of all. To inform people and help to make things happen there has to be a source of reliable information. We’re not only concerned with

Peter King is Executive Committee Chair for the European Livestock Association. and has been a breeder of pedigree livestock for over 20 years. King served as National Field Offi cer for the Rare Breeds Survival Trust for eight years. He is Founder Member of the Traditional Hereford Breeders Club and Council Member for the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. He is an author and traditional livestock consultant, and Convenor and Founder Chairman of ELA.

According to the UK’s Department for Environment & Rural Affairs, there is evidence to suggest that climate change has affected, directly or indirectly, the occurrence and

distribution of certain livestock diseases, and is likely to continue to do so. Often climate change does not act on its own, but in conjunction with other factors which may also be changing. Farmers and vets alike need to be aware of changing conditions and the possible consequences.

Changes in climate could bring more rainfall at certain times of the year, and result in serious fl ooding. There are a number of consequences of increased fl ooding. It can spread manure, silage and sewage across fi elds, spreading disease-carrying organisms. Another potential consequence of fl ooded fi elds is that livestock may be confi ned to smaller areas with opportunities for more mixing of different breeds and species – for example, sheep and cows having to share grazing pastures. Increased rainfall may also alter the abundance and type of habitats available for disease-spreading invertebrates such as midges, mosquitoes and mud snails.

The increase in temperatures raises a number of questions. Could warmer daytime temperatures cause livestock to pack together for longer periods of time in order to be in the shade? Will increased temperatures result in a longer grass-growing season, therefore increasing the opportunity for contact between livestock and wildlife due to more extensive farming practice?

Warmer night-time temperatures could prove favourable for many disease-carrying insects that fl y and feed at night.

Higher temperatures may already have helped the spread of bluetongue virus by midges in northern Europe, and there is evidence to indicate that midges are able to transmit certain livestock viruses more effi ciently at higher temperatures. Other midge-borne viruses that infect livestock include African horse sickness virus and epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus, neither of which have ever occurred in this country.

The increase in the movement of produce and people around the world also provides more opportunities for disease spread. For example, insects such as mosquitoes may hitch a ride to other locations and be released into the environment on arrival, and pathogens may be introduced through entry of infected humans, livestock and animal products.

ACTION POINTSDraw up contingency plans for extreme weather conditions, such as fl ooding and drought, to reduce mixing of livestock speciesCover potential water containers such as buckets and old tyres, which could serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoesTry to encourage tadpoles and dragonfl ies on farms as they may help keep down mosquito larvae in pondsTake steps to minimise risk of animal slurries being spread onto fi elds and into watercourses by fl oodingHerd and fl ock health plans need to be reviewed annually and adjusted in the light of information on disease surveillance and changing disease patterns published by disease surveillance programmesTake care to verify the health status of animals before bringing them into your herd/fl ock, to avoid introducing new diseases

Is climate change impacting animal disease?

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Most people recognise that motor vehicle emis-sions are a major source of global warming. Yet not many know that the

livestock industry collectively produces about 51 percent more greenhouse gases than all the other industries combined. However, a global conversion to veganism as a solution to reduce carbon emissions appears highly unlikely. A more realistic approach to curtail swine farm greenhouse gas emissions embraces three key components. First, maximising swine feed utilisation for conversion to either meat or energy minimises generation of animal waste. Th e second component is that the feed should eff ectuate the growth of healthy swine with minimum to nil mortality, thereby drasti-cally reducing the consequential waste treat-ment and disposal. Th e third tenet entails the provision of an environment and setting that are conducive to healthy, active swine growth – indeed a good practice that is being increas-ingly adopted by owners and operators.Th is articulated three-pronged approach results in a signifi cant reduction of greenhouse gases, hence mitigating global warming.

Of signifi cant assistance in the struggle to make pig farming more environmentally sound is POD, a thoroughly R&D tested, in situ performance proven and acclaimed glaci-

ated natural organic product. To achieve the objectives implicit in the three components would necessitate three distinctive, integrated elements which, respectively, enable an active eff ective metabolism; restore, establish and maintain a strong immunity; and augment environmentally confl uent management.

Th e fi rst two are intrinsic attributes of POD and the third, although extrinsic, is sub-stantially complemented by POD. In essence, it is an integrated natural environmental swine operation system.

MetabolismTh e typical feed conversion rate of 3.5

was appreciated to 2.3, meaning a saving of 35 percent in feed. As most of the protein was digested to become meat, generations of am-monia and hydrogen sulphides were reduced in tandem from > 400 ppm to < 20 ppm. Like-

wise, feaces had been drastically reduced and neither was E. coli detected.

ImmunityHigh mortality and sickness have plagued

the modern swine industry. Extensive POD test results have proven its ability in promot-ing the animal’s self-defence system and eradicating toxins and growth inhibitors in the feed. Healthy pigs obviously give rise to better feed conversion rate and better quality of meat. Absence of deployment of antibiot-ics in feed became the norm. Survival rates of less than 70 percent have risen to better than 98 percent. Th e off spring per sow rate of 22.5 also increased to 27.5.

Natural confl uent environmentTh e reduction in toxic gases, plus solid and

liquid wastes present in the living settings, is most conducive to healthy, energetic pigs at all stages of growing process. Th e owner/opera-tor would also greatly benefi t from much less capital, operation and maintenance costs of barns and peripheral facilities, such as ven-tilation, waste treatment and disposal. Last but not least, the old nightmarish regulatory compliance and associated issues can become far less arduous.

In conclusion, POD has laid the founda-tion of a natural environmental swine op-eration system under which carbon emissions and resulting global warming are signifi cantly reduced while substantial cost-savings, good quality of meat and high productivity are also realised. Who are the winners? Th e environ-ment, the owners and operators, the consum-ers and, naturally, the pigs themselves.

The whole hog

Dr Eric Chen received his PhD of Agriculture in 1994 from Clemson University in South Carolina, US. He, as the leader, and his team have been engaged in the non-chemical organic farming campaign for the last decade in Asia and in developing scientifi c effective modern agriculture for farmers.

Eric Chen outlines key measures to reduce the environmental impact of pig farming while also improving effi ciency.

ASK THEEXPERT

“POD has laid the foundation of a natural environmental swine

operation system under which carbon emissions and resulting global

warming are signifi cantly reduced”

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ease is observed, therefore, medication costs are reduced, and last but not least, studies have shown a better response to vaccination due to the improvement of the immune response.

B. Toyoi is the micro-organism that has been registered in the European Union for the longest time and is also the one that has more registrations in diff erent categories and spe-cies. Today, Toyocerin is registered as a feed additive in the EU and many other countries worldwide in all main animal production cat-egories for fattening swine, turkey, chicken, rabbits and cattle.

What are your key areas of focus at the moment? Are there particular health chal-lenges that you are currently devoting your energies towards?DA. As a producer of a feed additive that will be ingested by an animal that will later be consumed by people, it is our fi rst priority to study if B. Toyoi can reduce the possibility of transferring any zoonotic agent to humans through animal products. In this regard, today we know that B.Toyoi has a positive eff ect reducing Salmonella, E.Coli and many other pathogen bacteria. Our next step is to study Campylobacter reduction.

In conclusion, probiotics, which are also used in human food, are becoming an impor-tant element in animal nutrition and all the positive eff ects and knowledge about them are investigated today both on the animal and on the human side. It is very encouraging that both industries are heading in the same direction.

What positive impacts can the use of micro-organisms in animal feed have on overall animal health?Dag Andersen. Animal nutrition has experi-enced many changes in the last few decades, not only in the private sector, but in the public sector as well. Technology and science has permitted the industry to improve the limits of growth and performance of the animals. Today, the next step that needs to be taken care of is the products that are used. Th ey must still achieve the highest performance parameters, but they must be from a natural origin.

Firstly, micro-organisms fulfi l the natu-ral origin and have shown growth and per-formance improvement in many scientifi c and fi eld trials. Secondly, micro-organisms have other advantages besides being natural and having positive eff ects on growth and performance; they also support the immune response system and therefore can reduce the emergence of diseases in animals.

Micro-managing animal healthDag Andersen explains how using micro-organisms in animal feed can help to improve animal

health and reduce the spread of foodborne diseases.

Another aspect that has worried society recently is the use of antibiotics. By using micro-organisms, there is a reduction of potential diseases, and therefore, less use of antibiotics. It is very important to point out that between micro-organisms, many modes of action are described, and even if they all claim to reduce pathogen bacteria in the gut, which is responsible for many of the diseases, not so many of them can prove exactly which one. In this case, B. Toyoi is one of the most studied micro-organisms and with more studied eff ects among micro-organisms.

Does the growing interest in organic food products have any effect on your business or are you able to align your products with consumers desire for ‘natural’ products?DA. Defi nitely, the growing interest in or-ganic food has a very positive eff ect on our business. Our micro-organism B. Toyoi is a natural product and therefore the use of it in organically fed animals means that all the positive eff ects of the product will be shown without any interference from other side ef-fects that might mask the eff ect.

Can the use of micro-organisms in animal feed present real ROI for animal producers?DA. B. Toyoi has demonstrated through many trials, both in-vivo and in-vitro, that the growth and performance parameters are en-hannced, by improvement of nutrient absorp-tion, reduction of IgG, mortality reduction, production of some digestible enzymes etc. In addition, a reduction in the incidence of dis-

EXECUTIVEINTERVIEW

Dag Andersen, MBA is the General Manager of Rubinum Animal Health. Since 2005 he has been in charge of the international expansion of Toyocerin for the European market and since 2008 for the worldwide market. He is also the Export Manager of Andersen S.A. and is in charge of the international expansion of vet drugs for animal production.

“Probiotics, which are also used in human food, are becoming an important element in animal nutrition”

Rubinum.indd 102Rubinum.indd 102 11/5/10 10:14:4311/5/10 10:14:43

The probiotic of choice for an optimal

gut function in farm animals

Avda. La llana, 123 . 08191 Rubí (Barcelona) Spain. (+34) 93 212 63 82 . Fax: (+34) 93 588 57 31 . [email protected] . www.rubinum.es

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ASK THEEXPERT

MEATING EXPECTATIONSDr Ricardo Gobbi explains the breakthrough innovation that is supporting sustainable meat production.

One of the big challenges for this century is to produce food for the growing world with the available limited resources. Th e demand for meat products will strengthen

in parallel with the rising population and the increasing incomes of a large fraction of the world’s population.

Nutrition of farm animals has contributed greatly, over the past decades, to improved effi ciency in meat production. Optimisation in production effi ciency plays a central role in balancing increasing demand for food and feed with reasonable pressure on land, biodiversity and water resources.

Currently, researchers around the world are search-ing for the future solutions in feed formulations that will allow full expression of the genetic potential of pigs, poultry, cattle and fi sh to convert feed into protein for human nutrition in the form of meat, eggs and milk.

Th e feed industry is playing an important role in shaping the future by supporting investigations in basic science. Breakthroughs in basic science are fundamental to making major advances in animal production.

An interesting example of this contribution is the discovery by design in a hypothesis-driven research with guanidinoacetic acid (GAA). Eight years ago, entrepre-neurs, supported by visionary feed industry managers, raised a hypothesis on the conditional necessity of GAA for high yield farm animals due its involvement in the energy metabolism. Th is hypothesis has been investi-gated by a network of research institutes in Europe, the US and Brazil.

Background for such an idea was the observation that use of alternative protein sources other than animal protein for feed formulation is steadily increasing in livestock production. As those protein sources oft en do

not match the nutritional needs of specifi c livestock and poultry, there are eff orts to provide ingredients that close the nutritional gaps of animal diets with lesser or no animal protein.

One of those aff ected nutrients is creatine. Th e only physiological precursor of creatine is GAA, which has much more favourable chemical and physiological prop-erties compared to its metabolic derivative creatine and accordingly is more suitable for use in animal nutrition.

Th e animal’s physiological demand for GAA and creatine can be supplied directly by creatine from fi sh or meat in the animal diet or by endogenous synthesis from the amino acids arginine and glycine to form GAA in the kidneys, which is later methylated in the liver to form creatine. Traditionally, metabolic synthesis and feeding proteins of animal origin provided an adequate supply. Diets with reduced amounts of animal protein or with-out any animal protein are defi cient in creatine and this cannot fully be compensated for by de novo synthesis.

Physiological research and animal trials have shown that supplementation of GAA can act as a source of cre-atine particularly with such diets low in animal protein content or without any animal protein, signifi cantly and consistently improving the effi ciency in animal pro-duction. Th is improved effi ciency is achieved through better feed conversion (less feed needed to produce same amount of meat), higher daily weight gain (faster growth rate) and benefi ts in carcass composition (more meat es-pecially breast meat).

Th e crown of this achievement was the recognition by the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) of the effi cacy and safety of GAA and later acceptance and publication by the European Commission of the authori-sation regulation giving to GAA the status of nutritional

feed additive in October 2009. GAA is now off ered commercially in Europe

with the trademark CreAMINO being a granulated preparation of guanidinoacetic acid to match the handling needs of the feed industry as a dust – free and – free fl owing product.

Adoption of this new nutritional concept by feed manufacturers and animal producers will contribute to an improvement in the sustainability of animal production, particularly by improving animal effi -ciency and consequently lowering production costs and pressure on resources and the environment.

Ricardo Gobbi is Marketing Manager within Evonik s Business Unit Health & Nutrition located in Hanau-Wolfgang, Germany. Prior to his current position he worked in technical sales of pharmaceutical ingredients and feed additives and in the pharmaceutical industry in research and development. He studied Pharmacy and Biochemistry at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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Following the recession, companies need to diversify their supply base in order to reduce the vulnerability of the supply chain and increase effi ciencies, says Douglas Kent, European Chairman of the Supply Chain Council.

SUPPLYCHAIN

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The economic downturn brought many compa-nies, both large and small, to their knees and only the hardiest of supply chains managed not to fall victim to the turbulent conditions that beset the global economy. As markets collapsed, sales fell and profi ts went into free-fall, supply chain managers found themselves in a very diffi cult position, faced with the need

to cut costs at a time when operating costs were naturally increasing due to lower demand and lower throughputs.

Th e recession certainly forced supply chain managers to revaluate. “Probably the biggest impact was the fact that many of the players in the supply base have introduced a great deal of risk into the supply chain because many of them have gone under or have themselves been quite vulnerable,” says Kent.

Th ose who were perhaps sourcing from smaller companies would have certainly felt the eff ects as those smaller companies were oft en worse hit. Many then found themselves having to look for new suppli-ers, which has increased the supply base risk element within the supply chain and brought with it a great deal of vulnerability.

However, as we now head out of recession, Kent believes that there is a lot we can learn from this experience and he has quite a few sugges-tions as to how companies can protect themselves from these vulner-abilities in the post-recession business climate.

Firstly, he believes that companies need to gain a better under-standing of the vulnerabilities that are present in their supply base. “Th ey need to really look deeper in order to understand the fi nancials associated with their suppliers. If they fi nd that a particular supplier is quite vulnerable then they may need to introduce a second source,” says Kent.



nosedive, effi ciencies tend to shoot right up the supply chain manager’s agenda and one way of achieving these effi ciencies is through supply chain network design.

“What I mean by this,” says Kent, “is that they’ve got to be constantly looking at the best ways to manufacture and deliver products to their customer base.” Th is requires companies to realise that products do not necessarily have to follow a certain supply chain confi guration through-out their entire lifecycle and it is worthwhile to shift manufacturing or logistics in order to meet economic requirements.

However, redesigning the supply chain to improve effi ciencies can mean that certain other sacrifi ces may need to be made. Th e important thing is to ensure a balance and this necessitates a good understanding of the requirements and the realisation that not all supply chain require-ments need to be treated the same.

“We shouldn’t try to paint the customer base with the same brush and say every customer requires 99 percent on-time delivery and off -site fl exibility of 20 percent or 30 percent over their forecasted amount. We need to look at each one of those confi gurations diff erently and then make those choices,” says Kent. “Th at’s where a lot of companies

have failed. Th e reality is that we need to treat customers fairly, but not necessar-ily equally.”

Th is is a challenge for most com-panies, according to Kent, and he says that many sales people have a hard time understanding this concept. “If we take on-time delivery as the major service metric, a two percent increase in on-time delivery from 90 percent to 92 percent has a diff erent cost than moving from 96 to 98 percent. Th e closer you get to per-fect, every percentage increase in service is much more costly. A lot of salespeople who are making commitments to their end customers don’t understand that there’s a cost diff erential there, and that’s where the supply chain needs to educate,” explains Kent.

When talking about improving ef-fi ciencies in the supply chain Six Sigma and Lean cannot be ignored and Kent points out that many companies are now starting to realise that combining the two adds far more value. However, he also explains that Lean needs to be extended throughout the whole supply chain if the maximum benefi ts are to be had.

“If you become incredibly effi cient in manufacturing but you’re not Lean at all in the planning and sourcing areas, then that Lean initiative in manufac-turing will have a limited eff ect. So it’s about extending Lean and Six Sigma

Another way in which Kent believes that companies can best place themselves to foresee any changes in the unpredictable business land-scape is to build diversity into business structures and supply chains. “Th ey really need to understand the cost of risk that’s being introduced. Th e measure is called value-added risk, or VAR, and really what you’re looking at there is the potential for a disaster occurring.”

Kent suggests that companies need to assess the probability of such a disaster against its potential impact and they need to get better at making those sort of trade-off s. Th erefore, the introduction of risk and risk miti-gation becomes incredibly important, according to Kent.

Aside from examining the fi nancial situation of suppliers, compa-nies would do well to work on improving their planning and their under-standing of demand variabilities. Better sales and operational planning (S&OP) and understanding which customers and products have a higher forecast accuracy is one way to ensure that the supply chain is more robust, says Kent.

When times are good it is very easy for companies to lose track of the importance of making effi ciencies within the supply chain, particularly when the need is not so pressing. However, when the economy takes a



chain is the need for transparency, which was illustrated last month as Nestlé came under fi re from consumer activists and non-governmental groups on Facebook and Twitter for it’s sourcing of palm oil. Consumers are demanding more visibility regarding the sourcing of food ingredients and as a result companies need to ensure that they get this information from their supply base in order to prevent such backlashes.

However, there is also a very practical element to enhancing this transparency. “Th ere is going to be a constraint in supply coming up, as companies have already seen with things like cocoa for example, and there will be an increase in prices and lead times. Where transparency

fails is not necessarily between the manu-facturer, the retailer and the consumer, but between the supplier of the ingredient and the manufacturer. And sometimes we just don’t have the level of transparency that is necessary,” says Kent.

A similar scenario can be seen in re-lation to traceability in the food chain in order to ensure food safety. Recent prob-lems with food contamination and recalls in the USA have only highlighted the need for greater traceability. “If a supply chain disaster, such as Salmonella poisoning, happens then it is expected that a manu-facturer can trace back all the way to the source of supply to fi nd where it initiated. Neither the general public nor the govern-ment are willing to accept that you can’t trace that back,” says Kent.

“A lot of companies can do it, but it takes a great deal of eff ort to trace it back. When this situation occurs there’s not a lot of time to respond. In most cases it’s a matter of data management, so they have to be able to do lot tracking throughout the entire supply chain. Th ey have to know which lots coming from which suppliers might have been introduced within the supply chain that are aff ected,” says Kent.

Health and safety standards are obviously of paramount importance in the food industry and the majority of companies focus on employee training as a way of ensuring safety. During recessionary times, many companies tend to cut their training budgets but Kent says that what is really required is for companies to stick to their guns in making sure that employees are well trained and that suffi cient monitoring programmes are in place enabling any trending on safety related issues to be spotted in advance so that the information can be shared across the supply chain and across the diff erent business units.

Training on its own however, is not enough and technology has an important role to play. “Certainly, IT information systems are impor-tant, but in many cases companies are also introducing technologies like barcoding or RFID to provide the traceability aspect,” explains Kent.

And luckily innovations like RFID tracking are now becoming far more accessible as the price comes down. As with most new technologies, the expense made it prohibitive for many of the smaller companies in the industry, but as the volume has increased, the price has correspondingly decreased opening up the market and off ering a safer future.

outside of manufacturing and leaning the whole of the supply chain,” explains Kent.

He also says that leaning your own is only the beginning and to get the full impact of this you really need to ensure that your customers and suppliers follow your lead. Citing Toyota, which he admits may not be the best example today, Kent says that the car manufacturer did not see the results of their Lean initiative until they extended it to their supply base.

One of the other consequences of the recession is that companies have started to see benefi ts to the issue of sustainability far and above the environmental aspects. Sustainability can also off er cost savings in the supply chain and Kent believes that most companies are now focusing on three key aspects – ecological, economic and service.

“Every decision taken in the supply chain should be measured against those three standards: is it ecologically viable; are we being responsible to our environ-ment; is it an economically viable solu-tion?” asks Kent. Companies must be careful, he says, that in becoming more green they are not pricing themselves out of the market and they are not fail-ing to deliver the service requirements to the customer.

“In the food supply chain this is of paramount importance, because the service requirements are probably the strongest in the industry because retail-ers demand a very high level of service,” says Kent.

Some companies are even starting to reassess their supply chains and are re-examining where they are sourcing their products from. For example, many companies that decided to source from abroad for economic reasons have since compared the cost saving with the cost of transportation and the environmental cost and have realised that the saving may not be worth it aft er all.

“Th ere has been some movement in the industry to suggest a re-thinking of global sourcing and to some degree a movement back to regionally-based sourcing because the economic advantage is not what it was initially thought to be,” says Kent.

Transportation in particular has been under close scrutiny as pres-sure increases from the retailers. Rail transport continues to be more ecologically responsible than road transport for example and many retailers, particularly in the UK are putting pressure on manufacturers to display the so-called ‘food miles’ on their packaging and this is some-thing that manufacturers will have to respond to.

However, pressure will also come directly from the customers, who, given the choice, are shown to choose products that are least harmful to the environment, as long as the price is not vastly higher. “It’s really a matter of how sensitive the customer is relative to the trade off between ecological and economic,” says Kent. “But I still think that the pressure is more likely to come from the retailer than directly from the consumer.”

Another aspect of sustainability that has been seen to aff ect the supply

“Certainly, IT information systems are important, but in

many cases companies are also introducing

technologies like barcoding or RFID

to provide the traceability aspect”


Given the difficult conditions that have pre-vailed in manufacturing throughout the eco-nomic downturn, you may think that theonly good course of action is to stay hun-

kered down and wait for it to all blow over for good.Thankfully, however, there are plenty of sings that recov-ery is underway across Europe and there are a number ofactions that manufacturers can take to accelerate their ownrecovery.

Infor offer five strategic actions that organisations canundertake today. These actions are not only cost effective, butcan help manufacturers immediately, putting them in a bet-ter position to take advantage of the recovery.

Smart move #1 – Protect cash. Businesses recognise the crit-ical importance of cash management, particularly at timeswhen capital and credit are difficult to come by. One way inwhich manufacturers can release cash is through reducinginventory and work-in-process levels. Infor has observed anuptake in technology solutions around demand and inven-tory optimisation in the past year and resurgence in interestin Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP).

Smart move #2 – Pursuit of productivity. One measure thatis consistent among manufacturing leaders is their relentlessfocus on productivity, whether this be their production as-sets, people, warehousing or transport. It makes sense tomake the optimum use of existing resources before investingin new products, especially in current times. Technology so-lutions that help you achieve this are in vogue. An exampleof this is production scheduling which, through intelligentsequencing, a plant can reduce time lost due to changeoversby 30 percent and reduce costs through the reduction ofovertime or other shift premiums.

Smart move #3 – Go green. Whatever your beliefs on thecauses of climate change, it is certain that over the nextdecade manufacturers will need to adapt to operating in anincreasingly carbon constrained economy. Government leg-islation will demand it, important customers will select theirsuppliers based on it, and having a sustainability strategy formanufacturers is not just good environmental stewardship,it makes good business sense too. Reducing energy use, re-


ASK THEEXPERT

Road to recoveryAndrew Kinder outlines how manufacturers can cut costs and notquality as economic conditions start to improve.

ducing waste and recycling materials saves money. One wayin which manufacturers can profit from this is throughInfor’s EAM Asset Sustainability solution. Since 80 percentof the total cost of operating an asset can be in the energy itconsumes over its lifecycle, it makes sense to monitor this in-tently. By maintaining equipment at its peak performanceenergy bills can be cut by eight to 20 percent.

Smart move #4 – Rent instead of buying. You may want toadopt new technology to help you to a stronger, faster re-covery but huge upfront costs are a tough sell in a tight-money environment, no matter how big the future payoffmight be. An alternative might be to subscribe to businesssoftware rather than buy it outright. This preserves cashand without the upfront payment associated with pur-chased software, has the financial effect of shortening thetime to benefit. Software as a Service (SaaS) or ApplicationManaged Services (AMS) are both alternative deploymentoptions offered by Infor to help companies address cost orresource concerns.

Smart move #5 – Upgrade your business software. Almostall manufacturers have some form of enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) system and the normal agreement includesan annual maintenance and support fee entitling customersto the latest versions. Research across the industry, however,shows that the majority of organisations are not on the latestrelease of their software, with many on versions several yearsold and facing an uphill effort and high cost to update to thelatest version. In effect, this means companies are not gettingthe full value of their software investment and are missingout on newer capabilities that could help improve efficien-cies and innovate processes. Infor has tackled this problemwith Infor Flex. n

Andrew Kinder is the Director of SolutionsMarketing at Infor. He is responsible for settingthe strategy, determining focus industries,aligning forward development direction and

driving global execution throughmarketing and sales enablement and hasa background and particular interest inenterprise resource planning.

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Asupply chain is a row of activities set up between asupplier and a customer with the purpose to providevalue to a customer. If the supply chain is smooth it’salso profitable and in this article I will show how you

can make your supply chain more smooth.While the parts of the supply chain can be different from case

to case, the sequence generally follows the pattern of marketing,ordering, manufacturing, delivery, payment and interaction.

While all the activities contribute to the profitability, the mostimportant part is step number one. Marketing is as essential for abusiness as the blood is for a body. If the marketing doesn’t work,no business is generated and if no business is generated you makeno money. So you must make the marketing work properly andone way to do that is through the internet.

When the customers know that you exist and have a productor service to offer, they must be able to send you correct orders in a smoothway. There are many opportunities here but the customers have to know howto order and what information you need.

With a correct order, the manufacturing process can start. This part isthe most specific one and it is difficult to describe common things that can gowrong. But one way to deal with general problems is to look for bottlenecks

and see what you can do to eliminate them.The same bottleneck approach can be used in the delivery part as well.

How about the flight capacity to the destination? Is it tricky to pass the goodsthrough customs? Would it be profitable to hire someone to deliver to the cus-tomers? These are just a few of the questions you can ask when attempting tomaximise efficiency in this area.

While the manufacturing and delivery parts are similar, the ordering andthe payment parts also have some things in common. The customer has toknow how to pay and you must inform them how.

As it’s much cheaper to keep an existing customer than to get a new one,the interaction part is important to generate future business. It enables you toinform the customers about future offers and provides customers with the op-portunity to give you feedback if they are satisfied with your performance orif there is something you could improve.

So here we are with a couple of questions to be answered regarding yourbusiness. I wish you good luck with your efforts and look forward to hearingfrom you to see what we can do together in order to improve your prof-itability. n

The missing link


Mikael Nilsson outlines the basic fundamentals of the supply chain and howfully understanding it can maximise profitability and customer satisfaction.

INDUSTRYINSIGHT

Mikael Nilsson is the founder ofMinimpex and has a Mastersdegree in applied logistics fromthe Royal Institute of Technology,the number one technologicalinstitution in Sweden. Nilssonhas a background in the telecombusiness where he hasknowledge of the entire supplychain from manufacturing viatransportation to customer. Hehas worked in a dozen countriesand has experience from a widerange of cultures.

“As it’s much cheaper to keep anexisting customer than to get a new

one, the interaction part isimportant to generate

future business”

MINIMPEX_5May 10/05/2010 13:19 Page 112

Mikael Nilsson Trading ConsultUtgårdsvägen 1819144 SollentunaTel: +46-73-6493268Email: [email protected]: www.minimpex.comwww.BuildItBeforeYouNeedIt.com

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LEANSIX SIGMA

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As Global Operational Excellence Champion, CarmenDoran supports all 23 sites for Novartis Pharma’s tech-nical operations as well as the global support functions,by providing a systematic training and certification pro-gramme across the organisation. This aims to foster aculture of operational excellence (internally referred to

as IQP: innovation, quality and productivity). She comments that operationalexcellence in Novartis Pharma covers a wide range of topics, tools and tech-niques, which allow flexibility in identifying the best approach for a specificproblem or opportunity.

“The philosophies of Lean and Six Sigma represent a way of thinking andlooking at a problem, in order to understand the root cause(s) and then solvethe problem in a sustainable manner,” she explains. “This approach is differ-ent to the traditional management styles focusing on short term ‘quick fix’ so-lutions rather than on identifying the problem correctly and ensuring thesolution is effective and sustainable long-term. We try to use this approachacross all areas of the business.”

Initially set out as two different methods, Lean and Six Sigma are verymuch interlinked and constantly evolving, a development that Doran notesto be present in Novartis Pharma technical operations. She explains how pre-viously projects would solely use Lean and focus on reducing waste, or wouldapply a Six Sigma approach to reducing variability. “The Lean philosophy isto have flow through the process and to do this, you need to have processesyou can rely on. A stable and reliable process is then the foundation for con-tinuous improvement. So Lean and Six Sigma go hand in hand to achieve op-erational excellence.

“We look at the flow of value all the way through our processes down tothe customer, whoever the customer may be; in our case, this is ultimately thepatient. If we look at some of the supporting functions like HR, we’ve beenapplying the Lean and Six Sigma way of thinking to these processes, goingthrough the steps of identifying the problem, understanding the customerneeds and root causes of the problem and then finding the solution whichmatches to those. By doing so, we are for instance ensuring the improvementand sustainability for recruitment processes where the benefiting customersare actually both the employee and the business.

“We apply the same approach in non-manufacturing environments aswe do in production. It’s a natural progression that we need support functionsaligned to the new way of working and thinking in manufacturing. Like a lotof companies, Novartis started to apply these methodologies and philosophiesin the manufacturing area first, and now the ideas are spreading to the rest ofthe business. In manufacturing it’s very easy to see the processes and to workon the processes because that’s what is right in front of your eyes. In otherbusiness areas, some of the work we do focuses on simply making the processtransparent,” explains Doran.

As a global IQP champion at Novartis, Doran explains how she has a lotmore requests to provide Lean support than she has time for; these come frompeople who have heard about Lean through their colleagues or through see-ing the benefits themselves. In order to accommodate what Doran explains asa “pull system” for IQP support, Novartis has its IQP champions across theworld, operating different skills in different areas and matching the businessneeds with the company’s resources.


As the food industry seeks to improve its efficiency in all areas of operation, there ismuch it can learn from other business areas. Here, Carmen Doran, Global OperationalExcellence Champion, and Domingo Traver, Head of Supply Chain Excellence and IQPfor Novartis Pharma Technical Operations, tell us about their company’s progress inimplementing these processes.

Carmen Doran is Global Operational Excellence Champion in Novartis PharmaTechnical Operations.

“What has made the Lean and Six Sigmathinking successful is the combination of thetechnical process improvements, culturalaspects and a clear strategic direction whichfosters, for all involved, a passion to strive foroperational excellence”


of speech and interactions between people, and explains that althoughNovartis publishes its IQP project results on the internal website and innewsletters, most results are seen from the effects of a strong network.Monthly teleconferences with IQP champion networks, ad hoc telecon-ferences and regular meetings focus on the challenges facing the site, thesuccesses, their goals and what’s in store for the future.

“Although the sites are on the same jour-ney, they’re all at different stages, but they’reall looking for alignment through our opera-tional excellence scorecard. We have a veryclear strategic direction for operational excel-lence in Novartis Pharma TechnicalOperations which allows all of the sites tomove in the same direction. That’s one of thereasons we’ve been successfully able to turnthose challenges along the journey at a site intosomething that has been enjoyable and re-warding.”

Novartis Pharma is certainly not alone infacing these challenges. The pharmaceutical in-dustry has been dogged by pressures to reducecosts in light of the recent economic crisis. “Wecould focus on cost, but the better way is to focuson the speed and the agility of the processes,” ex-plains Doran.

“One of the biggest concerns for all phar-maceutical companies is the speed at which theyare able to adapt to change. A lot of our process-es can be improved, and maybe we haven’t hadthe challenge that some of the faster-movingconsumer industries have had in terms of reac-tion to market requirements. Those companieswho can respond quickly to the market needs bybeing flexible and reducing their cycle times,both in manufacturing and in development, willbe the ones who can overcome these challenges.”

Added pressures come from the highly reg-ulated nature of the industry. “None of us wouldwant to take medicine if it wasn’t highly regulat-ed,” says Doran. However, she notes that thepharma industry must also recognise that it isnot alone in terms of the level of regulation itmust undergo, pointing to the aerospace indus-try as facing similar challenges. To combat theseconcerns, she points out that there are opportu-nities to collaborate more closely with regulato-ry agencies such as the FDA, which welcomespositive changes.

“At the end of the day, what I feel has madethe Lean and Six Sigma thinking successful for usis the combination of the technical process im-

provements, cultural aspects and a clear strategic direction which fosters, forall involved, a passion to strive for operational excellence,” she concludes. n

“We often use an external pair of eyes on a process. That external viewmay come from another internal function, another manufacturing site or aglobal function. Novartis has a strong network of people across the globe, allwith different backgrounds, but all working on Lean and Six Sigma in a ratherunified manner. They are capable of implementing various problem-solvingtools and methodologies in projects and of linking them together to create aculture leading towards operational excellence,”she explains.

Pharma technical operations has successful-ly handled some natural resistance to change andto the use of these new processes thanks to strongleadership endorsement, although Doran admitsthat there are still some people who are cominground to the idea. Enthusiasm for a new project,she points out, is often created upon seeing theresults. If a person working on a project has en-joyed it and demonstrated good results, then oth-ers can judge for themselves.

ExpansionAs a global company, Novartis Pharma

Technical Operations has sites located across theUS, Europe and Asia. Prior to taking up her cur-rent role, Doran worked in the company’s re-cently opened Pharmaceutical Operations site inSingapore. She explains that there are variationsin the take-up of Lean Six Sigma across differentlocations, but not always in the way you mightthink. “The difference for us in terms of adoptionis not necessarily the culture but the maturity ofthe site. When you have a site which has beenaround for 50 years where you have people witha lot of history at that site, then it takes a differentapproach for them to change their way of think-ing than if you have a brand new site likeSingapore. For them, everything is new.

“We can show them results from othersites, and there isn’t that resistance to changebecause they understand how it works togeth-er in the overall business model. So rather thanpeople’s cultural differences, adoption dependson the lifecycle of the site,” says Doran.

In order to meet the challenges that oftenaccompany such implementations, she callsupon the company’s network of IQP champi-ons: each site has a single point of contact forall best practice sharing. “If I have a site inChina that needs some input from a site in theUS, they can directly contact the local IQPchampion and ask about the results and learn-ings.”

Communication between the multiple sites is essential, and is facili-tated by the central IQP team. Doran places most emphasis on the power


The Kotter modelIn 1995, Harvard Business Schoolprofessor and change managementguru John Kotter published a bookentitled Leading Change, within whichhe outlined his now well-known eight-step change process:

1. Create sense of urgencyOpen an honest dialogue about what’shappening in the marketplace

2. Form a guiding coalitionSet up strong leadership by gainingsupport from key people

3. Create a visionHelp people see for themselves whatyou’re trying to achieve

4. Communicate the visionTalk often about and apply your visionas much as possible

5. Remove obstaclesCheck continually for barriers tochange

6. Create short-term winsGive your people an early taste ofvictory

7. Build on changeKeep looking for improvements

8. Anchor change in yourcultureMake sure change is embedded inevery aspect of your organisation



Healthcare markets around the world arerapidly evolving and pharmaceuticalcompanies need to be prepared to addressthese changes. For example, regulators andpayers are becoming more challenging while

patients are taking a more active role in their diseasemanagement. All of this affects the pharmaceutical business,where increasing efficiencies can support future growth.

As Domingo Traver explains, rather than reinventing thewheel, it makes sense for pharmaceutical companies to drawlessons from what their counterparts in other industries havealready done. He describes how the processes of Lean and SixSigma – pioneered by Toyota and Motorola respectively – havetaken hold within Technical Operationsorganisation at Novartis Pharma, where he isHead of Supply Chain Excellence and IQP.

“The idea was first that we implementLean to reduce waste in our processes, andthen apply Six Sigma to reduce variability; it’sa two-step process,” he explains. “We haveimplemented the Lean phase, and in certainareas, such as quality assurance, we have alsobegun to apply Six Sigma. For example, Leanhas been implemented in the differentoperational units, it is now time to link all ofthese units together. IQP is the internal name:innovation, quality and productivity for the operationalexcellence or continuous processing programme.”

In his role at Novartis Pharma, Traver looks after logisticsand IQP, as well as leading the multimarket network forsupply chain. He points to the fact that the current level ofregulation and quality control within the pharmaceuticalindustry has a direct impact on the development andimplementation of new efficiency processes. While regulationis necessary to ensure the safety of the end products, Leanand Six Sigma can additionally help to support the overallprocesses.

“For example,” Traver points out, “existing proceduresmay show that a particular process takes eight hours. Byunderstanding your internal processes and applying Leantechniques, you will be able to demonstrate improvementsand hence reduce the time required. Lean, therefore,challenges your current processes and technologies while atthe same time making them more efficient.”

Another challenge can lie in implementing such changesacross an entire organisation, which is why the Technical

Operations unit at Novartis Pharma started with several pilotprogrammes. After the successful implementation of thesepilots, the initiative has now been rolled out across globalfunctions, such as supply chain.

Creating changePrior to taking up his current position, Traver was

Functional Champion IQP for Novartis PharmOps Spain, wherehe was principally in charge of deploying IQP and aligning IQPefforts with the global Technical Operations vision andstrategy. He was leader of the Lean – POO (Process OrientedOrganisation) project that ended with the implementation ofthe new organisational structure in Barbera in May, 2007.

“It was a very interesting project, becauseit included two elements,” he recalls. “One wasthe pure implementation of Lean Six Sigma –hence, applying the techniques and helping theteams understand what these techniquesmean and how to use them. The other elementwas about POO, which was aimed at changingthe organisation’s culture and mindset inregard to how people approach businessoperations. Among others, this included achange in management tools as well asbusiness understanding.

“We used the Kotter model, starting withthe ‘burning platform’. This allowed us to see how peoplebehaved differently after POO had been initiated a number ofweeks previously. This was really exciting to me, as you couldsee how the organisation as a whole had improved .

“You have different people behaving in different ways; forexample, some may be afraid of change. Generally, there willalways be 10 percent of people who are quite changeresistant. However, you can manage these 10 percent bydemonstrating how the other 90 percent benefited from newprocesses and a new culture. I was very happy that despitethe challenges we managed the turn-around.”

Traver feels that Lean and Six Sigma have a strong futurewithin the pharmaceutical industry, as well as in otherindustries. He points out that there are many areas in whichthese concepts are yet to be introduced.

“Lean Six Sigma helps us to improve our processes and toreduce variability. It is really helpful in many industries, andyet there are parts of the world that still have not takenadvantage of it. So I would say overall that there is a lot offuture in this yet.”

Domingo Traver Head of Supply Chain Excellence and IQP at NovartisPharma Technical Operations talks about the satisfaction he derives fromthe successful implementation of Lean and Six Sigma in thepharmaceutical supply chain.

“Lean SixSigma helps usto improve ourprocesses and

to reducevariability”

MAKING IT HAPPEN


EXECUTIVEINTERVIEW

How do companies sustain a culture of quali-ty while maintaining a consistent level of cus-tomer satisfaction?Debra Shumar. Creating a steady vision and get-ting people at all levels of the organisation en-gaged with the idea of quality creates a culturethat improves and enriches what people do, theknowledge they utilise and the products and ser-vices they produce. Promoting a culture of qual-ity that inherently embraces continuousimprovement will achieve higher levels of em-ployee and customer satisfaction. Assuring thatin a Management Review Process (MRP), qual-ity metrics are reviewed is also key to sustainingan environment of quality and customer satis-faction. It is important to understand whatprocesses and or products need to be improvedthen apply the appropriate tool to the area of con-cern. This area is where 3P Partners’ services suchas Six Sigma and Lean are critical.

Quality is very critical within the food industry.How do 3P Partner’s Six Sigma and Lean toolshelp the organisation to improve quality?DS. Quality standards and regulation have been akey part of a company’s structure for years. Buttoday, with so many companies buying, selling,downsizing and out-sourcing, assuring that qual-ity is kept at to the highest level is a paramount con-cern. As the food industry continues to improvecosts and efficiency while maintaining complianceto regulation, it is important to provide a constantvision and focus about how our tools (Six Sigmaand Lean) impact the workforce. Six Sigma andLean are tools to assist the engagement of employ-ees at all levels of the organisation and are critical toimproving operating efficiency and quality.

What do companies need to do to effectivelyuse these tools? DS. There are several key factors that can help anyorganisation achieve success with the implemen-tation of a Six Sigma or Lean initiative or pro-

gramme. Some factors to consider are the leader-ship’s commitment to assuring the vision alignswith the organisation, a communication plan, skillsand education training for all employees to driveimprovement, profitability, return on investment,and an evaluation of the structure to support the re-alignment of resources and functions while tryingto incur minimal risk to the organisation and cus-tomers. Companies must also be willing to admitwhen a process is not proceeding as planned andmake necessary adjustments.

How do companies sustain a continuous qual-ity improvement focused culture using thesetools? DS.The formal elements of strategy, structure,systems and infrastructure coupled with the in-formal elements of people, competencies, behav-iours, relationships and culture must move inharmony over the long haul if companies are tocreate a new culture of sustainability through theuse of Six Sigma and Lean tools. The primary rea-son for doing this is so that the architecture be-hind Six Sigma and Lean initiative supports thenew culture for the organisation of ongoing con-tinuous improvement.

Why is culture so important to quality?DS. Culture is as important to quality as the effortit takes to solve problems, improve productivity,downsize, merge, acquire business or drive or-ganisational change. But when the culture of theorganisation does not embrace shared qualityideals, many organisations never fully utilise theirresources, thereby diminishing productivity andimprovement within the organisation. Providingthe who, what, why and how while providingsteady vision and engaging with people at all lev-els of the organisation will create a ‘Culture ofQuality’ to achieve greater levels of employee andcustomer satisfaction. To change how an organi-sation’s culture drives quality, the organisationmust require future quality to be the fundamen-tal and pre-eminent focus. n

Quality controlDebra Shumar explains how the disciplines of Six Sigma and Lean can change

the culture of a company to focus more on quality and efficiency in order toimprove employee and customer satisfaction.


Debra Shumar is President and founder of 3PPartners. Former positions include VP GlobalProduct Quality for Whirlpool and SVP Quality,Continuous Improvement, Engineering andTechnology at ArvinMeritor. Theseresponsibilities included product and processquality, warranty, supplier development,continuous process improvement and businessexcellence initiatives with people supportivestrategies. Shumar is a certified Lean instructorand trained in the discipline of Six Sigma.

“Companies must also bewilling to admit when aprocess is not proceedingas planned and makenecessary adjustments”

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one comprehensive picture, providing precise, accurate data of all New Product Development and Introduction (NPDI) worldwide.

But the overhauling of a product line is more than a single picture. It is a movement that demands robust tools. It requires vision that must be seen by all team members through all stages of the product lifecycle.

As stated by the fi rst lady, a critical component is the marketing of products, the claims made and the product’s ability to live up to the claim. How will corporations be able to quickly optimise their product lines and beat their competition to market?

We can begin by examining the tradition-al concept to validation lifecycle (although we do understand each product lifecycle has its variances). Th e traditional NPDI relied on linear task-to-task delivery, with a fi nal check on quality at validation.

Best in class corporations now diverge from the rest. Th ey realise that to beat their competition to a global market, they must now align their tasks in parallel stages with quality stage checkpoints and event-driven notifi cation alerts.

In addition to the parallel tasks timeframe, developers can also expedite the inno-vation stage with advanced searches, unique calculations, analysis, and by simply lever-

What do consumers want? What is their biggest demand? Ironically, their biggest new thing demand-

ed from consumers is to actually be smaller. Consumers want healthier options. While they do have favourite brands, they seek out the healthier options to minimise their waistlines.

Not only a concern of the consumers, governments and leaders present initiatives to corporations for lower calories, sugar, sodium and trans fats. “We need you not just to tweak around the edges but to entirely rethink the products that you're off ering, the information that you provide about these products and how you market those products to our chil-dren.” Th ese were the words of US fi rst lady, Michelle Obama.

Th is is not only an issue for a single coun-try, food and beverage corporations must create global recipes to meet the needs and compliance issues of several countries. Th e race is now on for the healthier products. Who will reformulate their products the fastest? And who will ensure compliance across the most agencies for a single recipe?

Creating a healthier product requires a healthier solution – one that unites instead of divides the team members from their data and provides not only the essential tools, but progressive tools to expedite innovation. Best in class corporations opt for an integrated ap-proach with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and legacy systems.

With secured connections, team members can collaborate eff ectively, creating and viewing

aging what they have. In other words, don’t reinvent the wheel.

What type of tools should you have for a healthier product innovation? We can name only a few in this short space, but we will emphasise the need for a product develop-ment module that looks more than just at the present, but also at your past and future. Th is should include Rapid Prototyping to Target, Recipe Templates (base recipes with add-on fl avourings for faster formulation), and a Formula Optimiser. Th is last tool allows you to select current formulas, defi ne an objec-tive, constraints, and alternate ingredients. and within seconds, recalculate a healthier formula that would have once taken days or even weeks.

While still in development, team members can run regulatory analysis on the formula for compliance issues in each region where the product will be distributed (including claims,

such as low fat). In addition, corporations can continue to track the progress of the proj-ect, including variances and the current snapshot of the product at the time with specifi cations (as well as make global changes, generate template-driven Bill of Materials, nutritional label-ling, ingredient lists, and fi nal product specifi cations).

While slow and steady once may have won a race—fast, safe, and secure now holds the key to success. Selerant’s web-based PLM solution, DevEX has the tools for corporations to quickly optimise formula-tions for a healthier consumer, all while ensuring compliance in a global market.

ASK THE EXPERT

Keith Smallwood explains how PLM can be essential in maximising a healthier bottom line.

Life signs

Keith Smallwood has worked in the global FMCG sector since 1989. He has extensive experience working on a wide range of NPDI and Supply Chain-related projects within different CPG Categories. More recently, Smallwood has focussed on delivering Product Lifecycle Management-based business improvement programmes within global R&D organisations.

Th e race is now on for the healthier products. Who will reformulate their products the fastest? And who will ensure compliance across the most agencies for a single recipe?

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Obesity is a growing concern in modern society. Th e consequences of energy imbalance were set out in stark detail in the 2007 UK government Foresight report Tackling Obesities: Future Choices. By 2050 Britain could be a mainly obese society, at increased

risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. Th e severe impact on health and quality of life of this scenario would be matched by an additional burden on the health service, estimated at €7.5 billion. Th e government and food and grocery industry have therefore been increasingly concerned with enabling consumers to make informed decisions on how to eat a healthy, balanced diet.

On-pack labellingOne of the ways in which this has been done is to provide nutrition

information on food and drink labels. Although only legally required where a nutrition or health claim is made, many food manufacturers routinely provide back-of-pack nutrition information across their prod-uct ranges and some also provide it on front-of-pack.

So, we can clearly see nutrition information displayed on food and drink labelling, but what about portion size? How do consumers know how much to eat and does the amount of food presented, either pre-packaged or served on a plate aff ect the amount a person eats?

An academic workshop convened by the Food Standards Agency in 2008 to assess the evidence around portion size, its impact on energy intake and weight, reported that there was suffi cient evidence to take action.

For the food industry, portion size is an important consideration for food labelling. If manufacturers wish to provide information per portion or per serving, in addition to per 100g or 100ml specifi ed in legislation, they must fi rst determine what a portion is for that product.

Determining portion sizeOur Industry Nutrition Strategy Group (INSG) convened a working

group to examine what the industry and other stakeholders were using to determine portion sizes and how this information was being commu-nicated. Th e working group looked across a range of organisations in

size mattersRachel Hackett, Nutrition and Scientifi c Affairs Manager at IGD, explains

how portion sizes given on packaging affect consumer behaviour and what consumers actually need to see on the packaging regarding nutrition

information and portion size.

PACKAGING

IGD PORTION SIZED P124-127.indd 124IGD PORTION SIZED P124-127.indd 124 10/5/10 14:45:4310/5/10 14:45:43


Consumer behaviourOverall, the INSG found that there was an obvious lack of consis-

tency in how portion size was communicated. So, how does this aff ect consumer behaviour? To fi nd out, we carried out research exploring con-sumers’ views about portion size information on food and drinks.

In a series of consumer interviews and focus groups, we explored attitudes, understanding and the use of portion size information on pre-packaged foods as well as the uses of diff erent portion sizes.

Th e concept of food portion size appeared quite novel to consumers, except to those who were regulating their intake for weight loss or medical purposes. Otherwise many did not consider the amount of food they ate.

For the preparation of meals, portion sizes purchased and consumed were determined largely by habit and experience. When we asked our consumers how they know how much food to eat, 48 percent of those questioned cited ‘experience’, while 21 percent just ate what was in front of them until they felt full. Only three percent followed the recommended serving information on a product.

Only 38 percent of people surveyed said they measured out foods during preparation. Where this was the case, it was most likely to be for starchy foods such as pasta and rice. Guidance on portion size appeared more acceptable for these products, whereas for other staples such as milk and bread, it was not seen as necessary.

Knowledge of portion sizes appropriate for children was variable, with evidence of children as young as fi ve years receiving the same quantity of food as adults. Generally, children had a great deal of control about what they ate, the quantity of the food and the frequency.

Some questioned the relevance of portion size information for prod-ucts consumed as snacks or for indulgence, while others claimed that an indication of the nutrition information per portion would help them to

judge how much they should consume. Portion information did not get much attention where share-packs were consumed

among groups. Individual portions were, however, re-garded as important for foods eaten as snacks by chil-dren, largely to prevent arguments and pestering.

Portion information was also used by shoppers buying main meal products. Th is was driven by con-cern that there should be suffi cient food to feed the

family and was particularly relevant when products were purchased for the fi rst time. Some would go to the

lengths of removing packaging to reassure themselves that there was suffi cient food.

Our research found that serving sizes provided on main meal products such as ready meals were generally regarded as too small and guidance across products lacked credibility due to perceived individual variation. Credibility of information across food categories is impor-tant – where portion size was regarded as unrealistic for one category it tended to impact the credibility of others.

Portion size informationConsumers showed some preferences for formats used to express

portion size on food labels. One problem was the lack of concept of par-ticular weights where these were given as a portion. For an individual product, consumers might have diffi culty in visualising what the quanti-

the food and grocery sector, as well as government, NGOs and healthcare professional groups.

Results showed that despite the variety of or-ganisations and businesses communicating portion size information, most sourced their information from a consistent set of food or nutrition-based criteria originating from government or expert body publications. However, the applica-tion of these criteria varied according to the owner’s or another body’s interpretation.

In addition, non-nutrition related factors infl uenced fi nal portion sizes, particularly for the food industry. Consumer perception regarding value for money, consistency within a category and meeting expectations were among the considerations.

However, despite the similarities underpinning approaches to por-tion size, the group found much variation in the way in which it was communicated. For example, diff erent formats might be used for front and back-of-pack information, or the language used in the portion infor-mation diff ered to that used elsewhere on the pack.

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Only 38% of people measure

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“By 2050 Britain could

be a mainly obese society,

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Th e INSG suggested that there is a role for a user-friendly, online portion size tool, similar to that developed by WRAP for their ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign. Such a tool was seen as being benefi cial to both food businesses and consumers in helping to provide consistent messages about portion size.

Development of a standard set of everyday objects for comparison, as discussed above, would also be helpful in consumer communications about portion size. Along these lines also, development of purse-sized picture cards showing portion sizes of common foods in the context of everyday objects would help consumers.

In a survey of dieticians, who regularly advise patients on portion sizes of food and drinks, we found that information on food labels was under-used. Th e support of healthcare professionals, government and educators is needed to help encourage consumers to use the portion size information on food labels and give them confi dence in the guidance provided.

A key recommendation of the report therefore was that food busi-nesses should engage with healthcare professionals and the relevant government departments to further develop portion size guidance.

Th e voluntary guidelines on communicating portion size to con-sumers were published in October 2009. Food businesses are encouraged to use them to provide portion size information in a way that consumers fi nd easy to understand and helpful.

ty specifi ed might look like in a bowl or on a plate. Nutrition information given per unit, item or pack, where this was a single serving, was most popular, refl ecting the preference for simple forms of information.

Packages containing products of more than one serving frequently provide the nutrition information for a fraction of the pack. Th is was not considered helpful by many participants, unless an indication of the number of servings or portions in a pack was included. However, for some food types such as sauces used in main meal preparation, respon-dents indicated that once the pack was opened it was likely to be used regardless of the clarity of portion indication.

Our research revealed the types of portion size information consum-ers wanted to see on products. Firstly, they want simple, clear guidance, e.g. nutrition information displayed per unit, per item or an indication of the number of servings in the pack where products are not discrete single-serve items. Secondly, consumers would prefer systems using fa-miliar objects to help judge appropriate portions, e.g. guidance given in numbers of teaspoons or tablespoons. Finally, portion markings on the side of packs are desired.

Any guidance should, however, take care not to be over-prescriptive. When we asked consumers who they thought was responsible for provid-ing guidance on the amount of food they should eat, 75 percent said it was the responsibility of the individual.

IGD guidelinesOur Industry Nutrition Strategy Group used the fi ndings of the re-

search to develop voluntary guidelines on communicating portion size to consumers. Th ese have been made available to food businesses to help them with both on-pack information and other communications aimed to help consumers understand and manage the quantity of food they need to eat. We also devised a checklist to give guidelines for portion size information on packaged retail products. (See pg 127)

Consumer communicationsIn addition to labelling of packaged retail goods, the guidelines pro-

vide suggestions for other consumer communications about portion size. Th ese include the opportunity to visualise portions on the pack where possible, such as using side of pack markings for pourable products, or markings on the side of blocks, such as for butter or cheese.

Consumers responded positively to the use of everyday objects to help express portion size, such as tablespoons full, matchbox, or tennis ball sized etc. Use of these in consumer communications is therefore encouraged.

Th e voluntary guidelines recognise that there are gaps in our un-derstanding of consumer behaviour that still need to be addressed, for example, there is little information on which to base guidance on com-munication to customers by caterers.

We also found that out-of-home eating is a complex area, with con-sumers adopting diff erent behaviours compared to when buying prod-ucts in shops, or preparing food at home.

Recommendations We made a number of recommendations for further work alongside

the voluntary guidelines.

“One problem was the lack of concept of particular weights where these were given as a portion”



A portion or serving size is

provided

Simply providing a portion size

on pack, and giving the nutrition

information for that portion size

where possible (and not just per

100g or 100ml) increases visibility

and makes the concept of portion

size more familiar to consumers.

It is clear from the label how the

product is intended to be used,

and this is consistent with the

nutrition information in terms of

portion size

Our work did not set out to

establish portion sizes for different

product categories. The voluntary

guidelines suggest that portion

sizes should be based on how

products are intended to be used –

if it is intended that the product be

consumed in one eating occasion,

the portion size should refl ect this.

Consumers may require

different advice if it is possible

for the product to be consumed

in more than one way, such as

some recipe dishes. A vegetable

accompaniment may also be used

as a vegetarian main meal and the

nutrition information should be

provided to refl ect both scenarios.

Language used in the nutrition

information is the same on the

front and back-of-pack

Our research did not reveal any

obvious consumer preferences for

terms such as portion or serving

etc. However, confusion sometimes

resulted when the language used

on a single pack was inconsistent.

The terms used on front and back-

of-pack should be the same.

Language used in marketing text

is consistent with that used for the

nutrition information

Marketing text and images

should be consistent with the

terminology used in the portion

size information. This helps

to clarify that the portion size

information refers directly to the

product contained in the pack, and

to a clear quantity of that product.

Language is consistent with same

brand products in the category

Consistency across product ranges

from individual businesses is

helpful to consumers who may

purchase or compare other

products from one brand.

Additional wording or descriptions

are used to reinforce portion size

messages

Indicating to consumers that the

information provided is guidance

may be helpful where judgement

is required such as for pasta or

cereals. For example, suggesting

that the quantity given is a

“typical serving” avoids appearing

over-prescriptive but reinforces a

message about portion size.

CHECKLISTIGD guideline checklist for portion size information on packaged retail products


Areport by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) hasfound that the food and drink supply chain generates more than 11million tonnes of food waste and five million tonnes of packagingwaste each year. The estimated cost to the UK economy is UK£17

billion, with UKP£5 billion of that total attributed to the supply chain.Overall, waste is 18.4 million tonnes per year (mt/y), of which 11.9 mt

is household and 7.5 mt supply-chain related. Reducing waste would pro-vide significant financial and environmental benefits and improve re-source efficiency.

Last year WRAP commissioned DHL Exel Supply Chain to conduct a studyto investigate the levels of product damage, packaging and food waste occurringwithin the UK food and drink supply chain, focusing on three key stages – man-ufacture, distribution and retail. Following the completion of this study, WRAPcommissioned Oakdene Hollins to build upon the DHL study with the aim ofdeveloping a baseline of waste arisings within the UK food and drink supplychain, and to identify opportunities for cost savings, improved resource effi-ciencies and future interventions.

The report Waste arisings in the supply of food and drink to households inthe UK shows that by far the largest proportion of waste comes from house-holds, which generate 11.9 million tonnes of food and packaging waste – al-most 65 percent of the total. The manufacturing process generates 27 percentor five million tonnes of waste. Distribution and retail account for muchsmaller proportions of the total waste generated, although there is still scopeto reduce waste in these areas.

PreventionRetailers and brands are making an

effort to reduce the impacts of packag-ing, by minimising waste and increas-ing recycling rates, and recyclingcontent in packaging. This researchsuggests there is scope to make furtherefficiency savings either through furtheroptimisation or through greater use ofreturnable transit packaging, where itsappropriate, logisticmanager.com re-ports.

Recycling rates for packaging of 92percent have been achieved for retail and 60percent for distribution. Progress is alsobeing made in diverting food from landfill,such as to anaerobic digestion or to charities

such as FareShare. Much of the activity undertaken by retailers regarding theirfood waste so far seems to have focused on landfill diversion rather than waste pre-vention.

The report acknowledges that while retailers and brands have been mak-ing an effort to reduce their packaging and reduce food waste, more still needsto be done.

The report makes several recommendations for better waste preven-tion within the retail supply chain, including:

• Measuring waste• Quantifying waste arisings at sub-category level• Improving forecasting and working in partnership with suppliers• Shifting the emphasis from waste management to waste minimisation• Considering how the surplus food and drink waste could be redistributed,

recycled or recovered• Behavioural change through improving communications• Optimising packaging specifications• Retailers playing a key role in supporting waste prevention• Delivering change through sectoral initiatives such as the Courtauld

Commitment

The report also emphasised the importance of campaigns, such as LoveFood Hate Waste, in encouraging households to make better use of the foodthey buy and to save money. n


By Jodie Humphries

PACKAGINGFOCUS

Mounting food waste in the supply chain

“Reducing waste wouldprovide significant financialand environmental benefitsand improve resourceefficiency”

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for operational improvements. A handful of performance incentives, broken down at local levels, do the rest.

Today, improvements are outlined by middle and lower management into small portions of achievable targets for our local workforce. Th is has helped us to continue our improvement at a time when all the man-ager’s eff orts were dominated by the carve out process.

Which achievements do you want to high-light especially?DB. All fi nancial and operational KPIs have developed to the point that our performance in certain areas has become a benchmark to the industry. An example is employee safety, an area that has improved drastically: we have reduced the LTIF (lost time incident frequen-cy) by 400 percent. And, as mentioned before, we have more than halved our working capital while notably improving our supply perfor-mance at the same time.

What are the future targets to be achieved by continuous improvement? DB. Continuous improvement is the capability of an organisation to handle interdisciplinary projects in a cost and time effi cient way. Many of our processes are disciplined to continu-ously improve our performance towards the customer, for example through new product development, integrated supply chains or simply by achieving high reliability in what we are doing.

Our strategy is to provide our customers with the highest level of performance, in terms of new product development as well as product quality and service, thereby providing added value to their business and helping them to develop their market share.

We will continue to translate market re-quirements into internal KPIs in order to inte-grate as many of our employees into this value chain as possible. Continuous improvement will play a major role in building our future company profi le.

DB. Our continuous improvement process has developed year on year. Like many others, it was a top down approach when we started measuring operational performance in 2005. Th e programme focused on line and labour effi ciency as well as on waste reduction and recovery by technology, and the manufactur-ing process. At the same time, we announced safety, quality and supply performance to be our top objectives and started to benchmark key performance indicators (KPIs) between our units.

We made a thorough job, gradually imple-menting measurement and reporting tools so that we were able to speak to everyone, from management to operators, about actual achievements and future targets. Since then weekly business reviews and activity based ef-fi ciency reports go alongside our target setting

What has happened since Huhtamaki an-nounced its European Consumer Goods business would go under strategic review at the end of 2008?Dieter Bergner. Aft er the decision, our man-agement team identifi ed certain important objectives in order to stabilise the consumer goods business during the complicated opera-tional and administrative carve-out from the other businesses. We committed to a common understanding that our business would not suff er from the separation process.

Aft er 15 months, the Rigid Consumer Goods Plastic business in Europe is op-erationally and legally separated from the parent. Now employees and management are keen to understand what the common future will look like.

What role did continuous improvement projects play during this period?DB. It was essential to focus our workforce not only on carve-out activities, but to build the future management teams and assert ourselves as a new and robust packaging company. Con-tinuous improvement projects have helped us not to lose track of our daily business. A strong focus on cash fl ow management and manufac-turing performance, and its constant improve-ment, has helped to create a very positive team spirit. Th is positive momentum has meant that our business has achieved good fi nancial and operational results.

Th ere has been improvement in qual-ity and supply performance, while inventories have been reduced signifi cantly. Th ese actions have defi nitely boosted business, even making us an industry benchmark in some areas, while preparing our business for a new future. Today, Consumer Goods Europe is running with 40 percent of its 2007 operating working capital, an outcome of continuous improve-ment throughout all management layers.

How has continuous improvement in Con-sumer Goods Europe developed since the beginning?

EXECUTIVEINTERVIEW

Getting better all the timeDieter Bergner explains why continuous improvement is key to business success.

Dieter Bergner started his consumer food packaging career in metal packaging with Crown Cork & Seal and Impress Metal Packaging. With some 11 years experience behind him he joined Huhtamaki as Operations President for Rigid Packaging Europe, where he worked for four years before taking over Consumer Goods Europe as Managing Director.

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PACKAGING

CUTTING CORNERSWith the issue of sustainability on the minds of all in the packaging industry, Nestlé’s Head of Global Packaging, Anne Roulin, divulges what the company is doing to reduce its carbon footprint and still remain innovative.

As the issue of sustainability weighs ever more on the shoulders of food and beverage producers, packaging innovators are on the hunt to increase resource effi -ciency, eliminate the production of waste and reduce their environmental impact through improved design

and the use of alternative materials. One company breaking barriers to spearhead this new trend is

Nestlé, with its bold embracement of new packaging ideas and early adoption of promising new technologies. As Head of Global Packaging, Anne Roulin has her fi nger on the pulse when it comes to understanding the direction that packaging producers now need to take.

Nestlé has had great success in the UK in terms of the work it has done to reduce the packaging used for Easter eggs and Christmas

selection boxes. Is this initiative something that has been solely re-served to the UK or has it been rolled out on a larger scale? Also, do you intend to use the same strategy for any other products?Anne Roulin. Defi nitely. Th is is a programme that we’ve had in place since 1991. Every year we have projects related to reducing the weight and volume of packaging and we track it on a worldwide basis. Th e last two years have been particularly successful. In 2008 we reduced it by 58 million kilos. We thought this was really outstanding, but in 2009 we actually did slightly better at 59 million kilos. Th is is obviously a huge amount and it’s really taken tens of hundreds of projects around the world in diff erent areas to get to this result. However, we think that we’re going to come to a kind of plateau, because if you keep on going like that then fi nally you’ll have no packaging left .

So we’re taking a diff erent approach now because we realised it’s

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create obviously plays a large part of this. How does Nestlé go about combining convenient and ethi-

cal benefi ts with packaging innovation?AR. Well, that’s part of the challenge of creat-

ing good packaging. We’re having to bal-ance many diff erent factors together

– convenience and ethical benefi ts are only two of them. Th ere are plenty of others as well. We have to

fi nd the right combination here. For example, we’re currently rolling out

this programme based on life cycle as-sessment, but it’s a much quicker, simpler

way of analysing the diff erence between diff erent packaging choices versus specifi c

applications. For a trend user, within about an hour or so you compare diff erent scenarios in terms of environmental impact. Th e interesting thing is that you can analyse a range of diff erent environmental impacts.

It’s not only climate change with greenhouse gas emissions and CO2 footprints that a lot of other people are talking about. We also look at water usage, land usage, the eff ect on air pollution, the eff ect on soil pollution and of course the energy expenditure. Th e kind of output we get from this is like a spider plot where you can very easily compare one material with another. Th is allows us to really analyse the trade-off between diff erent packaging material choices for specifi c applications and sometimes the results are very surprising and not what you’d in-tuitively think. Th is gives us facts and fi gures to base our packaging development on and make the right choices right at the beginning of the process.

What are the main benefi ts that Nestlé has experienced from em-ploying eco-design in packaging?AR. Well, there’s a number of them, especially sometimes comparing paper and plastic laminate. Many consumers think paper is good and plastic is bad; something you see but it’s certainly not the case. We don’t believe there’s a good or bad material intrinsically, rather that the correct material for the right application is of pivotal importance. Also, the term ‘bio-plastics’ is slightly vague. It’s one that we struggle with because in one sense it’s used to relate to biodegradable materials, but in another sense it’s used for materials from new and sustainable sources. It’s really the latter part that we’re investigating because one-day oil will run out and we’ll need to have other sources of material for packaging.

going to be getting more diffi cult – we’ve actually

implemented very big IT platform across the company, which we call Globe. Part of this IT platform relates

to purchasing. Now we’re capable of analysing the worldwide purchas-ing arena, which is around 150,000 purchasing events around the world for packaging alone. We’re taking that data and analysing it to be able to decide on what the biggest opportunities are, then we can focus our eff orts and resources on the big projects rather than a lot of small ones. We’ve got a number of diff erent areas in diff erent types of packaging where we’re looking at bringing various businesses together as well.

Nestlé Waters launched a three litre, stackable PET water bottle in North America in 2006, which won an award for best packaging in-novation design. Can you explain the background to this and give details of the response that it received? Was it made available out-side the US?AR. Th at was actually developed by my team when I was responsible for packaging in Nestlé Waters and it was developed in our R&D centre in France. It was a response to a very specifi c demand in the US as they were having a lot of problems with their larger sized containers being out of stock on the shelves as obviously you can’t get many on a typical grocery store shelf – and if they’re selling fast they needed a diff erent solution. Th ey were looking for a display ready pallet that had ideally no second repackaging. We had teased them because it should be a pallet that held together like magic. We actually nicknamed the project the Holy Grail.

Th e only way to do it was to have something stackable, so the packag-es inter-nested. We didn’t quite achieve absolutely no secondary packag-ing, but instead a very limited amount of stretch wrap to hold the whole pallet. It defi nitely did boost sales. It was rolled out in a range of our Nestlé Waters brand in the US. However, that particular design wasn’t rolled out to Europe or other parts of the world. We do buy less of that format, especially in Europe, and that tends to be either even larger ones or the more standard formatted one in a half litre. Th ere wasn’t really the same customer demand in other parts of the world.

Consumers everywhere are becoming increasingly aware of the need to lessen their impact on the environment. The amount of waste we

create obviously Nestlé go abo

cal benefi tsAR. Well

ing gan

exthis

sessmway o

diff erentapplication

hour or so you compare diff erent impact. Th e interesting thing is tha

going to be gettingmore diffi cult – we’ve actually

implemented very big IT platform across the

“We don’t believe there’s a good or bad material intrinsically, rather

that the correct material for the right application is of pivotal importance”

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Secondly, through the work we’ve done with TK and full life cycle eff ects, we can see that bio-plastics of the future will enable us to decrease the environmental impact of our packaging. Th is is the main reason for us working in this area. Th is joint venture is actually a sponsorship at the Ecoles Des Mines with a number of other companies. Specifi cally, we’re doing this because we realise that there is little fundamental research going on in the area of bio-plastics.

Most of it is individual companies working on specifi c solutions, which we feel should be underpinned with more basic research – and the Ecoles Des Mines is particularly well equipped for this. Along with their research goes teaching, so they’ll be working with students with a sound understanding. In parallel with that, we’re working with various companies to evaluate solutions using bio-plastics. We’ve implemented a few of them and we have more coming along in the pipeline.

Nestlé has been exploring the opportunities that the Kansei engi-neering approach brings to packaging design. Today, Kansei is one of the specifi c tools in Nestlé’s Packaging and Design toolbox for consumer centric development. Can you tell us about the work that is being done in this arena?AR. Kansei was a technique originally developed in Japan and is used to link the emotional response of a consumer to the actual product. It’s also called aff ective engineering and is a very interesting technique. We’ve piloted it in a number of diff erent areas, but it’s only one of the techniques that we’re using within this whole area of aff ective engineering. Within our basic research centre, which is close to here in Lozan, we’ve got a group that is working on the psychological reaction of consumers with products and packaging. Kansei is one of the tools we have in our toolbox.

Apart from that, we’re developing specifi c physical methodologies in

order to link physical premises to consumer reactions. One of the things that Nestlé has done is to sponsor a programme in Lozan on the brain and mind in relation to food and packaging. We’re adopting new tech-niques looking outside of the food industry like we’ve done with Kansei. We’re developing a few techniques internally whilst also being constantly involved in research at universities. It’s quite a long-term approach, but it’s something you start six months prior and you get the magic results.

Protecting the authenticity of food and drink is a major concern for many manufacturers. What packaging schedules, if any, does Nestlé employ to protect against counterfeiting?AR. Well, I wouldn’t say that it’s a major concern in the food industry today. We suspect that there could be more in the future, as a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicates that food could be an issue in the future, so we’re adopting dif-ferent strategies as appropriate.

Ensuring food safety and freshness is obviously a very important role of packaging. What innovations are we seeing at the moment that could help to further increase the levels of safety and freshness?AR. We have a huge problem with packaging safety, so we’re really push-ing for much more transparency through the whole supply chain. Th is is a programme that we started three years ago to really work in partner-ship with our suppliers to understand all the components much better. Th is has led our suppliers to work more closely with their suppliers. In the fi rst round of pilots we’ve had 50 major suppliers working with us from around the world. In addition, we’ve been working a lot on chang-ing our auditing process. Th is should really induce a change in the food industry as a whole.

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up considerable fl oor space and a lot of people, just to run chicken pack-ing on a modest scale.

Th e right automation technology could allow you to set up an opera-tion processing, for example, 24,000 birds per hour using smaller, fewer machines and with reduced labour.

In this example you save money by packing more product per shift , as well as benefi ting from an increased fl oor space and a saving of 40 per-cent on labour costs. Weighing on modern equipment is not only faster but much more accurate, and one can readily increase packed products by signifi cant amounts.

The role of safety in packing line innovationJust looking, for example, at the rate at which lawsuits against cater-

ers are multiplying, you can see how safety concerns are very close to profi tability concerns.

Everyone knows the importance of safety in meat packing, but recently Ishida implemented a system to make the process of packing salads trace-able throughout for a major European salad producer. Th is new system can tell you, from the unique pack number, where the salad came from, the exact gas mixture used during sealing and the temperature of the product. It is possible to recover the X-ray of each particular pack, a photograph of the label, the checkweigher data and the seal tester information. Any claim that, for example, there was a stone or a piece of metal in that pack is, therefore, going to be categorically provable or disprovable.

The impact of qualityAn example of the impact of quality that comes to mind is current

Specialising in the complex interactions between pack-ing line units, Ishida Solutions is the new department of Ishida Europe that provides innovative solutions to optimise overall plant and line effi ciency. Every member of the team can draw on some 15 and 25 years of ground-breaking experience within the global food industry, and

are available for consultation in one-off sessions or regular update meet-ings, and follow a project through to completion.

Dealing mainly with companies large enough to have strong views about such issues as effi ciency, return on investment or return on fl oor space, Ishida is proud to off er its clients solutions, not products. General consultations lead on to more focused investigations and discussions, followed by concrete proposals with fi rm improvement objectives. Th ere are a number of factors driving this, including the need to improve profi tability of the packing operation through greater effi ciency, to make products and processes safer, to improve product quality, cut waste and reduce labour.

Effi ciency: a major driverTaking advantage of the automation technology that’s out there right

now, and combining it in the right way – can improve the effi ciency of the packaging line, consequently maximising profi t.

A classic example is the poultry industry, where the eight pieces from a standard cut chicken are, in many companies, still packed using graders. Th is is a relatively slow process involving signifi cant manual labour. It would slow things down even more to weigh fi rst the wings, then legs, then breasts, so you end up with several graders, each taking

businessLine of

Ulrich Nielsen talks about the types of challenges that bring food manufacturers and packers to his door.

INDUSTRYINSIGHT

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thinking on organic food, and the conviction that ‘better’ means more real. As a result, meals made with fresh ingredients will have a perceived advantage over those made with frozen ingredients. Many of the recent advances enable packing lines to handle fresh meat, or meat in a sticky sauce, just about as rapidly and accurately as hard, frozen meat pieces, making this an area in which quality can be immediately improved.

Reducing packaging materialsBrand-owners and packers seek to use less materials per pack, and

to cut down on materials wastage in order to save money. For a useful analysis of this kind of challenge it is necessary to look at the process as a whole. Take, for example, the production of trays of sliced meat. Th ere is oft en a diff erence in the size of meat slices, so in order to avoid product over hanging the seal area the tray size is chosen to match the largest slice size. One of Ishida’s interventions involved automatic pre-viewing of the slices, linked to a system for turning trays wide-side-on to larger slices as necessary: this enabled a reduction of the standard tray size by 10 percent, with a corresponding saving in tray material.

In order to reduce costs on tray sealing, Ishida has also been pio-neering ways of stretching fi lm over the sealing tool, saving on fi lm by reducing its thickness. Following this, it devised a way of freeing the fi lm web from the tool aft er sealing, delivering further savings.

During an audit of a major packing plant, attention was drawn to the question of getting the right empty trays to the right packing line at the right time – a serious challenge in a busy, high volume packing operation. Th e operation was quite labour intensive and inevitably many trays were ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time, causing costly

Ulrich Carlin Nielsen is Business Development Manager, Large Solutions for Ishida Europe Ltd and a member of the board. He has spent the last 25 years using his in-depth application knowledge to design food factories, including those for some of the world’s largest food manufacturers, as well as developing new machines and registering several patents along the way.

delays and, due to the hygiene regulations, a high volume of wasted trays. Ishida devised a greatly simplifi ed system for delivering trays to lines that allowed one person to easily service seven packing lines, meaning an 80 percent reduction in the labour involved and virtually eliminated the chance for error.

Rationalising pallet handlingAnother aspect of production that can eat up labour, time and profi t

is pallet handling. Here, a key source of production hold-ups is when the part of the palletising system serving one line goes wrong, forcing all to stop. Using a modular system, it is possible to allow palletising for each line to operate independently, dramatically reducing hold-ups, and still to reduce the necessary labour by around 90 percent. Furthermore there are other features that can be built in, such as the ability to handle mixed pallets, suitable for delivery to a relatively low volume of retail outlets, for example, or a facility to use the empty pallets to pass materials back to the line as they are needed.

Ishida.indd 139Ishida.indd 139 10/5/10 15:04:3310/5/10 15:04:33

INFOGRAPHIC140

Burger KingTriple Whopper with

Cheese and Mayo1590 mg

Wendy’sDouble with everything

and cheese1440 mg

McDonald’sBig mac1040 mg

McDonald’sSmall Fries

160mg

Chicken Noodle1160 mg

Cream ofMushroom

918 mg

Tomato744 mg

Mayonnaise80 mg

Capers255 mg

Ketchup178 mg

PeanutButter150 mg

Cornflakes201 mg

Raisin Bran362 mg

InstantOatmeal253 mg

Cheerios213 mg

Special K224mg

Cocoa Puffs171 mg

Pesto730 mg

Spaghetti848 mg

Salsa139 mg

Soy914 mg

Steak262 mg

Beef Gravy291 mg

Oat Bran115 mg

BlueberryMuffin255 mgBeef Jerky

438 mgChex mix

288 mgPotato Chips

149 mgCheese Puffs

258 mgPretzels385 mg

Popcorn97 mg

Salt mountainsHow much salt does our food contain?

BACK SECTION_SALT CONTENT.indd 140BACK SECTION_SALT CONTENT.indd 140 10/5/10 13:20:2510/5/10 13:20:25

Burger King Whopper with Cheese

1450 mg

Onion1053 mg

Vegetable791 mg

ChoppedTomatoes

290 mg

Corn273 mg

Mushrooms400 mg

Baked Beans504 mg

Carrots300 mg

Bread Crumbs2111 mg

Plain Bagel561 mg

Foccacia308 mg

PlainCroissant

212 mg

Fast Food

Cereals Snacks

Soups

Canned Vegetables

Sauces

Condiments

Bread

Dailyrecommended

amount5000 mg

Average UKintake

8600 mg

www.alsosalt.com www.food-facts.suite101.com www.annecollins.comSources:

The salt content figures are the average salt content by food type per serving, not brand, for packaged and processed foods.Items displayed are based on a selection of popular food types, loosely linked to personal taste of creator.

Created by Robin Richards | twitter: @ripetungi

INFOGRAPHIC141

BACK SECTION_SALT CONTENT.indd 141BACK SECTION_SALT CONTENT.indd 141 10/5/10 13:20:4510/5/10 13:20:45

Even the most moralistic must oft en wrestle with their own internal demons. Take your average Green-peace demonstrator. Th e ‘Green-

ness’ of their endeavours – jetting all over the world to put the mockers on the latest environ-mental outrage to pique their interest – might be easily called into question. And the ‘Peace’ bit? Breaking and entering, graffi ti, vandalism and intimidation are acts that ordinarily earn an ASBO, not widespread respect.

An activist’s response to these charges would be that their actions raise the profi le of issues that may have gone unnoticed, so a little contradictory “do as we say, not as we do” thinking can be excused. But then what hap-pens when the cameras are switched off , the protestors go home and put their well-travelled feet up? Do they refuel with a Kit Kat bar (chief target for the anti-Nestlé mob) in front of their made-in-Taiwan TV? Where does their moral compass point when thoughts turn to the economic opportunities their actions oft en

deny individuals in the third world? Economic opportunities that they themselves enjoyed in order to acquire such a conscience?

And so to palm oil. Techniques used in its production in countries such as Malaysia (the world’s leading producer of palm oil, supplying 13 million tonnes per year) and Indonesia (one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world) have attracted controversy. At a consumer level, palm oil is a cheap alternative to trans fatty acids. It is found in a variety of chocolate products, cakes, noodles, crisps and other snacks. You’ve almost certainly eaten large quantities of it yourself, despite the oil’s reputation taking a hit some 20 years ago when US studies suggested a link between the oil and heart disease.

Palm oil is used extensively by a number of food giants, most notably Nestlé, which buys up a fair proportion of the 26 million tonnes that are produced annually in tropi-cal countries. Its production requires intense farming that can strip vast swathes of rainfor-

est, destroying the natural habitat of a number of endangered species. Not only is palm oil production responsible for the destruction of carbon dioxide-absorbing rainforests, but it also adds harmful gases to the environment. No wonder Greenpeace have made it their public enemy No.1.

In April this year, Greenpeace campaign-ers launched an audacious stunt at Nestlé’s annual shareholders’ meeting, breaking into the roof of the hall and abseiling in bearing a banner that read: “Nestlé, Give the orangutans a break!”, while a number of other activists campaigned outside the building – in the Swiss city of Lausanne – handing out leafl ets while dressed as orangutans. Th e great apes’ natural habitat in Borneo has been severely af-fected by the actions of some of Nestlé’s largest providers of palm oil, particularly the Sinar Mas company.

Little more than a month before this stunt Nestlé became embroiled in a Facebook row, amateurishly fending off accusatory comments from some 90,000 ‘fans’ of their page; their unethical practices called into question by an army of disgruntled and vocal consumers.

In this increasingly opinionated world of ours, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter provide a voice for the voiceless, and Nestlé will have to learn to adapt to a con-sumer base that has both the means and the will to create a PR storm for them.

However, consumers also have a responsi-bility to tally their own sensibilities and morals with those of the demands of big business. Current projections by the Oil World trade journal anticipate that we will consume double the amount of palm oil annually by 2050. Th ird World nations are growing at an unprecedented rate; their economies are racing headlong into the free market that has so benefi ted the west-ern world for centuries. To them, sustainable and ethical business practices come a distant second behind hard profi t. Western consumers and campaigners need only look at their own countries’ pasts before tutting their condem-nation, and work towards a solution that suits both sensibilities.

COMMENT142

Do you give a monkeys about palm oil?Inexpensive and versatile, palm oil’s popularity in the western world is legend. But can our conscience cope with the destruction its production causes?

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On the shelfNGF looks at the latest crop of books covering the food industry.

Building Strong BrandsBy David A. Aaker

In his previous book, Managing Brand Equity, David Aaker set out the value of a brand as a strategic asset and a company’s primary source of competitive advantage. In this new work, Aaker demonstrates how to break out of the box by considering emotional and self-expressive benefi ts and by introducing the brand-as-person, brand-as-organisation, and brand-as-symbol perspectives. He also outlines how to manage the brand system to achieve clarity and synergy, to adapt to a changing environment, and to leverage brand assets into new markets and products.

NGF SAYS: A fascinating look at what can oft en be a diffi cult subject to quantify. Points are clearly spelled out; perhaps a little too clearly at times. Most of the case studies are US-based, which makes it immediate for European readers.

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Delivering Performance in Food Supply ChainsBy C. Mena and G. Stevens

Th is book looks at developments in food supply chains, covering a wide range of topics, from relationships in the supply chain, to quality management systems and voluntary initiatives for supply chain sustainability. It consid-ers the fundamental role of relationship management in supply chains, including an overview of performance measurement, discusses the alignment of supply and demand, and reviews sales and operations planning and marketing strategies for competitive advantage in the food industry.

NGF SAYS: Packed with detailed information, this comprehensive work will prove indispensable for those charged with optimising supply chains in the food industry. While the language can be quite dense, the resulting knowledge makes it worth sticking with.

DB

Thsemm

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The Economics of Food: How Feeding and Fueling the Planet Affects Food PricesBy Patrick Westhoff

In the past few years, food prices have risen sharply and fallen again. With biofuel production on the rise, are prices set to soar again? In Th e Economics of Food, Patrick Westhoff untangles the complex global relationships between food, energy and economics. He explores the hidden relationships between the food on our plates and the gas in our car; looks at whether economic recovery could lead directly to massive infl ation in both food and energy; and examines the eff ect of food prices on world hunger.

NGF SAYS: A very readable examination of the relationship between food and energy production, which provides a well-balanced look at the factors that led to the recent rise and drop in food prices. A must read for anyone seek-ing to understand the food vs fuel debate.

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Nai

IN REVIEW143

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PHOTO FINISH144

Competitors participate in the Stilton Cheese Rolling competition on Stilton High Street on May 3, 2010 in Stilton, England. The annual event of cheese rolling sees teams of four compete against each other to be crowned the ‘Stilton Cheese Rolling Champions’.

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