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The University of Nottingham (UoN) has transferred an understanding of how starchy foods are modified by processing, attained through working with human foods, to the animal feed industry. The knowledge developed at UoN and further advanced by co-operative programmes with industrial partners, has enabled animal feed manufacturers to reformulate and modify their production procedures to optimise manufacturing operations, increase profitability and the nutritional quality of the feeds.
The University of Nottingham (UoN) has developed two novel food-allowed additives based upon xanthan gum. The generation of these structurally modified forms allow xanthan to be used more efficiently in food manufacturing applications and provide nutritional and health benefits. The invention of the new xanthans benefits the global food industry by facilitating new product development and formulation.
The University of Nottingham's international expertise and reputation in sensory science research has improved the skill-base of industry through targeted training courses. The courses were developed after a need for structured sensory training was identified within the UK food industry. Uptake for the training is excellent and demand for such training continues with sensory modules featuring as a popular component of the UoN-Cranfield-Harper Adams-Rothamsted BBSRC Agrifood Training Partnership (AATP). The food industry benefits from the transfer of research-based skills, delivered with a level of flexibility that meets the needs of businesses.
The production of plastic (polymer) waste and the difficulties associated with its disposal is a major environmental challenge. Many polymer food packaging structures are made using thermoforming processes in which hot thin oil-based polymer sheets are forced under pressure into moulds and then cooled to become thin-walled packaging structures. These structures are not eco-friendly and do not degrade after use. Thus unless they are recycled, which is a complicated process and mostly does not happen, these structures cause major environmental problems worldwide.
Researchers in Brunel Institute of Computational Mathematics (BICOM) have undertaken extensive computational modelling of the thermoforming of packaging structures made from bio-materials (thermoplastics). This computational work, together with the necessary laboratory experiments which were executed by Brunel engineers, has contributed to a far better understanding of the behaviour of starch-based biodegradable food packaging. In turn, the availability of such knowledge has contributed to the steady move by food packagers and food retailers towards the adoption of such packaging which is helping to reduce the amount of long term non-biodegradable waste produced.
Researchers at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC, University of Glasgow) were the first to develop methods and equipment for screening foodstuffs for irradiation. Their work led to new UK and European standards (BS EN 1788 and BS EN 13751) which provide protection and reassurance to consumers. Professor David Sanderson's laboratory is recognised as the world-leader in the detection of food irradiation. The laboratory is also the only establishment to develop, design and sell photostimulated luminescence (PSL) systems to detect irradiated food. Since 2008 134 laboratories worldwide have taken up these UK-manufactured PSL systems to prevent irradiated ingredients from entering the food manufacturing chain.
Nanoforce Technology Ltd. is a spin-out company wholly owned by QMUL, active in the field of polymeric and ceramic materials. Bridging the gap between academic research and industrial applications, Nanoforce has done business with over 100 companies since 2008, providing the key research expertise and specialist facilities to enable the development of new materials and commercial products, including Sugru® a room temperature vulcanizing silicone rubber, Zelfo® a self-binding cellulose material, and BiotexTM a range of high-performance yarns, fabrics and pre- consolidated sheets based renewable resources such as PLA and natural flax fibres. Nanoforce has been promoting the development and commercialisation of spark plasma sintering (SPS) since 2006, which resulted in Kennametal recently opening the first commercial SPS facility in the UK to produce advanced ceramic armour. Nanoforce's clients have included large multi-nationals such as DSM, Dow Chemical, General Electric, SABIC, L'Oreal, Shell, Sibelco, governmental agencies such as Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), and a large number of SME's.
Research at the University of Reading into the origin of acrylamide, a neurotoxin and probable human carcinogen, in cooked cereal and potato products has provided crucial information for the food industry and government agencies. This has enabled important mitigation strategies to be developed. When acrylamide was unexpectedly discovered in food in 2002, there was no explanation for its origin. Pioneering research at Reading showed that it was formed during heating from naturally-occurring sugars and the amino acid asparagine. Because of this knowledge it was then possible to investigate factors affecting acrylamide formation and develop methods of mitigation. Subsequently investigations were undertaken worldwide, including work at Reading, to minimise the problem.
Research into the characterisation, functional properties and applications of hydrocolloids which improves the stability of beverage products has been transferred to end users through the University's Phillips Hydrocolloids Research Centre. The associated development of industry standards for acacia gum supply has resulted in more than 44 companies since 2008 directly using the University's analytical services or adopting its methodologies, enabling improvements in productivity, product stability and costs. The Gum Arabic Board of Sudan invited the University to assist in improving gum arabic industry practices and methodologies for processing, storage and traceability from source in supply of consistent and quality materials, producing benefits in terms of volume of business.
Evershed and his research group in The School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, have pioneered a suite of novel molecular and stable isotope analytical chemical techniques for provenancing amorphous organic residues in archaeology, particularly for the elucidation of ancient diet and the origins of agriculture. Their on-going research continuously achieves impact worldwide at all levels. Impact has been actively enhanced via the involvement of Evershed and his entire team in hundreds of public engagement activities (art/science exhibitions and festivals, personal presentations, media interviews/articles/documentaries), school and college educational outreach activities (teacher/student conferences, items/articles in the educational literature and contributions to educational films/documentaries). Critically, their `fingerprinting' methods have found application in detecting food fraud in the vegetable oil trade, protecting the human population worldwide from consuming impure corn oil for ca. 15 years to the present day. Most poignantly, when called upon, their methods were pivotal in solving a murder case for the Metropolitan Police.
The unique application of combinatorial chemistry in materials science at Southampton has directly underpinned the success of University spin-out, Ilika Technologies. Since 2008, the breadth of applications of the research has allowed Ilika:
Between 2008 and 2012, Ilika enjoyed considerable growth, doubling employment to 35 staff, increasing turnover by approximately 25% annually, and floating on the AIM with a market capitalisation of £18.7 million.