Year: 2014

The sister agency of the Food Administration (MAST) in Russia has been auditing Iceland for the past two weeks. Its employees were in Iceland on behalf of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, as reported on MAST website.

The news from MAST states, among other things, that health certificates have been forged in the name of the agency and several Icelandic companies due to the import of salmon to the Allies, but MAST has a copy of a number of such certificates. The issuance of forged certificates is, of course, a grave matter for the Icelandic food industry, and it is important that every year is taken to prevent this, whether these or other countries are involved.

The conclusion of the visit was that the Icelandic food industry and MAST enjoy the trust of the sister institution MAST in the customs union in question and that it is important to establish electronic communication between the institutions.

Matís participates in a European project on counterfeiting and integrity in the food industry, which is intended to promote the use of research and development to ensure the falsity of European food. The project aims to develop methods for detecting and preventing fraud in the European food industry, and in this context the importance of e.g. genetic research on species origin and food content.

In the food industry, as elsewhere, integrity is a prerequisite for the consumer to trust the product, but food manufacturers have felt the effects when customers' trust is damaged due to scandal, but many no doubt remember the tragedy that followed the emergence of horsemeat instead of beef in many ready-made dishes.

More about the FoodIntegrity project.

There are now vacant offices for rent in Matís' premises, Vínlandsleið 14, for small companies and individuals, who see the benefit of being among the country's leading experts in food processing and biotechnology.

The accommodation that is available is some bright and good offices, you can also get access to research facilities and certified food processing space by further agreement.

Find out more Matís website.

Icelandic producers consider themselves aware that cod and haddock products from the North Atlantic are superior to others when it comes to sustainable utilization, minimizing environmental impact and good practices related to economic and social factors. But can we really evaluate these things? Get to know the case at a meeting at Matís on November 25 at 13.

Demands for sustainable utilization and minimization of environmental impact have increased in recent months in important markets for Icelandic seafood. These requirements have been met with environmental certificates, among other things, but information on the sustainability of production as a whole has been limited.

Those who have had the financial means to do so have had an ecological analysis (LCA) performed in their value chains. Biodiversity analysis, on the other hand, only indicates the environmental impact of production in the past, but says little about other aspects of sustainability, such as social and economic sustainability. Icelandic producers consider themselves aware that cod and haddock products from the North Atlantic are superior to others in terms of sustainable utilization, minimizing environmental impact and good practice in economic and social matters. This is especially true compared to our competitors on other continents. With the aim of enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to take advantage of the advantage that these advantages of ours in production should give for marketing purposes, Matís, in collaboration with a number of companies, associations and research institutes, has worked to develop a standard that enables manufacturers to evaluate the sustainability of its cod and haddock production in a quick and simple way. The standard is expected to be published by CEN by the end of this year.

There will be an introduction to the standard and assistance in using it in operations

On Tuesday 25 November at 13:00, Matís will present the standard, the methodology on which it is based and explanations of how Icelandic manufacturers can use it in daily operations and for marketing purposes. Following the meeting, Matís will assist those manufacturers who are interested in implementing the standard.

More information can be found at monocotyledons on this topic as well as by contacting Jónas R. Viðarsson at Matís.

On 21 October, the Food Administration hosted a Nordic conference on traceability in the food industry. The conference was part of the events related to the Icelandic Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2014 and was attended by a number of parties in the Nordic food control sector.

Conference on traceability in the food industry

Matís' representatives spoke at the meeting, where they discussed the opportunities involved in using traceability to increase the value of seafood. The presentation can be accessed on the website of the Food Administration here.

In addition to the presentation by Matís' representatives, there were five other speakers with interesting presentations, i.e.

• Kris de Smet from the European Union discussed the traceability, safety and origin of food industries
• Karen Bar Yacow from the European Union discussed traceability and fraud in the food industry
• Kyösti Siponen from Evira in Finland discussed traceability in the meat industry
• Erlendur Stefánsson from HB Grandi discussed traceability in the fishing industry

At the end of each lecture, there was a discussion on the topic where interesting facts and further information were presented.

Further information Jónas R. Viðarsson at Matís.

The Fisheries Conference 2014 will take place tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday, but the goal of the Fisheries Conference is to gather in one place a cross-section of the industry to work for progress and progress.

A number of very good presentations are on the agenda these two days and Matís 'employees have one or three presentations and in addition, Matís' employees are in charge of supervision or seminar management in three seminars.

In addition, Matís has a booth at the conference where technological solutions and collaborative projects will be presented.

More information about The Fisheries Conference 2014 can be found on its website.

Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir, professor at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the University of Iceland and board member of Matís, discusses the origins and growth of the biotechnology company Zymetech and its connection to basic research at the university in the second lecture of the lecture series Science in Human Languages. The lecture will be in the Celebration Hall of the University of Iceland on Tuesday 18 November. at 12:10.

The biotechnology company Zymetech is based on research by Ágústa and Jón Bragi Bjarnason, professor of biochemistry at the University of Iceland's School of Engineering and Natural Sciences. Zymetech is based on decades of research at the University of Iceland on digestive enzymes from cod and the utilization of the enzymes in medical and cosmetic products on the market.
 
The value of basic research in the innovation process and how deep knowledge of enzymes, microbiology, food science, biochemistry, cell biology and pharmacology will be used directly in practical biotechnology will be discussed. The innovation process of biotechnology companies is long and complicated. International markets for biotechnology products, such as medical products, are large, demanding and innovative. Therefore, the development of new medical products for such a market requires the constant development of ingenuity and increased knowledge. The cost of patenting, listing medical products, foreign consultants, marketing, licensing and more is high but necessary for international marketing.
 
Zymetech has had a good collaboration with the University of Iceland and Landspítali - University Hospital on obtaining research grants, educating graduate students and publishing scientific articles. The collaboration also offers jobs for young researchers and access to specialized facilities for basic and medical research. The importance of research funds for innovation and the continued development of ingenuity within companies in the international market will also be discussed. 

Lunch refreshments will be served after the presentation.

About Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir

Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir holds a PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Biology from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, USA in 1988. She has been a visiting professor at the university since 1989 and has also conducted research at the University of California, San Francisco and New York University. Since 1993, Ágústa has been a professor of food chemistry at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the School of Health Sciences, but was an associate professor in the same field from 1989–1993. Ágústa's research has increasingly focused on the use of cod enzymes against microbial infections and the development of medical products based, among other things, on her research in collaboration with Zymetech. Ágústa has been the research director of Zymetech for years, but the research has been carried out in collaboration with the University of Iceland. She has written a number of scientific articles and book chapters on her research and colleagues and supervised a number of doctoral and master's students. In addition, she has taken an active part in management positions both within and outside the University of Iceland. 

About the lecture series

Science in Human Language is a new series of lectures at the University of Iceland, initiated by the Center for Life Sciences and the University of Iceland's Institute of Biology. The aim is to shed light on how university researchers try to uncover the mysteries of nature and what significance scientific research has for people's daily lives, such as fighting diseases or the forces of nature or to increase the quality of life and address new challenges related to environmental change.

This article first appeared on website of the University of Iceland.

The first Icelandic food craft championship is over. This time the competition was open to all the Nordic countries and took place The Nordic House November 13th.

Matís and New Nordic food II were responsible for this competition. 

In parallel with the competition, a conference was held where it was possible to learn about how our cousins in the Nordic countries have supported and marketed food production from the region. The conference was sponsored by Íslandsstofa, Icelandair, The Nordic House and The milk collection.

Competitors were from all the Nordic countries and 110 products were registered. 
Competed in 8 different categories.

Here is a list of winners:

Dairy products:

Gold     Arla Unika, Sirius (cheese), Denmark
Silver   The Blind Cow, Blue Monday (cheese), Norway
Bronze  Skärvångens bymejeri, Rosalina (cheese), Sweden

Meat products:

Gold     Sjónarsker, Klettur (dry spiced, salted and smoked thigh muscle), Iceland
Silver   Bjarteyjarsandur, Birch-smoked blueberry muscle, Iceland
Bronze  Bjärhus gårdsbutik, Bjärhus ölpinne (dried raw sausage), Sweden

Fish products:

Gold     Leif Sørensen, Fish chips, Faroe Islands
Silver   Sunshine, Mackerel Pate, Iceland
Bronze  Sunshine, Hot smoked mackerel, Iceland

Berries, fruits and vegetables:

Gold    Útoyggjafelagið, Meadowsweet syrup, Faroe Islands
Silver  Útoyggjafelagið, Rhubarb juice, Faroe Islands
Silver  Holt og heiðar, Rhubarb jam with vanilla, Iceland

Baking:

Gold   Cum Pane organic baking workshop, Fröknäcke (crispbread), Sweden  

Sourdough baking:

Gold    Sandholt, Smoked pumpkin bread, Iceland
Silver  The Coocoo's Nest, Súrdeigsbrauð, Iceland

Innovation in food crafts:

Gold    Örtagård Öst, Sliced marmalade, Sweden
Silver  Urta Islandica, SPRETTUR-energy and endurance herbal tea for athletes and mountaineers, Iceland

Salt:

Gold    Saltworks, Birch smoked salt, Iceland
Silver  Norður & Co, Norðursalt - Icelandic flake salt, Iceland

For further information Gunnþórunn Einarsdóttir at Matís.

In recent times, the demand for sustainable utilization and minimization of environmental impact in food production has increased significantly in markets that are important for our Icelandic fresh fish products.

Requirements for the sustainable utilization of fish stocks have been met with environmental certificates, but information on the overall environmental impact of Icelandic seafood and comparisons with competitive products has been lacking. Therefore, several companies in the production, distribution and marketing of fresh cod fillets joined forces and had a Life Cycle Assessment performed on their products. The results of the study show that the environmental impact of fresh Icelandic cod fillets is relatively low compared to our main competitors in the fisheries sector and much lower than from meat products.

Products from four manufacturers and from seven different fishing vessels sold in the UK and Switzerland were studied and the results compared with comparable research conducted in other parts of the world. There are some differences in the footprint of individual vessels according to size, fishing gear, quota status and fishing pattern, but the average results of the study show that the footprint of fresh cod necks is about 0.8 Kg CO2 equivalent / Kg necks when the catch has been processed. Transport by ship to the UK or Switzerland adds little to the infestation, but if the products are transported by air, the infestation can be tripled, as can be seen in the attached picture.

If these results are compared with the results of similar research from elsewhere, it can be seen that the footprint of Icelandic cod saddles transported by air to the UK is comparable to Norwegian cod and salmon that have been transported by van to Central Europe. If, on the other hand, the saddles are sent by ship, the Icelandic fish comes out much better than the Norwegian one. If the cod necks are compared with other protein sources from the animal kingdom, it can be seen that Icelandic cod has a very limited footprint.

The results of this study have been published in the form of a report, in addition to which a booklet has been published with the main results. Can be accessed the report and the booklet on the websites of Matís and AVS, but the project was funded by AVS.

Further information Jónas R. Viðarsson at Matís.

The Icelandic championship in food crafts took place yesterday and last night. A large number of products were included in the competition and it was the unanimous opinion of all those involved that food innovation is very bright not only in Iceland but in all the Nordic countries.

The results will be announced at 15 today at the Nordic House and we encourage everyone to come and see the fruits of small-scale food production and food innovation at its best in the Nordic countries.

Pictures of some products from yesterday's competition

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Food crafts | Artisan Food Food crafts | Artisan Food.

Last September, Matís hosted a conference on marine settlements, small boat fishing and regional development on the North Atlantic. The conference was held in connection with the Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition and the Icelandic Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The conference was sponsored by the Nordic Council of Ministers, but in addition to Matís, a number of people were involved in the preparation and implementation of the conference. These include national associations of small boat owners in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland, as well as researchers and private companies in these same countries.

Report from the conference

All presentations at the conference are now available at project website, both in pdf format and video recordings. It has also been published report with all the presentations of the conference and a booklet with excerpts from all the presentations.

Further information Jónas R. Viðarsson at Matís.