Category: News

On Thursday 30 May, a doctoral defense will take place at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition, University of Iceland. Then protect Sigrún Mjöll Halldórsdóttir Matís' food scientist's dissertation "New and improved methods for producing hydrolysed fish proteins with bioactive properties - Oxidation processes and the use of natural antioxidants in enzymatic hydrolysis".

When does this event start: May 30, 2013 - 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Event location:  Main building
Further location:  Celebration hall

Opponents are dr. Maurice Marshall Professor at the University of Florida, USA and dr. Jakob K. Kristjánsson from Prokazyme Ltd. The supervisor of the project was dr. Hörður G. Kristinsson at Matís. Dr. Þórhallur Ingi Halldórsson, President of the Faculty of Food and Nutrition, will preside over the ceremony, which will take place in the Celebration Hall of the University of Iceland in the Main Building and the ceremony will begin at 10:00.

On the subject of the dissertation

Anhydrous fish protein (fish protein hydrolyzate; FPH) has a variety of health-promoting bioactive properties such as antihypertensive properties and antioxidant activity. A large amount of underutilized by-products are generated during fish processing that could be utilized in such products. Fat oxidation by enzymatic hydrolysis can be a problem in the production of bioactive FPH. The overall aim of the study was to improve processing technology and introduce new methods for processing bioactive FPH products from fish proteins. The results indicate that isolating protein by baseline treatment for hydrolysis using an improved method could save time, labor and material, compared to conventional base processing. Studies show that oxidation develops rapidly during hydrolysis in the presence of oxidative catalysts. The results show that oxidation can cause FPH to lose its antioxidant properties, in addition to oxidative products causing a reduced anti-inflammatory response, which can have negative consequences in the body.

The use of natural antioxidants proved to be very useful in hydrolysis of fish proteins. Extract from Icelandic seaweed, Fucus vesiculosus, as an antioxidant that prevented oxidation, increased the bioactivity of the final product and reduced the formation of bitter taste in FPH.

The supervisor of the doctoral project was dr. Hörður G. Kristinsson at Matís, but in addition to him, Guðjón Þorkelsson, professor at the University of Iceland and director of the department at Matís, dr. Hólmfríður Sveinsdóttir at Iceprotein ehf. and dr. Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir, professor at the University of Iceland.

On 14 May, Matvælastofnun (MAST) signed a service agreement with Matís on safety measurements in the field of pesticides.

Pesticides are used in the cultivation and storage of foods such as fruits, vegetables and cereals to prevent or reduce damage caused by fungi, weeds, insects and other pests.

It is not permitted to produce or distribute food that contains pesticides in excess of the maximum permitted values according to Art. a regulation on pesticide residues which is based on EU directives and the responsibility lies with manufacturers, distributors and sellers. Matís will send the MAST results of the measurements monthly.

For further information, please contact Jón Gíslason, CEO of MAST and Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís.

The importance of good handling of the catch taken from the sea will be discussed too late. Bleeding, gutting, washing and last but not least cooling are the factors that matter if the goal is to bring first-class fish to market.

In order to facilitate the estimated need for ice in a row, Matís has had a simple calculator equipped to show how much ice is needed to cool and maintain the cooling of catches, taking into account sea and ambient temperatures and storage times.

This calculator gives an excellent indication of the amount of ice, but it certainly varies a bit depending on the type of ice used.

The calculator can be found on Matís' educational website: Ice demand (ice calculations)

The Laboratory of Nutrition at Landspítali, the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the University of Iceland and Matís are looking for participants in a study that aims to examine how well the body utilizes omega-3 fatty acids from different sources.

In addition to participating in a fun study and receiving free food, everyone who completes the study has the opportunity for a great gift card.

Further information can be found here.

May 1 began the inshore fishing season. For that reason, Matís would like to point out to hunters and others on the educational page below.

A new regulation on cooling of catch can be found on this page along with a new ice calculator, which helps fishermen to decide how much ice needs to be used to maintain the best and longest quality of raw material.

Further information a www.alltummat.is/fiskur/smabatar/

All this week, three Matís employees will be traveling around the country. The opportunities are certainly there in the countryside in terms of food and biochemical production.

The employees will meet small and large parties in food production and will be at their fingertips and give advice regarding the various issues related to food production, especially small food production.

Draft agenda:

• Monday 13 May - Skagafjörður, Siglufjörður, Ólafsfjörður and Akureyri
• Tuesday 14 May - Akureyri, Svalbarðseyri, Laugar, Húsavík, Kópasker, Raufarhöfn
• Wednesday 15 May - Raufarhöfn
• Thursday 16 May - Egilsstaðir and other places in East Iceland / Eastfjords
• Friday 17 May - East Fjords

All those who are interested in food production are encouraged to contact these Matís employees.

• Haraldur Hallgrímsson, division manager
• Jón Trausti Kárason
• Sæmundur Elíasson

For further information Haraldur Hallgrímsson at 858-5054.

There is a vacancy for a secretary to work with a so-called "Resident Twinning Advisor (RTA)" in a foreign project.

The project is called "Institutional and laboratory capacity building to ensure food safety" and will last for 12 months. The seat will be at Matís ohf. In Reykjavík and the work will mainly consist of assisting RTA in coordinating the visits of German experts to Matís and MAST (Matvælastofnun). Writing skills and good skills in German, Icelandic and English are required. This is a full time job.

Main projects:

• Assist RTA in the administration and organization of the project as a whole
• Organize trips of RTA and German experts
• Language assistance and translations by RTA and German experts
• Organization of meetings and conferences
• Summary of data and report writing
• Translations (Icelandic / English, English / Icelandic)

Further information:

http://www.eurojobs.com

Dr. Gregory L. Yep, Senior Vice President of PepsiCo (Senior Vice President, PepsiCo R&D), will give a lecture at Matís' breakfast meeting at Hilton on June 4.

See more advertisement from Matís. Take the morning off June 4th!

This is an open meeting and admission is free!

More later than information provides Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, marketing director of Matís

On the 15th of May, Ásta María Einarsdóttir, master's student in food science and Sigrún Mjöll Halldórsdóttir, doctoral student in food science, will give lectures on research and development of food substances from food.

Kl. 15:00 - 15:30
Ásta María Einarsdóttir gives a talk on Fucoidan from brown algae 

Kl. 15: 30-16: 00
Sigrún Mjöll Halldórsdóttir gives a talk on the biomedical use of cod trypsin 

Ásta María will discuss the topic fucoidan which is a polysaccharide from the cell walls of brown algae that has shown diverse bioactivity in recent studies. The lecture will review the results of a new review article where the main research on the bioactivity of fucoidan is presented (Vo TS and Kim SK (2013). "Fucoidans as a natural bioactive ingredient for functional foods." Journal of Functional Foods 5 (1): 16-27). The effects of fucoidan on blood clotting factors, the effects of fucoidan on viruses, tumors and inflammation as well as the antioxidant activity of fucoidan will be discussed.

Sigrún Mjöll talks about cod trypsin and its uses in biomedicine. The lecture will discuss the cod enzymes based on a new review article (Gudmundsdottir A, Hilmarsson H and Stefansson B (2013). "Review Article - Potential Use of Atlantic Cod Trypsin in Biomedicine".  BioMed Research International, published online http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/749078). Studies show that cod trypsin has a variety of effects, for example against various viruses, skin problems and wounds. Cod trypsin is isolated from by-products in fish processing and its processing promotes the full utilization of cod. There are already various products on the market that contain cod enzymes under the name Penzyme®. 

The lectures will be held in Matís' premises at Vínlandsleið 12, on the top floor of hall 311 (Esja) from 3 pm to 4 pm, on Wednesday 15 May (fuciodan at 3 pm and cod trypsin at 3:30 pm).

Everyone welcome!

Due to an article published in Morgunblaðið, where the owner of Kost discusses food control in Iceland, Matís wants to state the following:

Food control in Iceland is in the hands of the Municipal Health Inspectorate (HES). Supervision and coordination of these inspections is in the hands of the Food Administration (www.mast.is).

Matís (www.matis.is) is a powerful knowledge company that engages in diverse research, service and innovation in the food industry. Matís has no role in food control other than that the company can, in an independent manner, examine food samples for regulators, institutions, companies and individuals. For example, Matís can investigate whether foods contain contaminants or other undesirable substances, whether foods contain the substances that are said to be present in them and whether there is any special activity (bioactivity) in food products or ingredients.

But Jón Gerald is always welcome to do business with Matís and we have already invited him to collaborate on measurements of fruit and vegetables that Kostur imports from the United States.

Jón Gerald has already corrected the confusion, but it is not out of the question to shed further light on Matís' operations and how it is not related to food control in Iceland.

For further information Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, marketing director of Matís