Category: News

Matís' opening hours for Christmas and New Year will be as follows:
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Opening hours at Matís in Reykjavík during the holidays:

December 23: Closed/closed

December 24: Closed/closed

December 25: Closed

December 26: Closed

December 27: 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m

December 28: 8: 30–16: 00

December 29: 8: 30–16: 00

December 30: 8:30am–3:00pm

December 31: Closed

January 1: Closed

January 2: Closed

After that, the normal opening hours will take effect again.

Matís received a grant from the Food Fund in 2022 to work on the project New solutions for work on food labeling. The project is specifically intended to make it easier for small food producers to meet the requirements for labeling new products. The Association of Small Food Producers (SSFM) is a partner in the project.

For this purpose, work has been done on guidelines, the collection of data on raw materials and their registration in the Icelandic database on the chemical content of food (ÍSGEM) at Matís. Work has also been done on the development of a simple calculator to present the nutritional value of products. Finally has presentation of nutritional value information on the Matís website has been improved. You can search for food types and ingredients on the Matís website and a list of nutrients will appear. The presentation is now much clearer than before and the nutrients are divided into categories. It turned out that data for some of the nutrients had become old and unreliable, so information is published on fewer substances than before. Matís collaborated with Ívar Gunnarsson, a computer scientist at Hugsjá, on this project, and he is credited with the programming work.

A group of students in the Introduction to Engineering course from Reykjavík University visited Matís recently. The students received an award for their project on the production of renewable bioplastic from seaweed for drinking straws.

In their project, the students worked to replace plastic pipes, as innovations that have appeared on the market, such as steel pipes and cardboard pipes, are unsuitable for users. The students therefore decided to produce tubes made of bioplastic from kelp. The group visited Matís recently and spoke with project manager Sophie Jensen to gain more knowledge on the subject.

We recommend watching the students' video below.

Students in the group are:

• Emil Örn Aðalsteinsson
• Hafdís Sól Björnsdóttir
• Halldór Jökull Ólafsson
• Hrannar Briem weekend
• Katla Yr Gautadóttir

We thank the students very much for the visit and wish them good luck.

In the show Science and us shown on Hringbraut is an interview with Ingibjörga Gunnarsdóttir, professor of nutrition at the University of Iceland's Faculty of Food and Nutrition, and Agnes Þóra Árnadóttir, PhD student at Matís.

In the interview, Ingibjörg talks about the effects of nutrition during pregnancy on the health of both mother and child and research that has been done to assess the general state of nutrition. Agnes Þóra has been examining the effect of the mother's nutrition during pregnancy on the intestinal flora of the child. The samples are taken at the age of 4 months, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years. The way the intestinal flora develops in these children is being monitored, and it is looked at based on what the mother is eating during pregnancy. Both a biological sample and a list of questions are examined, which mothers are asked to answer.

We recommend watching the episode in its entirety on Hringbraut:

https://hringbraut.frettabladid.is/sjonvarp/visindin-og-vid/seria-2-thattur-6-ingibjorg-gunnarsdottir/

 

Webinar about the results of the joint project between Matís and the University of Reading called "Essential minerals in milk: their variation and nutritional implications" will be held electronically on the 16th of December next at 12:00. The project discussed is called NUTRIMILK and is sponsored by EIT food.

Milk samples were taken from shops in the UK for a whole year (both organic and conventional milk) and the milk was analyzed for minerals and trace elements. The aim is to see if there are seasonal changes, which could be caused by the fact that the composition of the feed varies by season (for example, the cows are outside more in the summer). The results are examined with the nutritional needs of consumers in mind, but it must be taken into account that the nutritional needs of different social groups can vary.

The lecture takes place via Teams from 12:00 – 13:00. Dr Sokratis Stergiadis, associate professor at the University of Reading, will give the talk: Macrominerals and trace elements in cows' retail milk: seasonal variation and implications for consumer nutrition.

Participation is free, but registration is required by clicking the registration button below:

This activity has received funding from EIT Food, the innovation community on Food of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the EU, under the Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation.

Abstract: Milk is an important dietary source of essential macrominerals and trace elements (Ca, I, P, Zn, K, Se, Mg, Na), but there is substantial seasonal variation in their concentrations due to different feeding management between seasons. This large variation may increase the risk of nutrient imbalances throughout the year, particularly in demographics with higher requirements (toddlers, children, pregnant/nursing women). Farm-to-fork interventions can improve consistency in mineral composition but the seasonal and production systems' variation of the retail milk mineral profile is unknown, thus making it difficult for the food and livestock industry to identify the potential risks to nutrient supply. This project study will investigate the seasonal variation in macromineral and trace element concentrations of milk from conventional and organic dairy systems, and assess the impact on mineral intakes of the different demographics throughout the year. Results can be used to inform food-chain interventions for optimum milk mineral contents.

On the 29th and 30th of November, the annual Laurentic Forum conference will be held, which this time will be held as an online conference.

Laurentic Forum is a collaboration of companies and institutions in Iceland, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ireland and Norway, where the goal is to promote innovation to strengthen fragile settlements in the North.

The Laurentic forum has mainly focused on innovation in the tourism and fisheries industries. Therefore, the conference program is divided into conference days, i.e. On November 29, the focus will be on the tourism industry, and on November 30, it's the turn of the fishing industry. Matís is part of the Laurentic Forum network, which deals with the fishing industry, but in addition to Matís, the Icelandic group includes Sjávarklasinn, Byggðastofnún, and the Knowledge Center in Vestmannaeyju.

You can see the conference program at Laurentic Forum website and there is also registration. Special attention is drawn to Alexandra Leeper's presentation at Sjávarklasan, which will discuss the full utilization of marine products.

Bógkreppa is a hereditary genetic defect in sheep in Iceland. The defect is likely to be recessive, meaning that in order for lambs to be born with the symptoms of rickets, they must receive the defective gene from both parents.

This means that the genetic defect has been hidden for years in the Icelandic treasury and then unexpectedly pops up. Matís is participating in a project about the search for the genetic defect that causes bow crisis. The research project is funded by the Professional Council for Sheep Breeding, led by the University of Iceland's Institute of Pathology in Keldum, and in addition to Matís, RML is involved in the project.

In the Aries directory 2022-2023, you will find an informative article about the genetic defect. The Aries directory can be accessed by clicking the button below, the article is on pages 52-53.

Want to know more? Also read a previous article about Matís' involvement in the search for genetic factors of bow crisis, below:

Matís comes to the search for genetic factors of bow crisis