Category: News

Since the United Nations University's Fisheries University was established in Iceland almost 11 years ago, Matís has been teaching in the university's quality management department. Margeir Gissurarson, Matís' project manager, is in charge of the teaching, which involves many of the company's employees and from different fields.

"There are usually groups of about 20 people who come to us for quality management studies and some of them then continue their work with us on their final projects which are then related to quality management and processing of fish," says Margeir.

The quality management course at Matís lasts for about five months. The first part is an introduction to the quality, safety and processing of seafood, followed by students' choice of specialties and projects. Supervisors in them then come from Matís.

"Those students who have done well with us often go on to master's and doctoral studies at the University of Iceland or universities in other countries, but these are all students who come from developing countries. The connections that have been created through our work for the United Nations Fisheries Academy are important for both Iceland in the future and our company. After all, Matís has received projects in these countries directly through connections to the United Nations University of Fisheries as well as our former students. Examples include seminars in Uganda and Kenya. There is no doubt that it is a great benefit for Iceland to connect with developing countries in this way in the field of fisheries, because with few exceptions, these students return to public administration positions in their home countries, "says Margeir.

Further information: Margeir Gissurarson

In the autumn of 2011, Matís signed a contract with the Tanzanian government for a project on Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania. The project is funded by a loan from the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) based in Helsinki. The project was put out to tender in the Nordic countries and Matís won the tender.

Lake Tanganyika is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, almost 19,000 square kilometers in size. The lake is also the second deepest freshwater in the world, 1500 meters where it is deepest. Four countries border the lake, i.e. Tanzania, Congo, Burundi and Zambia.
Tanzanians fish in Tanganyika, but both fishing and processing are primitive. Matís' project is, among other things, to assist in the development of methods to make better use of the fish and make it more valuable.

Matís has agreed with the Icelandic companies Ráðgarður Skipráðgjöf ehf. and Verkfræðistofa Jóhann Indriðason ehf. (VJI) for part of the project. Ráðgarður will provide advice and oversee the construction of a specialized vessel to be used for research on Tanganyika and fish stocks in the lake, while the VJI engineering office will manage procurement for the project. In addition, Matís has entered into an agreement with the company Goch in Tanzania, which will handle the socio-economic part of the project and communication with fishing communities on Lake Tanganyika.

"This project is a great challenge for us because the conditions there are all very primitive and different from what we know. We thus need to find ways to develop fish processing based on what is available, but we can not afford to have electricity, oil or other energy sources as elsewhere. A big part of the project is then about training and teaching the locals how to handle the fish and we will send people from us who will choose a few villages by the lake and guide the residents. It can therefore be said that part of the project will be carried out here at home and at later stages we will then work according to our plans on site. This will be a very exciting project that we expect to culminate in 2012, "says Oddur Már Gunnarsson, division manager at Matís, who is also the project manager of the Tanzania project. Together with him, Margeir Gissurarson, project manager at the Matís project, manages.

Further information: Oddur Már Gunnarsson

On the first of February, a new research project was launched, which is partly funded by the 7th Research Program of the European Union.

The title of the project in English is "Total Diet Study Exposure" which is translated into Icelandic as "A study of the total consumption of contaminants from food". Matís manages one of the 11 projects in the project and participates in a total of five projects

The project will develop methods to estimate how much people get from unwanted contaminants from food as they are on consumers' tables. The methods will then be used to measure how much people get from food contaminants in several European countries, including Iceland.

This project provides an excellent opportunity for coordinated research on the consumption of foreign substances in Iceland and in several other European countries. Matís conducts research on foreign substances and food safety. The project will be important to strengthen this area and promote increased food security in Iceland. The aim of the project is to conduct coordinated research on the consumption of undesirable contaminants in food in Europe.

In order to carry out harmonized research, the methods used for food sampling, measurement of contaminants in food, quality assessment of data, etc. must be harmonized. The intention is to test different methods that have been used in Europe and to define the best procedures for the research. It will also summarize which contaminants and foods are most important in assessing the total consumption of undesirable substances in the diet of Europeans, but such information is a key factor in making a risk assessment for the consumption of these substances and assessing their impact on human health.

The study of the total consumption of contaminants allows us to get a real estimate of how much we are exposed to unwanted contaminants such as heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, fungal toxins and other contaminants from food as we eat them, ie fried, boiled, grilled, smoked, smoked, smoked. .

Key information for the project:
Matís total project cost: € 631,169, of which EU grant: € 497,997
Total grant amount of the EU project: € 5,967,951
Number of participants: 26 from 18 different countries

Further information: Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir

The Future Days of the Universities 2012 will be held on February 1 in Sólinn at Reykjavík University between 11-16

As before, high participation among students can be expected this year. Framadagar is therefore an ideal platform for companies to reach the future workforce of the nation by introducing themselves and their activities and thus gain a certain advantage over competitors in the race for the most qualified staff.

As usual, Matís will have a large booth and will present his activities throughout the day. Framadaga brochure 2012 can be found on the Framadaga website, www.aiesec.is/framadagar, but there are some fun commercials from Matís.

Further information can be found at www.aiesec.is/framadagar and with Jón Haukur Arnarson, jon.h.arnarson@matis.is or Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, steinar.b.adalbjornsson@matis.is.

About Framadaga

Framadagar is an annual event in university life where the 35 main companies in the country present their activities to university students. At Framadögur, each company will have a booth where you can get information about the company and get to know its employees. A number of mini-lectures will be held during the day, teachers from UI and RU will compete in a quiz and various other fun things!

The goal of Framadaga is for university students to get to know companies and thereby increase the chances of summer work, future work or project work for companies. At the same time, the company gets to know potential employees, whether they are summer employees or future employees. A real date for students and companies.

The bus run by Framadaga Háskólinn will run between UI and RU from 10: 45-16: 15 and will be available to everyone and there is no charge during this time.

Matís wants to hire a cook to work in the staff canteen at Vínlandsleið 12 in Reykjavík.

Area of work

The job involves working in parallel with Matís' cooking to oversee the canteen, which serves breakfast and lunch that is cooked from scratch. Matís places great emphasis on the production of varied, fresh and healthy dishes for staff and guests, but at Matís' headquarters in Reykjavík there are approx. 100 people. Working hours are 8:00 - 14:30.

Qualification requirements

• Education in the field of cooking and / or very good knowledge of diverse cuisine
• Experience of cooking in a large kitchen / canteen
• Neatness and punctuality
• Initiative and independence in working methods
• Agility in human relations
• Ambition to succeed at work
• Innovation and willingness to develop in work

For further information, please contact Jón H. Arnarson, Human Resources Manager, tel. 422-5000, e-mail: jon.h.arnarson@matis.is 

The application deadline is August 31, 2014.

Application processing:
All applications are treated as confidential. All applications for advertised jobs will be answered once the job has been hired. General applications are answered within 7 days and are stored for six months. Applicants are asked to resubmit general applications after six months if they wish to remain on the register.

In mid-September. was the web magazine Kjötbókin, www.kjotbokin.is, formally opened, when the first chapter on lamb was made accessible.

The meat book is based on the Icelandic meat book from 1994, where parts of the meat carcasses are listed with descriptions of the type of meat in question; bone structure and muscle name. Now another chapter is ready, but it is about horsemeat. The web magazine is a collaborative project between Matís and the agricultural associations, graphic design was done by PORThönnun, the programming was done by Einar Birgir Einarsson and photos were taken by Odd Stefán Þórisson.

The project manager of the web-based Meat Book is Óli Þór Hilmarsson. He says that its goal is to gather information in one place about the names of muscles and how they are cut, and that there will be connections to recipe websites, utilization figures, published reports, recordings, book chapters and articles related to the type of meat in question. That is to say, that there will be everything you need to know about meat in one place and that the project is under its working title: "Information service about Icelandic meat".

Óli Þór says that in Iceland there are certain prejudices against horsemeat. "It is clear that there is always some demand, at least for foal meat, but the supply is not great. The nations we look up to in terms of cuisine, such as Italy, Spain and France, are big on horsemeat and use it in a variety of ways. I think it's only a matter of time before we Icelanders accept the horsemeat and go to see all kinds of horsemeat products, including sausages. According to a new survey by Matís, which was conducted last summer, consumption of horsemeat is insignificant in Iceland, or about 10 times a year among Icelandic men and five times among women. Horse meat is extremely tender meat and the utilization compared to bones is good. The main thing is that the fat can be a nuisance; both that sometimes it is full of her and then she has to crave if she gets too old. Horses are monogamous like pigs and therefore do not need time for fattening like bulls and lambs. Therefore, it should be easy in modern meat processing to prevent the development of horsemeat. "

Óli says that Icelandic horsemeat is fully comparable to horsemeat in Europe. "This is what meat buyers in Italy told us during the export there. The fatty acid composition of Icelandic horsemeat is much healthier than European horsemeat, but the main thing was that Italians complained about the small size of carcasses compared to other breeds of horses. "

Work has begun on the chapter on beef, but then the white meat takes over. It is estimated that it will take about two months to complete each chapter.

For more information Óli Þór Hilmarsson and Gunnþórunn Einarsdóttir.

^{This article is taken from Bændablaðið from 19 January. (http://bondi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=5315).}

Cadmium has always been present in nature, but in many countries it is feared that it is increasingly found in food as an industrial contaminant and also because many types of synthetic phosphate fertilizers contain some cadmium.

The explanation is that phosphate for fertilizer production contains different amounts of cadmium from nature. The Nordic countries have aimed to reduce the release of cadmium into the environment as much as possible. The use of cadmium in industry has decreased and maximum levels for cadmium in synthetic fertilizers have been set. There is currently a debate within the European Union on maximum levels for cadmium in fertilizers. Opinions are divided as the countries of Southern Europe make less demands than the Nordic countries.

Cadmium is one of the most toxic metals to humans and animals. The gap between the amount of cadmium that is harmless to humans and that which is harmful to health is not wide. The long-term effects of too much cadmium in the diet can be kidney damage. In recent years, it has been found that damage can occur due to less cadmium than previously thought (Alfvén et al. 1997).

More on this topic here.

As most people know, there has been a lot of discussion about salt in recent days. Everyone has their own opinion on the so-called "salt issue", but everyone agrees on the importance of healthy, good and harmless food as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Matís wants to put his weight on the scales of a good and informed discussion. In order to emphasize the importance of reliable information and professional work methods in discussions on difficult issues such as these and in light of Matís' role regarding the public health of Icelanders, it should be noted that the company has equipment to measure salt for companies and individuals.

Matís has great ambitions in food research, but it is worth mentioning that Matís runs the largest food laboratory in the country. At Matís, the accreditation of measurement methods is paramount and the company has ambitious plans for even further development of accredited measurement methods. Matís has long aimed at further development of equipment and the company is considering various ways of financing important equipment, for the benefit of all Icelanders.

For further information Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, director of chemical research and risk assessment at Matís

Traceability and the environmental impact of fish products are the backbone of the WhiteFish project, which Matís is working on together with parties in Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The project aims to develop methods for assessing the environmental impact of fishery products, from fishing to the consumer. The environmental impact assessment is based on an LCA life cycle analysis, which means that the analysis covers the entire value chain. Factors such as the state of the fish stocks, the effects of fishing methods, energy consumption during processing and transport, waste in the process, destruction or recycling of packaging, etc. are therefore taken into account.

"Based on the experience gained regarding the eco-labeling of marine products, information such as this is most important for wholesalers and retailers of the product. Few consumers make an effort to immerse themselves in these aspects, but they trust that the person who sells them seafood is offering a product that has an acceptable environmental impact. Large retail chains have their own criteria in this regard, and with the WhiteFish project we are taking a step even further than is done with "traditional" eco-labels and calculating the environmental impact for the entire value chain of the products ", says Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson, Matís's specialist manager.

"In recent months, wild fish from the North Atlantic have faced increased competition in markets from cheap farmed fish from Asia and Africa, such as pangasius and tilapia. With the WhiteFish project, we hope to be able to show that our fish have less environmental impact than this competitive product, after all. "

The development work in the project is done with fresh fish fillets from Iceland and also the same process is examined with regard to fresh whole fish from Iceland which is transported in containers to Grimsby in the UK and processed there. The third research topic is sea-frozen fish from Norway and finally a fourth fish dish produced in Sweden.

"Based on this project, it can be said that a side project has been developed, supported by the Nordic InnovationCentre, where we are looking at what information the product market, ie. retailers and consumers, calls for. Both in terms of the content of the information and its form. These are questions such as whether consumers want information about the fishing method and the state of the stock with the product, how accurate the content descriptions need to be, whether it is better to develop a coding system so that consumers can go to a computer and trace a product's history and so on. Developments in the presentation of this information to consumers can create a unique position for Nordic fish products, and in this way this research is desirable, "says Jónas Rúnar.

For further information Jónas R. Viðarsson.

The board of the Student Innovation Fund has chosen the best projects carried out in 2011 to compete for the President of Iceland's Innovation Award 2012. Two parties in collaboration with Matís have been nominated. The award ceremony will take place at Bessastaðir. February. 

The parties in collaboration with Matís are Darri Eyþórsson and Einar Margeir Kristinsson on the one hand, but they worked on a project with Matís and the University of Iceland, which consisted of achieving improved utilization in Icelandic vegetable growing. Hugrún Lísa Heimisdóttir is also nominated for her project "Protein quantity analysis of the digestive tract of cod climbers" which is carried out in collaboration with Matís and the University of Akureyri.

Matís sincerely congratulates these parties, as well as all the nominees, on their great results and great projects.

More about the President of Iceland Award (from Rannís' website, www.rannis.is)
The board of the Student Innovation Fund has chosen the best projects that were done in 2011 to compete for the President of Iceland's Innovation Award 2012. The final finishing touches for the Student Innovation Fund's grants in 2011 are now nearing completion. The purpose of the fund is to support university students in undergraduate and master's studies for summer work in innovation and research. Almost 500 applications for grants for summer work in innovation and research were received by the fund this year.

The fund was funded by 50 million from the Ministry of Education and Culture and the City of Reykjavík contributed 30 million. The support enabled the Student Innovation Fund to support 131 projects where 190 students worked for 493 man-months.

The end point and also the highlight of the career is the awarding of the President of Iceland's Innovation Award to those projects that are considered to excel. All students who submit a final report before the advertised deadline are eligible for the award. This time, 111 reports were received by the fund before the deadline, so the board had difficulty selecting the projects that could be considered. The projects were extremely diverse and the work took place in all parts of the country.

The board of the Student Innovation Fund selects the projects that are nominated as top projects and compete for the President of Iceland's Innovation Award on the advice of the fund's professional councils. The award ceremony will take place at Bessastaðir next February. Further information can be obtained from Hulda Proppé, Hulda.P@rannis.is, tel. 515-5825 and 821-4332.

The finalization of the Student Innovation Fund's grants for the 2011 grant year is now nearing completion. The purpose of the fund is to support university students in undergraduate and master's studies for summer work in innovation and research. Almost 500 applications for grants for summer work in innovation and research were received by the fund this year.

The fund was funded by 50 million from the Ministry of Education and Culture and the City of Reykjavík contributed 30 million. The support enabled the Student Innovation Fund to support 131 projects where 190 students worked for 493 man-months.

The end point and also the highlight of the career is the awarding of the President of Iceland's Innovation Award to those projects that are considered to excel. All students who submit a final report before the advertised deadline are eligible for the award. This time, 111 reports were received by the fund before the deadline, so the board had difficulty selecting the projects that could be considered. The projects were extremely diverse and the work took place in all parts of the country.

The board of the Student Innovation Fund selects the projects that are nominated as top projects and compete for the President of Iceland's Innovation Award on the advice of the fund's professional councils. The award ceremony will take place at Bessastaðir next February. An overview of the projects that received nominations this time can be accessed here.

For further information, please contact Hulda Proppé at Rannís.