News

Rules for the use of the Matís logo on food packaging

There has been a growing trend for companies and individuals who produce, distribute and sell food to collaborate with Matís. It is important that the use of the Matís logo (logos) and other aspects related to Matís is within the framework of the collaboration.

Matís authorizes the use of the logo if the following conditions are met:

  • Matís has been contacted and the use has been approved for the product and packaging in question
  • The Matís label is published with nutritional value labeling or within the framework for such labeling
  • The labeling of nutritional value is in accordance with current regulations and has been prepared or reviewed by Matís
  • All markings on the product's packaging are in accordance with current regulations and Matís has had them inspected in the final version for printing (test copy)

It is possible to allow the following text under nutrition labeling: Matís has studied the nutritional value of the product. Website (www.matis.is) may appear in connection with the Matís logo or information about Matís.

Information on how to obtain the correct version of the Matís logo can be obtained from Matís employees and on the company's website, www.matis.is.

News

Mackerel - fishing and processing

Targeted mackerel fishing in Iceland began in 2007, but in 2009 fishing rights for mackerel were first limited.

In 2006, 232 tonnes were caught, but in 2010 the catch had reached 121,000 tonnes. Initially, a large part of the catch was smelted and at the same time the storage technology and processing have been developed in the direction of using the catch for human consumption. Mackerel is caught here by land at the time of year when it is most vulnerable to acute fats. In 2010, about 70% of the catch was frozen.

In March 2011, a final report was published from a project that Matís worked on together with Ísfélag Vestmannaeyjar and Huginn ehf. The report is entitled "Fishing, sorting, processing and markets for mackerel caught by pelagic vessels" and was funded by the AVS Fisheries Research Fund. The report discusses fishing and processing of mackerel, equipment needed for mackerel processing for human consumption, handling of catch, measurements of mackerel caught in Icelandic jurisdiction and the market.

Analytical Services
In the summers of 2008 and 2009, mackerel samples were collected from three pelagic vessels. The samples were measured for shape and weight, the samples were gendered and the fat and water content were measured. The following factors in the shape of mackerel were measured: Total length, standard length, head length, bowl length, starlings, width / diameter, height, circumference, weight and sex.

Mackerel_percentage

The total length of the mackerel varied somewhat, the smallest fish were 29 cm and the largest 44 cm. By far the largest was mackerel measuring 35-40 cm or 71% of the samples. The lightest mackerel that came with the samples were between 200 and 300 grams, while the heaviest ones weighed over 700 grams. The vast majority of samples were 300 - 600 grams or 84% of the total, then the relative most samples were 400-500 grams or 33%.

The mackerel was head-cut and slashed, so the head length is important when finding the best setting for the head. Of the samples, 92% were with head lengths of 8 and 9 cm. Most samples were 6.0-6.9 cm in height or 57%. The maximum height of the sample was 7.8 cm.

Most samples were 4.0-4.9 cm wide or 53%. Of the samples, 98% were between 4.0 and 5.9 cm wide. The maximum width of the sample was 6.5 cm. A gender analysis revealed that the majority of the catch was 72% and the proportion of females was 28%. The fat content of the samples was 18 - 31%. The water content of the samples was 53 - 63%. The fat-free dry matter content of the samples was 11 - 23%.

Classification
Processing vessels processing mackerel need to be specially equipped to ensure the correct handling and processing of delicate raw materials. The first step is a classifier that classifies mackerel from herring. Style classifiers have proven to be good, but they have an adjustable distance between the bands and the fish is therefore classified by diameter.

Combs are used to keep Style sorters separate. When only mackerel is processed from herring-mixed catch, mackerel combs are used and herring then immediately falls onto the conveyor belt, but mackerel later falls onto conveyor belts that transport it for processing, although very small mackerel can be classified with the herring. It is possible to process both mackerel and herring at the same time, and then the combos that keep the sorting channels apart need to be changed. Herring then falls onto the leading conveyor belts which transport it on to processing or into storage tanks, while the mackerel falls onto the rear conveyor belts and from there continues on to processing.

Markets
The largest exporters of frozen mackerel, with roe and liver, are Norway and the United Kingdom / Scotland, with a combined turnover of over 60% of the world's export value of mackerel. The largest markets for frozen mackerel are in Japan, Russia, China, Nigeria, Turkey.

When looking at the markets for mackerel caught during the summer, it is clear that the market in Japan is not suitable due to the fat content of the mackerel and the lack of mackerel. The Japanese market is restructuring quality requirements and they have shown great interest in mackerel from Iceland. The mackerel fishing and processing companies have used supercooling on board the vessels and in processing and therefore they have been able to get good mackerel for processing. Different quality requirements for mackerel products are made in the markets. The companies that fish and process mackerel have developed and improved processing methods both on land and at sea to be able to meet the demands of buyers and work their way into new markets. In order to be successful in processing as much of the mackerel as possible for human consumption, there must be good co-operation between producers and buyers on a common understanding of product quality.

News

Matís in Stykkishólmur this summer

Matís will have employees located in Stykkishólmur this summer ready to assist food producers and parties who want to try their hand at production and product development. 

Matís has placed great emphasis on being in good contact with small and large food producers all over the country and this is part of building a good relationship with food producers in Stykkishólmur and the surrounding area.

Matís is the largest food research company in the country and has employees who have extensive knowledge of food processing and development and can therefore assist anyone who wants to try new products and product development. It is possible to assist with processing experiments and initial production, but no special facilities will be set up in Stykkishólmur at this time, but Matís' facilities elsewhere will be new or facilities existing with potential partners.

There are many things to consider when working on product development or new production is being prepared, so it is important to go over all aspects carefully, from facilities to the market, and it is necessary to have access to good help that Matís employees are willing to provide. We will strive to provide all the assistance needed to make ideas for new products a reality and we are ready to work with both individuals who are taking their first steps and those who have come a long way with their ideas. .

Matís' specialists have worked on many projects with smaller manufacturers in recent years and have gained important knowledge and experience within the company in launching new ideas. We will, of course, accept all ideas in a positive and constructive way and maintain the utmost confidentiality, so please contact us if you have a promising idea and need the help of the best experts.

Stykkishólmsbær has provided us with excellent facilities in Egilshús Aðalgata 3 and the aim is for Matís staff to stay there this summer.

You can contact Pál Gunnar Pálsson, the project manager of the project, by sending an e-mail to pall.g.palsson@matis.is or call 422 5102/858 5102.

News

Matís helps to bring fresh birch sap from Hallormsstaðarskógur to the market

In Hallormsstaðarskógur, two thousand liters of juice from birch trees have been collected. The juice is drunk fresh or boiled syrup.

In the spring, when the trees are deciduous, they need to be transported to the branches. Every day, a full-grown birch tree transports hundreds of gallons of water out of the earth and, in fact, is slightly deformed by humans. Hallormsstaðarskógur is one of the largest birch forests in the country and nowhere can you find as many large and powerful birches. This is therefore an ideal place to collect birch sap.

Bergrún Arna Þorsteinsdóttir at Holt og heiður in Hallormsstaður says that when birch sap is collected, a hole is drilled in the tree and a hose is connected to the hole. One tree gave up to 8 liters per day. "We are only using trees for 4 or 5 days and then we close it. We are not using the same trees year after year. We give them a 2-5 year break before we start collecting from them again," says Bergrún. 

The juice is considered healthy, but it contains minerals, antioxidants and sugars. "We boil birch syrup from the sap and work with MATÍS to bring it fresh to the market. There are 60 trees that we currently have under. And I don't think we're getting like 200 liters a day from these trees," says Bergrún.

This news was published on RÚV on the 3rd of June. Here you can see the video with the news.

Matarsmiðjar Matís offers entrepreneurs and small businesses the opportunity to pursue product development and start small-scale food production for a small rent. In this way, they save on investments in expensive equipment right from the start of operations. This provides a unique opportunity to continue testing oneself both in production and in the market. Special emphasis is placed on development in connection with local food and food tourism services. Further information about Matís' Food Workshops can be found here.

News

Hörður G. Kristinsson at Matís wins the Encouragement Award of the Science and Technology Policy Council 2011

The Science and Technology Policy Council's Incentive Award for 2011 was presented at the Rannís Research Forum on Wednesday 8 June.

Dr. Hörður G. Kristinsson, Matís' research director and director of the biotechnology and biochemistry division, received the award this time. Hörður received the recognition from the Prime Minister, who is also the chairman of the Science and Technology Policy Council.

Hörður was born in 1972. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology from the University of Iceland in 1996 and then went to the United States for further studies. During his master's studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, he worked on research into the utilization of by-products of seafood using enzymes, but such technology is now used successfully in many parts of the world. In 2001, he completed a doctorate in food biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, where he researched the properties of fish proteins. The results of his doctoral project have been used to develop new technologies for isolating and utilizing proteins from by-products and underutilized fish species, such as blue whiting and capelin. It can therefore be said that they have both added to our well of knowledge about seafood as well as having great practical value. During Harður's last year of doctoral studies, he was offered the position of lecturer at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the University of Florida, which is one of the largest and most progressive in the USA. There he built from the ground up a powerful laboratory in the field of food biochemistry with a special emphasis on the utilization of seafood. Hörður moved to Iceland in 2007 and started working for Matís in 2008 but also holds the position of associate professor at the University of Florida.

Hörður has been a pioneer in building research on biomaterials and bioactive substances from Icelandic nature. He played a key role in the development of the Matís Biotechnology Center in Sauðárkrókur, which opened in 2008. Specialists work on domestic and foreign research projects in close collaboration with the food industry in Skagafjörður and elsewhere in the country. Emphasis is placed on offering facilities and expert assistance to develop both products and production processes with the aim of speeding up the process from idea to product and thus reducing the cost of development. In the same spirit, we can also mention a new facility for a start-up company at Matís called Brúin. There are now powerful biotechnology companies such as Kerecis and Primex that are close to Hörður and his colleagues.

Hardur's research has had great practical value and he holds three published patents. Hörður has published material about his research in prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journals and given lectures at conferences around the world. He is active in international research collaboration and currently manages several multinational research projects. Hörður has also been active in teaching and his doctoral students have become ten and the master's students nine.

In his work, Hörður has shown that he is an excellent scientist, teacher and administrator. He has shown initiative and led the development of a new field of study that is already beginning to pay off in the national economy. He is a good role model for students and colleagues and a key employee in a growing company. It was the unanimous opinion of the jury of the Incentive Award that Hörður G. Kristinsson meets all its criteria and is therefore a worthy winner of the Incentive Award of the Science and Technology Policy Council 2010.

The Prime Minister and Hörður
The Prime Minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, presented Herði with the Incentive Award

About the Incentive Award

The Science and Technology Policy Council's Incentive Award is given to a scientist who, early in his career, is considered to have excelled and created expectations for a contribution to scientific work that strengthens the foundations of human life in Iceland. The prize, which is now ISK 2 million, has been awarded since 1987, for the first time on the 50th anniversary of the University of Iceland's Faculty of Business. The aim of awarding the Incentive Award is to encourage researchers to do good and to draw the public's attention to the value of research and the work of scientists.

For further information, contact Hörður at 858-5063.

News

The EcoFishMan project is once again attracting attention

The EcoFishMan European Union project, led by Matís, will be on "Seas the Future” conference in the Faroe Islands on June 7 and 8.

The purpose of "Seas the Future" is to promote continued work, through Nordic cooperation, and thus promote joint actions and regional coordination for sustainable development, both between the Nordic countries and their neighbors in the adjacent areas of the North Atlantic, the Arctic and in the European Union.

As has been stated in Matís news and websites, the European Union expects the EcoFishMan project to develop a new methodology that will be useful for changes and improvements to its fisheries management system. Emphasis is placed on co-operation with fishermen, fishing and processing and on the utilization of information from electronic catch diaries. The aim of the project is to promote environmentally friendly, sustainable and economic management with a special emphasis on traceability and to minimize discards.

That EcoFishMan The project involves a total of 13 institutions, companies and universities in eight European countries, including the University of Iceland and the University of Tromsø in Norway. The project is expected to cost 3.7 million euros over three years and the EU's grant is 3.0 million euros.

News

Icelandic barley is too good not to use for human consumption

About 20 people on a course on grain processing for human consumption that Matís ohf. was held at Verin science parks in Sauðárkrókur in collaboration with the Guidance Center with the support of the Vocational Training Council.

Eyfirðingar, Húnvetningar and Skagfirðingar learned about the handling of grain, demonstrated the diverse usefulness of Icelandic grain and reviewed recent examples of the development of new products from Icelandic grain. The guests also enjoyed quality bread from Skagafjörður barley as well as bread for which Skagafjörður flour was used for baking. An enthusiastic grain grower brought a sample of his production, oats, barley and wheat, both whole and ground. Ólafur Reykdal, project manager at Matís, gave a talk, taught the audience and answered questions.

Domestic cereals for human consumption Ólafur Reykdal

For more information Arnljótur Bjarki Bergsson and Ólafur Reykdal.

News

Persistent organic pollutants in Icelandic cod

On Wednesday 1 June, Vordís Baldursdóttir will hold her master's defense in the field of biotechnology. The defense takes place at 10:00 and will be in room M101 in Sólborg.

Master's thesis at the Faculty of Natural Resources, School of Business and Science, University of Akureyri

On Wednesday 1 June, Vordís Baldursdóttir will hold her master's defense in the field of biotechnology. The defense takes place at 10:00 and will be in room M101 in Sólborg. Vordís' project is entitled: "Occurrence of different persistent organic pollutants in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) in Icelandic waters”.

Vordís' project was a joint project of Matís ohf., The University of Iceland and the University of Akureyri.

The project was part of the project, "Let's take a closer look at the Yellow from fishing in the stomach - a study of factors that affect the value of cod catches", Which was funded by the AVS Fisheries Research Fund. Vordís' master's program was also funded by Matís ohf. and BYR Sparisjóður.

In the dissertation, Vordís discusses persistent organic pollutants in Icelandic cod. The amount and variability of persistent organic pollutants were examined and whether factors such as gender, age, puberty, fishing season and season affect the amount of the substances. Also whether the measurement methods that have been developed on the equipment of Matís ohf. in Akureyri for the measurement of persistent organic pollutants in fish products would be comparable to the methods used elsewhere. Some persistent organic pollutants were measured in the flesh of 64 cod and 38 of them in the liver. A small amount of persistent organic pollutants was detected in the cod. The amount measured in the liver was approx. 300 times more than in meat, but the substances follow the fat and the cod muscle is very low in fat. The measurement method used is perfectly comparable to the methods used elsewhere, and the method also seems to be useful for detecting the same substances in chicken.

Vordís Baldursdóttir completed a bachelor's (B.Sc) degree in biotechnology from the University of Akureyri in 2008 and started working as a specialist at Matís ohf. in the spring of 2010. She has been working on her research and dissertation for the past three years.

Main supervisor was Dr. Kristín Ólafsdóttir, Head of the Toxicology Department of the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Iceland.

Co-supervisors were Dr. Rannveig Björnsdóttir, Associate Professor at the University of Akureyri and Director of Matís ohf. as well as Dr. Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, director of Matís ohf. and Dr. Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir, project manager of Matís ohf., Who were also the project supervisors.

Opponent is Dr. Stefán Einarsson, expert on climate and global pollution at the Ministry for the Environment. Stefán has, among other things, worked on the development of methods for the analysis of persistent organic pollutants and participated in international co-operation regarding the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, among other things in drafting guidelines on the best available technology to limit the release of persistent organic pollutants into the environment.

News

International Fisheries Conference in Ancona, Italy - Matís participates and presents the EcoFishMan project

An international fisheries conference is currently being held in Ancona, Italy, for the 71st time. Matís participates in these conferences and will present the EcoFishMan project and how to improve the fisheries management system used within the countries of the European Union (EU).

Matís is specially invited to this conference by the Marche Regional Authority in Italy and the purpose is, among other things, to present the Ecofishman multinational project that Matís manages. At the meeting, for example, there will be an open discussion with stakeholders about their involvement in the EcoFishMan project, which is about the development of a new fisheries management system within the EU.

Further information about the project can be found on Matís' websites, e.g. here and here.

Further information about this meeting / conference can be found here.

News

Matís gives ……… blood!

For some, the Blood Bank car arrived at Matís at Vínlandsleið 12 in Reykjavík. Matís staff received well and almost half of the employees in Reykjavík (28 individuals) donated blood this morning.

  • The blood bank, which is the only specialized institution in its field in the country, accepts the blood of healthy individuals to help the sick.
  • Eligible blood donors are between 18 and 60 years old, over 50 kilos, healthy and drug-free.
  • The blood bank is open every weekday and also has a blood collection vehicle that collects blood in the capital area and in neighboring settlements.

Many people donate blood to the Blood Bank, but the donation is essential for various hospital activities. Then people can fill out a card for an organ donation after death and complete a biography, a document that contains people's wishes regarding the end of life.

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