Category: News

More than 70 people got on well yesterday in Matís' newest Matarsmiðja located in Flúðir.

Yesterday, Matarsmiðjan á Flúðir was formally opened with pomp and splendor. Many good guests attended and the individuals of the stakeholders who run Matarsmiðjan spoke. Jón Bjarnason, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, was the last to speak and formally opened Matarsmiðjan in a symbolic way with a table cut together with Vilberg Traustason, station manager from Matís, Ragnar Magnússon, head of Hrunamannahreppur and Gunnfríður Elín Hreiðarsdóttir, assistant to the minister (see photo).

Since 2010, work has been underway on the preparation of Matís' new office in Flúðir, which is the eighth outside the headquarters in Reykjavík. This is a so-called food factory, but Matís has built workshops like these with good results in Höfn in Hornafjörður and in Egilsstaðir.

Matarsmiðjan is run by Matís in collaboration with the municipalities in the uplands of Árnessýsla, Atvinnuþróunarfélag Suðurlands, Háskólafélag Suðurlands and Háskóli Íslands and is located at Iðjuslóð 1.

The purpose of Matarsmiðjan is e.g.

• to promote small-scale food production in the South by offering facilities, education and advice
• to promote higher education and employment opportunities in research and product development of food and related fields

For further information Vilberg Tryggvason at Matís but you can also find information about the office in Flúðir here.

Monday, May 16, 2011, at 16:00 mun Hrólfur Sigurðsson from Matís will hold a master's lecture at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the University of Iceland on his project: "Analysis of measurement data in cold water quality control"

Master's lecture in the Faculty of Food and Nutrition / Hrólfur Sigurðsson

Starts: 16/05/2011 - 16:00 Ends: 16/05/2011 - 17:00

Location: Háskólatorgi Further location: Room HT-101

Monday, May 16, 2011, at 16:00 mun Hrólfur Sigurðsson hold a master's lecture at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the University of Iceland on their project:

"Analysis of measurement data in cold water quality control"

Supervisors: Franklin Georgsson, Loftur Reimar Gissurarson

Examiner: Eyjólfur Reynisson

Guðjón Þorkelsson Associate Professor, directs the ceremony.

Abstract
The subject of the project is the microbial, chemical and physical quality of drinking water in Heiðmörk. The project is divided into three parts. In part one, an analysis is made of available measurement data from official inspections and internal inspections of Orkuveita Reykjavíkur's water supply in the capital area from the period 1997 - 2009. The processing of the data sought to answer questions about whether there have been significant changes in various microbial, chemical and the physical properties of drinking water over the last 13 years and a comparison with data from previous periods. In part two, a study was carried out on the microbial and physical quality of drinking water from the water intake area to several locations in Orkuveita Reykjavíkur's distribution system in the capital area. A special study was also conducted on different types of culture media in determining the total bacterial count. The purpose of this was to see the effect of the distribution system on the quality of the drinking water and to verify the results that came from project part one. In work part three, bacteria in the drinking water were species analyzed using molecular biological methods to obtain basic information about the microbial flora and its diversity in the drinking water from the Heiðmerkur area.

For further information Hrólfur Sigurðsson at Matís.

Since 2010, work has been underway on the preparation of Matís' new office in Flúðir, which is the eighth outside the headquarters in Reykjavík. This is a so-called food factory, but Matís has built workshops like these with good results in Höfn in Hornafjörður and in Egilsstaðir. It is now time for a formal opening, even though activities have been there for some time.

The food factory in Flúðir formally opens on Thursday 12 May 2011 at 14. Matarsmiðjan is run by Matís in collaboration with the municipalities in the uplands of Árnessýsla, Atvinnuþróunarfélag Suðurlands, Háskólafélag Suðurlands and Háskóli Íslands and is located at Iðjuslóð 1.

The purpose of the Food Workshop is

• to promote small-scale food production in the South by offering facilities, education and advice
• to promote higher education and employment opportunities in research and product development of food and related fields

An advertisement can be found here.

For further information Vilberg Tryggvason at Matís but you can also find information about the office in Flúðir here.

Course organized by the Nordic Food Research Committee on 26 May 2011.

The course is intended for employees in laboratories, quality managers and all those who purchase chemical analysis services. Reference substances are used in all types of chemical analyzes and the methodology for their use is the same regardless of the subject at each time.

Advisor: Lars Jorhem, National Food Administration, Uppsala, Sweden. He will travel all over the Nordic countries and hold the course. In Iceland, the course will be held in English.

Place and date:    Thursday 26 May 2011 at the Iceland Innovation Center (eastern house)
Timing:                    10:00 - 16:00 (registration from 09.30)

The course will cover the following topics:

• Reference Materials (RMs) versus Certified Reference Materials (CRMs): What is the difference?
• ISO Guides and CRMs, EU legislation, CODEX requirements
• Interlaboratory studies: Differences and similarities between certification, validation and proficiency testing
• How are CRMs made?
• Recovery and bias: Relation to CRMs
• Selection, use and misuse of CRMs
• Estimation of bias using NMKL Procedure No. 9 (2007)
• A short introduction to measurement uncertainty
• Where to find CRMs and PT programs?

Registration is done through the Nordic Food Research Committee and requested to be sent to the e-mail address: nmkl@vetinst.no for Tuesday, May 10th. The course costs 2000 NOK and the amount is paid directly to the Nordic Food Research Commission. Included in course fee: Lunch, coffee and course materials.

Contact person for the course in Iceland is Guðjón Atli Auðunsson, e-mail: gudjonatli@nmi.is

Algae are an important part of the diet of many in Asian countries. Their use in cooking, however, has not gained a foothold in the West except to a small extent.

Educational meeting of the association Food-history-culture in collaboration with Nýpuhyrna, Ólafsdalsfélagið and ReykjavíkurAkademíun

New Nordic cuisine - rediscovery of algae
On Thursday 28 April, Ole G. Mouritsen, Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, will give an open lecture on the use of algae in cooking.

Algae are an important part of the diet of many in Asian countries. Their use in cooking, however, has not gained a foothold in the West except to a small extent.

Algae can be excellent foods, tasty, full of important minerals, trace elements, vitamins, proteins, iodine and healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids. In addition, algae contain plenty of fiber and, as a result, are low in calories. Algae will no doubt be a bigger part of our diet in the future. Equally important is that these "sea vegetables" can help us rejuvenate and balance our diet to counteract the increase in lifestyle-related diseases, especially cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity and mental illness.

Ole G. Mouritsen is the author of books on culinary art and the science behind it. His research is related to a broad field of basic sciences and their application in biotechnology and biomedicine. He is a respected member of the Danish scientific community and has received numerous prestigious awards for his work.

The lecture will be in the hall of the Nordic House, basement, Thursday 28 April 2011 at 19:30.

Admission is free and open to everyone.

The lecture will be given in English.

More on www.matarsetur.is and www.nordichouse.is

The fisheries exhibition takes place 3-5. next May. A number of Icelandic companies will be at the exhibition, including DIS, Maritech, 3X, HB-Grandi, Marel, Promens and Matís, to name a few.

The exhibition is the largest of its kind in the world and this venue is important for many Icelandic companies to expand and increase co-operation.

Matís will be in a common booth with Íslandsstofa and is booth no. 839 in Hall 6.

Matís employees who will be in Brussels these days are Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís, Hörður G. Kristinsson, Matís' research director, Sigurjón Arason, Matís's chief engineer and Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, marketing director of Matís.

The use of domestic cereals for human consumption has increased significantly in recent years. This development calls for a stable quality of the grain and both buyers and sellers have descriptions of quality requirements to support it.

At Matís and the Agricultural University of Iceland, projects have been carried out to facilitate the utilization of domestic grain for human consumption, and the Agricultural Productivity Fund has supported these projects. Quality requirements have been compiled for food barley and barley for brewing. They describe the minimum requirements for barley development, drying, purification, chemical content and microorganisms. The quality requirements are intended to be a benchmark in trade in barley for food production. Different requirements are set for food barley and barley for brewing.

The quality requirements as a whole can be found here (pdf file).

The Association of Icelandic Biotechnology Companies and the Confederation of Icelandic Industries hold a seminar on genetic engineering, usability and opportunities for job creation.

Grand Hotel Reykjavík April 27 at 9.00 - 12.00

The meeting is open and admission is free. Registration on www.si.is

Agenda:
The beginnings of genetic engineering - Guðmundur Eggertsson, University of Iceland
Past, present and future plant breeding Áslaug Helgadóttir, Agricultural University of Iceland
Genetic engineering in food production - Helga M. Pálsdóttir, Matvælastofnun
Genetic engineering in pharmaceutical production - Einar Mäntylä, ORF Biotechnology
Genetic engineering as a research tool - Ólafur S. Andrésson, University of Iceland
Genetic engineering and the environment - Arnar Pálsson, University of Iceland

Panel

Moderator: Þorsteinn G. Gunnarsson, KOM public relations

A conference on domestic raw materials for use in aquaculture recently concluded. Many remarkable things were said at this conference, and we Icelanders have a great opportunity to greatly increase aquaculture by emphasizing the use of local raw materials for feed production. The lectures are now available at www.matis.is.

Aquaculture has been growing in Iceland and there is a foreseeable large increase in the coming months, both for current producers and new companies that are gaining a foothold in this field. There are also some large innovation projects in progress where opportunities for new brands and new production methods are considered.

Feed is the largest operating cost item in aquaculture or generally around 50-70% and a large proportion of raw materials in feed are imported. In order to make aquaculture sustainable, it is important to strengthen domestic production of feed raw materials and thus strengthen the foundations for the operation of fish farms and related industries. Matís ohf. has in collaboration with the company Íslensk matorka ehf. compiled information on the possibility of utilizing domestic raw materials for aquaculture feed that come from agriculture and fisheries and are poorly utilized or even landfilled. In addition, the aim is to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration between industries and research institutes, which can lead to a large increase in aquaculture with an emphasis on the use of local raw materials for feed production. At the same time, value creation in agriculture will increase with improved utilization of arable land and job creation in the country's rural areas. Emphasis is placed on analyzing the nutrient content of various by-products that occur in agriculture and fisheries and the possibility of utilizing them for feed production for aquaculture. The possibility of cultivating raw materials specifically for animal feed and thus utilizing land and labor for rural areas in Iceland is also being considered. It is considered that the raw materials are generally used for aquaculture and the summary is not limited to individual species.

Click on the title of the lecture to view
13:00 -13:10 Sentence - Jón Bjarnason, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture
13:10 -13:35 Environment - efficient fish production - Alfred Jochumsen, DTU-Akva Denmark
13:35 -13:50 Development of new fish feed ingredients in Sweden: mussel and mushroom meal
                     - Björn Þrándur Björnsson, University of Gothenburg
13:50 -14:05 Green organic waste - Ásbjörn Jónsson, Matís
14:05 -14:20 Invertebrate production - Jón S. Ólafsson, Directorate of Fisheries
14:20 -14:35 Microorganisms - Arnþór Ævarsson, Prokatin / Jakob Kristjánsson, Prokazyme
14:35 -15:10 Coffee
15:10 -15:25 Repja - Jón Bernódusson, Icelandic Maritime Administration / Ólafur Eggertsson, Þorvaldseyri
15:25 -15:40 Many small things make one big thing: are floating algae the energy ball of the century?
                     - Erla Björk Örnólfsdóttir, Vör Marine Research Center
15:40 -15:55 Other options - Ólafur I. Sigurgeirsson, Hólar University
15:55 -16:10 Value of raw materials - Jón Árnason, Matís
16:10 -16:50 Discussion / panel - Rannveig Björnsdóttir (Matís) moderates.
Representatives of feed producers, Björn Þrándur Björnsson (University of Gothenburg), Alfred Jochumsen (DTU-Akva), Sveinbjörn Oddsson (Icelandic Matorka), Björn Björnsson (Hafró), Helgi Thorarensen (University of Hólar).
16:50 -17:00 Summary and conclusion of the meeting

For further information Jón Árnason at Matís.

Just now, a meeting about the biotechnology industry ended, and the meeting took place at Matís' premises at Vínlandsleið 12 in Reykjavík. In total, the meeting was well attended by another hundred people and important things were said about everything related to this profitable but challenging industry.

There is a great boom in biotechnology and related industries in Iceland and many want to say that the growth point of the future lies there. Matís is in good contact with the biotechnology industry and many of Matís' projects are carried out in collaboration with companies there.

Now seemed to us a good time to present the state of affairs, vision and results of recent years. The meeting included presentations from companies as well as presentations from Matís and the University of Iceland.

Following the meeting, guests were invited to inspect the premises at Vínlandsleið 14, where several companies, which work closely with Matís, have established themselves and there was a formal opening of that part of the building.

Below you can see what the agenda of the meeting looked like and if you click on the name of most of the lectures, a pdf file will open with the lecture.

Agenda
08:30 Sentence - Orri Hauksson, Association of Industries
08:40   Is the biotechnology industry the growth spurt of Icelanders? – Hörður G. Kristinsson, Matís
08:45   Enzymes and energy from thermal microorganisms – Jakob Kristjánsson, Prokazyme
09:00   Energy and chemical synthesis with the help of thermophilic microorganisms – Guðmundur Óli Hreggviðsson, Matís
09:10 Why do fish not get foot ulcers? - Guðmundur Guðmundsson, Kerecis
09:25   Enzymes from cod in natural products, cosmetics and medicines – Bjarki Stefánsson, Enzyme technology
09:40 Molecular culture and its products - Júlíus B. Kristinsson, ORF Genetics
09:55   The chemical wealth of Icelandic nature – Sesselja Ómarsdóttir, Pharmacology, University of Iceland
10:10   Chitosan - Innovation and growth potential for the future – Einar Matthíasson, Primex
10:20   Adventure marketing: wool, fish and supplements – Þráinn Þorvaldsson, Saga Medica
10:35 Discussion
10:45 Closing of the meeting and formal opening of Vínlandsleið 14 - Friðrik Friðriksson, Chairman of the Board of Matís

The meeting was chaired by Hörður G. Kristinsson, Matís' research director and the director of the Biotechnology and Biochemistry Division.
Þórir Bergsson, Matís' master chef, offered the guests a delicious breakfast.

An advertisement for the meeting can be found here.