Category: News

Thursday 4 February at 18-21, MNÍ (Icelandic Food and Nutrition Association (MNÍ)) together with Matís and MAST in collaboration with the University of Iceland Continuing Education will hold courses on food labeling, among other things to increase understanding of food labeling and content.

The course is open to anyone who is interested in food labeling and is also suitable for those who use it in their work, such as in canteens, production and import companies. The aim of the course is to enable participants to interpret food labels and give them an understanding of their contents.

Food labeling is often the only information we have on hand to choose our food in an informed way. The labels must follow certain rules, which state what needs to be stated. They should be clear and not misleading to us. Content description and nutritional value information are important in order to be able to compare the ingredients, energy content and food supplements and may be a prerequisite for us to be able to put together a healthy diet.

The current rules on food labeling as they apply to consumers will be reviewed. The labeling of food packaging will be examined and how to label allergens and intolerances will be discussed. The various labels on food will be explained: the health label, the glass and fork label, the organic certification label, Fair Trade, etc. The labeling of contents, nutritional value and shelf life will be explained. Examples of tag processing will be taken and participants will work on projects. The use of the Icelandic database on the chemical content of food (ÍSGEM) and the web program hvaderimatnum.is will be shown, as well as other programs and methods for calculations.

Discussions are part of the course.

More information can be found at www.endurmenntun.is

Rapid methods have been developed to detect bacterial contamination in food. It is now possible to determine in just a few hours whether the food contains undesirable microorganisms, but this greatly increases food safety and the waiting time for the results of microbiological analyzes is reduced from 2-6 days to less than 24 hours.

The AVS project, which aims to develop rapid methods for detecting common pathogens in food and specific spoilage bacteria in fish, has been completed. The analysis time with these methods is from 2 up to 6 days shorter than the reference methods and the fastest ones take about 4 hours.

One-day certification of food safety - within 24 hours of sending samples for analysis - is very important for companies in the food industry, especially with regard to food pathogens, and will become even more important in the near future. Rapid PCR analysis enables food producers to intervene immediately, control the processing of the raw material or stop distribution if the product is found to contain undesirable micro-organisms or does not meet quality requirements. Technology therefore contributes to improved quality and the image of food, which is a very important factor in maintaining Iceland's good image for healthy agricultural and marine products.

The project developed several methods for different bacteria. Development of high-speed Salmonella analyzes in different products were performed and showed comparable analytical skills and an accredited NMKL method, e.g. the comparable sensitivity of the methods to analysis was demonstrated Salmonella in chicken pox. The real-time PCR method analyzed Salmonella furthermore with high reliability in all other raw materials tested, i.e. fishmeal, roe, shrimp, salmon and haddock.

Diagnostic tests Campylobacter of the method in chicken feces and chickens have similarly shown that the bacterium can be detected in samples containing only 10-100 bacteria per gram with full reliability after pre-breeding overnight. Comparison with accredited NMKL cultures further showed that the real time PCR method had a sensitivity comparable to or greater than the accredited NMKL method. Other methods for detecting pathogenic bacteria were also set up Listeria monocytogens and Vibrio parahaemolyticus with good results. Further information can be found in the project report.

Fortunately, foods rarely contain pathogenic micro-organisms, but there are a host of other harmless bacterial species that promote tissue breakdown and grow steadily during storage. During decomposition, various compounds are formed, which are usually accompanied by odor and the quality of the products is reduced accordingly. In all cases, storage methods are therefore about controlling the growth of these micro-organisms. Research on these bacteria in fish has shown which bacterial species are most at work there, and with knowledge of their amount in the fish during production or storage, the quality of the products can be assessed and even their shelf life can be predicted.

In this project, a rapid test was developed to measure the level of harmful bacteria separately. This test can be used to predict shelf life, to assess the condition of raw materials and products or for internal quality control in fish processing plants. The bacterial species that are most commonly targeted are spears in this context Pseudomonas types and Photobacterium phosphoreum but their damaging activity in fish has been demonstrated under different storage conditions.

The knowledge and experience gained in the project has also made it possible to set up new methods for other bacterial species at a lower cost than before, and further activities in this field are planned.

Interested parties can get further information from the project manager, Eyjólfur Reynisson, eyjolfur.reynisson@matis.is, at Matís ohf.

Project report: 24-hour analysis of undesirable micro-organisms in food.

Matís' final report on the project "Isolation, purification and research on blood pressure-lowering peptides from fish proteins" has been published. 

Cardiovascular disease is common in Iceland and has been one of the most common causes of death, and high blood pressure is one of the main risk factors. Recent research suggests that the effects of protein on health are greater than providing the necessary energy and nutrients. Digestive proteins during digestion or other degradation produce smaller substances, peptides. In addition, amino acid sequences that were inactive within the protein chain become active when the peptides are "released". These peptides have many functions as physiological factors such as the effect on blood pressure, digestion, oxidative processes and more in the body and are called bioactive substances. It is therefore possible to use peptides in health foods and even medicines.

The aim of the project was to study the activity of fish peptides and to isolate, purify and define peptides that have an antihypertensive effect. The project set up facilities and knowledge acquired so far by Matis. This includes a method for measuring the activity of substances that inhibit Angiotensin Converting enzyme (ACE), which is important in the control of blood pressure as well as peptide isolation and purification equipment. In collaboration with the University of Iceland, HPLC and Maldi-Tof equipment were used to analyze which peptides were in the active components. Among other things, peptides that have not previously been defined as ACE inhibitors were found.

The results of the project show that Icelandic fish protein could be an important source of peptides with antihypertensive properties. With the knowledge and facilities that have been acquired in the project, there are much greater opportunities to develop valuable fish products and health foods.

The project was funded by AVS research fund in the fisheries sector.
For further information, please contact Margrét Geirsdóttir, food scientist at Matís, mg@matis.is

Matís switchboard will be closed from December 24th to January 4th.

The direct telephone number for the microbiology department is 422-5116 or 858-5116.

Information on other employees' telephone numbers can be found on our website, http://www.matis.is/um-matis-ohf/starfsfolk/

Matís staff wishes its customers and all Icelanders a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.

As in recent years, Matís does not send out traditional Christmas cards, but only cards in electronic form. Instead, Matís sponsors Kraft, a support group for young people who have been diagnosed with cancer and their families.

It is Matís' wish that the grant be put to good use and further support the excellent work that is already being done at Kraft.

Further information can be found on Kraft's website, www.kraftur.org.

Matís' operations in the capital area will now be merged under one roof at Vínlandsleið 12, 113 Reykjavík (Grafarholt).

Therefore, all activities of the company, including telephone and computer systems, will be down from 17:00 on Thursday 17 December until 08:00 on Monday 21 December.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Due to emergencies, you can call Odd Már Gunnarsson, Head of the Business Development Division, at 858-5096.

With best regards,
Matís staff.

This morning Matís ohf. delivered new premises at Vínlandsleið 12. Mótás hf. built the house and furnished it according to Matís' needs.

Matís' operations in Reykjavík have been in 3 locations but will now be merged under one roof and this will be a great streamlining of operations.

"This change will be a revolution for Matís and the company's operations. We are merging operations that are currently in three locations in Reykjavík under one roof. At the same time, it will be a great change and strength for our offices around the country to now be able to have their backing under the same roof in Reykjavík, "says Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís.

The merger in one place lays the foundation for an even stronger work for the research company Matís, and the CEO says that it can be important for innovative projects in the field of the food industry.

"I have no doubt that we are already seeing the results of our emphasis on increasing Matís' collaboration with universities and the business community. This supports innovation in fisheries and agriculture, but also innovations such as food-related tourism, for example. The business community is constantly perceiving better opportunities in research and that is precisely why I welcome the fact that we are enabled to grow with new headquarters when it is important for the national economy to promote innovation, "says Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís.

In the next few days, the new building will be moved and operations there will be fully operational in early January 2010.

Matís thanks Mótás hf. for a very successful collaboration at this time.

From 14 to 23 December 2009, Matís' operations in Reykjavík will move to new shared premises at Vínlandsleið 12 in Grafarholt. Due to the relocation, it will not be possible to receive samples for microbial and service measurements in Reykjavík during this period.

Customers are kindly requested to schedule sampling projects so that they do not fall within the specified transfer dates. If there is an urgent need, we can provide our customers with certain microbial and chemical measurements at our laboratory in Neskaupstaður or at other accredited laboratories that we use as subcontractors during the transfer period.

It is expected that the operation of the service measurements will return to normal as early as the beginning of January next year. As soon as we apologize for any inconvenience our business partners may have from this temporary disruption to Matís 'service measurement operations, we would like to extend a warm welcome to you for your continued business and cooperation in Matís' new and magnificent headquarters.

On behalf of Matís' service measurement staff,

Franklin Georgsson,
Head of Measurement & Communication.

The fishing year 2004/2005 was the first recorded mackerel catch in Icelandic jurisdiction, since then the catch has increased from year to year but in the fishing year 2008/2009 a catch was set, then 100,000 tonnes of mackerel could be caught with Norwegian-Icelandic herring in Icelandic jurisdiction.

The mackerel has mainly been caught in July and August off the coast of Iceland, but in the summer of 2009 Icelandic vessels began to catch mackerel with herring in June and caught mackerel until September. For the next fishing year, 130 thousand tonnes of mackerel have been allocated. 

In order to be able to process mackerel on board Icelandic fishing vessels, they must have certain equipment, first there must be a sorter that sorts the mackerel from the herring. Style classifiers have proven to be good in that respect, but it is also possible to classify the mackerel in that equipment. The traditional processing line used for processing and freezing herring needs to be changed so that the mackerel can be decapitated and gutted before it is frozen. The market is mainly for decapitated and gutted mackerel, as its shelf life is the most.

It is important to be able to classify the mackerel from the Norwegian-Icelandic herring when the species in question are caught together to create the most value from the catch, instead of sending a large part of the mackerel-mixed herring catch for smelting. Numerous experiments have been made with the classification of the species and they have been successful, whether in the processing of only one species or both at a time.

An interesting meeting on opportunities in the Icelandic fisheries sector has just ended, a meeting hosted by Matís, the AVS Fund and the Association of Fish Processing Plants.

The meeting was well attended and about 160 people came to listen to the speeches of Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, CEO of Samherji, and Sveinn Margeirsson, division manager at Matís.

The aim of the meeting was to shed light on opportunities and possibilities for better utilization and increased value. Icelanders are at the forefront of the utilization of marine resources and have strong and powerful fisheries companies with years of experience in meeting the needs of the market. But our raw material is a limited resource and therefore it is necessary to make the best use of it and create great value from it.

Þorsteinn Már's speech can be found here and Sveinn's talk can be found here.

For further information, please contact Sveinn Margeirsson, sveinn.margeirsson@matis.is, and Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, steinar.b.adalbjornsson@matis.is.