Category: News

A report has been published from Matís ohf. which is called Undesirable substances in seafood products - results from the monitoring activities in 2007.

The report shows the results of measurements of the amount of toxic pollutants in Icelandic seafood in 2007 and is part of a continuous monitoring project funded by the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture and has been ongoing since 2003. As in previous years of monitoring, the results of 2007 show that an edible part of fish caught in Icelandic waters contains very small amounts of organic pollutants such as dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and pesticides (insecticides and plant toxins), compared to the maximums recognized by European countries. Oil and flour made from blue whiting, however, must be close to or exceed the permissible limits for certain substances.

The data collected year after year in this project is used to build an increasingly accurate database on the state of Icelandic marine products with regard to pollutants. The report is in English and is accessible on Matís' website so that it can be used by producers, exporters, the government and others to promote the safety and wholesomeness of Icelandic fish products.

This report contains a more detailed assessment of heavy metals and a number of other inorganic trace elements in edible parts of fish than has previously been done in Iceland, but Matís has developed more sophisticated equipment for such measurements than before. With this equipment, so-called ICP-MS, it is possible in a relatively simple way to detect a large number of inorganic trace elements with greater accuracy than before. The results of measurements of heavy metals show that the edible part of the fish was always below the EU maximum permitted levels for lead, mercury and cadmium. The results of measurements of the inorganic substances classified as essential trace elements in human food will be used in Matís 'nutrient database, ISGEM, which is accessible on Matís' website, but also to assess the value of fish products as a source of such substances in Icelandic food. As in previous years of monitoring, the results for 2007 show that the edible part of fish caught in Icelandic waters contains very small amounts of organic pollutants such as dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and pesticides (insecticides and plant toxins), compared to the limits set by European countries.

The results of measurements of fishmeal and fish oil for feed preparation confirm the need to closely monitor the levels of persistent organic pollutants such as dioxins, PCBs and pesticides in these products in the spring. The concentration of the substances depends on the nutritional status of the pelagic fish stocks from which the products are processed and reaches its peak during the spawning season. In addition, the levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs as well as individual pesticides stop exceeding the EU's permissible limits. This is especially true for blue whiting products.

The author of the report is Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir and the project manager is Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir.

The report can be accessed here.

Matís offers a service that benefits everyone. The services available to companies are well known, but less is known about the services offered to individuals. If you are thinking of buying a dog ………

…… ..wouldn't you spend under 10 thous. kr. and get to know by genetic analysis where the dog comes from? Or do you want to know if the meat you eat is beef, lamb, pork or whale meat? Here is a fun interview on Channel 2's afternoon radio show about the genetic analysis of meat.

Beef that was lamb

Erla Ragnarsdóttir: Yes, we are going to look first…

Linda Blöndal: A little fun.

Erla: Yes, a bit of a fun story. A woman ordered a beef steak at a restaurant that is not in the news. However, she immediately feels that this is not beef and complains but gets little response. The caterer is certain that he is serving beef there. The steak is a beef steak, but the woman does not let herself be told, she is sure that she is eating whale meat and goes hard on the restaurateur and returns the meat. And, of course, the caterer wants a solution.

More here.

On 13 and 14 October, a conference was held on charr farming in the Nordic countries, opportunities, opportunities, obstacles, threats and other industry-related issues. Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís, gave a talk.

Sjafnar's talk discussed, among other things, how it would be possible to increase the demand for farmed char and the opportunities that we Icelanders have. Matís can play a major role in the marketing of farmed char with the knowledge that can be found among the company's employees.

Sjafn's message can be accessed here.

The Icelandic Food and Nutrition Association (MNÍ) is holding an annual Food Day on 15 October. A conference will be held on Icelandic food production and currency creation. Hörður G. Kristinsson from Matís gives an interesting talk: Biomaterials from Icelandic nature - A new source of income

Food production has been of great importance to Icelanders over the centuries and will now play a key role in rebuilding the economy. MNÍ wants to contribute by analyzing food production in Iceland and placing it in an economic context.

The conference will be held at the Grand Hotel by Sigtún in Reykjavík and starts at 1 pm on Thursday 15 October. Seven presentations will be given that provide insight into the ability of food production to support domestic economic activity and generate income for the national economy, while at the same time highlighting the opportunities on the horizon. Participation in the conference must be announced on the MNÍ website, www.mni.is. The participation fee is ISK 3,500 and ISK 2,000 for students.

At the conference will be Fjöregg MNÍ delivered but it is awarded for a commendable enterprise in the field of food production and human consumption. The grip is designed and built by Gleri in Bergvík and has been donated by the Confederation of Icelandic Industries since 1993. MNÍ publishes the magazine Food is on the human side with in-depth coverage of food, nutrition and content Food Day each year. The magazine is distributed all over the country.

The program can be found here.

The project "Healthier ready-made meat products" is now mostly completed. Matís, under the supervision of Emilía Martinsdóttir, was in charge of the project, which began in 2006.

The aim of this project was to use technical solutions to reduce the salt in processed meat products without changing their consumption quality. 
Project manager was Emilía Martinsdóttir, Matís ohf.

Project title: Healthier ready-made meat productsProject manager: Emilía Martinsdóttir, Matís ohf., emilia.martinsdottir () matis.is
Type of grant: Project grant
Working period: 2 years, started in 2006
Grant: ISK 8,001 million kr.
Supervisor of Rannís: Lýður Skúli Erlendsson
Reference number of the Technology Development Fund: 061356

THE PROJECT WAS SHORT OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT FUND.

Consumption of salt (NaCl) is much higher than the recommended daily dose for Icelanders like many European nations. Food consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the hygiene and labeling of food, and supermarket chains abroad are beginning to take this into account in their supply. In addition to giving food a sought-after taste, salt is part of the action of food and affects shelf life. The aim of this project was to use technical solutions to reduce the salt in processed meat products without changing their consumption quality. 

The public health goals are for women to consume less than 6 g / d of salt and men for 7 g / d, which corresponds to 2.4 and 2.8 g / d of sodium (Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2004 - Integrating nutrition and physical activity. 4th edition. Nord 2004: 13, Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen 2004). In 2002, the average daily dose for Icelandic men was 10 g NaCl / d than for women. 7 g NaCl / d. In order to reduce the use of salt, it is important to reduce the salt in processed foods, bread, meat and fish. Salt (sodium chloride) plays an important role in many processed foods and therefore its use is not easy to reduce without changing the properties of the food. Salt affects the taste, inhibits microbial growth and has a significant effect on the texture and binding of other substances.

The aim of the project "Healthier meat products" was to develop healthier ready-made meat products with less salt and hard fat with the aim of slowing down the development of cardiovascular disease and promoting less obesity among the general public. The project was part of the ERA-SME program "Food for better human health" in collaboration with Spanish parties. The Icelandic part of the project was carried out by Norðlenska ehf., Matvælarannsóknir Íslands ohf. and the Laboratory of Nutrition. The Spanish partners were the consulting company Eurocatering Food Service, SL, the meat processing company Cádido Míró and the technology development agency AINIA in Valencia. In this project, various ways were sought to produce processed salt and fat-reduced meat products, and prototypes of fat- and salt-reduced products were produced by the company Norðlenska. The products were chemically analyzed and sensory evaluation was performed to investigate the effects on the taste, smell and texture of the new products. Extensive consumer surveys were also conducted to find out how consumers liked the new products. Finally, a survey was conducted among consumers of foods with less salt and less fat. The effect of labeling on meat products where less salt and less fat were labeled on the product was also examined.  

The project succeeded in producing fat- and salt-reduced products from three product categories: new meat products, pre-fried meat products and cold cuts. Fat- and salt-reduced meatballs are ready for the market. The new product received very good reviews from consumers and liked even better than the product that was on the market. The other two products have come a long way in product development and the company now has the knowledge and experience to complete that product development and continue with the development of such products. The company should be able to launch a new product line with healthier processed meat products when market conditions are right. The results of an opinion poll among consumers indicate that consumers are interested in low-fat meat products and most would buy the product if it were available. In order to appeal to consumers, however, low-fat meat products need to be compared to the standard ones in quality. The purpose of the intervention study was to investigate whether low-fat and / or salt-reduced processed meat products can be part of a health-enhancing diet among men aged 40 to 60 years. For three weeks, participants were asked to follow a low-energy diet, which responded to a 30% energy reduction based on basic energy needs. To do this, they received custom menus. Significant, positive health effects were observed in participants during the study. The results of the study show that the consumption of processed fat and salt-reduced meat products does not prevent positive health changes from occurring while following a diet, energy-reduced by 30% based on basic energy requirements.

List of project results, as well as reports, articles and manuscripts.

Production process for fat and salt-reduced products from three product categories: new meat products, pre-fried meat products and cold cuts.

Matís consumer test in product development and marketing process for services that will be offered to Icelandic food producers (TasteNet).

1. How can meat products be made healthier? Ólafur Reykdal, Matís
2. Report on the health effects of salt and fat reduction in meat products from Norðlenska, Atli Arnarson, Alfons Ramel. RÍN 
3. Experimental report on the development of prototypes at Norðlenski. Aðalheiður Ólafsdóttir, Emilía Martinsdóttir. June 2008 MATÍS
4. Report on product development of healthier meat products. MATÍS report no. 25-09. Aðalheiður Ólafsdóttir, Ólafur Reykdal, Óli Þór Hilmarsson, Gunnþórunn EInarsdóttir, Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir, Þóra Valsdóttir, Emilia Martinsdóttir and Guðjón þorkelsson, August 2009
5. Healthier meat products. Intervention study report. Intervention by Atli Arnarsson and Alfons Ramel, RÍN, August 2009

Expected impressions: 

The attitudes of Icelandic consumers towards healthier Icelandic meat products are published in Icelandic magazines such as Bændablaðið.

The results of RÍN's intervention research will be part of a scientific article.

Research in the field of biotechnology and biochemistry can lead to the possibility of extracting great value from by-products in the fishing industry and other seafood.

Recently, a very interesting interview was published with Hörður G. Kristinsson, division manager at Matís.

The interview is published in Fiskifréttir and can be seen in its entirety here.

The Annual General Meeting of the Association of Fish Processing Plants was held at the Grand Hotel v / Sigtún Reykjavík, on Friday 25 September. 2009.

Hörður G. Kristinsson, division manager at Matís, gave a talk on "New and profitable opportunities for the Icelandic fishing industry".

The lecture can be accessed here (ppt file).

The exhibition FOOD-INN 2009 will be held in the Sports Hall in Akureyri on the 3rd and 4th of October. The exhibition is the largest event in the activities of the association Matur úr Eyjafjörður - Local food, but the last exhibition was held in the autumn of 2007 at the Vocational School in Akureyri and was well attended.

The exhibition was attended by about 10 thousand people and it was clear immediately after it that the exhibition would be moved to another building. Therefore, the Sports Hall was now chosen and it will truly be turned into a dining hall and harvest house this first weekend of October. Matís will have a booth at the show and welcomes everyone to visit.

An event that will attract thousands of visitors
As before, it is planned that the exhibition will be both diverse and a highlight in Nordic food culture. There will be exhibition areas for companies and NGOs, there will also be a market area where it is ideal to sell the autumn harvest or anything else related to food and food culture. The exhibition area will also have fun competitions for visitors to attend, seminars (workshops) on various aspects of food and food culture, and finally a seminar on Icelandic food will be held in connection with the exhibition. At the same time, it will be information and entertainment that will undoubtedly attract thousands of visitors.

Emphasis is placed on the participation of as many companies related to food culture as possible, and the aim of the exhibition's relatives is to continue where the well-closed exhibition 2007 left off, to show and prove how important food plays in the North, from production and processing to food. - and service.

Opening hours for both days are from 11.00 to 17.00.

Admission to the exhibition is free.

Matís, Skotveiðifélag Íslands, Matvælastofnun and Úlfar Finnbjörnsson at Gestgjafan offered an open educational meeting on these issues on Tuesday 22 September. The meeting was very well attended and was well attended by another hundred people.

Below you can see the agenda of the meeting and if the lecturer had slides, you can download a pdf file that contains a slide show by clicking on the title of the lecture.

08: 30-08: 35 - Jón Bjarnason, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture - Meeting convened
08: 35-08: 45 - Ívar Erlendsson, guide / reindeer guide - After the shot, let alone?
08: 45-08: 55 - Sigmar B. Hauksson, Skotvís - Better use of wild game - more pleasure, more memories?
08: 55-09: 05 - Kjartan Hreinsson, MAST - Legislation on the treatment and treatment of wild game
09: 05-09: 15 - Guðjón Þorkelsson, Matís - On the treatment and treatment of wild game; opportunities in product development?
09: 15-09: 25 - Úlfar Finnbjörnsson, The Host - Full utilization of the products along with seasoning, cooking and side dishes!
09: 25-09: 45 - Questions, answers, discussions

For further information, please contact Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, steinar.b.adalbjornsson@matis.is.

From 2.-3. November the seminar New Nordic Food - from vision to realizations will be held in Borupgaard, Snekkersten, 30 km north of Copenhagen. The seminar will discuss the possibilities and future of Nordic food.

Main text

The Nordic Council of Ministers, the Nordic Innovation Center and the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen are hosting the seminar, which will be held at the end of the project. New Nordic Food.  The aim of the project was to promote Nordic values in Nordic cuisine and tourism and to work in the fields of health, hygiene, job creation, design and value creation in food production. View the conference brochure here.

The registration fee is DKK 1000 and registration is on the page:  http://cms.ku.dk

Registration ends October 2.