Category: News

As was reported in the news this week, IFL has moved its protein company, Iceprotein ehf, to Sauðárkrókur. The company, founded in 2005, is a development, production and marketing company that develops, manufactures and will sell wet protein for the fishing industry in Iceland and dried protein for the health and food supplement market.

The goal with the establishment of Iceprotein ehf was to develop, produce and sell protein products from pelagic fish and cuts of catfish in fish products and health products. The company was initially based in Akranes, but it soon became clear that more suitable facilities had to be found for the company, especially in terms of food production. In the end, it was decided that Iceprótein ehf would get inside FISK Seafood's premises in Sauðárkrókur.

The transfer was announced when Verið, Þróunarsetur Hólaskóli was formally opened th. March 7 in the same building FISK Seafood by the harbor in Sauðárkrókur. The development center is a collaborative project of the Fisheries Research Institute, the University of Akureyri, the University of Iceland, FISK Seafood and Hólar University, and the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Fisheries contribute a total of ISK 9.6 million to the project. Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, Minister of Industry and Trade, and Einar K. Guðfinnsson, Minister of Fisheries, signed an agreement to that effect at the ceremony in Verin þ. March 7.

Iceprótein ehf is, however, far from being the only forum for protein research at IFL. For example, IFL manages Propephealth-the part of SEAFOODplus, a large European scientific project, which studies, among other things, whether there are any substances in the fish other than omega fatty acids that have a positive effect on human health. There is some evidence that this is the case and the research focuses mainly on proteins and peptides found in pelagic fish, capelin, herring and blue whiting.

Then there is research on whether it can be used unused protein from wastewater from fish processing on land, even for human consumption, but the proteins are usually used in feed or lost to the environment. The project will promote cleaner production technology, increase the value of land-based catches and promote the development of technical additives from underutilized raw materials. 

Then we can mention a project on the use of fish proteins in fillet processing, where the purpose is to be able to use protein products as natural auxiliaries to improve the stability and utilization of products. There are also projects about use of fish proteins as a dietary supplement where the goal is to process odorless and tasteless and water-soluble proteins with high nutritional value from fish that can be used as a dietary supplement.

Agreement between the Minister of Industry / Fisheries

Accompanying document with contract

H.Í. 2006 starts today in Askja, Náttúrufræðihús H.Í. in Vatnsmýri and it lasts for two days. The aim of the session is to present the great and varied research in the natural sciences that is conducted at the University of Iceland and its institutions. At the session, research will be presented in presentations and on posters, and IFL will present seven researches on posters.

IFL has long had a good collaboration with the University of Iceland, especially the Department of Food Science at H.Í. as IFL experts have been teaching for years. Of the 13 posters presented in the category Food and nutrition are five from IFL this time. One poster is then in the category Biology and finally one in the category Chemistry and biochemistry.

The following posters are from IFL:

Food and nutrition

• V309: Drying shrimp and fish cakes in a heat pump dryer / Study on heat pump dried shrimp and fish cake. - Zhang Guo-chen, Sigurjón Arason and Sveinn Víkingur Árnason.
• V310: Stability of saithe fish powder (Pollachius virens) / Stability of fish powder made from saithe (Pollachius virens). - Margrét Bragadóttir, Eyjólfur Reynisson, Kristín A. Þórarinsdóttir and Sigurjón Arason. Fisheries Research Institute, University of Iceland.
• V311: Effects of temperature and packaging on fat damage in cod products (cuts and liver) at Frystigeymslu / Effects of storage condition on lipid degradation in cut-offs and lipids from cod (Gadus Morhua). - Kristín A. Þórarinsdóttir, Margrét Bragadóttir and Sigurjón Arason. Fisheries Research Institute, University of Iceland.
• V312: Low field NMR research on the state of water at superchilling and freezing temperatures and the effect of salt on the freezing process of water in cod mince. - María Guðjónsdóttir, Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir and Sigurjón Arason. Fisheries Research Institute, University of Iceland.
• V313: Volatile substances as quality indicators in chilled fish: Evaluation of microbial decomposition products with Rafnefi / Volatile compounds as quality indicators in chilled fish: Evaluation of microbial metabolites by an electric nose. - Guðrún Ólafsdóttir. The Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Iceland and the Fisheries Research Institute.

Biology:

• V436: Evaluation of different tactile technologies and devices to increase real-time PCR diagnostic capabilities / Evaluation of probe chemistries and platforms to improve detection limit of real-time PCR. - Eyjólfur Reynisson, MH Josefsen, M. Krause and J. Hoorfar. Fisheries Research Institute, Danish Institute for Food and Veterinary Research, Copenhagen.

Chemistry and biochemistry:

• V206: Light Scattering Investigations of Cod Muscle Proteins. - Tom Brenner, Ragnar Jóhannson and Taco Nicolai. Fisheries Research Institute and the University of Maine.

Every other year, conferences are held in the Nordic countries, mostly on sensory evaluation and consumer research, and IFL has taken part in their preparation. The next conference will be held in Oslo on 3-5. May and is entitled Focus on the Nordic Consumer.

The interest and participation of people from the food industry in attending these conferences has steadily increased in recent years, as it is an ideal forum for the industry and scientists to meet. On average, more than 100 people, from many countries, have attended the conferences in recent years, and it is worth mentioning that people from at least 12 countries, apart from Icelanders, took part in such a conference that IFL hosted in Reykjavík in 1999.

The main topics of the conference this time will be innovations and demand in the field of "traditional" foods, the meal itself and also health and diet will be discussed, incl. target food. IFL has, as before, taken part in the preparations for the conference and at the conference in Oslo, two IFL staff will deliver speeches. Emilía Martinsdóttir will discuss the European project "SeafoodSense" Increased sensory quality for the consumer, which is part of SEAFOODplus the project and Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir who will talk about the AVS project Attitudes and fish consumption of young consumers.

People in the food industry in this country and others who are interested in this topic are encouraged to register their participation as soon as possible. Registrations will be accepted for the next two weeks at least  Further description and program

Sensory evaluation and sensory evaluation research have long been an important field at IFL, and the emphasis has increasingly been on consumer research. IFL has participated in many domestic and foreign research projects regarding sensory evaluation and food quality and held various sensory evaluation courses for employees of fish processing companies and other food companies in recent years. IFL staff has also provided theoretical and practical instruction in sensory assessment at the Department of Food Science at the University of Iceland and at the fisheries department of the University of Akureyri's resources department. IFL staff also teach sensory assessment at the United Nations Fisheries Academy.

Sensory evaluation of IFL

The March issue of the Journal of Food Science 2006 contains two articles, mostly written by IFL staff. One deals with maintaining the quality of salted fish in consumer packages after dehydration and the other deals with supercooling of cod fillets.

The author of the article about salted fish is the staff of the Research Department of Rf and it is called "Keeping quality of desalted cod fillets in consumer packs." Its authors are: Hannes Magnússon, Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir, Hélène L. Lauzon, Ása Þorkelsdóttir and Emilía Martinsdóttir and all work, as mentioned above, at the Research Department of Rf.

Read the article

The other article is called "Evaluation of shelf life of superchilled cod (Gadus morhua) fillets and the influence of temperature fluctuations during storage on microbial and chemical quality indicators”. The authors are dr. Guðrún Ólafsdóttir, Hélène L. Lauzon and Emilía Martinsdóttir, who all work at the Rf's Research Division, and then Jörg Oehlenschlager and Kristberg Kristbergsson.  

It is worth mentioning that the article was part of Guðrún Ólafsdóttir's doctoral project and Jörg Oehlenschlager and Kristberg Kristbergsson were her supervisors in the project.

Read the article

The Reykjavík Fisheries Research Institute wishes to hire an employee for office work. This is a 100% job. The job involves specialized office work.

Among the things the job involves are:

• Project management
• Saving data
• Publishing assistance
• Correspondence
• Photocopying
• Replacement in telephone service
• Other incidental tasks

Qualification requirements:

• Good education
• Good computer skills
• Good command of the Icelandic and English languages
• Interpersonal skills
• Independent, precise and organized work methods
• Ready to tackle challenging tasks
• Flexibility and a positive attitude

Wages are according to collective agreements of public employees. Remuneration, rights and obligations are otherwise governed by the Act on the Rights and Duties of Government Employees No. 70/1996.

The application deadline is March 12, 2006 and it is assumed that the person in question will start work on April 1st. Applications with information about education and previous jobs as well as copies of exam documents are requested to be sent by e-mail to the e-mail address gulla@rf.is or by letter to the Fisheries Research Institute, Skúlagata 4, 101 Reykjavík. Information about the job is provided by Guðlaug Þóra Marinósdóttir, tel. 530-8600.

As reported here on the web in January, a project was recently launched on possible ways to increase fish consumption again, especially young people, but research shows that in many respects it should be a steep climb for that age group. Recently, an informative summary of the project was published in the magazine Ægi and can be read here in pdf format.

As readers of this website have no doubt noticed, a variety of discussions about the benefits of fish consumption have been prominent in recent weeks. This is how the Economist's recent discussion on the excellence of fish consumption, especially with regard to omega-3 fatty acids, was also published. report which shows that there are very few undesirable substances in fish from Icelandic waters. Then in January it was introduced project here at Rf, which aims to increase fish consumption again in this country, and the project is doing well in the sector in Ægi. The authors of the article, which is called "Where are Icelanders' fish consumption headed??” they are Emilía Martinsdóttir, head of department at Rf and Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir, food scientist.

But despite this positive news, surveys show that fish are becoming less and less popular with people, especially the younger generation. This is a matter of concern, as these are important consumers in the future. Decreasing fish consumption is no less a concern from a health point of view, as seafood and fish, for example, are an important source of vitamin D, which is essential for the body's calcium production and can work against osteoporosis in later life. 

It is therefore not without reason that it was decided to launch a special initiative, which aims to stimulate the interest of younger generations in this country in fish. 

Read the article in Ægi

Recently, a conference was held at Rimini in Italy, called the Mediterranean Seafood Expositon 2006, which is the largest seafood exhibition held in Italy. In connection with the exhibition, a meeting was held to discuss how the latest technology can be used to ensure the quality and safety of marine products. Among those invited to deliver a speech there was dr. Guðrún Ólafsdóttir, specialist at IFL.

Guðrún says that one of the reasons why she was invited to give a lecture at the meeting is that one of the main organizers of the conference was "Íslandsvinurinn" dr. Bianca Maria Poli, Professor at the University of Florence. Dr. Poli is also the president of the National Association of Fisheries Companies in Italy (L'Assoittica Italia - Associazione Nazionale delle Aziende Ittiche). She first came here for the TAFT 2003 conference and was fascinated by the country, the nation and - also how Icelanders run their fisheries and fish processing.

Speakers at the meeting came from various Italian universities, but two foreign lecturers were invited to speak at the meeting. In addition to Guðrún, there was Joop Luten from Fiskeriforskning in Norway, and he presented research from The Seafoodplus project, including consumer research in which IFL participates and has been reported before here on the site.

According to Guðrún, her talk was about rapid methods for quality, safety and species analysis of fish, where she explained the possibilities of using rapid measurements with various technologies, such as electronic noses. She also discussed other innovations in the water, such as "smart labels" for packaging, such as TTI (time temperature integrators) and rapid test kits for pathogenic bacteria and histamine, which concern the safety of marine products. 

Guðrún says that the Italians continued to seem to modernize their fishing industry and were interested in hearing what other nations were doing in this field.

The production of safe, wholesome food requires that it be made from good raw materials, but also that the highest level of hygiene is maintained in its production. However, cleaning in the food industry is expensive and therefore important that they play their role, without costing companies and the environment too much.

A few years ago, there was a lot of discussion about the so-called ideology cleaner production technology and was originally from the US Environmental Protection Agency and aimed to reduce pollution immediately at the point of pollution. This ideology also extended to the food industry, where companies tried to make the best use of the raw material, reduce electricity and water consumption and, last but not least, reduce the use of detergents.

Among the things that food companies have done to reduce the use of detergents is to improve the design of production equipment and make it more environmentally friendly, but also to study the diverse flowering of microorganisms that thrive in different food processing and require different responses. It is not the quantity of the substances that matters, but their activity.

In 2005, a project began at IFL called Improved use of detergents in the fishing industry and reduction of cleaning costs and is scheduled to end later this year. The project is carried out in collaboration between IFL and Tandur hf., A company that specializes in services and advice to companies and institutions regarding hygiene and cleaning materials.

The project, funded by the IFL and AVS funds, aims to find ways to increase the efficiency of cleaning in the processing environment of marine products, while reducing the use of detergents and cleaning costs. Tækjasjóður Rannís supported the purchase of special washing equipment for the project, which has now been installed in the processing hall of the Fisheries House and was tested this morning.

At a press conference held at Sjávarútvegshúsið today, the results of a monitoring project that IFL is working on for the Ministry of Fisheries were presented. The results show that Icelandic seafood contains very few undesirable substances.

Einar K. Guðfinnsson, Minister of Fisheries, and Ásta Margrét Ásmundsdóttir, Project Manager at IFL, presented at the meeting a new IFL report on the results of monitoring of undesirable substances in marine products, which was conducted in 2004.

The project actually started in 2003 at the initiative of the ministry and will be continued in the coming years.

The report presented today is called Undesirable substances in seafood products– results from the monitoring activities in 2004 and contains results for the second year of the monitoring. As revealed by measurements in 2003, its results show that the edible part of fish caught in Icelandic waters contains very small amounts of dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and the ten types of pesticides (insecticides and plant toxins) that were measured in the study. 

So-called pointer PCBs also measure well below the maximum levels in force in our trading partners. The same can be said for mercury, which is measured in the worst case at a level that is 1/10 of the maximum agreed in the European Union.

Read the report

The market for ready-made fresh food has grown rapidly in recent years, especially in Europe, and many have seen in this development the possibility of increasing the value of seafood. However, it may be reversed as it is difficult to use seafood in prepared foods. The main thing that has prevented seafood from being used in prepared dishes is that fish is a very sensitive raw material due to the high proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids that can oxidize and cause bad taste.

In order to make it easier for fish processing companies to meet the demands of the market, it is clear that more knowledge needs to be gained about the stability of prepared fish dishes and the effect of boiling on product quality. Consumers are increasingly demanding the availability of prepared foods, but also want the product to retain important properties, such as nutritional content and taste quality. At the same time, increased requirements are made for freshness and increased shelf life.

Last year began project at IFL which aims to investigate Effects of Oxidation on Membrane Phospholipids, Proteins and Fish Muscle Inhibitors / Inhibitors which affect the taste and nutritional value of fish. The effects of boiling and heating should also be considered as a stimulating factor in the formation of taste defects in boiled cod. The results of the project will increase the understanding of oxidation in boiled fish that causes taste defects and at the same time give ideas on ways to prevent the formation of these taste defects in products.

When allocating from Rannís Research Fund, today it was revealed that the aforementioned project had received a follow-up grant of over ISK 4 million, so it is clear that the investigation of oxidation in fish at full power at IFL will continue in the coming months.

Today, the working group of the project was researching capelin at IFL with regard to the aforementioned characteristics and the attached photo was taken on that occasion. The project manager of the project is dr. Guðrún Ólafsdóttir, but others who work on it at IFL are Margrét Bragadóttir and Rósa Jónsdóttir. As previously stated, Rannís is funding the project, which is expected to be completed in 2008.