On the 14th-16th October, all 43 participants of the European project met Natalie in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria to discuss the progress of the project in the first year and the next steps. The participants also had the opportunity to meet in person, many of them for the first time. The project brings together 43 companies and organizations from across Europe with the aim of developing nature-based solutions that increase the resilience of regions against the effects of climate change. The project lasts for five years and is funded by the Horizon program of the European Union.
Around 100 people participated in the meeting and representatives of most of the partners were present, along with stakeholders in the region and other stakeholders. The discussions at the meeting included the following:
Status of the project after the first year
The project involves many participants in different countries where the needs are diverse. Reviewing the situation together gave them the opportunity to gain an insight into what is going on elsewhere in Europe. Each research area updated partners on what had gone well and what the main challenges had been over the past year.
The study area of Gran Canaria visited. The picture shows a constructed wetland with a measuring device.
Contributors section of CS7. From left: Annar Berg Samúelsdóttir (Matís), Tinna Halldórsdóttir (Austurbrú), Gabríel Arnarsson (Austurbrú), Katrín Hulda Gunnarsdóttir (Matís) and Jess Penny (University of Exeter).
Preparing for the next workshop
An important aspect of the project is to connect with stakeholders in the area, and four workshops are held for this purpose. The first one has already taken place, but the meeting discussed how it would be most efficient to hold the next one.
Next steps
At the end of the meeting, the participants had the opportunity to sit down and plan the next steps. In such an extensive project, there are many aspects that need to be looked at, so it is important that everyone is on the same page.
In addition, a field visit was made to one of the research areas, where the participants got a good idea of the real impact of implementing a nature-based solution on the local environment. After long, but successful meeting days, Matís' representatives enter the next year of the project full of anticipation.
About the project
Natalie's project concerns the development of nature-based solutions that increase the resilience of regions against climate change. Austurland was chosen as the seventh research area (CS7) of the project and the participants in CS7 are Matís, Austurbrú, University of Tromsø and University of Exeter. More information can be found at project website.
An international conference on neoproteins for food and feed will be held in Berlin on the 3rd-5th. next december Matís is one of the organizers of the conference, which is an important forum where ways are sought to promote sustainable agricultural practices and food systems, which covers production and consumption, in a holistic way and integrates innovation and environmental protection.
Food and feed systems around the world face the challenges of ensuring food security and nutrition for all the world's population, while at the same time needing to secure the livelihoods of farmers and other stakeholders in the food chain and maintain a sustainable environment.
Alternative proteins such as insects, mushrooms, algae and microbes fill the gap of sustainable, nutritious and safe food in the future.
The conference will discuss sustainable neoproteins and explore how they can transform existing food systems. The focus is on safety and nutrition, as well as consumer perception and economic fundamentals.
As mentioned earlier, the conference will take place in Berlin on the 3rd-5th. December 2024, but the conference can also be attended online, so you can participate wherever you are.
The organizers of the conference are:
German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, BfR)
Next Friday, November 1, Anna Þóra Hrólfsdóttir will defend her doctoral thesis in food science at the University of Iceland in collaboration with Matís. The thesis is entitled: Improved utilization, preservation and quality of brown algae.
The doctoral defense will take place in the Banquet Hall of the University of Iceland's Main Building from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Opponents will be dr. Susan Løvstad Holdt, associate professor at the Food Institute of the Danish University of Technology, DTU, and dr. Marthe Jordbrekk Blikra, researcher at the Norwegian food research institute Nofima.
The supervising teacher is María Guðjónsdóttir, and her supervisors are Hildur Inga Sveinsdóttir, assistant professor and expert at Matís, and Sigurjón Arason, professor emeritus and expert at Matís. In addition to them, Ólafur Eysteinn Sigurjónsson, professor, sits on the doctoral committee.
Ólöf Guðný Geirsdóttir, professor and president of the Department of Food and Nutrition, presides over the ceremony, which takes place in the University of Iceland's Festival Hall and starts at 9.00 am.
The following abstract of the essay: Despite the enormous increase in macroalgae production in recent decades, they are still a relatively underutilized resource in Europe. However, interest in macroalgae has increased significantly in Europe in recent years and it has been predicted that production could increase enormously in the coming decades. With the increased production of macroalgae, it is important to fully utilize, preserve and handle the biomass in an appropriate way to maximize the quality of the product. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate and improve the value chains of selected brown algae, with an emphasis on the full utilization of raw materials in the production of flour from kelp, the preservation and shelf life of cultured kelp and marin core, and to evaluate the use of multispectral imaging technology (MSI) to assess the quality of macroalgae within the industry. The results of the study show opportunities in increasing the value of macroalgae through improved production processes. Furthermore, the results suggest that acidification may be suitable as a preservation method for cultured brown algae and that MSI may be used for industrial quality assessment of macroalgae.
Microorganisms are part of our food. However, knowledge of which microorganisms are found in food and in the production environment is still limited. A recent study, in which Matís participated, has provided new insight into this subject. The results will contribute to a better understanding of the effect of microorganisms on various aspects of food, such as shelf life, safety, quality and taste.
The study was part of the European project MASTER, which brought together 29 partners from 14 countries. One of the goals of the project was to create a database of microorganisms in food by sequencing genetic material from 2533 samples taken from various foods and their production environment. Matís was in charge of studying samples from Icelandic fish processing plants, but the research project covered all major food groups. This is the largest study ever conducted on the microbial composition of food and production environments, but a better understanding of these microbes could contribute to the improvement of people's health, as some microbes from food can become part of our microflora.
A total of 10899 food-associated microorganisms were identified in these samples, half of which were previously unknown species. The results showed that food-related microbes form an average of about 3% of the intestinal flora of adults and about 56% of the intestinal flora of infants.
"These results suggest that some of the microbes in our gut come directly from food, or that humans have historically acquired them from food, where they have later adapted and become part of the human gut flora," says Nicola Segata, a microbiologist at the University of Trento and the European Cancer Institute in Milan. Although 3% may seem like a low percentage, these microbes can have a major impact on the functioning of the intestinal flora. The database is therefore an important contribution to science and public health, as it will be useful for research on the effects of food-related microorganisms on our health.
Although few pathogenic microorganisms were identified in the food samples, there were several species that may be undesirable due to their effects on the taste or shelf life of foods. Knowledge of which microorganisms belong to certain foods can therefore be useful for producers, both large and small, to improve product quality. This information can also assist food control in defining which microorganisms should and should not be present in certain foods as well as tracking and certifying their origin. The results of the study were published last August 29 in the magazine Cell Press and the database is now accessible. Findings specifically related to seafood have also been published in the journal Heliyon, published by Cell Press. As mentioned above, the research is part of the European research project MASTER and was funded by Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Research Council, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Science Foundation of Ireland and the Irish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.
Thursday November 7th 2024. Held in Ríma conference room in Harpa, Austurbakka 2, 101 Reykjavík. Supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers – Working Group for Fisheries (AG-Fisk).
Workshop description:
The workshop is held to discuss and investigate factors that affect catch quality and pricing, how they interconnect and differ between the Nordic countries. This includes discussions on quality characteristics, how quality parameters currently are and should be measured, regulation frameworks and what affects pricing and market situations. The outcome of the workshop will outline the strengths of different strategies that relate to catch quality within the Nordic region and explore if there are opportunities to implement different methods between regions to achieve higher overall catch quality and value.
Revised suggestions for topics in the workshop agenda are:
Price and catch value: What affects the prices? Are they reflected correctly by quality parameters?
Quality characteristics: What are the most important quality parameters (handling factors, fish size, condition factor,...)? How do we measure the catch quality parameters? Suggestions for standardization of quality assessment?
Fishing methods: How do different fishing strategies and methods affect catch quality?
Regulations and legal matters: How do regulations vary between the Nordic countries? How does the regulation work across the countries and are there lessons to be transferred?
Market aspects: How do prices differ between direct sales vs auction markets and Vertically integrated company's vs fish market.
Skyr is a traditional Icelandic product that has probably been made in Iceland since the colonization, but a dairy product under this same name was then known in all the Nordic countries. Skyrgerð, however, seems to have been preserved only in Iceland. Curing was a way to preserve milk and maximize its nutritional value, but curd was an important staple food that helped Icelanders survive. In the past, butter was considered a premium food, while curd was considered a poor man's food. Now we know that due to the high protein content of curd, it was indeed the salvation of poorer households and provided the energy needed for daily work. Skyr is made from skimmed milk that remains when the cream is separated from the milk to make butter. Skyr is still a popular food and for centuries it was by far the most common dairy product in Iceland, along with butter and whey.
It is likely that the curd in the colonial era was different from what we know today, both more acidic and thinner. There has been a big change in the production of skyrs in the last century with the introduction of its factory production. Skyr is an important part of the cultural heritage of Icelanders, and it is therefore necessary to gain more knowledge about this product.
Recently, Matís and the University of Iceland started research on Icelandic curds as biological cultural heritage. The research brings together farmers, ethnologists, dairy scientists, food scientists and biologists and focuses on the cooperation of the species involved in making the curd: humans, farm animals and microbes. Live curd bacteria are a good example of how the symbiosis of microbes and humans over the centuries has contributed to a diverse microflora in curds and in the intestines of Icelanders. In the project, this diversity will be investigated and the aim will be to reproduce varieties of curd that correspond to the taste and texture of the past based on the memories of the people of curd and the experience of farmers and dairy experts in curd making. The aim is to deepen the understanding of the diversity and resilience of biological cultural heritage by looking at the complexity and transformation of curd over time. We are looking for interviewees who have experience making curd both in the past and now, and interviewees who have eaten curd for many decades and can tell stories from the past and the changes they have experienced. Those who are interested in participating in the research are kindly asked to contact Jón Þór Pétursson ethnographer or Þóra Valsdóttir food researcher at the email address skyrlifi@gmail.com or by phone at 853-5118. See more about the project at www.matis.is.
Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), often referred to as langoustine or Nephrops, is found in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean and North Sea as far north as Iceland and northern Norway, and south to Portugal. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea and is common in the Adriatic Sea. Due to its ecological demands for sediments, Nephrops has a very patchy distribution, and is divided into over 30 populations. These populations are separated by inhospitable terrain, and adults rarely travel distances greater than a few hundred metres. The global annual catches of the species are around 60 thousand tonnes, with the Nordic countries representing 10-15%.
Nephrops fisheries in the Nordic countries are presently experiencing uncertainty with changing climate, acidification, changes in stock size, distribution, development in gear and vessels, regulatory changes such as the implementation of the EU landing obligation, and many more. At the same time there are immense opportunities to nurture the Nordic Nephrops fishery by promoting sustainable management and maximising economic gain through Nordic cooperation and networking.
The Nordic Council’s working group for fisheries cooperation (AG fisk) is aware of these challenges and opportunities and did therefore fund a research and innovation project to facilitate networking and further cooperation between Nordic researchers, fishermen and other stakeholders. The highlight of the project was a workshop held in Copenhagen 13-14 May 2024 where many key stakeholders shared knowledge and discussed various challenges and opportunities. The general outcome from the project was a common opinion of the workshop participants that further Nordic networking and cooperation is needed. The importance of active dialogue and knowledge exchange between stakeholders such as, government, scientists, fishermen, and research cannot be underestimated, as the sharing of information and open dialogue will facilitate cooperation, reduce mistrust, and provide opportunities for improvement.
A report has now been published about the workshop and its results, which can be accessed here.
Matís office in Hvanneyri is at Hvanneyrargatu 3 and there are two employees with facilities. The building is large and Matís shares it with various companies and institutions in the area. last Monday the Minister of Food visited the establishment.
Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir together with her assistant, Pálína Axelsdóttur Njarðvík had a meeting with Eva Margréti Jónudóttur and Margeir Gissurarsyn, Matís staff as well as staff from Landi og sjö and Matvælastofnun. The minister has already visited the headquarters of his institutions and companies that come under the ministry, but is now traveling around the country to visit other establishments. They discussed activities in the area, the projects that are being undertaken at the moment and various future opportunities.
We thank Bjarkeyja and Pálína for a pleasant meeting.
Matís and RISE from Sweden will bring together experts in the field of bioeconomy in a workshop called "BIO2REG expert workshop on research infrastructure and living labs" on September 5th and 6th next in Matís' house in Reykjavík.
In the workshop, projects related to bioeconomies, the development of the last decades and the importance of green energy will be reviewed. National and foreign experts will speak, as well as field visits to selected companies in the capital area and the surrounding area.
The workshop is open to everyone and free of charge.
A registration link along with further information and program drafts can be found here:
At Matís, we work on diverse research and development projects on meat in collaboration with producers and various stakeholders. The goal is to strengthen domestic meat production and promote value creation. Recently, a project funded by the Food Fund and entitled Discection yields and nutrient value of Icelandic lamb meat and organs and was won by Matís and the Icelandic lamb marketing agency.
The project was carried out in close cooperation with the production centers Kjarnafæð-Norðlenska /SAH Afurðir in Blönduós, Sláturfélag Suðurlands and the meat production center of Kaupfélag Skagfirðinga. The project was launched so that it would be possible to provide new and reliable data to replace the 20-30-year-old data that was always relied on and had become obsolete. The lack of new and up-to-date data on utilization and nutritional value led to high marketing efforts for lamb meat and side products both on the domestic and export markets.
In the project, an assessment was made of utilization rates within the meat assessment categories of lamb, but lamb meat is generally classified into 40 categories at the slaughterhouse, and farmers are paid accordingly. In recent years, farmers have carried out extensive breeding work based on data they have collected in a central database, thereby increasing the productivity of meat per sheep by approx. 30%. This means that the types of meat that are most common today in terms of the ratio of muscle and fat to bone are completely different from those that were most common 20-30 years ago. The data that was used on the Icelandic market did not reflect the actual situation of Icelandic lamb meat well enough before this study was started. In addition, there was a lack of new data on nutrient values, as that data was also about 20-30 years old. Such measurements are useful for those who want to justify that the product is wholesome, tasty, has some uniqueness, etc. The third starting point of the study was an examination of whether the meat assessment carried out in Iceland was fair and adequate.
It was considered important that the quantity and quality of the research material would reflect the population well so that the results obtained would be significant and durable. Therefore, 63 carcasses from seven meat grade categories were selected, covering the 92% production based on the division into meat grade categories in 2021. Carcases were selected on three different slaughter days, in two slaughterhouses, in the north and in the south, and the head of the meat grading department at the Food Agency confirmed that each carcass was a traditional carcass in own rating category and not on the category's boundaries.
Measurements were then made of nutrients and heavy metals and updated figures were entered The ÍSGEM nutrient database. The measurements were made on lamb pieces and lamb meat products, lamb offal and other by-products such as liver, kidneys, hearts, lungs, testicles, esophagus, pancreas, spleen, and blood.
It turned out that the lamb meat was so rich in vitamin B12, vitamin folate, potassium and zinc that it is permissible to label these substances as part of the meat's nutrition labeling on packaging. The heavy metals mercury, cadmium, lead and arsenic were not measurable in the meat, i.e. were below the limits that could be safely measured. This limit is very low and therefore the possible concentration of heavy metals is extremely low.
The lamb offal and by-products are rich in iron and selenium, but these substances are important nutrients. In the case of significant quantities, labeling of food packaging is permitted according to the labeling regulations. The heavy metal cadmium was detectable in liver and kidney but not in other samples. Mercury, lead and arsenic were not measurable in the samples, although with the exception that mercury in the kidneys was measurable.
These results from the chemical measurements are truly interesting and give ample reason for improving the labeling of these products and providing information to stakeholders and the public..
Hafliði Halldórsson, manager of the Icelandic lamb marketing agency, and Óli Þór Hilmarsson, project manager at Matís, discussed the implementation and results of the project in new episode of Matvælin, Matís' podcast about research and innovation in food production. It is both fun and informative to listen to these professionals talk about the issue that is clearly dear to them. The podcast is available on all major podcasts and also in the player below.
Important results made available
A large number of people will be able to benefit from the results of this project. For example, all production centers in sheep slaughter as well as processing companies, innovative companies, retailers, farmers who practice home processing and other small producers will receive accurate data that increases efficiency in planning, cost and margin calculations during processing and product price estimation.
Small producers in innovation have a great need for up-to-date and accurate data on the chemical content of raw materials, to confirm the nutritional content and healthiness of their products. The weight of side products in the industry's income base is one of the biggest opportunities of the future, and all data that confirms claims about the purity of products and the high value of essential nutrients are therefore extremely important.
Retail stores, specialty stores, restaurants, institutions and canteens will also be able to use the data to benefit their operations and re-evaluate nutritional content labels. The results are also useful for teaching and research in agriculture, meat industry and cooking.
Sigurgeir Höskuldsson product development manager at Kjarnafæð Norðlenska and Benedikt Benediktsson production manager at SS agree that research on the chemical content of lamb meat is useful when it comes to calculating the nutritional value of meat products produced. For obvious reasons, it is not possible to measure every single product, but it is important to have access to a nutrient database that is up-to-date and with the best possible information. The results will be useful both for packaging labeling and also for marketing purposes.
Ægir Friðriksson, Head of Culinary Arts at the College of Education in Kópavogur mentions that in the chef's world not much attention is paid to meat evaluation because production centers and distributors classify the meat, but it is all the more important that chefs are aware of the difference in terms of utilization rate and meat quality. This report provides a good insight into how meat consumption and utilization go together.
María Guðjónsdóttir, professor at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition, University of Iceland mentions that a life cycle analysis of the lamb value chain is currently under review at the university. Higher utilization from lamb meat production means a relatively lower environmental impact per edible piece, especially when considering the environmental impact of the proteins, which are the main consumption component. The analysis shows that the production of Icelandic lamb is on a similar path environmentally as production in other countries. The lamb also has a particularly strong effect on the country's food security, as the sheep need less imported feed and fertilizer than many other animals. Detailed analyzes like those presented in Matís' lamb report are necessary for continued research into both the quality, utilization, and environmental impact of our value chains. In addition, it can be mentioned that HÍ and Matís are part of a pan-Nordic research network that focuses on meat research in the Nordic countries. The results of the report are used in comparative research on the quality and utilization of lamb meat between countries.
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