Category: News

The distribution and sale of home-slaughtered products is not allowed today, but what is the real risk? In Germany, farmers' slaughter of lambs under the age of three months is kept to a minimum, as the risk to consumers is assessed as low. Direct trade in the products of those lambs is not subject to restrictions beyond traditional products, but this was stated in a lecture by Andreas Hensel, CEO of the German risk assessment agency BfR at Matís' meeting in Miðgarður, Varmahlíð, on 5 July.

In order to be able to make changes to regulations and laws regarding food production, it must be ensured that these changes do not threaten the safety and health of consumers. On the other hand, there are many opportunities to allow the sale of home-slaughtered products to promote innovation and product development in agricultural products. But we need to know what the risk is, how much it is and what we can do to minimize it. A risk assessment based on scientific analysis and calculation is a tool that provides public regulators with an overview of the real risks so that they can be limited but also the flexibility to allow farmers to produce products at home on a farm in an approved facility that meets hygiene and living conditions. food production. Risk assessment is therefore the first step in tailoring a system that allows the sale of products and products from home slaughter, based on realistic supervision by public bodies, traceability and good training of farmers to ensure product quality and safety.

Today, farmers can set up small meat processing plants where it is possible to process products from their own livestock, but one aspect of the production chain, i.e. killing of the animals, must take place in slaughterhouses. The consumer's interest in products directly from the farm is constantly increasing and the trade in food via the internet has become a reality today. Abroad, it is possible to buy products directly from the farm, as all stages of production actually take place on the farm. To this end, it is certainly necessary to strengthen the infrastructure of the farms in order to ensure that production is safe. The introduction of a risk assessment with the appointment of a risk assessment committee is therefore long overdue, as its risk assessment can give farmers the opportunity to conduct direct trade in meat and meat products to Icelandic consumers and tourists directly from the farm, where the value and profit from production flows directly to the farmer.

For more information Hrönn Jörundsdóttir, 858-5112.

This weekend, Matís hosted a meeting on the possibility of direct trade in home-slaughtered meat and the importance of risk assessment in that context. The meeting was held in Miðgarður in Skagafjörður and was very well attended, as it is clear that there is great interest among farmers to slaughter on their farms and sell the products in direct trade to consumers.

Among the speakers was Andreas Hensel, President of the German Risk Assessment Agency BfR. In Andreas 'case, it was stated, among other things, that various exemptions are in force in Germany for farmers' direct trade, including the sale of unpasteurized milk at the so-called "Milchhaltestelle" on farms. At the same time, monitoring of farmers' slaughter of lambs under the age of three months is kept to a minimum, as the risk to consumers is assessed as low. Direct trade in the products of those hinges is not subject to restrictions in excess of traditional products. The basis for obtaining such exemptions was the availability of scientific risk assessments and measures to minimize risks, such as training farmers in slaughtering and handling meat products.

Other speakers were Freydís Dana Sigurðardóttir, director of livestock control at the Food Administration, Atli Már Traustason, farmer at Höfdälar, Þröstur Heiðar Erlingsson, farmer at Birkihlíð and Hrönn Jörundsdóttir, director of Matís. Lively discussions following the presentations reflected the great interest of farmers and the importance of facilitating direct trade in home-slaughtered meat.

The broadcast of the meeting can be accessed on Matís' Facebook page. In the next few days, the content of the meeting will be better explained, but following it, the employees of Matís and Matvælastofnun decided to work together on the progress of the case.

For more information Hrönn Jörundsdóttir, 858-5112.

Here you can see a recording from the meeting.

And slides from the meeting can be found below:

• What are the farmers' benefits from risk assessment? - Hrönn
• Do you want to buy home-slaughtered? - Freydís
• Do you want to buy home-slaughtered? - Atli Már 

Matís is working on the project "Healing power of organic whey“. The aim of the project is to find a way to utilize an underutilized resource in a sustainable way, ie. Icelandic organic whey in skin care products. It is hoped that the research will lead to an increase in the value of whey and at the same time reduce natural disasters, as this product would otherwise go far into the sea.

The project involves a lot of novelty, but the properties of whey biomaterials will be examined in particular with regard to skin health. Cosmetics that contain organic matter from Icelandic organic whey would be a completely new addition to the cosmetics market.

The project runs from April to December 2018 and is funded by the Agricultural Productivity Fund.  

The professional leader of the project is Rósa Jónsdóttir and the contact person is Halla Halldórsdóttir. 

Matís invites to a meeting in Miðgarður, Varmahlíð

Matís invites to a meeting in Miðgarður, Varmahlíð, on Thursday 5 July 2018 at 13:00, where challenges and opportunities related to innovation in agriculture, sales and distribution of products from home slaughter and the importance of risk assessment will be discussed. Everyone is welcome to the meeting.

Home slaughter has been practiced since the beginning of agriculture, but the distribution and sale of products from home slaughter is not permitted, according to current laws and regulations. 

But what is the risk? Is it possible to allow the sale and distribution of home-slaughtered animals, ensure consumer safety and increase farmers' value creation?

The meeting will discuss, among other things, farmers 'benefits from risk assessment and farmers' perspectives - opportunities and challenges will be addressed, see more agenda of the meeting.

The meeting will be broadcast live via Matís' Facebook page www.facebook.com/matisiceland and it will be possible to submit questions that will be addressed. Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís, will chair the meeting.

A new consulting project is now underway at Matís. The purpose is to compile guidelines based on research by Matís, the Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI) and their predecessors in recent years, which demonstrate the importance of the correct handling of slaughter animals from shredding, to the door of meat processing.

Information will be presented in a clear, graphical way as a guide to the best handling of slaughter animals. This information, in digital and printed form, will be distributed to all parties involved, such as sheep farmers, transporters, slaughter license holders, meat processing and those students who are related to sheep production in one way or another, such as farm schools, agricultural universities, food science and food science. Information will be compiled at each stage of the processing, presented on a timeline, from the collection of sheep from the mountain until the carcass is ready for delivery in meat processing.

The material will also be accessible in electronic form and available in The meat book or other similar places. 

Recently, Páll Gunnar Pálsson, on behalf of Matís, received a two million ISK grant from the Association of Herring Fishing to write the Herring Processing Manual. The funds will be used to compile material and, among other things, there will be an unpublished "Herring Processing Handbook" which dr. Jónas Bjarnason, a chemical engineer, compiled new material for the project in the last decade of the last century, as well as materials that were used several years ago for the processing and processing of herring.

The effect of herring has changed dramatically in recent decades, but it is nevertheless important today to have good access to how processing developed, what problems were present and how they were solved in the past.

The knowledge that will appear in this handbook on the herring effect is important in preserving the knowledge of previous years and no less an important part in passing it on to younger generations who want to look to the wisdom of history to create desirable products for modern consumers. This educational material will strengthen knowledge and promote the Icelandic fishing industry and how herring was, is and can be processed in the future.

There is nowhere to find such writings in Icelandic about the action and processes of action of herring. There are various books on the biology and different strains of herring and there is a lot of material that is more or less various historical discussions about catches, huge investments, slack, bankruptcy, collapse, the impact of herring on human life and much more. But there is no summary of the effect from a scientific and professional perspective of the processing and the market.

 It would therefore be a great pity if the work of bringing such knowledge as well as the knowledge of dr. Presented by Jónas Bjarnason. In fact, the story goes that Jónas's Herring Handbook contained so much knowledge that various "influential people" in the business had prevented its publication in its time, and therefore it had never been published.

There is almost complete material available, which is a child of its time and needs considerable rewriting. You need to work in Jónas' gallery to find the pictures that belonged to this project. They are not in computerized form yet and in addition graphs and diagrams need to be remade. So, although the material seems at first to be fairly clear, it all needs to be thoroughly reviewed and linked to changes in the processing methods and effects of herring in recent years.

The herring processing manual will be published in digital form, like most of Matís' other educational material.

We close at 14:30 on Friday due to the match between Iceland and Nigeria at the World Cup

Those customers who intend to bring a sample that day are kindly requested to arrive before noon so that everyone can watch the game.

In the case of a very urgent matter, the mobile phone numbers of employees can be found on Matís' website, www.matis.is.   

GO ICELAND!

#HÚH

A new project is now underway at Matís. The challenge is to respond to the need for increased utilization of the Icelandic goat population, but it is believed that the future of the population is based on its diverse utilization. 

The project lays the foundation for the production of meat and dairy products based on the Icelandic goat. Available scientific information on the composition, properties and health of goat products will be compiled. At the same time, the views of goat farmers on the possibilities of goat breeding will be analyzed. Measurements will be made on the basic components of goat meat and milk. Through this work, Matís will establish links between goat farmers, the food industry and the restaurant sector. Finally, information on production methods, hygiene and product characteristics will be disseminated to the food industry, the restaurant industry, the tourism industry, the general public and farmers.

The project is based on a collaboration between Matís and Geitfjárræktarfélag Íslands and lasts for one year and is funded by the Agricultural Productivity Fund.

A meeting under the auspices of the Nordic Marine Innovation Program 2.0 was held in Copenhagen recently. The fund is under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers and is intended to promote research and development in maritime-related projects in the Nordic countries and to promote sustainable growth and increase entrepreneurship and competitiveness in the region.

Matís is involved in many of the projects that were discussed there and manages some of them.

• Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir presented a project on algae - "Seaweed bioactive ingredients with verifiedin-vivo bioactivitiesbioactive"
• Margrét Geirsdóttir presented a project on collagen production - "Production of hydrolysed collagen from fishery by products"
• Guðmundur Stefánsson presented a project on quality and value of mackerel products for the international market - "Improved Quality and Value of Nordic Mackerel Products for the Global Market"
• Gunnar Þórðarson led a project on supercooling in fish processing that ended last year - "Super-Chilling of Fish"

Matís was also involved in a project on the utilization of cultivated algae "MacroValue: Improving the understanding of seasonal variation in cultivated macroalgae".

All of these projects are designed to enhance future value creation and are carried out in close collaboration between the business community, the knowledge industry and the university community. But it is not enough to have a good idea, it is necessary to have the ability to turn it into a valuable production of the future. This requires the right human resources and financial strength. With the close cooperation of parties who have extensive knowledge and experience, as well as organization and resources, it is possible to advance ideas and thereby create value in the future.

Research and development are a prerequisite for progress and the success of companies and the general public is dependent on their success.

Both parties have a role under the law that looks at improving benefits on a broad basis and progress in the field of start-ups and innovation. The partnership aims to strengthen this role.

This type of collaboration is new, bringing together, on the one hand, leading research companies in the biotechnology and food industry and, on the other hand, an investment fund in the field of start-ups / innovative investments.  

Both parties hope that new investment projects will emerge from the collaboration and that the number of start-up companies in the field that Matís ohf. specializes specifically, in fisheries and in agriculture and other parts of the bioeconomy.

Both companies are publicly owned and operate in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. They also have a strong connection to the university environment in the country in various ways.

The Business Innovation Fund

The role of the Business Innovation Fund is to promote the development and growth of the Icelandic economy by participating in investments in start-up and innovation companies. The fund also provides loans in parallel with the purchase of holdings. In its activities, the Innovation Fund takes into account the policy of the Science and Technology Policy Council. The fund may also seek co-operation with other parties in the field of risk financing. 

Matís

Matís' role is to promote value creation in the bioeconomy, promote improved food security and improved public health. In recent years, Matís has emphasized revolutionary innovation and research, and to this end has, among other things, established start-up companies. Matís' international connections are extensive and the company has been a leader in the Icelandic knowledge community's advancement in international research collaboration.

Further information

Information on the collaboration is provided by Huld Magnúsdóttir, CEO of Nýsköpunarsjóður atvinnulífsins and Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís, which can be seen above at the signing of the letter of intent.