Category: News

Seminar on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Varar Marine Research Center by Breiðafjörður in Félagsheimilin Klifi, Ólafsvík, 8 May 2018 at 16.30. Interesting lectures about the opportunities that are available in and all around Breiðafjörður. 

Refreshments will be served. Registration on helga@sjavarrannsoknir.is

Further program

Malnutrition of the elderly is a well-known problem. The average length of stay in hospital is short, which means that there is not always time to correct the nutritional status of elderly patients. It is therefore important to provide nutritional treatment after graduation, in order to prevent the consequences of malnutrition on health and skills.

The project "Meals after hospital discharge" has just started and is divided into, on the one hand, the development of dishes for the elderly with chewing and swallowing difficulties and, on the other hand, intervention, where information will be obtained about nutrition and nutritional status of the elderly in homes. The results of the intervention component of the project can provide information on the changes that may need to take place with regard to the discharge of elderly people and guidelines on services for this vulnerable group.

Matís' partners in the project are the University of Iceland, Grímur Kokkur, but in addition, Sláturfélag Suðurlands and Mjólkursamsalan are involved in the project.

The project is funded by the Rannís Research Fund.

A Nordic sensory evaluation conference will be held on 3 and 4 May for participants interested in product development and consumer experience in the food industry. The conference, which will be held at Matís, will be held in English and is entitled "Making Sense". The conference is suitable for those involved in food product development, but in addition, those who engage in other product development can take advantage of the conference's topics.

It will discuss perception and experience in a scientific context, in connection with product development, food production, from market research. 

The last chance to register is today, April 27th. 

The Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture started the summer well and used the first working day of the summer to visit Matís.

On Friday 20 April, Kristján Þór Júlíusson, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, visited Matís. The Minister, together with Jóhann Guðmundsson, Office Manager of Fisheries and Aquaculture, was introduced to the company's operations and policy with examples of the impact of the investment that has been made in food research in Iceland in recent years. Special attention was paid to developments in connection with the fisheries sector. Developments in recent years in the fisheries sector were placed in the context of opportunities for increased value creation in agriculture, on the basis of food security, which has a direct impact on the country's settlements. 

During the Minister's brief inspection of Matís 'facilities, he met Matís' busy employees, students who are participants in the Ecotrophelia innovation competition for eco-friendly food. At the Bridge between the business community and the scientific community, the Minister visited the employees of Margildi and Lava Seafood, who rent facilities from Matís. While the Minister was visiting Matís 'premises, an examination in food and nutrition chemistry took place at the University of Iceland at Brún at Matís' premises. The Minister also inspected Matís' chemical measuring facilities and was introduced to the role and competence of staff and measuring equipment. Finally, the Minister examined Matís' research infrastructure in the field of genetics.

During the visit, Kristján Þór gathered information about innovation in the fisheries sector, which will hopefully be useful in the coming days, for example at the fisheries exhibition in Brussels, which runs from 24 to 26 April, as well as for a longer period, as there are many opportunities to promote the development of new products and increased value creation in food production through permanent innovation.

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_{From left: Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir division manager, Sveinn Margeirsson CEO, Kristján Þór Júlíusson minister, Jóhann Guðmundsson office manager, Arnljótur Bjarki Bergsson division manager, Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir division manager.}

Employees in one of Grafarholt's larger buildings will not leave their (and others') left on Monday between 11 and 13, but then all the employees of Vínlandsleiðir 12-16 plan to pick in their immediate surroundings, but a rough estimate is that well over three hundred people can be expected when it is at its peak. Tómas from the Blue Army is going to put the rubbish in place at Sorpa's! 😉

With this, the companies want to draw attention to the social responsibility that rests on all of us, individuals, institutions and companies, to reduce waste in the environment.

In addition, Matís employees challenge others to do the same and we especially mention Nýsköpunarmiðstöð, Keldur and Matvælastofnun to hurry up!

A very exciting project has received a grant of ISK 20 million from the Rannís Technology Development Fund, but the project will continue with the development of food-processed supplements from by-products of sheep products. 

The grant is for two years and the intention is to find at least four new raw materials from Icelandic lambs that can be used in food supplement production and develop high-quality products from them. 

Be sure to follow on the Matís and Pure Natura website how this project is progressing. You can sign up for Matís' mailing list below, on the left side of the page. 

In Iceland, chicken feathers have so far been landfilled, but it is necessary to establish the utilization of this raw material, as the national plan for waste treatment assumes that landfilling of organic waste will be reduced to 35% of the total volume on 1 July 2020.

It is known abroad to recycle chicken feathers into protein flour by various methods, but the knowledge has not been transferred to domestic production, so now the intention is to process protein-rich flour that is suitable for making feed from Icelandic chicken feathers. Experiments will be made on the processing of chicken feathers, in collaboration with Reykjagarður, where the protein will be broken down into smaller units. Feather meal can be used in feed for pigs, fur animals, pets and fish.

The aim of the project is to turn an underutilized product (raw material that costs money into landfilling) into valuable, protein-rich flour that is used in feed production, to reduce the environmental impact of Icelandic industry and increase utilization in chicken production. The project is also an effort to meet the goals of the national plan, which aims to significantly reduce the landfill of organic waste by 2020. It can be estimated that around and over 2000 tonnes of chicken feathers are landfilled annually in Iceland. No efficient processing channels for feathers have been developed so far, but the project will lay the foundation for the efficient utilization of local raw materials in Iceland to reduce the environmental impact of Icelandic food production.

Agricultural Productivity Fund and AVS Fisheries Research Fund strengthen the project.

The Icelandic Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers was in the years 2014-2016 and the program was named The Nordic Bioeconomy Initiative, or NordBio. As a result, a project was launched, "Innovation small producers - Nordbio"Where the main emphasis was on following up and further supporting small producers following innovation projects carried out under the NordBio presidency program. A report from that project can be found at Matís website . 

The main objective of the innovation projects for small producers was to have a direct economic impact through innovation and value creation in the Nordic bioeconomy, thus strengthening regional economic growth. Work was done on 17 innovation projects.

The experience of the projects was that knowledge and training are necessary for ideas to come true and to enable producers to meet all food safety requirements.

The Nordbio innovation projects have shown that the use of some kind of "innovation credit" can be an effective way of encouraging innovation, knowledge transfer and technology to increase the value of living resources. It has been shown that there is a great need to offer this type of grant to small producers and entrepreneurs in order to stimulate innovation and unleash the power of imagination. 

It would be a great incentive to establish a fund that can contribute to innovation in the spirit of the Nordbio projects, especially in light of the opportunities that now lie hidden in the increase in the number of tourists making their way to Iceland. 

Elísa Viðarsdóttir will give an open lecture at Matís, Vínlandsleið 12, room 312 on Tuesday 10 April at 15.45. Her project is called: 

The golden head. Physical and chemical properties of cod heads. „The Golden head. Effect of size and season of catch on physicochemical properties of cod heads„.

Elísa's supervisors are Sigurjón Arason and Magnea Guðrún Karlsdóttir from Matís and María Guðjónsdóttir from the University of Iceland. 

Catches of cod are in significant quantities and began early in Iceland, and cod has been one of the most important fish species in Iceland. The utilization of cod is good compared to many other species. The utilization of heads, especially for trawlers, has not been good enough, however, because the majority of freezer trawlers have not been able to bring their heads ashore due to lack of space and lack of equipment.

The aim of the project was primarily to promote further development and utilization of valuable products made from cod heads (Gadus morhua) to meet requests for new products in response to the volatile market for dried cod heads. The first step towards further development and value creation was to create an important knowledge database on the chemical and physical properties of different parts of the head, ie. cheeks, gills, eyes, brain and gels. When creating the database, it was necessary to take into account factors such as the biological variability of the fish, the time of year of fishing and the size of the fish. Once these factors have been carefully mapped, the path to further product development and value creation will become more purposeful.

Samples were taken in May and November 2017. Cats' eyes, brains, cheeks, gels and gills were examined separately with respect to fish size and season of fishing. The results of the measurements showed, for example, that the fat content in the brain was considerably higher than the fat content in the other four parts that were measured. The highest fat content was found in 6-7 kg of fish caught in November and its fat content was about 5%, but the fat content in the other parts (eyes, gills, cheeks and gels) was in the range of 0.2-0.9%. The results of this study showed that water always goes hand in hand with protein and fat in different parts of the head. When the water content was high, the fat and protein content were low. The ash content of the gills was higher than in all the other parts, probably due to the fact that the gills have a different composition than the other parts. The omega-6 / omega-3 ratio was high in all the components measured but in varying amounts. This high percentage is considered good for human health and therefore one more reason to work these parts out of the head separately.

Based on the results obtained from the chemical analysis of different parts of the head, there is every reason to work on these parts separately to increase the value of the head.

Björn Viðar Aðalbjörnsson, an employee of Matís and the University of Iceland, recently received a grant from the Student Innovation Fund for two students, but the intention is to explore new ways to improve health, reduce drug costs and increase the quality of life of the elderly. 

Nutrition in old age can be problematic and often reduces the appetite of older people. This can lead to malnutrition which has a variety of health problems. Anorexia can cause a lot of weight loss along with fatigue and discomfort. A sign of malnutrition is a low body mass index associated with weight loss. This is a known risk factor for death in the elderly and also increases the risk of accidents due to weakness. Increased appetite and improved well-being of the elderly play a major role in nutritional intake. Nutritional intake is important for patients who are recovering from surgery or accident. 

The aim of the project is to shorten hospitalization or presence in hospitals by simply changing the appearance of the food on offer. Shorter attendance at a hospital means a better quality of life for older people and consequently less strain on the health system with associated savings for society.