Tag: Final report

Reports

QALIBRA Final activity report / Final Report QALIBRA

Published:

01/12/2010

Authors:

Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, Andy Hart, Anna Kristín Daníelsdottir

Supported by:

EU, Matís

QALIBRA Final activity report / Final Report QALIBRA

This report is the final report of the European project QALIBRA or “Quality of Life - Integrated Benefit and Risk Analysis. Webbased tool for assessing food safety and health benefits ”or QALIBRA - Heilsuvogin in Icelandic. Matís ohf managed the project, which was partly funded by the European Union, with a total of seven participants from six countries. The project began on April 1, 2006 and formally ended on December 31, 2009, but the final completion lasted until 2010. This report describes the main results, benefits and results of the project. The aim of the QALIBRA project was to develop quantitative methods to assess both the positive and negative effects of food ingredients on human health. When we eat food, we get both negative and positive elements in the body and until now, food risk assessment has been limited to examining the effects of individual substances on living beings (eg experimental animals). The QALIBRA project developed methods that take into account both the negative and positive aspects of food consumption and evaluate the overall impact of the risks and benefits on human health as well as the uncertainty of the assessment. These methods have been presented in a computer program that is open and accessible to all stakeholders free of charge on the project's website http://www.qalibra.eu. The methods were tested on two types of food, ie fish and target foods.

This is the final report to the commission from the “QALIBRA - Quality of life - integrated benefit and risk analysis. Web - based tool for assessing food safety and health benefits ”project. QALIBRA was an EU 6th Framework project with seven partners, conducted between 1st April 2006 and 31st December 2009, although the finalization of project was accomplished in year 2010. In this report the objectives, main work performed and achievements of the project to the state‐ of ‐ the ‐ art are summarized. To assess the balance between the risks and benefits associated with a particular food, they must be converted into a common measure of net health impact. Uncertainties affecting the risks and benefits cause uncertainty about the magnitude and even the direction of the net health impact. QALIBRA has developed methods that can take into account multiple risks, benefits and uncertainties and implemented them in a web ‐ based software for assessing and communicating net health impacts. The methods and software developed by QALIBRA were used to carry out detailed case studies on the benefits and risks of oily fish and functional foods. The software developed (QALIBRA tool) in the project to assess and integrate beneficial and adverse effects of foods is freely available on the website of the project http://www.qalibra.eu.

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Reports

Processing in line boats / Processing in line boats

Published:

01/10/2010

Authors:

Róbert Hafsteinsson, Albert Högnason, Sigurjón Arason

Supported by:

Technology Development Fund

Contact

Sigurjón Arason

Chief Engineer

sigurjon.arason@matis.is

Processing in line boats / Processing in line boats

This project is a collaborative project of the following companies; Matís ohf, Brim hf, Samherji hf, Vísir hf, Hraðfrystihúsið Gunnvör hf and 3X Technology. The aim of the project is to improve the processing processes of longline vessels with a view to reducing the cost of processing, increasing work efficiency and product quality. The result of this report is: Design of a production process on board liner vessels, a result report. Experimental report on thawing of bait, saury, condoms and herring. And a preliminary draft for the design of an automatic train system on board a liner. The main results of the project are the following: Great optimization involves thawing the bait in so-called snail tanks, the thawing time will be reduced from 17 hours to about 2-3 hours. Instead of taking the bait out 17 hours earlier, it is fed directly into the thawing tank from the bait freezer. This method saves a lot of time. Experiments show that fish that are allowed to bleed for approx. 10-15 minutes during a large water change, are then gutted and then cooled down to zero degrees for approx. A special processing process was designed on board liners that addresses these quality stamps. A preliminary draft of an automatic train system on board future liner vessels was also designed. The purpose of such a system is to have no train attendant on board the train, but to arrange and sort it on top of the working deck in the trolleys. The tub then goes into a specially designed tub lift, which was also designed for this project, onto the train and onto special train straps that move the tub to the relevant place on the train.

This project is a collaboration work between; Matis ohf, Brim hf, Samherji hf, Vísir hf, Hradfrystihusið Gunnvör hf and 3X Technology. The object of this project is to improve the process in line boats by reducing production costs, improve working conditions and product quality. The projects payoff is; Design of processing line onboard line boats, payoff report. Experiment report on thawing of bait, Saury, Cuttle and Herring. Also preliminary design of automatic system for loading boxes from holds in line boats. The primary results from this report are as follows: A great increase in efficiency is by thawing the bait in so called screw tanks, the thawing time reduced from 17 hours (current thawing method) down to appr. 2 - 3 hours. Instead of taking the bait out of the freezer 17 hours before use, the screw tank is feed from the freezer simultaneously. Previous experiments show that when the fish is bleeded for appr. 10‐15 minutes, and then gutted and afterwards cooled down to zero degree on Celsius for approx. 20-25 minutes in a special screw tank filled with slush gives increased fish quality. A special processing trail was designed for lineboats which takes into account this quality.

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Reports

Air-dried lamb. Final report / Air dried lamb meat. Final report

Published:

01/05/2010

Authors:

Þóra Valsdóttir, Óli Þór Hilmarsson, Guðjón Þorkelsson

Supported by:

Productivity Fund, Professional Council for Sheep Breeding / BÍ Board

Contact

Þóra Valsdóttir

Project Manager

thora.valsdottir@matis.is

Air-dried lamb. Final report / Air dried lamb meat. Final report

The aim of the project was to develop products from air-dried lamb in collaboration with farmers. The project was also about increasing farmers' skills in processing and processing lamb into air-dried products, ie. make them suitable for the manufacture of such products. A co-operation group of 5 farmers was formed who were interested and have facilities for home processing of such products. The aim was to develop one product with each farmer, and the product must meet all the requirements for safety, quality, finish and presentation that are relevant for products in the consumer market. In the main, it went well. Farmers were able to adopt the production methods necessary for dry processing and they developed new production processes and products, each different from what is on the market today. The results therefore strengthen the farm in question for the development of new products from its own raw materials and thus their working basis.

The aim of the project was to develop products from air dried lamb in cooperation with farmers. The project centered as well on extending farmers' knowledge on processing and curing methods for these products. Group of five farmers was selected to participate in the project. All farmers had an interest and facilities for this kind of processing. The products should fulfill all requirements regarding safety, quality and presentation of consumer products. This succeeded in most cases. The farmers adopted practices needed in producing dry aired products, new processing methods and products were developed. The results will thus strengthen each producer in development of new products from their own raw material, thus boosting their own operation.

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Reports

Use of saithe in ready-made fish products - final report / Using saithe in ready to eat fish product - final report

Published:

01/03/2010

Authors:

Þóra Valsdóttir, Irek Klonowski, Guðjón Þorkelsson

Supported by:

AVS-sjóðurinn / R 09075-09

Contact

Þóra Valsdóttir

Project Manager

thora.valsdottir@matis.is

Use of saithe in ready-made fish products - final report / Using saithe in ready to eat fish product - final report

Almost all saithe caught off Iceland is exported little processed, especially to Europe and the United States. There, it is largely processed into consumer products, which results in a considerable increase in value. It is important to explore ways to increase the value of exported saithe. By processing the saithe in full or for the most part in consumer products in Iceland, a higher proportion of the increase in value is passed on to domestic parties. The project focused on methods for baking, which has long been one of the most common processing methods for Icelandic saithe abroad. The project got off to a good start and was soon contacted by potential buyers in Germany. Samples of products were sent to them for an assessment of how best to develop the product to their liking. Several experiments were carried out which indicated that the product development was on the right track. On the other hand, when the work progressed well, it was clear that Festarhald's operating basis was very uncertain and the company soon went into moratorium. Although the project developed in a different way than expected, the results of the experiments indicated that the products tested were of acceptable quality and likely to meet market requirements. There is therefore every reason to estimate that there is a basis for processing processed saithe products from saithe in this country. Today there are opportunities for products that are at a favorable price, of good quality, convenient and fast. Breaded saithe products fit well with these consumer demands. When a positive image of Icelandic food is added from an environmental point of view, it can be estimated that there are good opportunities for marketing Icelandic consumer products abroad.

Most of the saithe caught in Icelandic waters is exported as raw material, especially to Europe and the USA, where it is further processed to consumer products of higher value. In the project, analysis was performed on the potential of processing breaded fish products by a local processing plant. Results of experiments were positive and indicated that the products fulfilled market demands of composition and quality. There is a great potential for further processing of saithe into consumer products for export due to proximity to the raw material and local knowledge of handling, ensuring the quality of the product. By further processing of the raw material higher proportion of the value of the final product will fall to the local producers, increasing the export value of saithe caught in Icelandic waters.

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Reports

QALIBRA Final report from the cluster activities

Published:

01/12/2009

Authors:

Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, Björn Þorgilsson

Supported by:

European Commission, Matís, FERA, RIVM, WU, Upatras, Altagra, INRB IP / IPIMAR

QALIBRA Final report from the cluster activities

This project report describes a joint meeting of two European projects called QALIBRA and BENERIS. The meeting was held in Budapest, Hungary, on 10 and 11 June 2009. Both projects fall under Priority 5, Food Quality & Safety in the 6th EU Research Program and share some work components.

The purpose of the meeting was:

1) Presentation of the main results of both projects

2) Work on improvements to the joint presentation plan of the projects

3) Comments and proposals of the reference advisory committee of the projects on the work and the continuation

QALIBRA, or “Quality of Life - Integarted Benefit and Risk Analysis. Web-based tool for assessing food safety and health benefits, ”abbreviated QALIBRA (Heilsuvogin in Icelandic), is a three-and-a-half-year project led by Matís. The project manager is Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, department manager at Matís. The aim of the QALIBRA project is to develop quantitative methods to assess both the positive and negative effects of food ingredients on human health. The goal is to present these methods in a computer program that will be open and accessible to all stakeholders on the World Wide Web. The aim of the BENERIS project is to create a methodology for dealing with complex benefit-risk situations, and then use them to assess the benefits / risks that certain types of food can bring. The first type of food that will be used in the development of this methodology is seafood. This report describes the discussions and the main conclusions of the meeting.

This report is a summary of the 3rd and final Cluster meeting of the QALIBRA and the BENERIS projects in Budapest, Hungary, June 10-11th, 2009. Both projects are funded by the EC´s 6th framework program, and have the same contract start dates and a common workpackage (WP6) for cluster activities. The projects started on April 1st 2006 and the cluster activities will run until October 2009, or for 42 months. This report contains results of the discussions that took place and the actions defined, while the overheads presented during the meeting are compiled in an Annex to the report. The overall objectives of QALIBRA are to develop a suite of quantitative methods for assessing and integrating beneficial and adverse effects of foods, and make them available to stakeholders as web-based software for assessing and communicating net health impacts. The methods and tools developed by QALIBRA will be tested in two case studies on oily fish and functional food. The overall objective of BENERIS is to create a framework for handling complicated benefit-risk situations, and apply it for analysis of the benefits and risks of certain foods. The first food commodity to be used in the development of the methodology is fish.

The objectives of the Cluster meeting were:

1) Dissemination and sharing of information of the main findings of the different parts of both projects

2) Refining the joint dissemination plan

3) Obtain feedback and advice from the Qalibra / Beneris Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP)

This report contains results of the discussions that took place and the actions defined.

Report closed until 01.01.2012

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Reports

Nordic information and communication network regarding safety of seafood products. Final Report

Published:

01/03/2007

Authors:

Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, Björn Auðunsson

Supported by:

NSK (Strategy Reserve), NEF (Nordic Officials' Committee for Fisheries Policy), IFL

Nordic information and communication network regarding safety of seafood products. Final Report

This report is the final report in the Nordic information and communication network project regarding the safety of seafood products, which began in 2005 and was formally completed at the end of 2006. The project developed a joint Nordic website (www.seafoodnet.info) which gathers in one place relevant links containing information on the chemical content of marine products, both undesirable substances and also nutrients. Iceland (first the Fisheries Research Institute and then Matís ohf) was responsible for developing the website and maintaining it, but each country is responsible for its information and for updating it. The project was formally completed at the end of 2006, when the website had just been moved to a new content management system, Eplica, which simplifies all web management and also makes it easier for visitors to find the content they are looking for. It is hoped that these will enable the web to stay "alive" with little effort and cost.

This report is the final report in a Nordic project called “Nordic information and communication network regarding safety of seafood products and utilization of the resources from the sea”. The report contains a summary of the activities in the projects after the 2nd workshop in the project, which was held in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 21st 2006 until the project formally ended at the end of 2006. During this period the website was transferred into a new web content management system called Eplica product suite, which makes administering much easier than in the earlier version and accessing the website much more user-friendly. This was done in accordance with agreements reached at the workshop in Copenhagen. Although the project has formally ended, it is hoped that the seafoodnet.info website will continue to live for some time to come, as a common database or co-ordination of information and reporting of chemical substances, ie nutrients and undesirable substances in seafood. Furthermore, it was hoped that the project would be a cornerstone for further networking and innovative transnational research with the participation of scientists in the Nordic countries and EU.

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