Unilever has confirmed that from spring 2016, its adult single-serve ice cream range will contain 250 calories or less in the UK.

The University of Michigan has just published results of a ground-breaking study which has found that nisin, a food preservative growing naturally on dairy products, may help kill cancer cells as well as antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The study reports that Nisin contains “unusual amino acids” due to post-translational modifications.

“Increasing evidence indicates that nisin can influence the growth of tumors and exhibit selective cytotoxicity towards cancer cells,” the report states. “Collectively, the application of nisin has advanced beyond its role as a food biopreservative. Thus, this review will describe and compare studies on nisin and provide insight into its future biomedical applications.”

The results

Dr. Yvonne Kapila, one of the study’s authors and professor at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, told University of Michigan’s news website that rats fed a “nisin milkshake” saw a 70% to 80% reduction in head and neck tumor cells after a nine-week study. These rats also ended up surviving longer.

Other things nisin can help with, according to the study, include:

• Antibiotic-resistant skin and soft tissue infections such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin resistant enterococci
• Oral health problems, such as periodontal diseases
• Improving the immune system. For example, returning B- and T-lymphocytes levels to normal

However, all of these results were found in rodents only, so further studies will be needed to see how truly effective nisin is on treatment of these diseases or ailments.

Generally regarded as safe

The study said nisin is GRAS, or generally regarded as safe, and FDA approved as a peptide with recognition for clinical use.

“Over the past few decades, nisin has been used widely as a food biopreservative,” the study’s authors wrote in the abstract. “Since then, many natural and genetically modified variants of nisin have been identified and studied for their unique antimicrobial properties”.

It has been accepted as useful in biomedical fields. Researchers said nisin may have anti-biofilm properties that can work with conventional theory drugs and may activate the adaptive immune response and have an immunomodulatory role.

Although findings of this study are promising, the authors said there will need to be further validation of the biomedical uses of nisin via in vivo studies to evaluate it.

What happens to a drop of milk as it passes through a homogenizer? How exactly does the drop break up, and where precisely does the break-up happen?

Groundbreaking research by Fredrik Innings, who is senior expert at Tetra Pak and associate professor of food engineering at Lund University, drew some interesting conclusions about this fundamental process that lies at the heart of the homogenizer.

What follows here is the abstract of that study. To read the study in full, fill in the form at the Tetra Pak website here.

Drop Break-up in High-Pressure Homogenizers


The overall aim of this project was to investigate the drop break-up process in milk homogenizers. This was done by measurements and calculations of the flow fields in the gap region and by visualization of drops being broken up.

To make visualization and measurements possible, two scale models of a homogenizer gap were developed. The full-scale model was a direct copy of the gap in a production-scale homogenizer, but with optical access. Normal operational homogenization pressures could be tested, and drops down to 5µm in diameter could be visualized.

The second model was scaled-up about 100 times ensuring that the relevant dimensionless groups were kept constant, so that the same factors governed the drop break-up process. The scaled-up model was made of transparent plastic and was used for both velocity field measurements and drop visualization.

From these measurements it was concluded that the drops did not break up in the entrance of the gap. Larger drops were elongated to some extent and smaller ones remained spherical. Not much happens in the gap itself. The velocity profile is very flat throughout the gap in a production-scale homogeniser.

In a pilot-scale homogeniser the boundary layers have time to grow and the velocity profile is almost developed at the gap exit. The growing shear layers seem to have a limited effect on the drops. During passage through the gap small drops will have time to relax back to their spherical shape, while large ones will leave the gap with almost the same aspect ratio as when they entered it.

This study shows that drop break-up takes place in the turbulent jet at the gap outlet. The flow velocity measurements show a very unsteady jet breaking down faster than a jet in a free liquid. Depending on the geometry of the chamber at the gap outlet, the jet can attach to either of the 45-degree walls and become a wall jet.

The turbulence in the jet is very high, with turbulence intensities of 50-100%. Indications were found that flow structures of the size of, or slightly smaller than, the gap height, have very high intensities. Drop deformation experiments and theoretical analyses show that the eddies breaking up the drops range in size from much larger than, to just smaller than, the drop. The larger eddies deform the drop viscously by the velocity gradient created by the eddy. The smaller eddies deform the drop by fluid inertia.

The critical phase of the drop break-up process is the initial deformation. If the drop is deformed to an aspect ratio of 3-5, the drop is then very quickly elongated into one or more filaments which may be bent, coiled and further deformed before they break up into many small droplets.

Food giant Unilever has reported sharply increased third-quarter revenues, as sales of ice cream jumped.

The manufacturer behind major ice cream brands like Wall’s and Ben & Jerry’s reported a 9.4% increase in Q3 turnover, which hit €13.4 billion, while figures for the first nine months of 2015 showed 11.1% rise in turnover, reaching €40.4 bn.

A 4.7% growth in nine-month sales for Unilever’s refreshment business unit was driven in particular by a strong Q3, which saw sales spike by 8.5% thanks to the strong performance of ice cream.

See full article here

Today’s dairy processing facilities need modern technology that is innovative, efficient and reliable. As suppliers of used GEA machinery and with years of technical expertise, we work closely with you to source the perfect machinery for your facility.
{module_webapps,27278,i,5058531} 

We often have stock of GEA separators, decanters, pumps, valves, homogenizers, rotary valves, heat exchangers, membrane filtration plants, evaporators, dryers, aseptic PET bottling lines, powder handling and packaging systems as well as complete process/CIP integration and automation.

See our current GEA stock here

If you’re looking for a particular machine, let us know here or sign up to our mailing list here at the bottom of our home page to receive regular newsletter stock updates.

With the demise of the national standard for all ice cream and a call from the Ice Cream Alliance to uphold a quality standard for ice cream. The ICA has set out the minimum standards which both it and its members have called for to produce a minimum quality standard for ice cream to cover the nation.

These compositional standards are to be made in conjunction with the written procedures prescribed in the ICA Ice Cream Code of Practice so that quality is the target.

To view the full article click here.

An international survey reveals how yogurt preferences differ between countries and cultures and sheds light on the new opportunities for yogurt manufacturers being created by consumer demand for foods that fit lifestyles and health preferences.

When it comes to understanding the yogurt market one thing is very clear – it is the food’s amazing versatility that is allowing it to deliver great results millennia after it was first eaten. 

Based on a consumer perception survey undertaken in six diverse markets (Brazil, China, France, Poland, Turkey and the USA), this paper is the fourth in a series of reports focusing on yogurt. It forms part of the DSM Global Insight Series — an investigation into consumers’ perceptions and attitudes around food, taste and behaviour — that aims to help the food industry deliver healthy, tasty and attractive products to consumers. 

Emerging markets and family units are driving increased consumption 

Encouragingly for yogurt manufacturers, more than half (53%) of consumers surveyed reported eating more yogurt today than they did three years ago. 

A yogurt a day? 

While most (86%) yogurt eaters tuck into the food at least once a week, some groups of consumers make it part of their daily diet. 

Geographical trends in yogurt choice 

For those eating more yogurt than they were three years ago, there are strong geographical variations in the type of yogurt driving this increase. In China, 54% of people are eating more probiotic yogurt, compared to just 11% in the USA and fewer still in the other markets surveyed. 

Yogurt is already the next big thing 

Based on the consumer survey, yogurt is a diverse and dynamic area with rich potential for growth. Its ability to be healthy or indulgent, flavored or plain, part of a hot meal or a cold snack squeezed in between appointments, gives it widespread appeal and staying power. Furthermore, the strong uptake of yogurt by families with young children may pave the way for a new generation of consumers who see yogurt as a staple part of their diet. 

Creating products that inspire markets currently using yogurt primarily as a snack such as Poland to see it as a dessert, or to challenge more mature markets such as France to accept different types of yogurt, such as drinkable appear to be opportunities for yoghurt makers. 

Download the full report here