Technological innovation is ‘strategic for the food industry, from the point of view of developing new foods and ingredients’ to promote the well-being of different population groups, as well as from the perspective of the opportunities opened up by alternative protein sources and products designed to respond to new consumer habits, where ‘nutrition and health and sustainability will be fundamental focuses’.
This is how Ignasi Papell, the head of the Eurecat technology centre’s Food Industry Business, put it, speaking at the session ‘Companies innovating in food, health and well-being’, organised by the technology centre as part of the Alimentaria fair, where they looked at the trends affecting food innovation and success stories with industry companies.
The session included the presentation of the DANTIAN project, promoted by a consortium of 8 companies led by Mahou San Miguel and with technical coordination from Eurecat, which aims to study new foods and bioactive ingredients that will encourage mental well-being through the understanding of the mechanism at cognitive level and its relationship with the microbiota and intestinal health.
There was also participation from the Ametller Origen Group, which presented the VALACTICAT circular economy project on the recovery of whey and other projects for sustainable and healthy foods; Microalgae, which presented its microalgae as an alternative protein source and different biocompounds that can be extracted from it; and Torrons i Mel Alemany, which presented new vegetable spread products, among others.
Trends in functional foods and ingredients
Alimentaria also showed the importance of trends such as ‘precision fermentation and functional foods or ingredients aimed at specific aspects, such as mental health and cognitive function’, remarks Josep Maria del Bas, the director of Eurecat’s Nutrition and Health Unit.
In parallel, there are many prospects for ‘the development of new ingredients and healthy and sustainable foods designed with goals of improving the well-being of specific population groups, such as the elderly or young people’, adds Antoni Caimari, the director of Eurecat’s Biotechnology Division.
‘Other very prominent aspects are food safety and quality, as well as the latest technological innovations to improve agri-food products and processes’, taking into account key factors for production in this area, to achieve ‘a smart, flexible and sustainable food industry 4.0, geared towards creating value in healthy products’, notes Francesc Puiggròs, the scientific director of Eurecat’s Biotechnology Division.
Moreover, it is important to keep in mind that in the design of new foods and food ingredients, as well as in their packaging, it is also necessary to incorporate sustainability criteria and criteria linked to environmental impact.
Artificial intelligence in food production
Eurecat also presented ALIMENTE 21 at Alimentaria, which it is coordinating technically and is led by Raventós Codorníu, with participation from Prolongo and Aldelís as well. This ambitious project aims to apply artificial intelligence to food industry production processes to increase the efficiency of the industrial management in the sector, ensure its quality and safety and reduce its environmental impact.
Moreover, together with the food group Splendid Foods, whose core business is the production of hard sausages, Eurecat has carried out a project that incorporates artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics to optimise the sausage curing process.
