The 53rd German Food Chemistry Conference took place in Halle (Saale) from 22 to 24 September. Almost 450 participants travelled to Saxony-Anhalt. At the end of the month, Berlin hosted a two-day international event on the topic of MOSH/MOAH residues, which welcomed over 200 visitors from more than 20 countries. It is astonishing that this subject attracted so many people and Dr Konrad Grob received awards at both events.
By Dr. Jörg Häseler
Lisa Wagner gave a presentation on reducing sugar in ice cream. The first producers are already using fibre supplements from food by-products to offer consumers ice cream that is nutritionally better. In Germany, an average of 8 litres of ice cream is consumed per person per year. This makes ice cream one of the most popular confectionery products, but its high sugar and calorie content means that its consumption has nutritional disadvantages. In addition to its sweet taste, sugar in ice cream is also important from a technological point of view. It influences the structure and creaminess of the product and cannot be reduced without causing sensory changes. Soluble fibre (LBS) and low molecular weight soluble fibre (NLBS) are suitable substitutes due to their structural similarity. By-products from the food industry are good source materials for generating suitable fibre preparations. Carrot pomace, lupine inner fibre and blackcurrant seeds were selected for this purpose because they have different fibre profiles and thus offer the possibility of generating preparations with different properties. The aim was to increase the content of SF and LSF using mechanical-enzymatic processes.
The mechanically and enzymatically processed side streams were chemically characterised and examined for their techno-functional properties in ice cream. The mannan-rich currant preparation had a high NLBS and mannobiose content, while the LBS content was low. In contrast, the carrot and lupine preparations contained higher levels of LBS in addition to larger amounts of NLBS. Both carrots and lupins are pectin-rich raw materials, but galacturonans dominated in the carrot preparation and galactans in the lupine preparation. In addition to different polysaccharide profiles, the molecular weight distributions of the LBS also differed. Here, the LBS in the lupine preparation had the highest molecular weights and those in the currant preparation had the lowest. For comparison with the fibre preparations generated from food by-products, commercial preparations of galactooligosaccharides and inulin with different degrees of polymerisation were examined and also added to ice cream. The fibre-enriched ice creams were examined in terms of technological and sensory parameters. The use of preparations with LBS of higher molecular weights resulted in higher viscosity, which was perceived as greater creaminess. Analytically, a fibre content of more than 3 g/100 g ice cream was determined, which is why it can be advertised as a source of fibre.
This meant that the sugar content in ice cream could be reduced through the use of fibre supplements from food by-products without compromising consumer-relevant parameters.
At the end of April 2002, Dr Konrad (Koni) Grob's team heard about acrylamide, whereupon they dropped almost all other topics, developed an analytical method and used it to search for contaminated foods such as potato crisps. Finally, the team worked primarily with chefs from the Zurich Hotel Management School on how to prepare high-quality, low-acrylamide foods because this substance was also found in baked goods. Acrylamide continues to play a prominent role in all baked goods and roasted products.
His team then returned to the largely uncontrolled issue of food contamination from packaging. On the one hand, the aim was to draw attention to the often dominant reaction products, for which the term ‘non-intentionally added substances’ was coined in 2004. On the other hand, the team worked on methods to reduce food contamination from recycled cardboard to an acceptable level. The topic of MOSH/MOAH was born, which then gained a strong presence through the Advent calendar publication by Stiftung Warentest. These results led to the introduction of the toolbox by the Association of the German Confectionery Industry and later by what is now the German Food Association.
His work has now received two awards. In Berlin, he was presented with the Kaufmann Memorial Lecture award at the MOSH/MOAH conference organised by the German Society for Fat Research, the Kirchhoff Institute and the Max Rubner Institute. The laudatory speech was given by DGF President Dr Torben Küchler. Shortly before, in Halle (Saale), he received the Joseph König Memorial Coin from the German Chemical Society.
Contamination by MOSH and MOAH remains an immensely important issue throughout the food industry. Dr Angeliki Stavropoulou (Fediol, Brussels) reported on the progress made within her association of the EU-based vegetable oil and protein meal industry and looked to the future, knowing that contamination occurs throughout the entire value chain. She specifically mentioned raw materials, processing steps and packaging. Contamination must be reduced at every stage. In this context, limit and action values should be defined in a legally compliant manner and, above all, be feasible. Close attention should also be paid to products obtained through fractionation. In this way, further reductions could be achieved in the long term.
