IFT Honors Three Innovations at Food Expo

24 Jun 2014 --- At this year’s opening general session of the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo, three companies were presented with 2014 IFT Food Expo Innovation Awards.

The winners were Arla Foods Ingredients, PerkinElmer and Solazyme. The awards were presented by IFT President-Elect Mary Ellen Camire and President-Elect designate Colin Dennis.

“The Food Expo Innovation Awards are a showcase for amazing advancements made in our profession,” said Camire. “Exclusive to companies exhibiting at the IFT Food Expo, these awards honor outstanding innovation in products, ingredients, technologies, instrumentation, equipment, and services that were commercially introduced since January 1st of 2013.”

A panel of 10 jurors from industry, academia, and government with broad expertise in research & product development, processing & packaging technology, and food safety selected the three companies and their innovations from 27 qualified entries. Judging criteria included degree of innovation, technical advancement, benefits to food manufacturers and consumers, and scientific merit.

Arla Foods Ingredients garnered the 2014 IFT Food Expo Innovation Award for its Nutrilac proteins for acid whey. The proteins are designed to utilize acid whey, a by-product of yogurt manufacturing, to make value-added dairy products, such as fermented and acidified beverages, smoothies and cream cheese containing 2–5% protein, essential amino acids and calcium. In addition to making new dairy products, the proteins enable Greek yogurt manufacturers to avoid the costs associated with storage, transportation and disposal of acid whey as waste, feed or biofuel.

PerkinElmer, won the award for its DairyGuard Milk Powder Analyzer, which applies advanced algorithms to screen for known and unknown economic adulterants in milk powder. The instrument also provides fast nutritional parameter measurements for protein, moisture and fat. The system helps manufacturers defend against fraud practices for known adulterants such as melamine and urea, but also for unknown contaminants with non-targeted safety testing that’s quick and simple. Non-targeted screening tells the user if the sample contains something that it should not.  

Solazyme was honored for its high stability high oleic oil derived from microalgae, the original producers of oil. Solazyme’s high stability high oleic oil delivers superior performance and healthful attributes for a wide variety of foods without compromising on critical taste metrics. It has the lowest level of polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to any oil on the market and provides excellent stability with zero trans fats. Additionally, it is rich in healthy omega fatty acids and low in saturated fats. The liquid oil can be used in frying, baking and spraying applications. 
   
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Institute of Food Technologists. Since its founding in 1939, IFT has been committed to advancing the science of food. Our non-profit scientific society—more than 18,000 members from more than 100 countries—brings together food scientists, technologists and related professionals from academia, government and industry.