Whether it is apples, crackers or herbs – the drying and processing of organic products requires sophisticated technologies. How can the processing of organic food stuffs become more efficient, and what type of products do consumers prefer?
90 international experts from research and industry joined today’s international workshop “Smart and Sustainable Food Processing of Organic fresh produce – What’s promising, what’s new?” with presentations given by food technology experts from all over Europe. The workshop was held on occasion of the completion of the EU project SusOrgPlus, perfectly fitting into the United Nation’s International Year of Fruit and Vegetables (IYFV).
Among the topics that were discussed at the workshop were the dynamics of food processing, resource and energy efficiency, methods to assess quality like non-invasive real-time measurements, as well as innovative technologies such as pre-processing with low-temperature plasmas which was presented by Oliver Schlüter, ATB.
“I am very pleased that as a result of our joint efforts we were able to publish guidelines on how to increase sustainability and consumer acceptance of organic food stuffs. These guidelines intend to support actors in the field of organic food processing to improve resource efficiency and product quality by providing a deeper understanding of raw material, process and product related aspects”, highlights SusOrgPlus coordinator Prof Barbara Sturm, the Scientific Director of ATB.
For three years, eight research and industry partners worked on low energy input processing chains and natural food additives and colourants. The focus has been on the preservation of fruits, herbs, vegetables, fish and meat by drying and cooling/freezing.
The Code of Practice to increase sustainability and consumer acceptance of organic food stuffs is available at: https://www.susorgplus.eu/sites/default/files/pdf/SusOrganic-guidelines-eng.pdf
The transnational project SusOrgPlus has been funded via the ERA-net CORE Organic Cofund based on funds from participating countries and funding from the European Union.
The workshop was organised by ATB and the University of Kassel.
More information at www.susorgplus.eu