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Anyone who develops new products for a living must be aware of a multitude of influences. Acknowledging this, we cover

scientific discoveries

consumer trends

product design and formulation

engineering technology

process engineering

manufacturing

filling and packaging

logistics and distribution

retail merchandising

end of life disposal

Then there are the legal and regulatory issues, such as safety and labelling, as well as intellectual property rights, brand management, competition and international trade that we have to take into account.

But it all means nothing without the creativity and insights of men and women who can put things together in new ways to create new products that improve our lives.

We celebrate those people.

Ian Grant

Publisher

ADM in Chinese soy JV
Fuzzy logic system captures operators’ expertise
Italian food biosensor maker seeks help
Low-cost coliform water tester unveiled

Joint venture

ADM in Chinese soy JV

US-based Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) says it is building a soy processing factory in Shanhaiguan, China in partnership with Wilmar Holdings.

The factory, due to come on-line in mid-2004, will make ADM's exclusive Arcon line of soy protein concentrates, specialty soy flour for soy sauce fermentation, and whole edible soybeans for the Pacific Rim.

Software

Fuzzy logic system captures operators’ expertise

A Dutch software house has a “fuzzy logic” expert system that captures in a model the human operators' knowledge and logic of a process. It uses this model to automate the process, making it less dependent on the operator, reducing production costs, improving product quality, and lowering training times for new staff.

For details contact Paul Asselbergs, Syntens, T +31-70-414-5555 E pcj@syntens.nl W http://www.syntens.nl.

Biosensors

Italian food biosensor maker seeks help

An Italian research organisation seeks help to commercialise its biosensor technology. The screen-printed probes are used in loco with inexpensive instruments to detect metabolites and contaminants in food products.

It has sensors for glucose, lactate, fructose, biogenic amines, glutamate, malate, glycerol, lactose, lactulose have been developed and used for monitoring food processing.

There are also sensors for organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides, and sensors for toxins (aflatoxin in milk, seafood toxins in clams and ocratoxin in wine) to analyse these compounds for freshness and safety. The firm will also design sensors with analytic characteristics suitable for almost any application.

For details contact  Dr Gianluca Rossi at Agenzia Per La Promozione Della Ricerca Europea T +39-06-5911817 E rossi@apre.it W http://www.apre.it.

Water test

Low-cost coliform water tester unveiled

An Italian research group has developed an low-cost alarm system to show the presence of coliforms in water, food or other products. It is based on a colorimetric reaction that takes place in a self-sterilising, disposable reaction cell filled with the sample to be analysed. 

Ordinary consumers can use the test without microbiological knowledge or special training. The researchers are looking for a partner for serial production and commercialisation.

For details contact Dr Stefania Giuffrida of the Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, T +39-06-49937443 E s.giuffrida@dcas.cnr.it W http://circe.dcas.cnr.it .