NIZO TALKS FOOD AND HEALTH

Spore-forming bacteria as probiotics With the ever-increasing consumer demand for healthy and functional foods and beverages, probiotics offer a path for producers to differentiate products and meet the needs of more customers. In parallel, probiotics and ingredient companies are looking for ways to use new bacterial strains to deliver probiotic health benefits. However, working with these live and often sensitive microorganisms can be difficult. With their stability and resilience, spore-forming bacteria are gaining attention for potential health-promoting applications. Janneke Ouwerkerk, Department Head Microbiology at NIZO, explains the benefits and challenges of choosing a spore-forming bacterium as a probiotic.

Alternative methods of producing proteins offer exciting opportunities for creating vegan alternatives to animal-based products and ingredients. Some of these even promise to create ‘animal proteins, without the animal’. But with high costs for development and production, how can you be sure you are on the right track? Emma Teuling, Project Manager Protein Functionality Herwig Bachmann at NIZO, tells us about the hurdles of making techniques such as precision fermentation feasible.

Dietary fibre plays a key role in human health; fibre-rich foods and prebiotics can help promote gut health and benefit the gut microbiota, for instance. Adding fibre to foods and ingredients can thus help increase their attractiveness to consumers, and differentiate them in a competitive market. Petra Scholtens, Project team leader Nutrition & Health at NIZO, explains how in vitro models and human trials, supported by bioinformatics, can help manufacturers identify and demonstrate the health benefits of dietary fibres.

When consumers shop for food, food safety is rarely at the top of their mind, because they see it as a ‘given’. Clearly, all food on the market must be safe and it is up to producers to ensure this. But the risk of contamination runs through the entire food production chain: from raw materials and ingredients, to formulation and processing, and on to the finished product. Some microbial contaminants are pathogenic and cause foodborne infection. Others produce toxins in foods – which can be just as dangerous as a food manufacturer, preventing outbreaks of food-borne illness is key: a health issue linked to your product can have serious repercussions for your company, your reputation and your brand. Marjon Wells-Bennik, NIZO’s Principal Scientist Food Safety, with over 20 years academic and industrial experience in food safety and microbiology, explains the dangers of bacterial toxins in food, and what food producers can do to minimize the risks.

By 2050, the global population may reach 10 billion people. Feeding this booming humanity will require increasing food production by more than 60% placing intense pressure on resources including arable land and fresh water. Food and ingredient companies are thus turning an interested eye towards microbial biomass as a potential sustainable source of protein. Yet, as Rianne Ruijschop, Department Head Health at NIZO, explains, sustainability is only one side of the story for edible biomass. It’s time to look at the potential nutritional and health benefits, as well.