Why the Food Biz Is Hungry for Tech
Innovations born in the lab now drive a wealth of new products and aim to make what people eat safer, longer-lasting, and healthier
On July 12, more than 20,000 technologists, food scientists, and nutritionists from around the world will converge on Chicago for the Institute for Food Technology's annual Food Expo. At the top of the agenda: Protecting the U.S. food supply from terrorist attack. Experts will present and debate novel processing techniques that use ultraviolet light and ultrasound, ideas for altering the genetic makeup of foods to help prevent inherited diseases, and advances in nano-biotechnology that employ supersensitive sensors to measure both the healthful and harmful bacteria that occur in food or that may be introduced into it.
Fighting terrorism is only the latest technological challenge for the $500 billion food industry. Over the past 30 years, high tech has powered product development, helping to create everything from baked goods with long shelf lives to sugar-free pudding and fantasy flavors such as "cool" raspberry.
The result has been an explosion of choice: In the 1960s, supermarket shoppers had 7,000 products to choose from. Today, they can opt for any of 40,000 baked goods, dairy products, or packaged and prepared foods, according to Charles Santerre, an associate professor at Purdue University and spokesperson for the Institute of Food Technologists.
ORGANIC TOSTITOS. Today, food giants rely on technology to develop pest-resistant crops, rout out dangerous bacteria, and develop new, more nutritious foods to appeal to a health-conscious, if increasingly obese, nation. Case in point: On July 1, Kraft (KFT ) announced that it would reformulate many of its flagship products such as Jell-O and Chips Ahoy to improve their nutritional content and to help counter rising obesity. In April, Frito-Lay, a unit of PepsiCo (PEP ), launched its first organic products, Tostitos tortilla chips made with organic blue or yellow corn and a companion salsa.
"Demand for both quality and safety are rising," says Barry Swanson, a professor of food science and human nutrition at Washington State University. "That means the greatest technology investments are yet to come."
Indeed, the hottest trend in food-safety research is the hunt for new techniques that make food safer without the "cooked" taste that often results from tried-and-true purification treatments such as pasteurization. One of the most well-known -- and controversial -- is irradiation, which uses high-energy electron beams to kill bacteria in meat products and insect infestations in fruits and vegetables. Irradiation, which was first tested during World War II, has been approved by the Food & Drug Administration for use on pork, chicken, and ground beef, and is now sold in more than 5,000 grocery stories nationwide.
MORE STUDY NEEDED? The availability of irradiated meat will only continue to grow: In 2003, irradiation leader Surebeam (SURE ) says it will process 30 million to 40 million pounds of ground beef, up from just 15 million last year. Starting next January, public schools nationwide will be permitted to serve irradiated products at lunch.
The scientific community has warmly embraced irradiation. According to the Center for Disease Control, irradiating half of the 5.9 billion pounds of ground beef, poultry, and pork consumed by Americans annually would prevent 1 million cases of the 76 million annual cases of foodborne illnesses. It would also prevent 400 of the 5,000 annual deaths from such diseases.
Still, consumer groups maintain that irradiation requires further study. For one, high levels of radiation have been shown to introduce new chemicals into foods -- so-called radiolytic products -- which some studies have shown promote cancer. Moreover, contends Tony Corbo, a lobbyist for nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, irradiation masks, and thus encourages, filthy conditions in slaughterhouses, since meat producers see post-production treatment as a silver-bullet alternative to removing the feces, pus, and vomit that often contaminate meat in abattoirs.
UNHEALTHY GLOW. So, researchers are also focusing on several new nonthermal techniques to kill dangerous bacteria. One area of investigation is biosensors, the biological equivalent of the old practice of sending a canary down into a mine with to spot dangerous levels of methane gas: When the canary dies, it's time for the humans to leave.
The goal is to spot normally harmless bacteria cells that behave a certain way in the presence of dangerous toxins. For example, at Clemson University in South Carolina a team of chemists, microbiologists, and food scientists have devised a way to tether luminescent molecules to food pathogens, such as e. coli and salmonella, to make contaminated food glow in the dark. Led by professor Paul Dawson, the team is working to create a "protein key" that would "fit" with another molecule, creating a bio-alarm when key and lock fit. Though promising, biosensors are still years from widespread commercial usage.
Another technique, high-pressure processing, where liquids are put under 150,000 pounds per square inch of pressure, is already being used to reduce contamination in products including guacamole and fresh orange juice. The intense pressure inactivates microbes and other undesirable enzymes by causing their membranes to burst. Because heat isn't involved, the process doesn't affect freshness or flavor, or cause liquids to lose important vitamins and minerals that are destroyed by high-temperature treatments. |
