German Institute of Food Technologies
Encyclopedia
The German Institute of Food Technologies (ger.
Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik e.V. - DIL) is a non-governmental
and self-financing research institute supported by more than 120 members from fields of food production, mechanical engineering
, process engineering
and metrology
.
The DIL was founded in 1983 and is situated in the county of Osnabrück
, one of the regions with the highest numbers of full-time employees and highest density of food industry enterprises in Germany.
The research focus of the DIL is to develop innovative methods for food production, quality assurance
and process optimization
. Beneficiaries of new insights in food technology are small and medium-sized enterprises. Stated as main objective is the improvement of efficiency and increase of competitiveness of companies from the food industry.
According to own sources, the institute finances itself by 90% through external funds, out of which 55% are used to cooperate directly with members of the DIL.
, Lower Saxony
.
In May 1985 a new building was planned for the DIL in the Professor-von-Klitzing
Street, where the foundation stone was laid on September 1985 by Birgit Breuel
, who was Secretary of Commerce then. The Minister-President of Lower Saxony at that time, Ernst Albrecht, inaugurated the new building at the turn of the year 1986/1987.
In 1988 the institute was renamed into its present name "German Institute of Food Technologies" and its legal form was change from membership cooperation to registered association.
As part of DIL's agenda for 2015 the current building had to be expanded. The state of Lower Saxony had agreed to support the Artland municipality
with a subsidy of € 15 million to enable local agribusinessess and food production companies to develop their international competitiveness.
On 20 Mai 2009 the foundation stone for the expansion of the DIL building was laid by Friedrich-Otto Ripke, the Secretary of State for agriculture, nutrition and consumer protection.
The former Minister-President of Lower Saxony Christian Wulff
and Hans-Heinrich Ehlen were thanked for their personal contribution to the grant which enables the German Institute of Food Technologies to cooperate and link itself with further research institutes in the county.
The following areas are highlights of the process development:
Main areas of focus are quality management
, chemical- and microbiological analysis. Although the food producer alone carries the responsibility for the production of safe food and the implementation of the necessary measures, the DIL can support food producers through quality controls and seminars about hygiene management.
s and prebiotics
, for industrially processed food in order to support the defense mechanism of the body and human health. Addition or multiplication of useful microorganisms but also inhibition or reduction of undesired microorganisms is being tested. Other points of focus are insights to specific properties of yeats and research on white
and blue biotechnology
.
.
The Lower Saxonian competency center for the food industry (NieKE) is a network of cooperation between the German Institute of Food Technologies, The Institute of Spatial Analysis and Planning in Areas of Intensive Agriculture (ISPA) of the University of Vechta
, DIALOG - The Center for Transfer of Information and Technology at the University of Oldenburg, the Competency Center Functional Food (KKF) and The Research and Technology Contact Center (unitransfer) at the University of Hanover.
The aims of this cooperative network are knowledge sharing between the members and the support of small and medium-sized enterprises.
In May 2009 the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück and the DIL signed an agreement for a long-term cooperation for future research and education. As result of this cooperation a state-wide new academic course was established for the fall semester 2008; the Bachelor of Engineering “Food Production Engineering and Business”. The German Institute of Food Technologies functions as one of the main coordinating bodies.
, the Netherlands and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
(TNO), the DIL founded the ICCF (International Competence Center Food and Research Development) as research collaboration. This project was established to link closer cooperation and integration between the German and Dutch parts of the Ems Dollart Region
.
The German Institute of Food Technologies operates worldwide with customers from Japan, China, India, Australia and the USA. Among DIL's customers are global players
such as Mars
, General Mills
and Barilla.
The network is coordinated by the DIL and sponsored by the EU research sponsoring. Common goals are latest findings in biotechnology, nanotechnology as well as information and communication technology for innovative strategies in food production to strengthen the resident industry for global competition. Currently, the network counts 22 members, 21 being from Europe and one from Oceania.
made first attempts to use this technology commercially; Through ultrafiltration oil was extracted from fish in Norway. However, the attempt to commercialize the use of pulsed electric fields among the food technology.
In 1988/89 the DIL reserved the rights to use the Elcrack brand, established by Krupp Maschinentechnik GmbH
, for an easier market launch.
The newly developed ELCRACK relies consistently on the use of cost-efficient and highly reliable components in the field of pulsed energy supply. The electrodes’ systems were completely redesigned by DIL with an improved standard in terms of stability and ease of maintenance.
ELCRACK systems are available in the performance ranges of 5 kW and 30 kW.
The name of the system stands for electrical cracking of cells and relates to the process of the Electroporation
, where externally applied electrical fields are used on animal and plant cells to make their membrans permeable. A treatment with pulsed elecric fields also supports the inactivation of microorganisms.
Next to the inactivation of microorganisms, faster removal of moisture, for example from meat, is one of the functions of the system. By drying the meat through the ELCRACK it gains a longer shelf life and thus it is more suitable for mass transport. Another important function is the enhanced extraction from juice out fruits; after the electroporation the cell membranes have a higher permeability and thus more juices can be extracted from the fruits.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik e.V. - DIL) is a non-governmental
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
and self-financing research institute supported by more than 120 members from fields of food production, mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
, process engineering
Process engineering
Process engineering focuses on the design, operation, control, and optimization of chemical, physical, and biological processes through the aid of systematic computer-based methods...
and metrology
Metrology
Metrology is the science of measurement. Metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement. The word comes from Greek μέτρον , "measure" + "λόγος" , amongst others meaning "speech, oration, discourse, quote, study, calculation, reason"...
.
The DIL was founded in 1983 and is situated in the county of Osnabrück
Osnabrück (district)
Osnabrück is a district in the southwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. With 2,121 km² it is the second largest district of Lower Saxony.- History :...
, one of the regions with the highest numbers of full-time employees and highest density of food industry enterprises in Germany.
The research focus of the DIL is to develop innovative methods for food production, quality assurance
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance, or QA for short, is the systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects of a project, service or facility to maximize the probability that minimum standards of quality are being attained by the production process...
and process optimization
Process optimization
Process optimization is the discipline of adjusting a process so as to optimize some specified set of parameters without violating some constraint. The most common goals are minimizing cost, maximizing throughput, and/or efficiency...
. Beneficiaries of new insights in food technology are small and medium-sized enterprises. Stated as main objective is the improvement of efficiency and increase of competitiveness of companies from the food industry.
According to own sources, the institute finances itself by 90% through external funds, out of which 55% are used to cooperate directly with members of the DIL.
History
On 17 May 1983 the Support Association for Promoting the Establishment of the German Institute of Food Technologies was founded as the legal status of a membership cooperation in QuakenbrückQuakenbrück
Quakenbrück is a town in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hase. It is part of the Samtgemeinde of Artland....
, Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
.
In May 1985 a new building was planned for the DIL in the Professor-von-Klitzing
Klaus von Klitzing
Klaus von Klitzing is a German physicist known for discovery of the integer quantum Hall Effect, for which he was awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics....
Street, where the foundation stone was laid on September 1985 by Birgit Breuel
Birgit Breuel
Birgit Breuel is a German politician, representative of the German Christian Democratic Union. She is the former President of the Treuhand Agency, and Commissioner General of the Expo 2000 in Hannover, and later worked in several honorary positions.Birgit Münchmeyer came from a Lower Saxony...
, who was Secretary of Commerce then. The Minister-President of Lower Saxony at that time, Ernst Albrecht, inaugurated the new building at the turn of the year 1986/1987.
In 1988 the institute was renamed into its present name "German Institute of Food Technologies" and its legal form was change from membership cooperation to registered association.
As part of DIL's agenda for 2015 the current building had to be expanded. The state of Lower Saxony had agreed to support the Artland municipality
Artland
Artland is a Samtgemeinde in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated along the river Hase, approx. 45 km north of Osnabrück, and 25 km west of Vechta. Its seat is the town Quakenbrück....
with a subsidy of € 15 million to enable local agribusinessess and food production companies to develop their international competitiveness.
On 20 Mai 2009 the foundation stone for the expansion of the DIL building was laid by Friedrich-Otto Ripke, the Secretary of State for agriculture, nutrition and consumer protection.
The former Minister-President of Lower Saxony Christian Wulff
Christian Wulff
Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff is the President of Germany and a politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was elected President on 2010 and publicly swore the oath of office on . A lawyer by profession, he served as Premier of the state of Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2010.-Early life and...
and Hans-Heinrich Ehlen were thanked for their personal contribution to the grant which enables the German Institute of Food Technologies to cooperate and link itself with further research institutes in the county.
Product Development
New trends in markets and direct orders from companies serve as drive and guideline to develop appealing, healthy food products for all market segments: confectionery, baked goods, dairy and meat products, snacks and convenience products. The development process is also governed by a comprehensive analytical characterization of the structure of ingredients. Physical analysis in thermal, rheological and physiochemical tests enable possibilities to identify and characterize microstructures such as foams, emulsions and suspensions.Process Development
The focus of this business field is set to investigate in more efficient methods to process food production. Main goals include energy reduction, automation of technical processes and the use of new technologies to transform materials.The following areas are highlights of the process development:
- Pulsed Electric Field Processing
- ExtrusionExtrusionExtrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A material is pushed or drawn through a die of the desired cross-section...
- High Pressure Processing
- UltrasoundUltrasoundUltrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
/Shockwave Technology - Application of supercritical fluidSupercritical fluidA supercritical fluid is any substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point, where distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist. It can effuse through solids like a gas, and dissolve materials like a liquid...
s
Food Safety
Products are tested upon their safety to avoid unforeseen incidents such as contamination of food. Raw material but also final products are being tested according to legal requirements and regulations in order to be safe for the consumer.Main areas of focus are quality management
Quality management
The term Quality management has a specific meaning within many business sectors. This specific definition, which does not aim to assure 'good quality' by the more general definition , can be considered to have four main components: quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality...
, chemical- and microbiological analysis. Although the food producer alone carries the responsibility for the production of safe food and the implementation of the necessary measures, the DIL can support food producers through quality controls and seminars about hygiene management.
Service
All business fields of the DIL are offered externally and as well as internally for research groups and projects. The range of services include among others mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, seminars and integration into networks.Structure & Functionality
The quality of food is determined by their structure. Therefore, an optimization of food structures leads an improvement of long-term quality of food. Based on test on structure generation and the interdependency with the quality of food the DIL tries to increase the shelf-life of products.Biotechnology
Research on the suitability of ingredient applications, such as probioticProbiotic
Probiotics are live microorganisms thought to be beneficial to the host organism. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: "Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host"...
s and prebiotics
Prebiotic (nutrition)
Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth and/or activity of bacteria in the digestive system in ways claimed to be beneficial to health. They were first identified and named by Marcel Roberfroid in 1995. As a functional food component, prebiotics, like probiotics,...
, for industrially processed food in order to support the defense mechanism of the body and human health. Addition or multiplication of useful microorganisms but also inhibition or reduction of undesired microorganisms is being tested. Other points of focus are insights to specific properties of yeats and research on white
Industrial biotechnology
Industrial biotechnology is the application of biotechnology for industrial purposes, including manufacturing, alternative energy , and biomaterials. It includes the practice of using cells or components of cells like enzymes to generate industrially useful products...
and blue biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
.
Robotics
New application areas for robotics are being researched, far away from the traditional image of robotics where robots are mostly used for packing processes. Safe and hygienic handling of unpacked and packed food products are main highlight in this field. Through cooperation with food producers, robotics engineers and manufacturers the DIL establishes new functions for robotics.Germany
The DIL cooperate in a network of universities and other research institutes; among them are the Technical University of Berlin, the University of Jena, the Max Rubner-Institute and the University of Veterinary Medicine in HanoverUniversity of Veterinary Medicine Hanover
The University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover is a university in Hanover and one of the five facilities for veterinary medicine in Germany, and the only one that remains independent. It is often referred to as TiHo by its staff and students....
.
The Lower Saxonian competency center for the food industry (NieKE) is a network of cooperation between the German Institute of Food Technologies, The Institute of Spatial Analysis and Planning in Areas of Intensive Agriculture (ISPA) of the University of Vechta
University of Vechta
The University of Vechta is a small university in northwestern Germany, in the town of Vechta in Lower Saxony. Its study programmes concentrate on teacher training, social sciences, social work, gerontology and psychology .The University has about 3.300 students .-External links:****...
, DIALOG - The Center for Transfer of Information and Technology at the University of Oldenburg, the Competency Center Functional Food (KKF) and The Research and Technology Contact Center (unitransfer) at the University of Hanover.
The aims of this cooperative network are knowledge sharing between the members and the support of small and medium-sized enterprises.
In May 2009 the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück and the DIL signed an agreement for a long-term cooperation for future research and education. As result of this cooperation a state-wide new academic course was established for the fall semester 2008; the Bachelor of Engineering “Food Production Engineering and Business”. The German Institute of Food Technologies functions as one of the main coordinating bodies.
International
Along with the University of GroningenUniversity of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
, the Netherlands and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek or TNO is a not-for-profit organization in the Netherlands that focuses on applied science. The main office of TNO is located in Delft...
(TNO), the DIL founded the ICCF (International Competence Center Food and Research Development) as research collaboration. This project was established to link closer cooperation and integration between the German and Dutch parts of the Ems Dollart Region
Ems Dollart Region
Established in 1977, the Ems Dollart Region is a cross-border organisation located in the northern Dutch-German border area. Its aim is to establish and improve contacts and levels of interaction between people, companies and organisations within the border region. The organization is based in the...
.
The German Institute of Food Technologies operates worldwide with customers from Japan, China, India, Australia and the USA. Among DIL's customers are global players
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
such as Mars
Mars, Incorporated
Mars, Incorporated is a worldwide manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products with US$30 billion in annual sales in 2010, and is ranked as the 5th largest privately held company in the United States by Forbes. Headquartered in McLean, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia,...
, General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
and Barilla.
HighTech Europe
HighTech Europe is an initiative of European research organizations, industrial associations and enterprises with the goal of setting up a European Institute of Food Technology in order to share competences and knowledge of research available in Europe.The network is coordinated by the DIL and sponsored by the EU research sponsoring. Common goals are latest findings in biotechnology, nanotechnology as well as information and communication technology for innovative strategies in food production to strengthen the resident industry for global competition. Currently, the network counts 22 members, 21 being from Europe and one from Oceania.
ELCRACK
The systems are high voltage generators used in the food industry for degermination or for improvement of extraction processes. In 1980 Krupp MaschinentechnikKrupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
made first attempts to use this technology commercially; Through ultrafiltration oil was extracted from fish in Norway. However, the attempt to commercialize the use of pulsed electric fields among the food technology.
In 1988/89 the DIL reserved the rights to use the Elcrack brand, established by Krupp Maschinentechnik GmbH
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
, for an easier market launch.
The newly developed ELCRACK relies consistently on the use of cost-efficient and highly reliable components in the field of pulsed energy supply. The electrodes’ systems were completely redesigned by DIL with an improved standard in terms of stability and ease of maintenance.
ELCRACK systems are available in the performance ranges of 5 kW and 30 kW.
The name of the system stands for electrical cracking of cells and relates to the process of the Electroporation
Electroporation
Electroporation, or electropermeabilization, is a significant increase in the electrical conductivity and permeability of the cell plasma membrane caused by an externally applied electrical field...
, where externally applied electrical fields are used on animal and plant cells to make their membrans permeable. A treatment with pulsed elecric fields also supports the inactivation of microorganisms.
Next to the inactivation of microorganisms, faster removal of moisture, for example from meat, is one of the functions of the system. By drying the meat through the ELCRACK it gains a longer shelf life and thus it is more suitable for mass transport. Another important function is the enhanced extraction from juice out fruits; after the electroporation the cell membranes have a higher permeability and thus more juices can be extracted from the fruits.
External links
- Official Website - German Institute of Food Technologies (English, German)
- Official Website - ELCRACK - Cell Disintegration and microbial decontamination (English)
- Official Website - HighTech Europe (English)
- Official Website - University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück - Bachelor of Engineering Food Production Engineering and Business (English, German)