Today we are much more conscious of what we eat. We not only want our food to be safe, tasty and make us healthy, but also that it is produced in a sustainable way without excessive processing and unnecessary additives. Many also want more plant protein and tasty, varied vegetarian food from locally grown producers. We may not fully realize what a complex and intriguing material we are putting in our mouth when we eat. The complexity of food not only provides the good feeling when we eat, but also provides the nutrition and health that we need.
Sweden has made very large investments in complex and exciting research tools in Lund, namely ESS and MAX IV. With the new tools at hand we are developing systematic understanding of food structure in connection to processing as well as digestibility and bioavailability of nutrients. In the future we will therefore be able to design healthy, sustainable and tasty food; taking its foundations from the food structure knowledge!
The challenges are large, but stimulating, and the food industry and academia are ready to meet them jointly. This was clearly demonstrated in March 2019 through the high and active participation in the first "Northern Lights on Food" (NLF) workshop in Lund. At this first NLF workshop, industry and academia started to discuss how food research and development can be strengthened through the technologies available in conjunction with MAX IV and ESS. The workshop attracted over 100 Nordic food scientists, including industry representatives, scientists and product developers from both national and international food companies.
Now we are moving forward and are proud to announce the second Northern Lights on Food Conference, June 9-11 2021, this time organised with financial support from Formas. We will bring together the key actors in the food sector, including academic researchers, institutes and the food industry, with experts in X-ray and neutron-based techniques. The aim is to establish and organise a Northern Light on Food (NLF) network that will provide food researchers with the opportunity to take full advantage of the new research tools provided by Large Scale Research Infrastructure (LSRI), ESS and MAX IV, emerging in Lund.
When: June 9, 12.00 - June 11, 13.00
Where: Zoom
Deadline: Registration deadline is June 7
Cost: No fee since the event is fully digital
Panel discussion
Moderator: Pia Kinhult, ESS, Sweden
Panelists: Elisabet Nielsen (Vinnova), Johanna van Schaik Dernfalk (Formas), Carina Knorpp (Näringsdepartementet), Rickard Öste (Aventure/Oatly), Tommy Nylander (LU-LINXS)
Talking Points:
1. The high global consumption of animal-based foods needs to be reduced and replaced by plant-based alternatives to reach the sustainability goals of society. This is challenging in numerous ways; from a lack of understanding of food structure, to missing protein sources appropriate for a Scandinavian climate. At the same time the degree of self-sufficiency in Sweden has declined and in Sweden there is a consumer demands on the use of locally produces for food production. How do we meet these challenges?
2. Tackling the societal challenges, such as supply , sustainable production, health and well-being connected to food production requires addressing gap in scientific knowledge and adopting multidisciplinary approaches as well as knowledge transfer between research institution and industry. How do we achieve this? How do we unleash the full potential of existing research potential and entrepreneurship in industry? Can the food sector be as successful and important as the IT sector? What does it take?
3. The establishment of ESS and MAX IV in Lund an entirely new toolbox for food science via the new in situ x-ray and neutron techniques, to obtain unsurpassed knowledge on the structuring of plant-based food matrices as well as traditional food from farm to fork and beyond. We can for the first time study processing in situ, which offer new opportunities for sustainable processing with efficient use of the raw material and minimal energy consumption at the same time as we obtain healthy, safe and tasty food. How do we exploit this unique opportunity? Challenges are the lack of resources and lack of knowledge in the industry, in particular in small companies. How do we meet these challenges? The ESS and MAXIV is being built up now and there is an unique opportunity to engage in instruments and sample environment? How can food industry and food researchers engage with facilities to make them even better to study challenges in food research and development?
4. Should we establish European Food Laboratory (EuFL) for food science research and related applications in Science Village Scandinavia next to MAX IV and ESS as a physical and virtual arena where food scientists in academia and industry meet, collaborate, and integrate advanced X-ray and neutron techniques into their skillset? How do we concretely get started? Could we use the model of ESS based on agreements between different countries? Or could we organise it as EMBL European Molecular Biology Laboratory as a membership organisation? How do we ensure inclusion and complementarity? How do we engage industry?
Student speed dating
Do you want to meet your peers, and see how they have used these techniques in their research, or how to get some inspiration for your work? If you are a young investigator, and want to network, please join this speed dating session. A one-hour meeting with short, breakout sessions to get to know each other, and connect with future colleagues!
Confirmed speakers
Benjamin Boyd - Monash University, Australia
Marta Martínez Sanz - CIAL-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Krassimir Velikov - Unilever, the Netherlands
Behnaz Pirzamanbein - Lund University, Sweden & QiM DTU, Denmark
Alejandro Marangoni - University of Guelph, Canada
Shuai Bai - Lund University, Sweden
Thea Lykkegaard Møller - Aarhus University, Denmark
William Twengström - Exciscope AB, Sweden
Peter Fischer - ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Emanuel Larsson - Lund University, Sweden
Gregor Rudolph - Lund University, Sweden
Laurence Ramos - CNRS-University Montpellier, France
Francisco Vilaplana - KTH, Sweden
Sisse Marquina-Jonberg - Novo Nordisk Foundation, Denmark
Maria Öhman - Vinnova, Sweden
Christian Malmberg - Lantmännen, Sweden
Hans Tromp - NIZO, The Netherlands
Peter L Wejse - Arla, Denmark
Milena Corredig - Aarhus University, Denmark
Ramune Kuktaite - SLU Alnarp, Sweden
Wim Bouwman - Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands
Organizing committee
Anna Ström – Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Niklas Lorén – RISE, Sweden
Milena Corredig – iFood Centre for Innovative Food Research, Aarhus University, Denmark
Maud Langton – Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
Lars Nilsson - Lund University, Sweden
Elisabet Rytter – Livsmedelsföretagen/Sweden Food Arena
Stephen Hall – Lund Institute of Advanced Neutron and X-ray Science (LINXS), Sweden
Åsa Grunning - Lund Institute of Advanced Neutron and X-ray Science (LINXS), Sweden
Tommy Nylander – Lund University, Sweden
Selma Maric – MAX IV Laboratory
Northern Lights on Food website.
During our events we sometimes take photographs and short film clips to profile our activities. Please let us know if you don’t want to be in any photos/films before we start the event. Some talks might be recorded to be used for educational purposes in the LINXS website.
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