Well-trained personnel are the backbone of any company. Because there is a shortage of human capital in the food sector, initiatives to fill the growing demand for employees are needed. This is why Food Valley, recruitment agency Nutri-akt, and Wageningen University are working together to offer companies a custom-made solution: the Food Valley Ambassador Program. This program matches the best international Master’s students with multinational food companies. Over the course of a year-long work experience program, the company and student build up a sustainable and potentially long-term relationship. The ultimate aim of this traineeship is to ensure the student a career at one of the participating companies, either in the Netherlands or in the student’s home country, where the host company has a branch or would like to establish one. The Ambassador Program is a unique opportunity to attract talent and keep it!

This Food Valley program offers 20 financial grants to high-potential BSc students so they can continue their education in a Master’s program, with emphasis on the MSc programs Food Technology and Food Safety. Furthermore, 40 financial grants are offered to gifted MSc students in order to place young international talent within Dutch food companies for an extended period of time. The Food Valley organization, therefore, takes upon itself the burden of recruitment, matching, and housing and immigration procedures. The selection of high-potential students is tailored to a company’s need.

Based on the company’s wishes, Food Valley and its partners create a specific student profile to find the best match. This unique “matchmaking” service is free of charge. Companies pay a reasonable fee for the cost of living of the selected MSc student and are responsible for offering this student a challenging scientific position as well as providing them with training and guidance.

Companies that would like to do business or build partnerships in the student’s home country will benefit in a specific way: the student, or “ambassador,” knows his or her culture and language well, and can facilitate contact. As a result, new opportunities for international partnerships may arise.

Aside from the skills they learn in training and studying, the students also develop their “ambassadorial” talents. The program encourages them to act as ambassadors by representing the strengths of the Dutch Food Valley cluster to the outside world. In this way, the ambassadors help to attract foreign students and investors. Working from their base in the Netherlands or their home country, they inform companies and universities about the opportunities in the Food Valley region. This is creating a valuable international Food Valley Ambassador Network that connects the region to the international food industry and contributes to the development of Food Valley, the Netherlands, as the international center for education and careers in the food sector. This Food Valley Ambassador Program is sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, and the Province of Gelderland.

One of the enthusiastic participants in the Ambassador Program is NIZO food research. HR Manager Loek Nederstigt explains why: “NIZO assists food and ingredient companies worldwide to be more profitable and make better foods. We do this by developing and applying competitive technologies in strictly confidential projects. More and more, we are carrying out international contract research, and we see great opportunities in that field. To win a client’s trust, it’s important that we think creatively and put ourselves in the client’s shoes, which is not so easy if the client comes from a very different culture. That’s where the ambassador can help us, by introducing NIZO in his or her own backyard. And, by the way, that was no small backyard in the case of our first ambassador, who was from China. We believe in this concept and immediately signed up for another ambassador as soon as our first year on the program ended.”

Students from all over the world are also enthusiastic about the program:

“I am Melina Pallidi from Greece. I studied Food Science and Technology in the Agricultural University of Athens and, since I wanted to expand my knowledge in this field, I decided to follow an MSc program. I preferred to do it abroad, and not in my home country, to have the possibility to get in touch with different ways of thinking and working, in a multicultural environment. The high level of education, along with the possibilities and the programs that are offered here in the Wageningen University, caught my attention. I knew that this was what I wanted and…here I am! I arrived in the Netherlands one and a half years ago, to follow the Food Safety MSc, and before finishing it I got the opportunity for a one-year internship with H.J. Heinz through the Food Valley Ambassador Program! I am very excited to be a Food Valley Ambassador since I strongly believe that it will provide me with valuable working experience, help me improve my skills and competencies, and give me a boost in the start of my career!"

Caroline Ingoglia says: “Studying abroad gives you the unique opportunity to learn more in and outside of the classroom, while adapting to a completely new environment. During my bachelor program at the University of Florida, I also realized the importance of international collaboration for the advancement of food research and the industry. For these reasons, it has been my biggest goal to study and work abroad. The Food Valley Ambassador Program has given me the chance to achieve both of these in a highly international setting. Wageningen University offers an engaging curriculum in a wide range of specializations within the Food Technology Department. I am also looking forward to interning at a small, yet internationally focused food research firm like NIZO.”

Contact details:
Maaike Lugtenaar
Email: maaike.lugtenaar@foodvalley.nl
Website: http://www.foodvalley.nl/English/Paginas/Human Capital/Food Valley Ambassador Program.aspx

Understanding how bioactive botanical ingredients affect the gastrointestinal tract and the development of peanuts that do not cause any allergic reactions are just two of the subjects studied by the Dutch research institute TNO, in collaboration with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Together they have signed an agreement committing to a long-term research partnership. TNO brings

TIM-1 model

its advanced gastrointestinal model TIM-1 (TNO Intestinal Model), and Rutgers brings its wide-ranging expertise in agricultural science.

The collaboration between TNO and Rutgers started in early 2009. TNO was looking for international partners to explore new research opportunities—in particular, for its TIM system: an in vitro model that enables detailed investigation of the digestion and behavior of (food) components in the gastrointestinal tract. (See: “TNO extends its artificial gut platforms to predict Plasma Glucose Response and Glycemic Index,” Food for Thought, December 2009.) TNO found an attractive partner in Rutgers University. Based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the university offers broad expertise in life sciences, ranging from agriculture, botanical compounds, and plant genetics to human and animal nutrition, pharmacy, and engineering. The research profile of Rutgers complements TNO’s experience and is an excellent match for the capabilities of the TIM system.

“Because TIM enables experiments that are impossible with human volunteers or in animal studies, Rutgers will get insights they would not have had otherwise,” says Rob Havenaar, Product Manager in the Department of Biosciences at TNO, and, from the beginning of the collaboration, a “visiting scholar” at Rutgers. Havenaar has been heavily involved with the setup and support of experiments with the gastrointestinal model in the United States.

The first year of collaboration was mainly focused on training people in working with TIM, performing pilot studies, and developing project proposals to apply for grant funding from organizations such as the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Now, a year later, two extensive projects on botanicals and peanut allergies have been approved and funded, and are up and running.

Says Havenaar: “We expect the botanical project—which will take five years—to play a vital role in understanding the positive and negative health effects of botanical ingredients. Botanicals are becoming more and more popular as ingredients in foods and food supplements. However, due to their complex composition, it is difficult to substantiate positive health effects and to exclude possible toxic side effects. TIM will enable us to do so. In this project, we investigate the stability, bioconversion, bioaccessibility, and absorption of the compounds that are present in Artemisia—a group of herbs and shrubs known for their volatile oils—and blueberries and maqui berries, best known for their antioxidants (anthocyanins). We observed that certain lipophilic ingredients in these botanical extracts are well-absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract while others are not. Two publications for international scientific journals are in preparation.”

Havenaar continues, “Started about three months ago, the peanut allergy project aims to develop peanuts with protein structures modified to prevent allergic reactions. Like the botanical project, this project has important health implications. Peanut allergy is one of the most severe types of food allergy known and can be fatal. Using the plant genetics knowledge of the Rutgers scientists, the peanut protein structures are slightly modified at key locations responsible for their stability during digestion. Future TIM studies should demonstrate the increased digestibility of these modified proteins and reduced stimulation of the allergic reaction.”

Other projects within the partnership—still in expectation of a grant—are focused on the precise role of gastrointestinal enzymes in fat digestion, and on microbial toxins and food-borne pathogens in the food matrix during passage through the stomach and intestine.

Looking back at a successful first year, TNO and Rutgers intend to intensify their collaboration. “In addition to nutrition studies, we would like to delve into topics such as the release of drugs from specific formulations in the gut, antibiotic resistance and gastrointestinal physiology in horses,” says Havenaar.

Contact details:
Rob Havenaar
Product Manager at TNO
Email: Rob.havenaar@tno.nl
Telephone: +31 30 6944726

Link to TNO’s TIM gastrointestinal model:
Website: http://www.tno.nl/content.cfm?context=markten&content=product&laag1=195&laag2=320&item_id=1100&Taal=2

Link to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey:
Website: http://www.rutgers.edu/

NSure from Wageningen was declared the winner of the Food Valley Award 2010 at the Food Valley Conference. The company has developed an innovative technology based on gene activity measurements, which can be used to objectively establish the quality of fresh vegetable products. The technology makes it possible to predict the most optimal time for harvesting, and to assess immediately after harvesting whether or not a batch will be suitable for prolonged storage.

Apples and pears are harvested within a short period of time, after which they are stored under special conditions to be able to supply good-quality, healthy fruit all year round. The quality of the fruit after prolonged storage largely depends on its condition on storage, which is determined by cultivation circumstances and harvest time. In collaboration with parties from the fruit sector (auctions and growers) and Wageningen University and Research Centre, NSure has developed an innovative technology which makes it possible to predict the optimal time for harvesting.

In addition to predicting the most suitable harvesting time, the technology can be used to assess immediately after harvesting whether or not a batch will be suitable for prolonged storage. Batches with a high risk level can be sold immediately or stored for a short period of time. As a result, the percentage of the harvest that is destroyed (annually 5-10%) can be reduced considerably. This limits the financial risk for grower and trader, and makes fruit production more efficient and sustainable.

Monique van Wordragen receives the Food Valley Award from Jan Maat

For the consumer, this means optimum quality in terms of color, taste, and other properties of hard fruit, even after prolonged storage. "Winning this prestigious prize means recognition for what we are doing, which is extremely important to us. This will contribute to our further development. I think that what we have done represents what Food Valley is all about. The collaboration and trust of the fruit industry, including ‘De Greenery’, ‘Veiling Zuid Limburg’ (South Limburg Auction) and ‘Veiling Zaltbommel’ (Zaltbommel Auction), has been very important," explains Monique van Wordragen, General Director of NSure.

The Food Valley Award is a prize awarded by Food Valley for the most innovative initiative in the food(-related) industry. In addition to innovation, criteria for the award also included: degree of collaboration, feasibility, and corporate social responsibility. "NSure is an innovative startup company that, with its activities on various continents, sets an example for high-quality export, based on the Dutch knowledge infrastructure. It's a remarkable company which fully deserves to win the prize for innovation," says Jan Maat, Chair of the Award committee.

Contact details:
For information on the Food Valley Award
Email: saskia.vanerkelens@foodvalley.nl

For Information about NSure
Monique F. van Wordragen, PhD
Email: monique.vanwordragen@nsure.nl
Telephone: +31 6 229 329 50
Website: http://www.nsure.eu

In a €6 million European Union consortium, NIZO will engineer, develop, and produce foods to test which product properties affect overeating. By linking these properties to biological, cultural, sociological, and psychological factors, the consortium looks for reasons why people eat too much. Based on the findings, new foods can be engineered that will help to combat overeating.

NeuroFAST is a multidisciplinary EU project involving 13 teams from seven countries. Its mission is to explore the neurobiology of addiction, and eating behavior and the complex socio-psychological forces that lead to its dysregulation. This €6 million project started April 1, 2010, and runs until 2015.

The unique role of NIZO food research in the NeuroFAST consortium is to design, produce, and test food components/combinations that are rewarding. To analyze key properties supporting the reward value of food, NIZO will evaluate specifically designed model foods. By selectively modifying, substituting, removing, or microencapsulating their components, NIZO will be able to test the reward value of sensory properties, metabolic effects, physico-chemical structure, and nutrient composition. The 12 other groups in the consortium, led by the University of Gothenburg, Germany, will be studying the processes connected with the addiction system in the brain and looking for reasons why people abuse food or eat due to anxiety and stress.

“NIZO is part of this large consortium because of our expertise in weight management and experience in making foods with special properties,” says Rianne Ruijschop, product manager Satiety Solutions at NIZO. “We have a wide range of tools available that build on taste-texture interactions and can apply this to develop foods with specific properties. In our food-grade Processing Centre, we make the test products that the other partners in the consortium will use for their studies. Based on the outcomes of the studies, NIZO will be able to work, together with industry, on new foods and food concepts that help people to control their energy intake.”

Companies that are interested in participating and seeing how their ingredients or foods would perform in these studies are welcome to contact Ruijschop.

Contact details:
Rianne Ruijschop
Email: Rianne.Ruijschop@nizo.nl
Telephone: +31 318 659 645

The “Green Dairy Team” is an international group of dairy companies that aims to achieve breakthrough technology in sustainable dairy production.

The first project that has resulted from this collaboration is the ultrasound consortium that includes FrieslandCampina, CONO kaasmakers, Bel Leerdammer, Fonterra, Tetra Pak, DOC, CZ Rouveen, and NIZO food research as coordinator.

At the beginning of 2010, the ultrasound project started targeting

Copyright NIZO food research

the development of self-cleaning heating equipment. In this project, ultrasound technology will be applied for in-line prevention of protein and biofouling in food processing.

The goal is to end up with an add-on device that will reduce the fouling rate by at least 50% and double the run time of existing heating equipment by 2013.

The start of more Green Dairy Team projects, focusing on low-energy concentration and drying, is foreseen for the second half of 2010.

Contact details:
Natalie Hotrum
Email: Natalie.Hotrum@nizo.nl