Articles published by: AINIA

AINIA / 15 November 2024

Oils, pigments, and antioxidants obtained from food by-products

In the Southern European countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, France), olive and grape cultivation and processing are some of the main agri-food businesses. However, the industrial processes of these products generate millions of tons of waste that are either discarded or have limited applications (e.g., fertilizers or animal feed). Nevertheless, these by-products, far from being useless…

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AINIA / 09 May 2024

Food Safety and Technologies: Where Innovation in Prevention and Control is Heading

Food safety management today requires working on three parallel levels: Control, prevention, and anticipation. In this triple approach, current prevention, hygiene, and inspection systems are evolving. This is not possible without innovation and without addressing new solutions to common and emerging issues through R&D. Food Safety and Physicochemical Risks: The Challenge of Residues and Contaminants…

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AINIA / 07 May 2024

Foodborne illnesses: the 10 most common ones

Food poisoning is caused by consuming food contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms or their toxins. Typically, food poisoning is not detectable by appearance (appearance, smell, and taste) but often results in gastrointestinal disorders, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, sometimes accompanied by fever, and in certain cases can lead to serious illnesses. Below, we…

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AINIA / 07 May 2024

Probiotics and prebiotics, what are they and what are they for?

Lactobacillus acidophilus, casei, reuteri, Streptococcus intermedius… These are terms that may seem unfamiliar to many and yet are present in some of the products we consume. Specifically, we consume them a little over 8 times a month, but what are they and what are they for? They are bacteria, “good” bacteria that act against the…

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AINIA / 29 April 2024

How to ensure the microbiological safety of cosmetics? The Challenge Test is the answer

The European Cosmetics Directive (76/768/EEC) requires that new cosmetic products launched on the market be previously evaluated using scientific methods recognized by regulators. From a microbiological standpoint, Challenge Test studies allow determining whether certain pathogenic or spoilage microorganisms develop. Microbiological stability studies, Challenge Test The ISO 11930:2012 standard sets the guidelines for conducting Challenge Test…

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AINIA / 26 April 2024

Seaweed in Food: How to Validate Its Health Benefits?

Numerous studies point to the beneficial properties of seaweed in nutrition as an excellent nutritional supplement. In fact, seaweed-containing food products are already on the market, primarily in Asia. In this regard, in the Western market, the trend towards the use of seaweed to develop functional and healthy food products is a growing trend. Recently,…

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AINIA / 23 April 2024

First biotube for cosmetic creams made from maize starch, beetroot, and sugars

Germaine de Capuccini, Petroplast, Ferro, ainia centro tecnológico, and AIMPLAS have succeeded in manufacturing the first prototype of a biodegradable packaging for cosmetics. The challenge of the new packaging lies in replacing the plastics traditionally used in cosmetic product tubes with plastics of natural and biodegradable origin, something complex considering the long lifespan, close to…

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AINIA / 25 July 2016

SmallBIOGAS, a new online tool for evaluating the viability of biogas plants

AINIA Technology Centre, together with other European Institutions, has created SmallBIOGAS, an application for evaluating, on Internet, the technical, economic and environmental viability of the installation of a small-scale biogas plant. This tool is one of the results of the European project Biogas3 and allows companies to identify their energy needs and the difficulties that…

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