A group of Purdue University scientists have taken inspiration from the kitchen and the ocean to create strong glues. The team’s work is published in the Oct. 8 edition of Advanced Sustainable Systems.

Almost all the glues used in electronics and other consumer products are petroleum-derived, permanent and often toxic, said Gudrun Schmidt, an associate professor of practice in Purdue’s College of Science. The Purdue team chose compounds in foods, like nuts, fruits and plants, all of which might have similar chemistry to the adhesives seen in shellfish that stick to rocks.

“Adhesives are used in almost every consumer product that we touch each day,” said Schmidt, who helped lead the research team. “We would love to leave this planet a better place for the future generations. It turns out creating new adhesives is one way that we will get there.”

The team included Jonathan Wilker, a Purdue professor of chemistry and materials engineering, who studies mussels and oysters to create adhesives based on how those shellfish stick to rocks.

The Purdue University team chose compounds in foods, like plants, nuts and fruits, all of which might have similar chemistry to the adhesives seen in shellfish that stick to rocks. “We have created high-performance, tunable adhesives that are nontoxic and degradable,” Schmidt said. “We found that some combinations of zein protein and tannic acid could be reacted together in order to generate high-performance adhesives that could be alternatives to carcinogenic formaldehyde used in the glues that hold lots of furniture and other household items together. It would be a big health benefit if we could switch over to bio-based or even food-based adhesives.”

Schmidt said other potential applications for the adhesives include cardboard packaging, cosmetics and construction materials like plywood.

The researchers have worked on patenting their technologies with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization. Ongoing efforts include potential development of a startup company based upon these new adhesives. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org and reference track code 2017”WILK”67873.

In the next decade our eating habits will undergo profound change. The development of plant-based foods, gene editing, and food personalization will disrupt the whole food value chain. In its first Q-Series report, UBS analyzes the fast-growing plant-based meat (“PBM”) industry and forecast its impact on the $1.2 trillion animal meat market and value chain.

To frame the implications and size the market opportunity, UBS uses its Evidence Lab survey of 3,000+ consumers and 50 restaurant franchisees, reviews of 20+ million social media interactions, and interviews with 20+ protein scientists/supply chain experts. From that, it forecasts the global PBM market to reach about $50 billion by 2025, or 2.5% penetration of total meat consumption volume (about 4% on a USD value basis), from sub-1% today.

UBS Evidence Lab survey data show consumer PBM use is low in developed markets, but rising fast, with consumer burger trialling at just 8% in the US and mid-20% in the UK and Germany. Survey data show 73% of interested buyers rank "taste curiosity" as their top reason to try PBM, whereas loyalists cite health perceptions and environmental concerns. To convert non-PBM users, respondents suggest food producers improve taste and affordability to drive adoption. In the restaurant franchisee survey, we learn PBM is attracting incremental traffic, boosting sales and yielding a high 20% QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) repeat purchase.

UBS introduced an interactive model to forecast global plant-based meat demand. Based on primary data sources and collaboration with UBS analysts across four geographical regions, its base case models global PBM volume consumption to grow at a +31% CAGR through 2025 vs. an animal-meat CAGR of 0.9%. The speed at which consumers trial and repeat or exit the PBM category carries implications for food producers, chemical and ag processors, restaurants, and grocers. We view Food & Restaurants as having the best exposure, while upstream industries are mixed. In food, PBM brings a growing profit pool to pure-plays and food producers. In restaurants, PBM is boosting traffic and sales comparisons. 

For access to the full report, visit UBS.

 

In its latest update on the continuing investigation of E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to romaine, FDA reiterated that epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback evidence indicates that romaine lettuce from the Salinas, Calif., growing region is a likely source of this outbreak. However, the update stated that FDA does not currently have enough traceback information to identify the specific source of the contamination that would allow us to request a targeted recall from specific growers.

Because of this, FDA is continuing to recommend that consumers not eat romaine lettuce harvested from Salinas or any products identified in the November 21 USDA recall announcement; restaurants and retailers not serve or sell romaine harvested from Salinas or that for which the source is not known; suppliers, distributors and others in the supply chain not ship or sell romaine harvested in Salinas or from an unknown source. The Salinas region is defined as including the California counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey.

FDA also requested that industry voluntarily withdraw romaine grown in Salinas from the market and withhold distribution of Salinas romaine for the remainder of the growing season in Salinas. “Without more specific traceback information, this was the most efficient way to ensure that contaminated romaine was off the market,” the update said.

According to CDC, there have been 102 cases reported in 23 states. The latest date that one of these patients reports becoming ill was on November 18, 2019. Due to

At this time, romaine lettuce that was harvested outside of the Salinas region has not been implicated, nor has hydroponically and greenhouse-grown romaine, which is voluntarily labeled as “indoor grown,” from any region. There is no recommendation for consumers to avoid using romaine harvested from these other sources.

The FDA and state partners are continuing to conduct a traceback investigation to determine whether a common supplier or source of contamination can be identified. This investigation involves collecting and analyzing potentially hundreds of distribution records to trace the romaine that may have been available at points of exposure reported by ill people to their source.

Read the full update at FDA.gov.

An unpublished provision of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was addressed in early November with FDA’s publication of the proposed rule, Laboratory Accreditation for Analyses of Foods, which details the use of laboratory oversight for food testing.

“The proposed rule takes important strides to ensure that laboratories demonstrate their competency in testing food,” said Food Laboratory Alliance Director Robin Stombler. “Demonstrating appropriate validation methods, passing proficiency testing, and complying with the international standard ISO 17025:2017 are essential elements with which all food testing laboratories should adapt.”

Laboratories would be required to conduct proficiency testing at least once per year which LGC PT Operations for North America Director Heather Jordan said “will help improve the functioning of the laboratory and ensure the delivery of accurate results.”

There also is some industry concern over the proposed rule’s new Food Testing Order provision (proposed § 1.1108) and how and when it would be applied. The provision provides that FDA “may require an owner or consignee of an article of food to conduct food testing, or to have food testing conducted on their behalf, under this program, to address an identified or suspected food safety problem related to the article of food” and “would thereby constitute notice of an opportunity for a regulatory hearing under 21 CFR part 16.” 

Electronic or written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted through March 3, 2020. For more information, see the rule’s instructions, which follow the Summary, in the Federal Register.