Dr BaiJia Tang (l) is working with AAK's customer innovation manager Brian Heywood and director John McAughtrie.
A British university has started working with a manufacturer of edible oils and fats to try to devise a way of lowering the fat content in its ingredients without the need for large amounts of food additives.
The collaboration between the University of Hull and AAK UK forms part of the government-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership, which brings together universities and businesses to share scientific and technical expertise – and the companies also commit to enhancing the specialist skills of a recent graduate.
University of Hull materials science graduate Dr BaiJia Tang will gain significant professional experience from working with AAK UK on the initiative, the university said.
The company’s customer innovation director, John McAughtrie, explained: “We’re interested in this area because there is a large demand driven by government health programmes to reduce the fat content of products. At the same time, there is a large consumer demand for products to contain fewer additives.
“However, it’s very difficult to achieve both. When you reduce fats, you usually need additives to stabilise the emulsions. So the challenge is to reduce fat content without additives and that requires a much greater understanding of emulsion stability.”
Prof Stephen Kelly, dean of the faculty of science and engineering at the University of Hull, added: “This particular project uses colloid science and nanotechnology. If you make butter or baking fat for a cake, the texture and taste are determined by its properties on a ‘nano’ scale. So we’re applying our specific expertise in that field in a commercial environment.”
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