F&HN Brief – September 2005

• Events
• Membership News
• Cluster Updates
• Recent News

• Premier Foods who have joined the Food Structure & Nutrition Cluster
• Hallmark Analytical Ventures who have joined the Allergy Cluster

• £600 for large businesses (>250 employees)
• £400 for medium businesses (50-250 employees)
• £200 for small businesses (<50 employees)
• In addition a Meeting Attendance Fee of £50 (+VAT)/delegate is payable for each Cluster meeting attended
• Complimentary Membership will continue for organisations sponsoring research at IFR in excess of £10K (in cash or in kind) in the current financial year.

The above fees will provide 10 delegates from each member organisation with the electronic newsletter (F&HN Brief) and access to the F&HN Members' web site, where the minutes of all meetings are posted, together with business/research intelligence.

The fee for membership of Clusters will be replaced by a Meeting Attendance Fee of £50 (+VAT)/delegate. All members will be eligible to attend any cluster event. We believe this better reflects the needs of the members who are increasingly looking to attend specific meetings rather than all meetings of one specific Cluster.

Non F&HN Members may attend Cluster Meetings, this cost will continue to be £250 (+VAT).

Cluster Updates

Recent changes to Cluster Structure

The Clusters will remain as the focal point of Network activity, and continue to evolve according to members' needs/interests and relevant IFR expertise. As such, we are pleased to announce the following developments:

• The Waste Upgrade Cluster will be replaced by the Co-Product Exploitation Cluster, and we anticipate a considerable increase in activity in this area as the EU Landfill Directive and UK Landfill Tax come into force.
• The Barriers Cluster has moved from events to research projects, with submissions to BBSRC Responsive Mode and Defra LINK.
• After leading the Predicitive Microbiology and Risk Analysis (PRIMA) Cluster for several years, Tim Brocklehurst is passing the reins to József Baranyi. Tim will continue to be an active member of the Cluster, but will concentrate on F&HN Direct.
• Food and Nutrition will be replaced by Food Structure & Nutrition. This Cluster will be led by Pete Wilde, with Richard Faulks continuing to have significant input. The Cluster will focus on the role of food formulation and processing in improving nutritional benefit without compromising palatability, stability and safety.
• The Allergy Cluster is well-attended and will continue to work to support members in understanding and complying with the Food Labelling Directive.
• We are reviewing the remit of the Quality Throughout Shelf-Life Cluster and will present our proposals for discussion with the membership at the Knowledge Sharing Day on 8 November.
• Sponsored by EEDA, the Pathway to Personalised Nutrition Cluster is structured somewhat differencely to the other Clusters. The events programme is being finalised, and it is likely that the first meeting will be an academic workshop in the Autumn, with a food industry scoping exercise early next year.
• F&HN Direct was introduced last year to facilitate closer relationships between individual member companies and IFR. A small team of IFR specialists visit a member company for frank discussions of areas of industrial need and potential overlap with IFR expertise. A visit report subsequently prepared by IFR highlights potential areas for collaborative or contracted research. Non-IFR sources of expertise will be highlighted where relevant. This report then forms the basis for more detailed discussions, if appropriate. The entire process is covered by a Confidentiality Agreement.

Recent News

FSA Consultation on "Vegetarian" & "Vegan"

The Food Standards Agency is seeking comments on its draft guidance on the use of the terms ‘vegetarian’ and ‘vegan’ in food labelling. The aim of the draft guidance is to improve clarity and consumer confidence in this area. More details