Innova y Crea by Ángel Yagüe Fernández

Transformación del músculo en carne by Ángel Yagüe

2016-03-02T13:01:00.000+01:00

http://avicultura.info/transformacion-del-musculo-en-carne-calidad-de-la-carne/

Imitation products: where to draw the line?

2015-12-01T11:16:00.001+01:00

Imitation products: where to draw the line?

Pycnogenol shown to benefit cognitive function

2015-12-01T10:52:00.001+01:00

Pycnogenol shown to benefit cognitive function

Innova y Crea Formación

2015-11-30T21:56:00.001+01:00

Carcinogenicidad del consumo de carne roja y de carne procesada.

2015-10-29T11:08:00.000+01:00

Monografías del IARC evalúan el consumo de la carne roja y de la carne procesada Lyon, Francia, 26 de octubre de 2015 – La Agencia Internacional de Investigación sobre el Cáncer (IARC por su sigla en inglés), la agencia sobre cáncer de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), ha evaluado la carcinogenicidad del consumo de carne roja y de carne procesada.

Carne roja
  Después de una revisión exhaustiva de la literatura científica acumulada, un Grupo de Trabajo de 22 expertos de 10 países, convocados por el Programa de Monografías de la IARC, clasificó el consumo de carne roja como probablemente carcinógeno para los humanos (Grupo 2A), basado en evidencia limitada de que el consumo de carne roja causa cáncer en los humanos y fuerte evidencia mecanicista apoyando un efecto carcinógeno.

Esta asociación se observó principalmente con el cáncer colorrectal, pero también se han visto asociaciones con el cáncer de páncreas y el cáncer de próstata.
  Carne procesada
  La carne procesada se clasificó como carcinógena para los humanos (Grupo1), basada en evidencia suficiente en humanos de que el consumo de carne procesada causa cáncer colorrectal.

Consumo de la carne y sus efectos
  El consumo de la carne varía mucho entre los países, desde un pequeño porcentaje hasta un 100% de las personas que comen carne roja, dependiendo del país, y proporciones algo más bajas en el consumo de carnes procesadas.

Los expertos concluyeron que cada porción de 50 gramos de carne procesada consumida diariamente aumenta el riesgo de cáncer colorrectal en un 18%.

"Para un individuo, el riesgo de desarrollar cáncer colorrectal por su consumo de carne procesada sigue siendo pequeño, pero este riesgo aumenta con la cantidad de carne consumida", dijo el doctor Kurt Straif, Jefe del Programa de Monografías de la IARC. "En vista del gran número de personas que consumen carne procesada, el impacto global sobre la incidencia del cáncer es de importancia para la salud pública", añadió.
  El Grupo de Trabajo de la IARC consideró más de 800 estudios que investigaron asociaciones para más de una docena de tipos de cáncer con el consumo de carne roja y de carne procesada en muchos países y poblaciones con dietas diversas. La evidencia más influyente provino de grandes estudios de cohorte prospectivos realizados en los últimos 20 años.Monografías del IARC evalúan el consumo de la carne roja y de la carne procesada IARC, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372 Lyon CEDEX 08, France - Tel: +33 (0)4 72 73 84 85 - Fax: +33 (0)4 72 73 85 75 © IARC 2015 - Todos los derechos reservados.

Salud Pública
  "Estos hallazgos apoyan aún más las actuales recomendaciones de salud pública acerca de limitar el consumo de carne", dijo el doctor Christopher Wild, director de la IARC. "Al mismo tiempo, la carne roja tiene un valor nutricional. Por lo tanto, estos resultados son importantes para permitir a los gobiernos y a las agencias reguladoras internacionales realizar evaluaciones de riesgo, a fin de balancear los riesgos y beneficios de consumir carne roja y carne procesada, y poder brindar las mejores recomendaciones dietéticas posibles", indicó.
Nota para el editor:
Carne roja se refiere a todos los tipos de carne muscular de mamíferos, tales como la carne de res, ternera, cerdo, cordero, caballo o cabra.

Carne procesada se refiere a la carne que se ha transformado a través de la salazón, el curado, la fermentación, el ahumado u otros procesos para mejorar su sabor o su conservación. La mayoría de las carnes procesadas contienen carne de cerdo o de res, pero también pueden contener otras carnes rojas, aves, menudencias o subproductos cárnicos tales como la sangre.

Ejemplos de carnes procesadas incluyen frankfurters (perros calientes/hot dogs/salchichas), jamón, salchichas, carne en conserva (corned beef), y cecina o carne seca, así como carne en lata, y las preparaciones y salsas a base de carne.
Un resumen de las evaluaciones finales está disponible online en The Lancet Oncology, y las evaluaciones en detalles se publicarán como Volumen 114 de las Monografías de la IARC.

Lea las Preguntas y Respuestas sobre las Monografías de la IARC (disponible en inglés o en francés):
http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/Monographs-Q&A.pdf

http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/News/Q&A_FR.pdf
Lea las Preguntas y Respuestas sobre las Monografías de la IARC en la carcinogenicidad del consumo de carne roja y carne procesada
http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/Monographs-Q&A_Vol114_S.pdf
Para más información, contactar a:
  Véronique Terrasse, Grupo de Comunicaciones, en el teléfono +33 (0)4 72 73 83 66 o en el correo electrónico terrassev@iarc.fr, o al Dr. Nicolas Gaudin, Comunicaciones de la IARC, en com@iarc.fr

La Agencia Internacional de Investigación sobre el Cáncer (IARC por su sigla en inglés) es parte de la Organización Mundial de la Salud. Su misión es coordinar y realizar investigaciones sobre las causas del cáncer en humanos, los mecanismos de la carcinogénesis, y desarrollar estrategias científicas para el control del cáncer. La Agencia está involucrada en la investigación epidemiológica y la investigación de laboratorio, y en la diseminación de información científica a través de publicaciones, reuniones, cursos y becas. Si desea que su nombre sea removido de nuestra lista de correo electrónico de comunicados de prensa, por favor escriba a com@iarc.fr.

¿Qué productos de alimentación buscan los “50 plus”?

2015-09-25T10:07:00.002+02:00

Según el Instituto de Política Familiar (IPF) en su informe con fecha septiembre de 2015, uno de cada cinco españoles es mayor de 65 años o lo que es igual, un 18,5% de la población pertenece a esta franja de edad. Según el informe Challenges and Opportunities in Targeting the Senior Consumer de Euromonitor Internacional, en todo el mundo la población de personas con una edad superior a 60 años alcanzó los 912 millones en 2014 y la tendencia es que este sector de la población aumente, ya que la esperanza de vida continúa creciendo a razón de 1,3 años cada 5 años en nuestro país. El resultado es un conjunto poblacional con poder adquisitivo y unas necesidades alimentarias y nutricionales específicas a los que la industria alimentaria tiene que dar respuesta.

¿Qué tendencias de consumo caracterizan a los 50 plus?

En nuestro país el mantenimiento del estado físico y mental es la principal preocupación para el 80% de los españoles después de la jubilación, según datos de Nielsen. La preocupación por la salud adquiere más relevancia a medida que va pasando el tiempo.

1. Salud
Según Lu Ann Williams, Jefe de Investigación de Innova Market Insights, muchas de las personas que pertenecen a la generación de los 50 plus, los también llamados Baby Boomers en (EEUU), tienen al menos una enfermedad crónica y entra ellas destacan las artritis (50%), la hipertensión (34%) y la enfermedades cardíacas (32%).

Por otro lado, el informe Leatherhead Food Research destaca el efecto de la osteoporosis en la salud mundial de las mujeres con más de 50 años.

Con este planteamiento no es de extrañar que sean los alimentos funcionales los que encabezan las preferencias de los Baby Boomers y de estos, los más solicitados son los productos de naturaleza láctea. Los más mayores buscan productos con calcio que potencien su resistencia ósea o alimentos enriquecidos con riboflavina que mantiene la función nerviosa y por tanto reduce el riesgo de padecer demencia. También los Baby Boomers buscan productos cardio-saludables con contenidos reducidos de sal y grasas y/o ricos en Omega3 DHA. Al menos esto es lo que refleja el estudio Canadean.

No debemos olvidarnos de los productos alimenticios considerados anti-edad; los Baby Boomers gustan de consumir productos frescos y aumentan el consumo de pescado, fibra y buscan frutas y jugos de frutas que aporten antioxidantes y vitaminas en su dieta o incluyen el consumo de té en sus rutinas de alimentación por sus propiedades antiaging. Al tiempo, rechazan cada vez más los productos procesados.

2. Productos premium

En los países desarrollados encontramos que los "50 plus" tienen un nivel de ingresos superior al de otros públicos. A ello se une la falta de cargas familiares e hipotecarias. Esto implica que puedan permitirse una tendencia de consumo enfocada a los productos gourmet y los vinos y caldos de alta calidad.

Un detalle, los Baby Boomers están dispuestos a pagar más por alimentos premium, saludables y de características especiales. Siempre y cuando confíen en sus propiedades.

3. Fieles a los canales tradicionales

Según Nielsen, alrededor del 37% de los encuestados a nivel mundial de entre los mayores de 50 años ya realizan algún tipo de compra de alimento online, pero la mayoría sigue prefiriendo los canales tradicionales y las compras en el supermercado. Sin embargo.

Aún queda mucho por hacer para satisfacer a los 50 Plus.

Contrariamente a lo que podríamos pensar, este grupo generacional no se siente representado ni atendido por los fabricantes. Al menos eso apunta la consultora Nielsen que de acuerdo con su Encuesta Global sobre el envejecimiento, el 51% de los encuestados dentro de la franja de los "50 plus" no piensan que la publicidad de los productos los tenga en cuenta, ni que el etiquetado de los productos se adapte a sus necesidades.

Si nos concentramos en los datos de Nielsen para nuestro país, el 55% de los españoles mayores de 65 años considera que es complicado aún hallar en lineal productos con etiquetas fáciles de leer para las personas mayores; el 53% advierte de la dificultad que encuentran en localizar productos alimenticios con información clara en los envases enfocada a un consumidor senior o con cantidades más pequeñas adaptadas a sus necesidades de consumo

12 Tendencias que Lideran las Food Startups

2015-09-21T10:15:00.000+02:00

Descarga el archivo

Consumption of spicy foods and total and cause specific mortality: population based cohort study

2015-09-16T13:02:00.002+02:00

Abstract

Objective To examine the associations between the regular consumption of spicy foods and total and cause specific mortality.

Design Population based prospective cohort study.

Setting China Kadoorie Biobank in which participants from 10 geographically diverse areas across China were enrolled between 2004 and 2008.

Participants 199 293 men and 288 082 women aged 30 to 79 years at baseline after excluding participants with cancer, heart disease, and stroke at baseline.

Main exposure measures Consumption frequency of spicy foods, self reported once at baseline.

Main outcome measures Total and cause specific mortality.

Results During 3 500 004 person years of follow-up between 2004 and 2013 (median 7.2 years), a total of 11 820 men and 8404 women died. Absolute mortality rates according to spicy food consumption categories were 6.1, 4.4, 4.3, and 5.8 deaths per 1000 person years for participants who ate spicy foods less than once a week, 1 or 2, 3 to 5, and 6 or 7 days a week, respectively. Spicy food consumption showed highly consistent inverse associations with total mortality among both men and women after adjustment for other known or potential risk factors. In the whole cohort, compared with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week, the adjusted hazard ratios for death were 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.84 to 0.96), 0.86 (0.80 to 0.92), and 0.86 (0.82 to 0.90) for those who ate spicy food 1 or 2, 3 to 5, and 6 or 7 days a week, respectively. Compared with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week, those who consumed spicy foods 6 or 7 days a week showed a 14% relative risk reduction in total mortality. The inverse association between spicy food consumption and total mortality was stronger in those who did not consume alcohol than those who did (P=0.033 for interaction). Inverse associations were also observed for deaths due to cancer, ischemic heart diseases, and respiratory diseases.

Conclusion In this large prospective study, the habitual consumption of spicy foods was inversely associated with total and certain cause specific mortality, independent of other risk factors of death.

Jun Lv, associate professor1,
Lu Qi, associate professor2 3,
Canqing Yu, assistant professor1,
Ling Yang, senior epidemiologist4,
Yu Guo, director, CKB national coordinating center5,
Yiping Chen, senior research fellow4,
Zheng Bian, senior coordinator, CKB national coordinating center5,
Dianjianyi Sun, PhD candidate1,
Jianwei Du, director6,
Pengfei Ge, vice director7,
Zhenzhu Tang, director8,
Wei Hou, chief9,
Yanjie Li, investigator10,
Junshi Chen, professor11,
Zhengming Chen, professor4,
Liming Li, professor1 5
on behalf of the China Kadoorie Biobank collaborative group

Author affiliations

Correspondence to: L Li lmlee@vip.163.com

Accepted 8 July 2015

Introduction

Spices have been an integral part of culinary cultures around the world and have a long history of use for flavoring, coloring, and preserving food, as well as for medicinal purposes. The increased use of spices as flavorings in foods is a major trend worldwide. In China, chilli pepper is among the most popular spicy foods consumed nationwide.

The beneficial effects of spices and their bioactive ingredients such as capsaicin have long been documented in experimental or small sized population studies. For example, an ecological study showed that populations with a higher consumption of spices have a lower incidence of cancer. The ingestion of red pepper was found to decrease appetite and energy intake in people of Asian origin and white people and might reduce the risk of overweight and obesity. In addition, the bioactive agents in spices have also shown beneficial roles in obesity, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal conditions, various cancers, neurogenic bladder, and dermatological conditions. Moreover, spices exhibit antibacterial activity and affect gut microbiota populations, which in humans have been recently related to risks of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver cirrhosis, and cancer. These data collectively suggest that spices may have a profound influence on morbidities and mortality in humans; however, the evidence relating daily consumption of spicy foods and total and disease specific mortality from population studies is lacking.

We prospectively examined the associations of the regular consumption of spicy foods in a daily diet with total and cause specific mortality in the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) study of 0.5 million adults.

Methods

Study population

The China Kadoorie Biobank is a prospective cohort study of over 0.5 million adults from 10 geographically diverse areas across China; participants were enrolled between 2004 and 2008 and have been followed up ever since for morbidities and mortality. Further details of the China Kadoorie Biobank study have been described elsewhere. Briefly, a total of 512 891 adults aged 30-79 years had valid baseline data—that is, completed questionnaire, physical measurements, and a written informed consent form.

In the present study we excluded 2577 people with cancer, 15 472 with heart disease, and 8884 with stroke at baseline, as well as three people with a recorded implausible censoring date for loss to follow-up. The final analyses included 199 293 men and 288 082 women. All participants provided information on spicy food consumption. All gave informed consent before taking part.

Patient involvement

There was no patient involvement in this study.

Assessment of spicy food consumption

In the baseline questionnaire we asked the participants “During the past month, about how often did you eat hot spicy foods?”: never or almost never, only occasionally, 1 or 2 days a week, 3 to 5 days a week, or 6 or 7 days a week. The participants who selected the last three categories were further asked “When you eat spicy foods, what are the main sources of spices usually used?” (multiple choices allowed fresh chilli pepper, dried chilli pepper, chilli sauce, chilli oil, and other or don’t know).

After completion of the baseline survey in July 2008, about 5% randomly chosen surviving participants in 10 survey sites were resurveyed during August and October of 2008. To test the reproducibility of the frequency of spicy food consumption, we included 1300 participants who completed the same questionnaire twice at an interval of less than 1.5 years (median 1.4 years). Spearman’s coefficient for the correlation between the two questionnaires was 0.71, indicating that spicy food consumption was reported consistently.

Assessment of covariates

We obtained covariates from the baseline questionnaire, including sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, education, occupation, household income, and marital status), lifestyle behaviors (alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, physical activity, and intakes of red meat, fresh fruits, and vegetables), personal health and medical history (hypertension, diabetes, chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis, peptic ulcer, gallstones or cholecystitis, and menopausal status for women only), and information on family members, including biological parents and siblings who had had cancer, heart attack, stroke, or diabetes. The daily level of physical activity was calculated by multiplying the metabolic equivalent tasks (METs) value for a particular type of physical activity by hours spent on that activity per day and summing the MET hours for all activities. Habitual dietary intake in the past year was assessed by a qualitative food frequency questionnaire. A participant was considered as having a family history of a particular disease if they reported at least one first degree relative with the disease.

At baseline, trained staff measured body weight, height, and blood pressure using calibrated instruments. Body mass index was calculated as weight (kg)/(height (m)². A stepwise on-site testing of plasma glucose level was undertaken using the SureStep Plus meter (LifeScan; Milpitas, CA). Prevalent hypertension was defined as a measured systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or more, a measured diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or more, self reported diagnosis of hypertension, or self reported use of antihypertensive drugs at baseline. Prevalent diabetes was defined as a measured fasting blood glucose concentration of 7.0 mmol/L or more, a measured random blood glucose concentration of 11.1 mmol/L or more, or self reported diagnosis of diabetes.

Ascertainment of deaths

We ascertained vital status by means of linkage with local disease surveillance points system death registries and residential records. To minimize the under-reporting of deaths and to identify participants who had moved permanently out of the study areas, we also carried out separate active follow-up annually by reviewing residential records, visiting local communities, or directly contacting participants. The causes of death were sought chiefly from official death certificates that were supplemented, if necessary, by a review of the medical records or undertaking a verbal autopsy using a validated instrument for those with an ill defined or unknown cause of death reported. The electronic linkage to the national health insurance claim databases started in 2011, which has become an important means of follow-up and helped to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and phenotyping of reported conditions, outcome adjudication, and further data collection. Linkage to local health insurance databases has been achieved for about 95% of the participants in 2013. Participants from both urban and rural areas had similar proportions of successful linkage to health insurance databases. Linkage to local health insurance database was renewed annually. Participants who failed to be linked to local health insurance database were actively followed annually by staff to ascertain their status, including hospital admission, death, and moving out of the study area. Linkage to a local health insurance database has become an important supplementary way of ascertaining deaths.

Trained staff blinded to baseline information classified any deaths occurring among participants by using ICD-10 codes (international classification of diseases, 10th revision). The deaths were grouped into seven categories: cancer (C00-C97), ischemic heart diseases (I20-I25), cerebrovascular diseases (I60-I69), diabetes mellitus (E10-E14), diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), infections (A00-B99), and all other causes. Losses to follow-up in this study refer to participants whose permanent registered residence was no longer in the study area, who could not be contacted after at least three reasonable efforts within one year, or who could be contacted but their new residence was out of the jurisdiction of the regional coordinating center.

Statistical analysis

We measured person years from baseline (2004–08) until the date of death, loss to follow-up, or 31 December 2013, whichever occurred first. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals of mortality for spicy food consumption, with age as the underlying time scale. We accounted for the group specific effect of 10 survey sites on the hazard function by stratifying on the survey site variable in the Cox model.

Multivariate models were adjusted for established and potential risk factors for death: age (continuous, serving as the underlying timescale); sex (male or female); level of education (no formal school, primary school, middle school, high school, college, or university or higher); marital status (married, widowed, divorced or separated, or never married); alcohol consumption (non-drinker, occasional drinker, former drinker, or regular drinker); smoking status (never smoker, occasional smoker, former smoker, or regular smoker); physical activity in MET hours a day (continuous); body mass index (continuous); intake frequencies of red meat, fresh fruits, and vegetables (daily, 4-6 days/wk, 1-3 days/wk, monthly, or rarely or never); prevalent hypertension and diabetes at baseline (presence or absence); menopausal status (for women only, premenopausal, perimenopausal, or postmenopausal); and status of family history of cancer, heart attack, stroke, or diabetes (presence or absence). We adjusted for the family history variables only in the corresponding analysis of cause specific mortality.

To examine the robustness of our findings, we also conducted several sensitivity analyses: additionally adjusting for occupation and household income; additionally adjusting for histories of chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis, peptic ulcer, and gallstone or cholecystitis; adjusting for a 13 level detailed smoking variable, which incorporated the information on amount of smoking in regular smokers and the time since quitting in former smokers, instead of a four level smoking variable; excluding participants dying during the first two years of follow-up; excluding participants who had diabetes at baseline; excluding participants who reported exclusive use of other spices instead of any types of chilli; stratifying analyses by rural or urban residence; and stratifying analyses by follow-up duration (<3 or ≥3 years).

Subgroup analyses were conducted separately among participants who did and did not report fresh chilli pepper as one of their commonly used spices. We compared both with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week. We also examined the associations of spicy food consumption with total mortality among prespecified baseline subgroups based on age (<50, 50 to 59, or ≥60), smoking status (regular smoker, or not), alcohol consumption (regular drinker, or not), level of physical activity (categorized using tertile cut-offs), and body mass index (<24.0, 24.0 to 27.9, or ≥28.0). The tests for interaction were performed by means of likelihood ratio tests, which involved comparing models with and without cross product terms between the baseline stratifying variable and spicy food consumption as an ordinal variable.

The statistical analyses were performed with Stata (version 13.1, Stata). All P values were two sided, and we defined statistical significance as P<0.05.

Results

Spicy food consumption and lifestyle and dietary factors

Table 1⇓ presents the age and site adjusted baseline characteristics of the participants according to the categories of spicy food consumption. Compared with participants who consumed spicy foods less frequently (3 to 5 days a week or less), those who consumed spicy foods almost every day were more likely to be rural residents, more likely to smoke tobacco and consume alcohol, and more frequently to consume red meat, vegetables, and fruits. Fresh and dried chilli peppers were the most commonly used types of spices in those who reported consuming spicy foods weekly (table 1).

Table 1

Baseline characteristics of the study participants according to weekly spicy food consumption. Values are numbers (percentages) of participants unless stated otherwise

View this table:

Spicy food consumption and total mortality

During a median follow-up of 7.2 years (interquartile range 1.84 years; total person years 3 500 004), we documented 11 820 deaths among men and 8404 deaths among women. Absolute mortality rates according to spicy food consumption categories were 6.1, 4.4, 4.3, and 5.8 deaths per 1000 person years for participants who ate spicy foods less than once a week and 1 or 2, 3 to 5, and 6 or 7 days a week, respectively. Age adjusted and multivariate adjusted analyses showed a statistically significant inverse association between spicy food consumption and total mortality. In the whole cohort, compared with participants who ate spicy foods less than once a week, the adjusted hazard ratios for death were 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.84 to 0.96) for those who ate spicy foods 1 or 2 days a week, 0.86 (0.80 to 0.92) for 3 to 5 days a week, and 0.86 (0.82 to 0.90) for 6 or 7 days a week (table 2⇓). Compared with participants who ate spicy foods less than once a week, those who consumed spicy foods 6 or 7 days a week showed a 14% relative risk reduction in total mortality. The multivariate adjusted hazard ratios for total mortality among men, compared with men who ate spicy foods less than once a week, were 0.90 (0.83 to 0.98) for those who ate spicy food 1 or 2 days a week, 0.90 (0.83 to 0.99) for 3 to 5 days, and 0.90 (0.85 to 0.96) for 6 or 7 days a week; the respective hazard ratios among women were 0.88 (0.79 to 0.98), 0.78 (0.69 to 0.88), and 0.81 (0.75 to 0.87) (table 3⇓). There was no heterogeneity between men and women in any of the associations (P=0.723).

Table 2

Association of weekly spicy food consumption with total and cause specific mortality among 487 375 participants. Values are hazard ratios (95% CIs) unless stated otherwise

View this table:

Table 3

Association of weekly spicy food consumption with total and cause specific mortality by sex. Values are hazard ratios (95% CIs) unless stated otherwise

View this table:

Spicy food consumption and cause specific mortality

After multivariate adjustment, spicy food consumption was inversely associated with the risks of death due to cancer, ischemic heart diseases, and respiratory diseases in the whole cohort (table 2). No statistically significant heterogeneity was observed in the associations between spicy food consumption and cause specific mortality by sex (all P>0.05). Nevertheless, the associations seemed to be less evident in men than in women (table 3). In addition, more frequent consumption of spicy foods in women was also significantly associated with a reduced risk of death due to infections.

Sensitivity analyses

In the sensitivity analyses, the associations of spicy food consumption with total and cause specific mortality did not change appreciably with additional adjustment for occupation and household income; or additional adjustment for histories of chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis, peptic ulcer, and gallstone or cholecystitis; or adjustment for a 13 level detailed smoking variable instead of a four level smoking variable; or excluding participants dying during the first two years of follow-up; or excluding participants with prevalent diabetes at baseline; or excluding participants with exclusive use of other spices instead of any types of chilli (data not shown). The associations of spicy food consumption with total and cause specific mortality were consistently observed in participants from both rural and urban areas and for different follow-up durations (<3 or ≥3 years).

Subgroup analyses

We further performed stratified analyses according to whether the participants reported using fresh chilli pepper as their predominant spice. We found that the inverse associations of daily spicy food consumption with death due to cancer, ischemic heart diseases, and diabetes seemed stronger in the fresh chilli group than in the non-fresh chilli group in the whole cohort of women and men, and the results were statistically significant in the fresh chilli group (fig 1⇓ and appendix table 1).

Fig 1 Subgroup analysis of associations between consumption of spicy foods ≥6 days a week and total and cause specific mortality according to consumption of fresh chilli pepper. Hazard ratios for death from all causes and from specific causes are for comparison of men and women who ate spicy foods ≥6 days a week with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week. Appendix table 1 shows the risk estimates for other categories of spicy food consumption. Horizontal lines represent 95% confidence intervals

We also analyzed the associations between spicy food consumption and total mortality according to other potential baseline risk factors for death; the inverse associations between spicy food consumption and total mortality were generally similar across subgroups stratified according to age, smoking status, level of physical activity, and body mass index (all P values for interaction >0.05) (fig 2⇓ and appendix table 2). Significant differences across stratums were observed for alcohol consumption, with a stronger inverse association among participants who did not consume alcohol than those who did (P=0.033 for interaction).

Fig 2 Subgroup analysis of associations between consumption of spicy foods ≥6 days a week and total mortality according to potential baseline risk factors. Hazard ratios for total mortality are for comparison of men and women who ate spicy foods ≥6 days a week with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week. Risk estimates for other categories of spicy food consumption are shown in appendix table 2. Horizontal lines represent 95% confidence intervals

Discussion

In this large prospective study, we observed an inverse association between consumption of spicy foods and total mortality, after adjusting for potential confounders. Compared with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week, those who consumed spicy foods almost every day had a 14% lower risk of death. Inverse associations were also observed for deaths due to cancer, ischemic heart diseases, and respiratory diseases. The associations were consistent in men and women.

Strengths and limitations of this study

The strengths of this study include a large sample size, a prospective cohort design, and careful control for established and potential risk factors for death. This study does have a few limitations. Consumption of spicy foods may be correlated with other dietary habits and lifestyle behaviors. For example, in Chinese cuisine the cooking of chilli pepper and the production of chilli sauce and oil usually requires more oil, and intake of pungent foods may be accompanied by an increased intake of carbohydrate-rich foods such as rice to relieve the burning sensation. However, the lack of detailed dietary information in this study limited our ability to comprehensively adjust for total energy intake and other specific dietary factors. In addition, spicy food consumption may be correlated with socioeconomic status, which we partly controlled for in our analyses. Residual confounding by other unmeasured or unknown biological and social factors was still possible, although we carefully adjusted for several established and potential risk factors for death. However, residual confounding by the aforementioned or other confounding factors might have attenuated the inverse associations between spicy food consumption and mortality toward the null. Although chilli pepper was the most commonly used spice in our population, the use of other types of spices usually increases as the use of chilli pepper increases. Thus the health benefits of these spices apart from chilli pepper may also contribute to the observed inverse associations. Reverse causality is another possible explanation for our findings because people with chronic disease might abstain from spicy foods. However, we excluded participants who had cancer, heart disease, or stroke at baseline. Moreover, the results remained largely unchanged when we excluded participants dying during the first two years of follow-up from analyses or additionally adjusted for several major digestive system diseases that might deter people from consuming spicy foods.

Although we employed multiple ways to maximize death ascertainment of participants, under-reporting of deaths might have occurred. However, the proportion of participants under-reported on death status would not depend on the levels of spicy food consumption. Considering that specificity of outcome detection is nearly perfect and sensitivity is lower than 100% in both exposure groups, outcome misclassification would produce little bias in estimating hazard ratio. The consumption of spicy foods was self reported; therefore, some measurement error is inevitable. The questionnaire on spicy food consumption used in our study has not yet been validated directly; however, previous studies have shown that using similar food frequency questionnaires could produce valid estimates of food consumption in a Chinese population. In addition, in a prospective study design, measurement errors may be non-differential and the measure of association is more likely to be biased toward the null. The consumption of spicy foods reported for a short period may not necessarily reflect the long term patterns of consumption. However, repeated collections of dietary information averaged 1.4 years in our cohort and have shown that the reported intakes of dietary factors including spicy foods were highly consistent over time. In addition, information was not available on how spicy foods were prepared and cooked. Such information would have enabled us to perform further analyses on the relation between spicy food consumption and mortality more extensively.

Comparison with other studies and potential mechanism

Our study is the first to analyze the association between daily consumption of spicy foods and mortality in a prospective cohort. Our findings are in line with previous evidence showing potential protective effects of spicy foods on human health. Capsaicin is the main active component of chilli pepper. The beneﬁcial roles of capsaicin have been extensively reported in relation to anti-obesity, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antihypertensive effects, and in improving glucose homeostasis, largely in experimental or small sized population studies. Additionally, the antimicrobial function of spices, including chilli pepper, has long been recognized, and such a property may have an important effect on the gut microbiota in humans. In recent years, rapidly emerging evidence has implicated gut microbiota as a novel and important metabolic factor that affects the health of the host, and several studies in humans have related abundance, composition, and metabolites of gut microbiota to risk of obesity, diabetes, liver cirrhosis, and cardiovascular disease. However, how spicy foods and their bioactive ingredients may affect the composition and activity of gut microbiota has yet to be further investigated. In addition, our study suggested a threshold of around 1 or 2 days a week of spicy food consumption, beyond which the risk for mortality did not decrease further. Possible mechanisms might involve the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of bioactive ingredients and nutrients of spicy foods; but further studies are needed to verify our findings. Our study indicated that spicy food consumption was particularly related to the reduced risk of mortality due to cancer, ischemic heart diseases, and respiratory diseases. Several previous epidemiological studies have suggested protective effects of capsaicin consumption on stomach or gallbladder cancer, although such effects were not consistently observed. The cardiovascular system is rich in capsaicin sensitive sensory nerves, which have an extensive role in regulating cardiovascular function. The antioxidant and antiplatelet properties of capsaicin and the important role of capsaicin in regulating energy metabolism may also contribute to its beneﬁcial effects on the cardiovascular system. Less well known are the possible mechanisms underlying the potentially beneficial effect of spicy foods on respiratory diseases. However, the anti-obesity, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antihypertensive effects of spicy foods would generally protect all these specific systems. Because the number of deaths from infections was relatively small, our study might not have had enough statistical power to rule out a possible relation between spicy food consumption and infections specific mortality.

Compared with non-fresh spicy foods such as dried chilli pepper, chilli sauce, or chilli oil, fresh chilli pepper is richer in bioactive ingredients, including capsaicin, vitamin C, and other nutrients such as vitamin A, K, and B6, and potassium. In our stratified analyses we found that the inverse associations of spicy food consumption with certain cause specific deaths (cancer, ischemic heart disease, and diabetes) seemed to be stronger in those who consumed fresh chilli pepper than those who consumed non-fresh spicy foods. These data suggest that some of the bioactive ingredients are likely to be effective in driving the observed associations. Interestingly, a statistically significant inverse association between the daily consumption of spicy foods and diabetes, which was not observed in the whole cohort, was found in the subgroup that consumed fresh chilli pepper. This was consistent with previous evidence showing that dietary capsaicin may provide beneficial effects on glucose homeostasis. However, it remains unclear whether other nutrients abundant in fresh chilli pepper also have roles in lowering the risk of mortality. Intriguingly, we found that the inverse association was stronger in those who did not than did drink alcohol. Alcohol consumption has been related to an increased risk of mortality in some but not all previous studies. Even though moderate alcohol consumption has been related to a reduced risk of certain chronic diseases such as diabetes, moderately high alcohol consumption may increase energy intake and has been associated with increased mortality. In addition, alcohol intake also affects the metabolism of gut microbiota. Even though the precise mechanism remains unclear, the interaction between spicy foods and alcohol intake is biologically possible. We acknowledge that disease status might affect both alcohol and spicy food intakes, and we excluded participants with chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, or stroke at baseline from our analyses. Further investigations are warranted to validate our findings and explore the mechanisms.

Conclusion

Our analyses showed significant inverse associations between spicy food consumption and total and certain cause specific mortality (cancer, ischemic heart diseases, and respiratory diseases). None the less, given the observational nature of this study, it is not possible to make a causal inference. Further prospective studies in other populations would be essential to demonstrate generalizability of these findings. More evidence will lead to updated dietary recommendations and development of functional foods, such as herbal supplements.

What is already known on this topic

A beneficial role of spices and their major bioactive components has been reported in a variety of chronic disorders in experimental and small sized population studies
Evidence relating daily consumption of spicy foods to mortality from prospective cohort studies is lacking

What this study adds

The habitual consumption of spicy foods was inversely associated with total and certain cause specific mortality (cancer, ischemic heart diseases, and respiratory diseases), independent of other risk factors of death

Notes

Cite this as: BMJ 2015;351:h3942

Footnotes

We thank the participants, project staff, and China National Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its regional offices for access to death and disease registries. The Chinese National Health Insurance scheme provides electronic linkage to all hospital treatment.
China Kadoorie Biobank collaborative group: International steering committee: Liming Li (PI), Junshi Chen, Rory Collins, Richard Peto, Zhengming Chen (PI). Study coordinating centers: International Co-ordinating Center, Oxford: Zhengming Chen, Garry Lancaster, Xiaoming Yang, Alex Williams, Margaret Smith, Ling Yang, Yumei Chang, Iona Millwood, Yiping Chen, Sarah Lewington. National coordinating center, Beijing: Yu Guo, Jun Lv, Zheng Bian, Peng Liu, Canqing Yu, Pei Pei, Huiyan Zhou, Yunlong Tan, Can Hou, Lei Guo, Bingyang Han, Shuzhen Qu, Ge Chen. Regional coordinating centers, 10 areas in China: Qingdao CDC: Zengchang Pang, Shutao Pang, Shaojie Wang, Yongmei Liu, Ranran Du, Yajing Zang, Liang Cheng. Licang CDC: Silu Lv, Junzheng Wang, Wei Hou. Heilongjiang Provincial CDC: Jiyuan Yin, Shumei Liu, Zhigang Pang, Xue Zhou, Huijun Wang. Nangang CDC: Liqiu Yang, Bo Yu, Yanjie Li, Jing Qi, Huaiyi Mu, Qin’ai Xu, Meiling Dou. Hainan Provincial CDC: Jianwei Du, Shanqing Wang, Ximin Hu, Hongmei Wang, Jinyan Chen, Yan Fu, Zhenwang Fu, Xiaohuan Wang, Hua Dong. Meilan CDC: Min Weng, Xiangyang Zheng, Yijun Li, Huimei Li. Jiangsu Provincial CDC: Ming Wu, Jinyi Zhou, Ran Tao, Jie Yang. Suzhou CDC: Jie Shen, Yihe Hu, Yan Lu, Yan Gao, Liangcai Ma, Aiyu Tang, Shuo Zhang, Jianrong Jin. Guangxi Provincial CDC: Zhenzhu Tang, Naying Chen, Ying Huang. Liuzhou CDC: Mingqiang Li, Jinhuai Meng, Rong Pan, Qilian Jiang, Jingxin Qin, Weiyuan Zhang, Yun Liu, Liuping Wei, Liyuan Zhou, Ningyu Chen, Jun Yang, Hairong Guan. Sichuan Provincial CDC: Xianping Wu, Ningmei Zhang, Xiaofang Chen, Xuefeng Tang. Pengzhou CDC: Guojin Luo, Jianguo Li, Xiaofang Chen, Jian Wang, Jiaqiu Liu, Qiang Sun. Gansu Provincial CDC: Pengfei Ge, Xiaolan Ren, Caixia Dong. Maiji CDC: Hui Zhang, Enke Mao, Xiaoping Wang, Tao Wang. Henan Provincial CDC: Guohua Liu, Baoyu Zhu, Gang Zhou, Shixian Feng, Liang Chang, Lei Fan. Huixian CDC: Yulian Gao, Tianyou He, Li Jiang, Huarong Sun, Pan He, Chen Hu, Qiannan Lv, Xukui Zhang. Zhejiang Provincial CDC: Min Yu, Ruying Hu, Le Fang, Hao Wang. Tongxiang CDC: Yijian Qian, Chunmei Wang, Kaixu Xie, Lingli Chen, Yaxing Pan, Dongxia Pan. Hunan Provincial CDC: Yuelong Huang, Biyun Chen, Donghui Jin, Huilin Liu, Zhongxi Fu, Qiaohua Xu. Liuyang CDC: Xin Xu, Youping Xiong, Weifang Jia, Xianzhi Li, Libo Zhang, Zhe Qiu.
Contributors: JL and LQ are joint first authors. LL and ZC obtained funding. LL, ZC, and JC designed the study. YG, ZB, JD, PG, ZT, WH, YL, and ZC collected the data. LY and YC were involved in data cleaning, mortality follow-up, and verification. JL, CY, and DS analyzed the data. JL drafted the manuscript. LQ and LL contributed to the interpretation of the results and critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content and approved the final version of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript. LL and ZC are the study guarantors.
Funding: This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81390541, 81390544), National Key Technologies research and development programme in the 12th five-year plan, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (2011BAI09B01, 2012-14), Wellcome Trust in the UK (088158/Z/09/Z), and Kadoorie Charitable Foundation in Hong Kong. LQ is supported by National Institutes of Health grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL071981, HL034594, HL126024), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK091718, DK100383, DK078616), Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center (DK46200), and United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (grant 2011036). LQ was a recipient of the American Heart Association scientist development award (0730094N). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing of the report, or the decision to submit the article for publication.
Competing interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: no support from any organization for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organization that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years, no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.
Ethical approval: This study was approved by the ethical review committee of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Beijing, China) and the Oxford Tropical Research Ethics Committee, University of Oxford (UK).
Data sharing: The access policy and procedures are available at www.ckbiobank.org.
Transparency: The lead authors (LL and ZC) affirm that the manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported; that no important aspects of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies are disclosed.

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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El fenómeno de la Open Innovation

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Orígenes del concepto Open Innovation

En los últimos años, numerosas compañías han empezado a desarrollar nuevas estrategias con el objetivo de explotar los beneficios que brinda el Open Innovation (OI), frente al antiguo modelo de Innovación Cerrada o Closed Innovation.
El término acuñado y difundido en 2003 por Henry Chesbrough, profesor de la Universidad de Berkeley y Director del Center for OI, parte de la idea de que las empresas ya no son capaces de abordar por sus propios medios todo el proceso de innovación. Este modelo se basa en el uso intencionado de conocimientos externos con el objetivo de acelerar la innovación interna y poder mejorar la competitividad de la empresa.
El OI propone aprovechar el talento distribuido (fuentes externas de innovación) que existe en la sociedad. Abriendo la organización a numerosas y heterogéneas gentes (lead-users, universidades, patentes globales, los propios usuarios, PyME’s, corporaciones clásicas o fundaciones y organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro) y colaborando con ellos de igual a igual, es decir, como auténticos partners.

Elementos clave para implantar el OI

Se deben habilitar mecanismos y canales para que todos los trabajadores puedan participar en la innovación de la empresa, migrando del tradicional enfoque top-down (de arriba a abajo) al bottom-up (de abajo a arriba).
Algunas de las prácticas más habituales para implementar el OI son:
Crowdsourcing: externalizar tareas a un grupo numeroso de personas, comunidad o masa mediante concurso. Esta práctica elimina la habitual barrera financiera que prohíbe a la mayoría de gente participar en estos proyectos, al tiempo que se genera satisfacción a través del trabajo en comunidad. La gran mayoría de crowdsourcers son anónimos.
User innovation: innovación abierta por parte de los consumidores, en la que la empresa comparte con ellos nuevas formas de innovación (co-creación).
Redes de expertos: creación y gestión de una red de ‘think tanks’ para la búsqueda y evaluación de oportunidades de negocio, o aportación de conocimiento. Estas personas colaboran de forma regular con la empresa y constituyen una red estable de apoyo a la innovación. Ejemplos: Medicalia y Medbook.
Mercados de innovaciones o ‘Marketplaces': acceso a espacios-web donde se concentra la oferta de servicios tecnológicos de expertos. Permiten que las ideas y tecnologías que algunas empresas no saben utilizar encuentren un nuevo hogar donde sean aprovechadas al máximo. Iniciativas de ‘Marketplaces': InnoCentive, yet2.com, NineSigma, YourEncore y Medical Inventions.
Crear comunidades: la empresa que crea este espacio ha de escuchar, aceptar críticas y participar con sus usuarios, obteniendo un universo de voces que le ayude a mejorar. Ejemplos: Ning, Facebook, o LinkedIn.

Monitorizar la información: la Red es una conversación continua y tener los sentidos bien abiertos para saber qué se dice de una empresa, producto,etc. resulta crucial. Permite detectar posibles inferencias y reaccionar.
Wiki: sinónimo de colaboración en la edición de documentación (como la presente), teniendo en cuenta que es imprescindible una tarea previa de personalización según las necesidades u objetivos.
Estandarizar la información: RSS. Este formato XML para sindicar o compartir contenido en la web es una herramienta para la estandarización de la información, facilitando así el flujo de la misma y permitiendo de este modo que pueda ser utilizada por terceros. La misma filosofía se esconde detrás de ofrecer el API abierto: Google, Twitter o Facebook.
Finalmente, adjuntamos herramientas, gratuitas y de pago, que permiten a las empresas implantar estrategias de OI: Google Moderator, Crowdsound, Ramius, IdeaScale, YourMembership, BetaEasy, User Voice, IdeaTorrent y Open Mind.
Sin embargo, se deberá hacer un uso selectivo de éstas. No hay respuestas rápidas; el resultado dependerá del nivel de esfuerzos de comprensión, el nivel de implicación de todos y el trabajo de seguimiento que se realice con el fin de galvanizar los impulsos de innovación y evitar que las prácticas desarrolladas queden en desuso y sin atención. Ver caso MyFootballClub.

Gestión de la Propiedad Intelectual

Cualquier organización en un contexto de OI debe plantearse cómo gestionar su Propiedad Intelectual (PI). Una obsesiva protección de ésta cierra las posibilidades de asociación para la innovación de valor y va en contra de cualquier esfuerzo de innovación y apertura. Sin embargo, la protección de la PI puede ser un facilitador de la OI cuando:

Su gestión es adaptable.
Se integra con las estrategias de OI.
Prevalecen las patentes inteligentes (invenciones valiosas).
Es vista como una oportunidad para la creación de valor y la construcción de ecosistemas.
Está disponible para los demás y, a través de licencias y cooperación, puede resultar rentable.

En este sentido, son ya nuemerosas las organizaciones y empresas que han abierto su capital intelectual como parte de una estrategia competiva. Ejemplos: Millenium Pharmaceuticals, IBM e Intel, entre otros.
Sin embargo, propuestas como la de Intellectual Ventures se consideran un buen ejemplo de explotación de este nuevo mercado de compraventa de ideas. Un tipo de gestión y planteamiento empresarial que, de acuerdo con un artículo publicado en el MIT Sloan Managment Review, puede desactivar cualquier intento de OI. Y es que según varios autores: “En general, la propiedad intelectual es beneficiosa para la innovación abierta cuando se utiliza como dispositivo de señalización y no como un derecho de control”.

Casos de estudio de empresas españolas e internacionales

Mahou
La iniciativa ‘La Wikipeli de Mahou’ es un proyecto de cine colaborativo que invita a los internautas a codirigir una película con el director Jaume Balagueró. La primera edición culminó con el lanzamiento de la película ‘Universos’, co-dirigida por más de 3.000 internautas, José Corbacho y Juan Cruz.
Cibernàrium
Este caso es un ejemplo de crowdsourcing en el ámbito de la comunicación. En 2009, el Cibernàrium lanzó ‘Yo hago Cibernàrium’ con el objetivo de invitar a todos los ciudadanos a participar en su nueva campaña publicitaria.
CCCB
‘La ciudad de los horrores’ es un proyecto participativo realizado en el marco de la exposición del CCCB ‘Barcelona-Valencia-Palma’. Los interesados podían participar de dos formas: aportando fotografías de lugares que consideraban ‘feos’ de Barcelona, Valencia y Palma (vía web) y/o votando las imágenes. El resultado fue un mural que variaba en función de las votaciones de los usuarios y que formaba parte de uno de los apartados de la muestra.
Telefónica I+D (TID)
La empresa española de telecomunicaciones ha creado Telefónica I+D (TID), su sección empresarial dedicada a la innovación en un marco de Open Social Innovation. Es por ello que, en palabras de Carlos Domingo, CEO de TID: “aboga por involucrar al cliente en la creación de productos y servicios desde sus fases más tempranas“. Tienen distribuido por todo el territorio español una serie de laboratorios expertos en áreas tecnológicas determinadas que favorecen la resolución de problemas de aplicación. Además, los estudiantes pueden optar a trabajar en TID con los propios empleados los que a través de un banco de ideas votan, deciden y reconducen los proyectos y productos iniciales con el fin de garantizar el éxito.
Algunos de los productos que han salido de esta empresa son: Videoclub Imagenio España, TVApps, o 3GBox.
Para mayor interés se adjunta una lista de ejemplos de empresas españolas.
BMW
BMW es un gran ejemplo de OI en el ámbito automovilístico. En 2001 creó una plataforma de ideas en las que cualquier usuario puede presentar ideas, conceptos y patentes sobre nuevas tecnologías y servicios: la VIA (Virtual Innovation Agency). Incorpora todo tipo de redes externas de expertos en la generación de ideas del grupo, y recibe cerca de 800 ideas al año, el 3% de las cuales se acaban convirtiendo en realidad.
BMW también pone a disponibilidad de todos los públicos el Laboratorio de Co-Creación, un laboratorio donde se presentan las distintas ideas para solventar los servicios urbanos de movilidad del mañana. En el último concurso 300 ideas aportadas fueron comentadas por un millar de personas en todo el mundo.
Lego Mindstorm NXT
El Lego Mindstorm original, una línea de bloques de construcción robotizados y programables, nació en 1998. En 2004 Lego se enfrentaba a pérdidas de millones de dolares. Dada su complejidad, tanto los sistemas de programación como los diseños fastidiaban más que divertían. El primer paso ‘open’ fue pedir asesoramiento informático externo; consiguieron prototipos montables en 20 minutos. Más tarde, dieron un verdadero salto con ‘M Next’, desarrollado con 5 personas elegidas de sus comunidades de consumidores, además de que 100 usuarios formaron una comunidad de desarrolladores. Lego Mindstorm NXT es un buen ejemplo de democratización de la tecnología (Eric von Hippel lo cita). Poco después del lanzamiento de Mindstorm, un estudiante desveló el código de programación y lo colgó en la red. Lego vio entonces una nueva oportunidad para aumentar el valor añadido de sus productos al compartir con el mundo una parte de sus conocimientos.
BrainStore
Entrevista de Infonomia.tv con Nadja Schnetzler, cofundadora de BrainStore, empresa que ofrece servicios de OI a importantes compañías, ONGs y particulares de todo el mundo.

Conclusiones

“El que trabaja solo, añade; quien trabaja en redes, se multiplica”.
El escenario ha cambiado, y ya no necesitamos únicamente de la innovación interna; las ventajas o beneficios que representan la adopción de modelos de OI en empresas u organizaciones, tales como la reducción de costes, flexibilidad de estructuras, innovación y creatividad acelerada o el incremento de ingresos, permiten a una organización ser más eficaz frente a la competencia, tanto en la creación como en la captación de valor.
Autores del Artículo (por orden alfabético):

Judit Millà Navarro
José Mira Berenguer
Óliver Miranda Tomás
Luz María Muñoz Carrión
Jordina Navarro Llop
Ana Navarro Roselló
Roger Nierga Frisach
Edelmira Oses Gil
Jordina Papasseit Ardévol
Sigfrido Pardo Lalaguna

Imagen: (elegida por mi): loop_oh

15 Examples of Open Innovation between Big Companies & Startups

2015-06-05T12:25:00.004+02:00

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Stefan Lindegaard

Open innovation is a strategic game for big companies and one of the most important moves to consider for their innovation leaders is the allocation of focus and resources in the context of open innovation.
Here we need to consider that big companies like GE, Cisco or Microsoft tend to have 8-12 different value pools (think suppliers, startups, customers or universities) to consider for their open innovation efforts.
The challenge is that even companies that are good at open innovation only seems to be able to handle 3-4 value pools properly at the same time.
I have no doubt that the value pool of start-ups and entrepreneurs is highly relevant value pool for most big companies and there are lots of initiatives that underscore my reflections.

Just check out this list of corporate (open) innovation initiatives aimed towards startups. Let me know if you can add others!

GE: This is one of my favourite companies. A few years back, GE ran a string of Ecoimagination challenges aimed at start-ups, they have lots of initiatives focused on the startup heavy Maker community and now they have also launched a new, interesting initiative called FirstBuild.
On the latter, you should check this article: GE launches ‘microfactory’ to co-create the future of manufacturing

Cisco: The Entrepreneurs in Residence program allows Cisco to invite early-stage entrepreneurs with big ideas for enterprise solutions to join their startup incubation program. This includes access funding from Cisco, potential opportunities to collaborate with their product & engineering teams, co-working space in Silicon Valley and much more.
You can also check out this blog post: Open innovation: Harnessing the ideas, talent and passion of the startup eco-system

Samsung: Check out the Samsung Accelerator, which provides entrepreneurs with access to Samsung decision-makers, information, and distribution channels.
This interview with the VP of Samsung’s Open Innovation Center, Mark Sherdorff, is worth a read: Dancing Giants: Samsung’s Open Innovation Center

You can also visit the Open Innovation page for the Samsung Semiconductor division to get an idea of the differences in approaches within Samsung business units.
Telefonica: Wayra by Telefonica has been around for three years, and today, it is present in 11 countries across Latin America and Europe. It seems to be very well organised and it is very active with more than 300 startups engaged so far.
Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola wants to tap into entrepreneurs and their initiative is called the Coca-Cola Accelerator program. It is not so easy to find information on their efforts, but I have met some people at Coca-Cola working on this and it could become quite interesting.
Citrix: This accelerator is a seed-stage program with continuous enrolment that includes funding, a deep advisory panel, office space in Silicon Valley, close collaboration, and a focus on enterprise market validation.
Microsoft: Microsoft has brought most of their innovation initiatives towards entrepreneurs together under the Microsoft Ventures organisation. This includes BizSpark, which I mention here although it not as focused on startups as other initiatives as it is based on offering free software and support.
However, Microsoft also did some interesting things with their Accelerator for Kinect program a few years ago and we might see more like this in the near future.
Shell: Budding entrepreneurs within the energy industry (and even beyond) can get in touch with the GameChanger program at Shell. Here a team of 12 dedicated technical and scientific experts has the benefits of support from Shell while also being allowed the freedom to make their own decisions.
Turner/Warner Bros: Media Camp is a comprehensive three months accelerator program that educates entrepreneurs and enables them to build innovative media businesses.
Google: The Google for Entrepreneurs program includes a global community called Startup Grind.
DSM: Corporate venturing and open innovation seems to be linked closer and closer together and this is the case at DSM Venturing, where investing in emerging companies is considered as a key part of their overall outside-in open innovation activities.
Orange: The Orange Fab is a start-up accelerator aimed at helping start-ups by giving access to Orange assets.
You can also find lots of corporate innovation outposts in Silicon Valley, which have a strong element of interaction with startups. Some examples:
• Target Technology Innovation Center – San Francisco
• Walmart Labs
• Ford Silicon Valley Lab
Let me know if you can add other noteworthy initiatives in which large companies engage specifically with startups. Input is much appreciated!

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Stefan Lindegaard is an author, speaker and strategic advisor who focus on the topics of open innovation, social media and intrapreneurship.

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Los científicos han encontrado un método para ‘descocer’ un huevo

2015-03-02T12:02:00.004+01:00

Un dispositivo recupera la estructura de las proteínas de la clara de huevo modificadas durante el proceso de cocción.

Un método para descocer huevos | Foto: Steve Zylius / UC Irvine

CienciaXplora| @CienciaXplora | Madrid | Actualizado el 01/03/2015 a las 00:01 horas

Si un día te arrepientes después de haber cocido el último huevo que te quedaba en la nevera, tranquilo, el proceso puede revertirse. Claro que para ello necesitas el aparato diseñado por un grupo de expertos en bioquímica, capaz de ‘descocerlo’: reconstruye las proteínas degradadas al hervir. Por desgracia, no obtendrías el producto tal como lo compraste.
Los científicos han publicado el desarrollo en ChemBioChem. Han probado su método en claras de huevo hervidas durante 20 minutos a 90°C. Primero, utilizaron una sustancia derivada de la urea para simular el efecto de las lisozimas, unas enzimas que destruyen las células, y convertir así las claras en líquido.
Después, usaron el ‘dispositivo de vórtice de fluido’ que han inventado para reconstruir las proteínas del huevo. Estas moléculas se caracterizan por tener una estructura muy compleja que se destruye durante el proceso de cocción y que es muy difícil de recuperar.
Muchos de los métodos que se utilizan habitualmente para su reciclaje, obtienen nuevas formas que no corresponden con las originales y el producto resulta inservible. Además, estos aparatos tardan horas y son caros. El artilugio creado por estos investigadores solo necesita unos minutos y su fabricación es relativamente barata.
Aunque han utilizado huevos para probarlo, el objetivo es aplicar el sistema en los laboratorios para recuperar algunas de las proteínas que se utilizan en los experimentos. De esta manera, ahorrarían tiempo y costes en las investigaciones.

Nuevos métodos para la esterilización de envases: ¿Por qué aumenta el interés por la luz pulsada?

2015-01-29T11:08:00.002+01:00

Hay una preocupación creciente en las marcas de alimentación por vigilar la seguridad alimentaria de sus envases y productos. Los envases pueden actuar como fuente de contaminación de los alimentos, ya sea por la incidencia de microorganismos o por las sustancias existentes en los materiales que estarían en contacto con los alimentos. Por ello, es necesario evaluar la aplicación de nuevas tecnologías de higienización de envases con capacidad para reducir la carga microbiana de los mismos, sin producir daños en el material que pudieran derivar en la producción de sustancias tóxicas o residuos indeseables en el envase.

La mejora de las técnicas analíticas de control microbiológico y de migraciones, unido al aumento del conocimiento por parte de las empresas y consumidores sobre los riesgos asociados al consumo de alimentos contaminados por microorganismos y efectos sobre la salud de sustancias existentes en materiales en contacto con alimentos, marcan un reto a dos bandas; por un lado, el de los fabricantes de envases, que deben aportar soluciones nuevas y avanzar en el estudio de materiales alternativos y/o técnicas de higienización de sus materiales verificando que sus materiales son aptos, y, por otro lado, el de los usuarios de envases, en este caso los propios fabricantes de alimentos, que tienen que vigilar cada día más la seguridad alimentaria y la esterilización de los envases.

Luz pulsada para controlar la seguridad de envases en productos infantiles

Hay productos muy sensibles a las crisis alimentarias. Productos infantiles, bebidas, cárnicos o lácteos son algunos. Las marcas que marcan tendencia en estos sectores ya no se la juegan.

Por ello, están dedicándole tiempo, presupuesto y líneas de investigación propia a identificar nuevas tecnologías que sean cada día más rigurosas en el control, a la vez que menos agresivas en el producto, en lo relativo a las migraciones de sustancias tóxicas del envase al alimento, pero efectivas desde el punto de vista microbiológico.

La luz pulsada es una de ellas. Ha demostrado ser una tecnología útil para la descontaminación de superficies y esterilización de envases.

La luz pulsada y la esterilización de envases

Una de las principales ventajas que presenta esta tecnología es que permite reducir e incluso eliminar el empleo de desinfectantes químicos, como el peróxido de hidrógeno que suele utilizarse en el procesamiento aséptico de envases y que puede dejar residuos en el envase, con riesgo de migrar al alimento.

La luz pulsada elimina los microorganismos mediante pulsos de luz de amplio espectro, alta intensidad y corta duración, eficaces para la inactivación microbiana. Estos pulsos se pueden regular, tanto la frecuencia en los puntos de luz, como la intensidad de los mismos, en función del nivel de contaminación identificado.

El “UV pulsado”, como habitualmente se denomina, presenta diversas ventajas respecto a otras tecnologías, entre ellas, su elevada eficacia, que no deja residuos y que el tiempo de aplicación es muy pequeño. Además:
• Aumenta el rendimiento y eficacia del proceso productivo
• Mejora la calidad higiénico-sanitaria y comercial del producto desde el punto de vista microbiológico.
• Asegura y /o minimiza el riesgo de contaminación en los productos mediante la óptima desinfección de sus envases

Sin embargo, cabe destacar la falta de efectividad de esta tecnología en aquellas zonas donde la radiación no tiene fácil acceso por irregularidades y/o zonas de sombra de la superficie a tratar, así como el hecho de que la radicación UV no penetra dentro de los cuerpos, de forma que sólo se ven afectados los microorganismos situados en la superficie.

Legislación alimentaria

El “UV pulsado” es una tecnología aprobada por la FDA (Código 21CFR179.41, emitido por la Food and Drug Administration, FDA de EE.UU., 2005). En EE.UU. puede emplearse en la producción, elaboración y manipulación de alimentos, así como en el control de los microorganismos en las superficies en contacto con los mismos.

Sin embargo, la EFSA todavía no ha autorizado su uso y exige, como ocurre con otras tecnologías, pruebas que verifiquen que no produce alteraciones significativas del valor nutricional o la composición química de los alimentos.

Estamos, pues, ante una tecnología emergente en la que algunos ya se están preparando y otros esperando hasta que la legislación europea se pronuncie. Como tantos otros temas relacionados con la seguridad alimentaria de los materiales y envases en contacto con alimentos, supone una oportunidad para aquellas empresas y emprendedores que decidan apostar por la I+D+i en seguridad alimentaria.

por Sonia Marco el 29 de diciembre de 2014

No consumer health risk from bisphenol A exposure

2015-01-22T14:11:00.003+01:00

21 January 2015

EFSA’s comprehensive re-evaluation of bisphenol A (BPA) exposure and toxicity concludes that BPA poses no health risk to consumers of any age group (including unborn children, infants and adolescents) at current exposure levels. Exposure from the diet or from a combination of sources (diet, dust, cosmetics and thermal paper) is considerably under the safe level (the “tolerable daily intake” or TDI).

Although new data and refined methodologies have led EFSA’s experts to considerably reduce the safe level of BPA from 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day (µg/kg of bw/day) to 4 µg/kg of bw/day, the highest estimates for dietary exposure and for exposure from a combination of sources (called “aggregated exposure” in EFSA’s opinion) are three to five times lower than the new TDI.

Uncertainties surrounding potential health effects of BPA on the mammary gland, reproductive, metabolic, neurobehavioural and immune systems have been quantified and factored in to the calculation of the TDI. In addition, the TDI is temporary pending the outcome of a long-term study in rats, which will help to reduce these uncertainties.
Why has EFSA done this risk assessment?
BPA is a chemical compound used in the manufacture of food contact materials such as re-usable plastic tableware and can coatings (mainly protective linings). Another widespread use of BPA is in thermal paper commonly used in till/cash register receipts. Residues of BPA can migrate into food and beverages and be ingested by the consumer; BPA from other sources including thermal paper, cosmetics and dust can be absorbed through the skin and by inhalation.
Dr Trine Husøy is a member of EFSA’s expert Panel dealing with food contact materials (CEF Panel) and Chair of the BPA working group. She said: “The Panel decided to re-evaluate the safety of BPA because of the publication of a huge number of new research studies in recent years.”
To be as open and transparent as possible, EFSA thoroughly consulted and engaged with national authorities and stakeholders during this risk assessment to ensure that the widest possible range of scientific views and information were considered. According to Dr Husøy, “the public consultation process also helped us to refine our assessment through the submission of additional data and to further clarify important aspects of the opinion such as uncertainties”. (A report on the public consultation is available below.)
Refined assessment of BPA toxicity
After weighing up a significant body of new scientific information on its toxic effects, the CEF Panel concluded that high doses of BPA (hundreds of times above the TDI) are likely to adversely affect the kidney and liver. It may also cause effects on the mammary gland in animals.
Studies indicating BPA as the cause of other health effects were less conclusive, stated Dr Husøy. “Effects on the reproductive, nervous, immune, metabolic and cardiovascular systems, as well as in the development of cancer are not considered likely at present but they could not be excluded on the available evidence. So, they add to the overall uncertainty about BPA-related hazards and therefore have been considered in the assessment.”
The Panel also assessed the possibility that BPA results in unexpected responses to different doses, e.g. adverse effects that are only induced by low BPA doses (known as ‘non-monotonic dose-response’ or NMDR relationships). The experts concluded that the available data do not provide evidence of such relationships for the health effects considered.
Exposure: dietary picture clearer, non-dietary less certain
In 2006, when EFSA last assessed dietary exposure to BPA, fewer data were available and EFSA’s experts were required to make several conservative assumptions about consumption and the levels of BPA in food. “With significantly more and better data we have updated and more accurately estimated dietary exposure to BPA for all population groups, said Dr Husøy. “As a result, we now know that dietary exposure is four to fifteen times lower than previously estimated by EFSA, depending on the age group.”
For the first time, EFSA has also considered exposure to BPA from non-dietary sources. Dr Husøy underlined however: “There is a lack of supporting data on dermal exposure – for example, how much BPA the body absorbs through skin by touching thermal paper – which really increases the uncertainty of estimates from thermal paper and cosmetics”.
Quantifying and factoring in uncertainties
EFSA’s experts used new methodologies to take account of the uncertainties regarding potential health effects, exposure estimates and evaluation of risks for humans. Dr Husøy stated that “by analysing each uncertainty one by one and combining our expert judgement the Panel was able to quantify these uncertainties and to factor them in to its risk assessment and derivation of the TDI.”
EFSA will reconsider the temporary TDI when the results of long-term research by the US National Toxicology Program are available for evaluation in two to three years. This research is expected to address many of the remaining uncertainties about BPA’s toxic effects.

EFSA and the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) have discussed their respective assessments of BPA during this process. The minutes of these discussions are available below.

Minutes of EFSA-ANSES Expert meeting on BPA (3 December 2014)

EFSA has prepared a non-technical (or ‘lay’) summary of its scientific opinion for ease of understanding and addresses additional aspects of this work in its Frequently Asked Questions on BPA.

Notes to editors:

EFSA’s role in the EU food safety system is to carry out scientific risk assessment. This risk assessment will inform the decision-making of EU risk managers in the European Commission, European Parliament and Member States who regulate the safe use of BPA as a food contact material. Risk managers take account of scientific risk assessment and other factors when making risk management decisions. These other considerations are outside EFSA’s remit as defined by European law.

For media enquiries please contact:
EFSA Media Relations Office
Tel. +39 0521 036 149
E-mail: Press@efsa.europa.eu

Top five trends that will influence consumer behaviour in 2015

2015-01-15T13:10:00.002+01:00

As the end of 2014 draws near, Canadean forecasts the top trends which will influence consumer behaviour in 2015.
The company also provides an insight into how manufacturers and marketers can target these evolving consumer needs to drive sales over the next year. From mass-produced to personalised Canadean predicts that the desire for craft offerings will become increasingly influential. Consumers want their products to be produced and manufactured on a smaller scale to ensure quality and to feel a closer connection to the brands they choose. By emphasising the exclusivity of a product and the care with which it was formulated, brands will encourage sales among a growing number of consumers who want to move away from mass-produced items across the FMCG market. ‘Better-for-you’ ingredients According to Canadean, consumers will be increasingly concerned about unhealthy ingredients such as sugar. 2014 saw the introduction of stevia into many popular products including Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Over the coming year, a greater number of ‘better-for-you’ offerings will emerge with healthier and more natural alternatives. One of the main challenges will be to overcome the negative taste perceptions of these new products through innovation and reformulation as consumers still put indulgence first. All things hot and spicy The growing desire for hotter and spicier food is set to continue in 2015, as manufacturers will replicate popular heat trends from the catering industry to satisfy growing consumer needs. Brands will innovate in formulation by including spicier ingredients in meat, dairy, and snacks, as products infused with chillies become more popular. After the Indian and Mexican food trend, manufacturers should prepare for the next emerging spice cuisines from across South-East Asia and the Middle East. Mix-and-match your favourite flavours Canadean predicts that consumers will look for new and exciting products which mix their favourite foods and flavours together. Fusion products such as amaretto cider and chocolate flavoured wine will become even more popular. The increase in demand for these experiential offerings means manufacturers must continue to innovate with ingredients and positioning to encourage sales among consumers who want more than just traditional products. Packaging drives sensory experience The large number of products available on supermarket shelves means that many brands are in danger of fading into the background. Innovative packaging that draws consumer attention will be vital for retaining market share and for brands attempting to enter the market. The use of haptics – including tactile packs, bright colours and reflective surfaces – will help to enhance the sensory experience, while matt finishing and the feel of a product can denote quality and superiority, encouraging trading-up and higher levels of spending Bill Bruce8 Dec 2014

Un nuevo Reglamento para fomentar la innovación en el sector alimentario a través de los Novel food

2014-11-26T20:30:00.000+01:00

La Comisión Europea quiere acortar los plazos de autorización de los “nuevos alimentos” de 3 a 2 años de promedio. También agilizar los trámites para que un alimento tradicional de fuera de laUE pueda ser comercializado e introducir un régimen de protección de datos, estas son algunas de las novedades que incluye la propuesta del nuevo Reglamento para los ‘Novel foods’, ¿quieres saber más?

La UE ha retomado la propuesta de reglamento para los “novel foods” (nuevos alimentos). El sector espera con gran interés la aprobación, que todo apunta que será en un plazo breve. Además, la Presidencia de turno de la UE de Italia que finaliza este año tiene, entre las prioridades del sector agroalimentario, el impulsar las negociaciones sobre el Reglamento sobre nuevos alimentos.

Este nuevo reglamento busca la simplificación y racionalización de los procesos establecidos para conseguir una elevada reducción de la carga administrativa y mejorar la competitividad de la industria alimentaria europea. Las nuevas medidas de esta propuesta traerán consigo importantes novedades, entre ellas:

• Se acorta el proceso de autorización de ‘novel foods’ de 3 a 2 años: Con estas medidas se reducirá la carga administrativa, la longitud y el coste del procedimiento de autorización para la industria alimentaria, se podrá pasar de los tres años de media en la actualidad a menos de dos años (dieciocho meses).

• Se agiliza la introducción de productos alimenticios de terceros países: Estas propuestas benefician en especial a las PYME, en concreto en la introducción de productos alimenticios procedentes de terceros países y que ya cuentan con histórico de consumo en origen (caso de alimentos tradicionales de terceros países).

• Se introduce un régimen de protección de datos: Estas mejoras también hacen balance para no desmotivar la innovación. Con el objetivo de desarrollar productos alimenticios realmente innovadores, se introduce un régimen de «protección de datos», con la concesión de una autorización vinculada al solicitante durante un máximo de cinco años.

• Se crea nueva definición de ‘novel food’: Esta definición clarifica el concepto de nuevo alimento e incorpora otros conceptos de gran importancia para la futura legislación, tal como “alimento tradicional de un tercer país” y el de “historial de uso alimentario seguro en un tercer país”.

La propuesta trata de mejorar sensiblemente el marco regulatorio para los “novel foods”. Se ha diseñado para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria, proteger la salud pública, asegurar el funcionamiento del mercado interior de los alimentos y potenciar la innovación en el sector alimentario.

Antecedentes de esta propuesta

En los últimos años se puso en marcha una revisión de esta regulación y en 2008 se propuso un Reglamento que fue rechazado en marzo de 2011 cuando el Parlamento Europeo y el Consejo no pudieron llegar a un acuerdo en la última etapa del proceso. Se hablaba de un nuevo proyecto para 2013 junto al proyecto de Reglamento para los productos alimenticios procedentes de animales clonados que no fue hacia delante

Para conocer los detalles de los antecedentes de esta propuesta acceda a este artículo:¿Para cuando la nueva legislación europea sobre 'Novel Foods'?

Y, para informarse más sobre este tema aceda a este artículo: En alimentación no todo está inventado: ‘novel food’

En la actualidad, la UE ha vuelto a retomar la propuesta de reglamento con el objetivo de alcanzar los objetivos de la comunicación sobre normativa inteligente en la Unión Europea y de la Estrategia Europa 2020.

Nuevas aplicaciones de ingredientes alimentarios en la industria. Hedonismo y salud.

2014-11-26T20:28:00.000+01:00

Reducción del desperdicio de alimentos perecederos a través de la innovación en tecnologías de envasado

2014-11-26T20:19:00.003+01:00

Reducción del desperdicio de alimentos perecederos a través de la innovación en tecnologías de envasado from ainia centro tecnológico

Innovar en la Era Post Crisis

2014-11-18T13:13:00.001+01:00

Innovaciones nanotecnológicas habilitadas para el beneficio de los alimentos

2014-11-06T11:33:00.000+01:00

Jueves, 23 Octubre 2014

La nanotecnología tiene un rasgo distintivo pues se trata de una tecnología que permite, por un lado, manipular la materia, orgánica e inorgánica, a escalas propias de los átomos. Esta capacidad, en principio, permitirá manipular todo lo que nos rodea por lo que las implicaciones claramente serán enormes.

El informe, realizado por el Comité de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Cámara de los Lores, evalúa diversos aspectos sobre el uso de la nanotecnología en la industria de los alimentos, pues se considera pudieran haber ciertas preocupaciones. Y es que la actitud del público sobre los alimentos está influenciada por una diversidad de factores, como lo son el miedo a riesgos nuevos, el nivel de confianza en la regulación, así como otros factores sociales y psicológicos. Sin embargo, como otras tecnologías, la nanotecnología bien podría ofrecer a los consumidores y a la sociedad un número de beneficios. Nano aplicado al helado de crema El propósito es, por tanto, dilucidar si las nanotecnologías en realidad tienen un papel valioso en el sector alimentario; si existen sistemas efectivos para garantizar que los consumidores estén conscientes y protegidos contra cualquier riesgo potencial; y para entender y evaluar algunas preocupaciones que el público pudiera tener acerca de estas nuevas tecnologías. La comunicación amplia, efectiva y transparente es esencial dadas las sensibilidades del público en relación con las nuevas tecnologías en los alimentos, razón por la cual estamos preocupados —argumenta el estudio— al ver que la industria es renuente a hablar sobre sus actividades en el área de las nanotecnologías por su inquietud acerca de la posible reacción de la gente. Se propone cambiar esta situación mediante un mayor diálogo con la industria, así como crear una lista de productos o aditivos alimenticios que contengan nanomateriales en el marco de la Agencia de Estándares de los Alimentos. La nanotecnología ha empezado a encontrar aplicaciones potenciales en el campo de los alimentos funcionales mediante el diseño de moléculas biológicas hacia funciones muy diferentes a las que tienen en la naturaleza, la apertura de una nueva área de investigación y desarrollo. Por supuesto, no parece haber ningún límite a lo que los alimentos tecnólogos están dispuestos a hacer para nuestra comida y la nanotecnología va a darles un nuevo conjunto de herramientas para ir a nuevos extremos. También hay muchas cosas positivas. Los efectos potencialmente beneficiosos, con innovaciones nanotecnológicas habilitados, podrían tener beneficios sobre nuestros alimentos y, posteriormente, en nuestra salud. De acuerdo con una definición en un informe reciente ("La nanotecnología en la Agricultura y la Alimentación"; pdf), la comida es nanoalimentos cuando se utilizan nanopartículas, técnicas de nanotecnología o herramientas durante el cultivo, o la elaboración de envasado de los alimentos. He aquí un resumen de lo que las aplicaciones de la nanotecnología se están investigando actualmente, probado y en algunos casos ya se aplican en la tecnología de los alimentos: Ejemplos de las aplicaciones nanoalimentos (Fuente: Nanowerk) En un estudio realizado por la Universidad de Toronto, Centro Asociado de Bioética desde hace dos años ("La nanotecnología y el mundo en desarrollo"; pdf), un panel de expertos internacionales calificaron las aplicaciones de la nanotecnología en el desarrollo de todo el mundo 10 con el mayor potencial para ayudar a los pobres. El número dos en la lista fue "la mejora de la productividad agrícola", el número tres era "de tratamiento de agua y saneamiento", y el número seis era "el procesamiento y almacenamiento de alimentos." La investigación reciente ha comenzado a abordar las aplicaciones potenciales de la nanotecnología para alimentos funcionales y nutracéuticos mediante la aplicación de los nuevos conceptos y enfoques de ingeniería implicados en nanomateriales para dirigir la entrega de compuestos bioactivos y micronutrientes. Nanomateriales permiten una mejor encapsulación y la liberación de la eficiencia de los ingredientes activos de los alimentos en comparación con los agentes de encapsulación tradicionales, y el desarrollo de nano-emulsiones, liposomas, micelas, complejos biopolímeros y cubosomas han conducido a mejores propiedades para la protección de compuestos bioactivos, sistemas de cesión controlada, matriz alimentaria integración, y enmascarar sabores no deseados. La nanotecnología también tiene el potencial de mejorar los procesos de alimentos que utilizan enzimas para conferir beneficios nutricionales y de salud. Por ejemplo, las enzimas a menudo se añaden a los alimentos para hidrolizar componentes anti-nutritivas y por lo tanto aumentar la bio-disponibilidad de los nutrientes esenciales, tales como minerales y vitaminas. Para hacer estas enzimas altamente activa, longlived y rentable, los nanomateriales se pueden usar para proporcionar sistemas de enzima de apoyo superiores debido a sus grandes relaciones superficie-volumen en comparación con los materiales tradicionales de apoyo macroescala. Un artículo reciente en Trends in Food Science & Technology ofrece un resumen del tipo de industria y aplicaciones de las universidades están trabajando en ("Aplicaciones alimentarias de las nanotecnologías: Una visión general de las oportunidades y desafíos para los países en desarrollo"): Al igual que otros sectores, la evolución reciente de las nanociencias y las nanotecnologías están ofreciendo un montón de nuevas oportunidades para la innovación a la alimentación y otros sectores afines en todo el mundo. Los países en desarrollo se pueden beneficiar de estos avances. Esta opinión concisa ofrece una relación de las principales cuestiones que emanan de las aplicaciones de las nanotecnologías en los alimentos y de los sectores relacionados con una referencia particular a los países en desarrollo.

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Combined treatment to inactivate pathogens in red pepper

2014-10-08T12:39:00.000+02:00

Spices are added to a variety of foods with minimal processing

UV-C irradiation and mild heating can inactivate E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium without affecting powdered red pepper quality, according to a study.

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Researchers said the combined intervention has important implications for food safety since spices such as powdered red pepper are added to a variety of foods with minimal processing.
Super-heated steam and exposure to ionizing radiation have been used to decontaminate spices but the former brings about loss of sensory properties and change of colour and the high moisture content aids mould growth.
The latter, involving treatment with gamma-rays, X-rays, and electron beam exposure is effective but also subject to oxidation and degradation of colour or aromatic component concerns.

Bacterial strains
Three bacterial strains of E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium were stored at -80 °C in 0.7 ml of Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB) and 0.3 ml of 50% glycerol.
Working cultures were streaked onto Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA), incubated at 37 °C for 24 hours and stored at 4 °C.
When UV-C irradiation was applied at 20.4 kJ/m2 without raising the temperature (25 °C), reduction levels of E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium were 0.22 and 0.29 log CFU/g.
Reductions of E. coli O157:H7 were 0.88 and 1.23 log CFU/g when treated at 55 and 65 °C, and S. Typhimurium, were 0.85 and 1.29 log CFU/g, respectively.
When treated at 40.8 kJ/m2 the number of surviving cells exposed to UV-C irradiation treatment alone were slightly reduced independent of UV-C radiation dose.

Combined treatment effect
Combined treatment with mild heating at 65 °C reduced the surviving numbers of each pathogens by 2.88 and 3.06 log CFU/g.
“The inactivation effect on powdered red pepper when treated at different UV-C irradiation doses (20.4 and 40.8 kJ/m2) at room temperature (25 °C) was very minor with differences of less than 0.5 log CFU/g,” said the researchers.
The synergistic effect was observed with increasing temperature, they added.
“It is more effective to combine ultraviolet radiation with mild temperature heating for inactivation of E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium than to treat with UV-C irradiation alone.”
A constant UV intensity (3.40 mW/cm2) of the emitting lamps was applied to samples for five and 10 minutes at 25, 35, 45, 55, and 65 °C.
Source: Food Control
Online ahead of print, DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2014.08.025
“Inactivation of foodborne pathogens in powdered red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) using combined UV-C irradiation and mild heat treatment”
Authors: Ho-Lyeong Cheon, Joo-Yeon Shin, Ki-Hwan Park, Myung-Sub Chung, Dong-Hyun Kang

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Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Study population

Patient involvement

Assessment of spicy food consumption

Assessment of covariates

Ascertainment of deaths

Statistical analysis

Results

Spicy food consumption and lifestyle and dietary factors

Spicy food consumption and total mortality

Spicy food consumption and cause specific mortality

Sensitivity analyses

Subgroup analyses

Discussion

Strengths and limitations of this study

Comparison with other studies and potential mechanism

Conclusion

What is already known on this topic

What this study adds

Notes

Footnotes

References

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Combined treatment to inactivate pathogens in red pepper

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