Digitalising food manufacturing

continuous improvement [4] .Our food system is also facing a multitude of shared challenges that need to be managed simultaneously:• increasing dependence on a global supply chain to source raw materials and partially processed food products, • growing pace and volumes of food trade

Our theme for September, food and health, covers an enormous range of food science and nutrition topics including links between diet and noncommunicable ‘lifestyle’ diseases, personalised nutrition for specific groups within a population, the effects of epigenetics (changes caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself) on diet and health, the influence of gut microorganisms on digestion and the provision of nutritious, healthy food products. Obesity in the UK is rising at an alarming rate and government measures adopted so far to encourage calorie reduction have failed to make an impact on this epidemic (p28). Recent figures show that childhood obesity has reached the highest point since records began (p4) and this is of particular concern as the younger the age of the child when he or she becomes overweight, the higher the risk of future obesity. Obesity represents a major threat to public health and a huge cost to the National Health Service. New government initiatives are planned to try to derail this upward trend. Groups within society sometimes have a specific need for dietary supplementation, for example, the elderly often require a specialised diet in terms of energy and protein intake and vitamin supplementation (p23). We are likely to see increasing trends towards personalised nutrition as genetic profiling becomes more common and diets are tailored to the needs of an individual. The Internet of Things (the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data) is allowing the development of apps to support and measure individual diets. Food manufacturers are working to develop products that are lower in sugar, salt and fat and to reduce portion size (p32). At the same time, they need to address the sustainability of their products, which creates additional challenges in terms of ingredients sourcing, for example animal vs plant protein. The rise of vegetarianism and veganism has prompted new research into plant sources of key proteins and vitamins (p5). Improving the diet and health of the nation will depend on a wide range of strategies being adopted simultaneously. While food manufacturers and food service outlets can reduce calories and enhance the nutritious value of their products, education and ‘nudge’ behaviour will be needed to influence people's dietary choices and food intake. email mb@biophase.co.uk Levels of severe obesity in children aged 10 to 11 years have reached the highest point since records began, according to new figures published in July 2018 by Public Health England (PHE)[1]. This trend has been decades in the making – reversing it will not happen overnight. Analysis of the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) between 2006 to 2007 and 2016 to 2017 details trends in severe obesity for the first time. The programme captures the height and weight of over 1m children in Reception (aged 4 to 5 years) and Year 6 (aged 10 to 11 years) in school each year. The findings also show stark health inequalities continue to widen. The prevalence of excess weight, obesity, overweight and severe obesity are higher in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived – this is happening at a faster rate in Year 6 than Reception. The rise in severe obesity and widening health inequalities highlight why bold measures are needed to tackle this threat to children's health. The Department of Health and Social Care recently announced the second chapter of its Childhood Obesity Plan to help halve childhood obesity by 2030. Main actions include mandatory calorie labelling on menus and restrictions on price promotions on foods high in fat, salt or sugar. These measures will go out for consultation later in 2018. PHE is also working with the food industry to cut 20% of sugar from everyday products by 2020, and 20% of calories by 2024. It aims to help families to make healthier choices through its Change4Life campaigns – the free Food Scanner app reveals the sugar, fat, salt and calories in popular foods and drinks. Unhealthy weight in childhood can result in bullying, stigma and low self-esteem. It is also likely to continue into adulthood, increasing the risk of preventable illnesses including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. ■ The Food Standards Agency has successfully completed a pilot using blockchain technology in a cattle slaughterhouse[2]. It is believed to be the first time blockchain has been used as a regulatory tool to ensure compliance in the food sector. A block chain is a type of database that takes a number of records and puts them in a block (rather like collating them on to a single sheet of paper). Each block is then ‘chained’ to the next block, using an encrypted signature. This allows block chains to be used like a ledger, which can be shared and checked by anyone with the appropriate permission. In this pilot both the FSA and the slaughterhouse had permission to access data, giving the benefit of improved transparency across the food supply chain. A further pilot took place in July that allowed farmers to access data about animals from their farm. Further work is planned to replicate this in other plants and ensure that all those across the supply chain get the full benefit of the new way data is managed and accessed as ‘permissioned’ data to the FSA, slaughterhouse and farmer. The approach has been to develop data standards with industry that will make theory reality. If the use of blockchain technology continues to show success in pilots, then the FSA believes that its permanent use would need to be industry-led because the current data model is limited to the collection and communication of inspection results. Having established a Food and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) collaborative group last year, the FSA continues to work with DLT experts from government, food sector, technology industry and academia on the use of blockchain, including regulatory compliance of food. ■ A new project has been launched to examine how the Internet of Things (IoT) could transform the food industry through innovations such as ‘smart’ cooking appliances, data-driven supermarket refrigeration networks and enhanced food traceability systems[3]. The project is funded by a £1.14m grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to nurture and grow the UK's food manufacturing digital economy. The Internet of Food Things (IoFT) Network Plus will bring together data and computer scientists, chemists and economists to investigate how artificial intelligence, data analytics and emerging technologies can enhance the digitalisation of the UK food supply chain. The network, led by the University of Lincoln in partnership with the universities of Southampton, Surrey, East Anglia, and the Open University, will examine the application of the IoT in connected homes of the future – for example smart refrigerators that trigger a grocery order when food items run low, or cooking devices that could help us live healthier lives. It will also examine the traceability of food and how machine learning and artificial intelligence could be utilised to extract value from the vast amounts of data available across the whole food supply chain, improving efficiency and reducing food waste. Businesses and researchers nationally will be able to participate in workshops, run annual conferences to share best practice across the sector and bid for funding for pilot studies, projects and reviews. Collectively these initiatives, which will run until May 2021, will contribute to progressing the digitisation of food manufacturing in the UK. The aim is to specifically engage with the whole food and digital innovation chain. The project will combine interdisciplinary contributions from food science and technology practitioners, policy makers, engineers, management specialists and colleagues in social and behavioural sciences. The inclusion of food retailers like Tesco within the consortium provides access to data sets demonstrating consumer behaviours. Alongside academic expertise, the project will involve industry specialists from a range of areas, such as the global engineering company Siemens, IoT and machine management solutions’ firm IMS Evolve, supermarket chain Tesco, the rural agricultural consultancy Collison and Associates and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. Regulators, such as the Food Standards Agency and GS1, an international agency that sets data standards for bar codes, will also have input and consumers will be engaged through representative bodies. ■ Scientists at the University of Kent have discovered that the vitamin content of some plants can be improved to make vegetarian and vegan diets more complete. Vitamin B12 (known as cobalamin) is an essential dietary component but vegetarians are more prone to B12 deficiency as plants neither make nor require this nutrient. A team, led by Professor Martin Warren at the University's School of Biosciences, has proved that common garden cress can take up cobalamin. The amount of B12 absorbed by garden cress is dependent on the amount present in the growth medium. The observation that certain plants are able to absorb B12 is important as such nutrient-enriched plants could help overcome dietary limitations in countries, such as India, which have a high proportion of vegetarians. It may also be significant as a way to address the global challenge of providing a nutrient-complete vegetarian diet, a valuable development as the world becomes increasingly meat-free due to population expansion. Researchers worked with teachers and pupils at Sir Roger Manwood's School in Sandwich, who grew garden cress in media containing increasing concentrations of vitamin B12. After seven days growth, the leaves from the seedlings were removed, washed and analysed. Vitamin B12 is unique among the vitamins because it is made only by certain bacteria and therefore has to undergo a journey to make its way into more complex multi-cellular organisms. The research highlights how this journey can be followed using the fluorescent B12 molecules, which can also be used to help understand why some people are more prone to B12-deficiency. The research is published in the journal Cell Chemical Biology[4]. ■ Campden BRI has developed a new method to rate the chilli heat of complex products, such as ready meals and cooking sauces[5]. The calibrated method uses the company's highly-trained panel of taste testers to provide retailers and manufacturers with a consistent way to rate their products as mild, medium, hot or very hot. Ingredients and even the colour and texture of a product will influence the perception of hotness. Campden BRI's method takes these factors into account and is reported to provide a consistent and reliable heat rating for food products. Samples are evaluated individually in sensory booths under coloured light to mask any differences in the colour of the products. Three major retailers, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury's, have joined forces with plastic packaging manufacturer, Faerch Plast, and recycling and waste management company, Viridor, to put recycled black plastic into new food grade packaging[6, 7]. The aim is to provide a circular economy solution to a previously challenging material that was difficult to recycle and to reduce the amount of virgin plastic entering the economy. The solution developed at the Viridor recycling facility enables accurate detection of the black pigment in packaging items, such as food trays, which have previously been hard-to-recycle, and separates them for shredding, melting and re-use in new packaging. Initially 120 tonnes of black plastic (8m items) will be recycled in the UK each month starting from July 2018. The volume of material will be steadily increased over the next 18 months with Viridor's specialist plastics recycling facility at Rochester in Kent becoming a centre of excellence for the initiative. The black plastic from household mixed waste recycling will be recycled into high quality mixed coloured ‘jazz’ flakes to create food grade packaging. The flakes and pellets will be taken to Faerch Plast's manufacturing facility in Ely, Cambridgeshire, where they will be used in new packaging solutions. The key to the project was the collaboration across the supply chain, with the retailers creating the sustained demand for the recycled material and recycled plastic packaging. The supermarkets all started to use the recycled black plastic for their own brand products from July. However, more work is needed to achieve high and sustainable levels of tray recycling with further investment required in commercially viable waste collection systems and sorting and recycling facilities for PET pots, tubs and trays. All the partners are signatories of WRAP's UK Plastics Pact, which aims to achieve a 20% reduction in food and drink waste across the UK and a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from food and drink consumed in the UK. The Pact sets out clear ambitions for a more responsible and resource-efficient approach to plastics by all sectors and provides the framework for collaborative action. ■ The British Poultry Council (BPC) has released its 2018 Antibiotic Stewardship Report[8], which highlights the achievements made by the British poultry meat sector's drive to deliver responsible use of antibiotics to safeguard the efficacy of antibiotics across the supply chain. The poultry meat sector became the first UK livestock sector to pioneer a data collection mechanism and share antibiotic usage data with the Government's Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). Data collected by the BPC is published every year as part of the UK-Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance (UK-VARSS) Report. The BPC collects and monitors usage of all antibiotic classes in the UK poultry meat industry aiming to promote and apply best practice throughout the supply chain. It has facilitated sharing of best practice on responsible use of antibiotics with other livestock sectors in the UK and across the world. The BPC is working with animal and human health experts to develop a methodology for rapid on-farm diagnostics to increase speed of antibiotic sensitivity testing and to ensure early diagnosis. The aim is to use the diagnostic and sensitivity testing tools used in human medicine to better map bird health and welfare, evaluate the impact of disease control programmes and implement robust surveillance. The BPC is also supporting scientific research into examining the link between antibiotic use and resistance in the poultry production chain, understanding patterns of transmission and tackling antimicrobial resistance. The BPC claims that UK poultry farmers and veterinarians need antibiotics in their toolbox to preserve the health and welfare of the birds. It argues that responsible use of antibiotics is about more than reduction targets and that zero use is neither ethical nor sustainable as it goes against farmers’ duty to alleviate pain and suffering. A team of scientists lead by Brunel University London are developing a molecular test and a smartphone app that, when used together, can detect six key pathogens in poultry[9]. Backed by £615,000 from the UK government's Newton Fund, Brunel will work with the University of Surrey and Lancaster University to develop the tests over the next three years. The new hand-held device and smartphone app will be tested by farmers in the Philippines but could subsequently be rolled out to farmers in other developing countries. It should help farmers act fast before disease can spread and potentially infect people. It also cuts out the need to send samples away for expensive laboratory tests. Farmers in the Philippines will collect samples from their birds using a largematchbox-sized instrument that screens the DNA and RNA. The device connects wirelessly to the app to display the results, which can also feed into a central store to help track outbreaks across the islands. The whole process takes less than an hour. Near-patient molecular diagnostics have been very important in improving human health, but such technology in animal health on farms is less advanced. Hundreds of thousands of people in the Philippines and other poorer countries make a living farming poultry, so disease outbreaks can devastate their economies. DIARY 12 September 2018 NEWTRITION X – INNOVATION SUMMIT PERSONALISED NUTRITION Venue Luebeck, Germany Web https://foodregio.de/en/event-calender?vid=134 18-21 September 2018 EFSA CONFERENCE – SCIENCE, FOOD, SOCIETY Venue Parma, Italy Web https://conference.efsa.europa.eu/ 2 October 2018 NPD AND INNOVATION SUMMIT – MAKING FOOD BETTER Venue Coventry, UK Web foodbevinnovation.com/ 4-6 October 2018 21ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FOOD TECHNOLOGY & PROCESSING Venue London, UK Web https://foodtechnology.insightconferences.com 23-27 October 2018 IUFOST INDIA 2018, 19TH WORLD CONGRESS ON FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Venue Mumbai, India Web iufost2018.com/index.php 12-13 November 2018 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING AND FOOD SECURITY Venue Frankfurt, Germany Web https://agri-foodsecurity.agriconferences.com/ 20-22 November 2018 FOOD MATTERS LIVE Venue ExCeL, London Web foodmatterslive.com/ 21-22 November EHEDG WORLD CONGRESS ON HYGIENIC ENGINEERING & DESIGN Venue ExCeL, London Web ehedg-congress.org/home/ 27-29 November 2018 HI EUROPE AND NI Venue Frankfurt, Germany Web figlobal.com/hieurope/

<scp>IFST</scp> vision for a <scp>UK</scp>‐wide national food strategy

EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Food

Sensors support machine learning

Dynamic monitoring is crucial for improving the performance of industrial systems. It allows real-time data collection, contributing to more proactive planning and early detection of issues before they cause unplanned downtime and revenue loss. Monitoring systems, particularly sensor and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, are growing exponentially and can become an enormous source of information. This information could also support dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify potential environmental impacts in a novel way. However, although real-time monitoring provides new opportunities in different domains, it also presents some environmental challenges that must be addressed, such as substantial electricity consumption and the use of batteries. This study reviews the use of dynamic monitoring techniques in LCA studies and how they can be applied to monitor real-time environmental aspects in different domains. A systematic literature review was conducted, encompassing academic documents published within peer-reviewed scientific journals. A total of 34 articles focused on how real-time data is being addressed in LCA studies were selected. The review showed that combining LCA and real-time sensors could result in an improved decision-making tool based on a more holistic view of all the factors relevant to the products or processes. However, the trade-offs of using real-time monitoring technologies to support the development of life cycle inventories need to be widely assessed to be used as a basis for the implementation in different sectors. The review also showed that applying real-time monitoring and dynamic environmental assessment in the food sector is a novel concept that could be used to improve the data collection process. Two articles identified in the review showed the use of real-time data in the agriculture sectors, being used as a tool to monitor the quality and safety of the products. This could be especially relevant to improving and optimising the traceability and safety of food supply chains while reducing environmental impacts.

Connecting food supply chains

According to some recent studies, noise from road transport is estimated to cause human health effects of the same order of magnitude as the sum of all other emissions from the transport life cycle. Thus, ISO 14′040 implies that traffic noise effects should be considered in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies where transports might play an important role. So far, five methods for the inclusion of noise in LCA have been proposed. However, at present, none of them is implemented in any of the major life cycle inventory (LCI) databases and commonly used in LCA studies. The goal of the present paper is to define a requirement profile for a method to include traffic noise in LCA and to assess the compliance of the five existing methods with this profile. It concludes by identifying necessary cornerstones for a model for noise effects of generic road transports that meets all requirements. Requirements for a methodological framework for inclusion of traffic noise effects in LCA are derived from an analysis of how transports are included in 66 case studies published in International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment in 2006 and 2007, in the sustainability reports of ten Swiss companies, as well as on the basis of theoretical considerations. Then, the general compliance of the five existing methods for inclusion of noise in LCA with the postulated requirement profile is assessed. Six general requirements for a methodological framework for inclusion of traffic noise effects in LCA were identified. A method needs to be applicable for (1) both generic and specific transports, (2) different modes of transport, (3) different vehicles within one mode of transport, (4) transports in different geographic contexts, (5) different temporal contexts, and (6) last but not least, the method needs to be compatible with the ISO standards on LCA. One of the reviewed methods is not specific for transports at all and two are only applicable for specific transports. The other two allow generic and specific road transports to be assessed. The methods either deal with road traffic noise only or they compare noise from different sources, ignoring the fact that not only physical sound levels but also the source of sound determines the effect. Three methods only differentiate between vehicle classes (lorries and passenger cars) while one method differentiates between specific vehicles of the same class. Four of the methods consider the geographic context and three of them differentiate between day- and nighttime traffic. None of the existing methods for traffic noise integration in LCA complies with the proposed requirement profile. They either lack the genericness for a wide application or they lack the specificity needed for differentiations in LCA studies. There is no method available that allows for appropriate inter- or intramodal comparison of traffic noise effects. Thus, the benefit of the existing methods is limited. They can, in the better cases, only demonstrate the relative importance of road or rail traffic noise effects compared to the nonnoise-related effects of transportation. Currently, none of the major LCI databases includes traffic noise indicators. Thus, noise effects are usually not considered in LCA studies. We introduce a requirement profile for methods that allow the inclusion of noise in LCI. Due to the estimated significance of noise in transport LCA, this inclusion will change the overall results of many LCA studies. None of the existing methods fully complies with the requirement profile. Two of the methods can be modified and extended for inclusion in generic LCI databases. A third model allows for intermodal comparison. From an LCA perspective, all methods include weaknesses and need to be amended in order to make them widely usable. In part 2 of this paper, an in-depth analysis of the promising methods is provided, improvement potential is evaluated, and a new context-sensitive framework for the consistent LCI modeling of noise emissions from road transportation is presented. Appropriate methods for modeling rail and air traffic noise will have to be developed in the future in order to arrive at a methodological framework fully compliant with the requirement profile. Furthermore, future research is needed to identify appropriate methods for impact assessment.

Achieving sustainability in food manufacturing operations and their supply chains: Key insights from a systematic literature review

Food supply chains are highly distributed, collaborative, heterogeneous, diverse, and varied by product, process, and destination. The global food supply chain (FSC) objective is to maintain a good balance between supply and demand and move products from producer to market. However, sustainability of the FSC has become a major concern as limited resources and increasing population pressure threaten its existence. Supply chain management is an important issue for FSC due to information flow throughout the supply chain. Industry-specific characteristics and extensive integration among multiple actors in an entire supply chain exacerbate this situation. The agri-food sector has one of the lowest rates of information technology penetration for innovation. Over the past thirty years, information and communication technology (ICT) has been introduced into the agricultural and food sectors, helping to improve food production and transportation. However, there are various challenges, such as transparency, accountability, food scandal, trust, and inefficient information flow, that the food supply chain is still facing in reaching sustainable goals. The complexity of food supply systems and the opportunities and challenges faced regarding desired sustainability performance need to be examined to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Blockchain is an emerging and disruptive digital technology that can transform governance and sustainability in integrated food supply chains. It provides a transparent, immutable, and traceable ledger that minimizes anomalies and information fraud, making it a potential solution for designing a transparent, traceable food system. Blockchain can potentially improve the sustainability of the food supply chain by providing a transparent traceability system. Food traceability is important for managing the food supply chain and protecting public health. It allows quick and accurate traceability of contaminated food that causes foodborne illness outbreaks, leading to the withdrawal of contaminated food from markets. Blockchain can achieve traceability, provenance tracking, transparency, and reduce environmental impact in the food supply chain. It also helps in achieving sustainable development goals set by the UN. However, there is no scientific research on blockchain’s contribution to achieving these goals in the food supply chain. Therefore, this article presents a systematic literature review and thematic analysis to study the relationship between FSC sustainability, blockchain, and sustainable development goals.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been introduced to Thai industries in 1997 as one of the ISO 14000 series. The concept of LCA is being gradually accepted. However, there are few formal LCA studies in Thailand so far due to a limited number of LCA experts and a lack of sufficient databases relevant to domestic conditions. The LCA activities in Thailand can be divided into 3 areas, which are (1) Workshops and seminars (2) Use of LCA studies in Ecolabelling and (3) Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and LCA studies. The first LCI study was to develop LCI data for Thailand Electricity Grid Mixes. There are a few LCA thesis studies in some universities, but these studies used databases from commercial software programs. The study and use of LCA may increase in the future only if domestic background database will be provided by research institutes and the government, and if industry understands LCA methodology through periodical workshops and seminars. INTRODUCTION Life Cycle Assessment has been introduced to Thai industries in 1997 as one of the ISO 14000 series. The concept of LCA is being gradually accepted. However, there are few formal LCA studies in Thailand so far due to a limited number of LCA experts and a lack of sufficient databases relevant to domestic conditions. ACTIVITIES The LCA activities in Thailand can be divided into 3 areas including (1) Workshops and seminars (2) Use of LCA studies in Ecolabelling and (3) Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and LCA studies. 1. Workshop and Seminar To introduce the LCA concept to Thai Industries, the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI), in cooperation with many organizations, organized LCA seminars/workshops in Thailand annually between 1997-2002. All seminars successfully gained attention from Thai industry and educational institutes. The Thailand LCA Forum (http://doi.eng.cmu.ac.th/Thailca) has been launched by TEI in January of 2002. 2. Use of LCA studies in Ecolabelling The Green Label project was initiated in October 1993 by the Thailand Business Council for Sustainable Development (TBCSD) in association with the Ministry of Industry. This project is supported by the Secretariat, which is formed by a partnership between the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) and TEI. The objectives of the project are to establish the product criteria and award certification to specific products that are shown to have less impact on the environment, when compared with other products serving the same function (not including foods, drinks, and pharmaceuticals). The project came about from the idea that the green label can stimulate market choice thus encouraging producers to improve the environmental quality of their products and services in response to consumer demand. Award of the Thai Green label is based on the product criteria developed by a technical subcommittee. The subcommittee consists of representatives from the scientific, business and environmental groups and others if appropriate and available. A new subcommittee is established for each selected product category. At present, there are 29 product categories that are eligible for the Thai Green Label, and up to the end of November 2001, 227 individual products have received the Green Label award. Being aware of the high cost involved and time consumed in developing product criteria through format LCA, the Thai Green Label scheme has decided that a full quantitative LCA is not applicable for setting criteria for all products, especially in developing countries. The development of award criteria for the scheme has followed different methodologies. It will take into account not only significant environmental impact during the life cycle of the products (Life Cycle Consideration: LCC), but also capability to meet proposed criteria with reasonable process modification and/or improvement. The availability of testing institutes and the ability to perform tests are considered carefully, while setting the criteria. Results from existing LCA studies have been used as a scientific tool in the Thai Green Label Scheme for the development of environmental criteria for a few product categories. 3. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and LCA Studies

Editorial and News

LCA studies require a high volume of data and their quality has a direct influence on the quality of the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study overall. The use of LCA databases enables users to (i) reduce time, efforts, and resources for data collection and (ii) reflect supply chains they have no direct control over. On the other side, it creates the need to align own modeling of the foreground LCA study with the modeling in the database. In recent years, countries worldwide have been more and more motivated in supporting LCA studies by providing national databases that reflect their economy, energy mix, and disposal technologies. This article aims to give insights on the main needs, requirements, and challenges for the creation of an LCA database, with a special focus on national, reference databases. First, the article defines the main characteristics of LCA datasets and discusses data collection approaches. Secondly, LCA databases are defined, and the creation of LCA databases from developed datasets is addressed, including the case of national LCA databases. Finally, the existence of tools that could ease the LCA dataset and database creation process is investigated, namely the LCA Collaboration Server and the LCA Data-Machine. It is important that countries willing to create a national database are supported, for example with capacity-building workshops, by actors with a long tradition in the field, which is of mutual benefit: Countries with a long tradition in LCA will benefit from interactions with newcomers, for instance by discussing together unsolved methodological and interoperability issues; newcomers do not need to start from scratch but can benefit from gained experiences. Creating databases that provide specific data for various parts of the world supports LCA methodology and application in general, and it is not the least a chance for local LCA communities to bring in innovation into LCA, and benefit from existing experiences at the same time.

Partnerships promote innovation in food supply chains

From the Chief Executive and <scp>IFST</scp> News