IFT
The IFT Innovation winners' innovations focused on ingredient technologies food safety and sustainability. 
 

CHICAGO — Bavaria Corp., CSIRO and Weber Scientific were honored on July 17 with Innovation Awards at the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual meeting and food expo, taking place July 16-20 in Chicago. The award-winning innovations focused on ingredient technologies, food safety and sustainability.

Bavaria Corp., Apopka, Florida, was honored for the development of it Bafos Veg ingredient system, which eliminates chemical nitrates in naturally cured meat products. The clean label ingredient works by utilizing the natural occurring nitrates in chard, spinach and acerola. It aids in retaining red and pink color in cured meats, according to the company. Acerola is an antioxidant that helps to improve shelf life and color retention.

 Bafos
Bavaria Corp.'s Bafos Veg ingredient system aids in retaining aids in retaining red and pink color in cured meats. 
 
CSIRO, which is an acronym for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Canberra, Australia, earned an Innovation Award for the development of its Megasonics Technology For Enhanced Oil Recovery. Sound waves in the mega-sonic range may recover oil lost in fibrous plant material. This insight led to a multi-stakeholder collaboration to create a commercial mega-sonic application in the food industry. The patented mega-sonic reactors being industrialized in the palm oil industry use high frequency sound pressure waves to coalesce emulsified oil droplets and separate them from palm fruit particles. The process may recover one to two liters of oil per kilogram of fresh fruit, according to the research group.
 CSI
CSIRO's Megasonics Technology for for Enchanced Oil Recovery may recover 1 to 2 liters of oil per kilogram of fresh fruit. 
 
Weber Scientific, Hamilton, New Jersey, was honored for its PCR Foodproof Yeast and Mold Quantification LyoKit, which provides total count of yeasts and molds in dairy products in three to four hours compared with five days with current plate count methods. Results are displayed in colon forming units per gram and only viable organisms are detected, according to the company.

 

 Web
Weber Scientific's PCR Foodproof Yeast and Mold Quantification LyoKit provides total count of yeasts and molds in dairy products in 3 to 4 hours. 
 

“Now in its tenth year, the Food Expo Innovation Awards program is a showcase for amazing advancements in our profession,” said Mary Ellen Camire, immediate past president of the IFT. “Exclusive to companies exhibiting at the IFT16 Food Expo, these awards honor outstanding innovation in products, ingredients, technologies, instrumentation, equipment, and services that were commercially introduced since January 2015.”

A panel of eight jurors from industry, academia, and government selected the three companies and their innovations from 46 qualified entries. Judging criteria included degree of innovation, technical advancement, benefits to food manufacturers and consumers, and scientific merit.