Turning by-products into new foods

In order to ensure a sufficient supply of food for the 9.7 billion people, which the UN is forecasting will live on planet earth in 2050, we need to find ways of better utilizing the raw materials that we use to produce food.

The National Food Institute is working towards this goal through its research and by collaborating with the industry to develop methods that enable better utilization of the by-products generated in the production of food.

The institute’s vision is to make a difference by developing new and better food products for a growing population.

Better use of the fishing industry’s by-products

As such, the institute is part of various research project, which aim to turn the seafood industry’s by-products into a source of income. And the potential is great: In total, the European fishing industry processes 5.1 million tonnes of fish annually, of which almost a third ends up as side-streams that are often either used as animal feed or become waste.

Find out more about the research being conducted into ways of utilizing the resources of the sea better: The waste from seafood to become the sustainable foods of the future.

Sustainable production of beer based on by-products

Better utilization of by-products is also an important part of the work at the DTU Brewery, which is run by the National Food Institute. Here, the researchers are working to fulfill their ambition of brewing a circular beer with zero environmental impact.

For example, the spinout company Science Brew has found a way of reusing the by-product brewer’s spent grain, which is generated in the production of beer, to make chips and dip that can be enjoyed with the beer. Read about the project in a news item: Turning by-products from beer brewing into chips and dip.

Using brewer’s spent grain in alternatives to yoghurt and meat

Brewer’s spent grain is also used as an ingredient in a vegan alternative to yoghurt, which researchers at the National Food Institute are developing to satisfy the global demand for plant-based alternatives to traditional milk products.

Brewer’s spent grain contains a fair amount of protein, sugar and antioxidants and the researchers involved in the project also want to develop new ways of utilizing the by-product in the production of meat alternatives.

Read about the project in the news item: Vegan ‘yogurt’ made with lactic acid bacteria from plants or in the project description in DTU’s research database Orbit: Production of meat and dairy alternatives from brewers spent grain (BSG).