Organised as part of the Food Processing Faraday's ChIEFS project for Championing Innovation between the Engineering and Food Sectors, the conference at the University of Nottingham on Thursday September 29 will look particularly at energy saving, lean manufacture and emerging technologies for food and drink manufacture.

According to John Stanford, senior consultant at the Food Processing Faraday (now merged with Quotec), who will be speaking at the conference, the main areas where new technology is being applied in the food industry are novel processing, sensors for safety and quality control, hygienic production, robotics and automation, as well as refrigeration and chilling.

"Novel processing has been a major area for innovation with much more exploration of ways of making food products more quickly," said Stanford.

"Hygienic production is also a prime area for innovation. Guaranteeing microbiological safety is the number one priority in any food preparation process and this has led to the development of a number of techniques for reducing bacterial loading, many of them developed in other sectors."

Stanford will also highlight sensors for safety and quality control; robots; hygienic handling and and automation; and refrigeration and chilling as areas where technology is being applied.

"Industry's need to reduce energy costs and cut the leaks of refrigerants is leading to several different refrigeration systems many of them mature technologies."

Contact: chiefs@fpfaraday.com or call 01664 420066.