Department of Safety and Quality of Milk and Fish Products
The department deals with application-oriented research in the areas milk and fish and in products manufactured hereof. Special emphasis is placed on the maintenance of the nutritive and sensory value of the afore mentioned foods and on the protection against harmful microorganisms, undesired substances and residues.
An important objective is the improvement of product safety/hygiene as well as the quality along the entire processing chain from primary production to the delivery to the consumer. Accordingly, the product quality of milk begins with the udder health of cows and concerns the development and validation of analytical procedures and the optimization of product technology. In addition, the researchers of the department undertake numerous voyages with the federally owned research vessels in order to gain authentic fish samples for residue analysis, species identification and determination of constituents.
One of these tasks consists in the assessment of sustainable processes and new technological procedures. Process and product quality need the development of analytical and sensory methods for improving the product composition, and for proving the regional origin and authenticity, technological studies for the evaluation of changes of food constituents during processing, and the characterization of value-determining substances and technologically relevant components.
Affiliated to the Department of Safety and Quality of Milk and Fish Products are the accredited National Milk Reference Laboratory, the accredited National Reference Laboratory for Nematodes in Fish, and the Coordinating Office for the monitoring of environmental radioactivity.