Software crunches contaminant data, eating habits

By Ahmed ElAmin

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Nutrition

New software can help manufacturers gear their formulations to meet
safety regulations and consumers' demands for healthier foods.

Food processors are under increasing pressure to keep their products within the safety limits for pesticides, additives and other possible contaminants in the ingredients they use. They are also under pressure to develop healthier products, both from consumers and regulators.

Ireland-based Creme Software says it has developed the technology for government regulators, safety assessors and the research and development departments of food companies, among others.

Creme says it developed the software to help regulators, safety authorities, food, personal care product and chemical manufacturers and researchers to rapidly and reliably evaluate exposure, consumption and safety levels of their products.

The company's Creme 2.0 is an online software product that allows processors to manage data and calculate population statistics and exposure assessments to chemicals, additives, nutrients, contaminants in food and cosmetics.

Using the software's ability to analyse large samples of the population's eating habits including all of the additives and chemicals in their diet, processors can get a better picture of how their products may affect health, Creme claimed.

The company said it has achieved the data crunching by using the same technology that the world's largest banks use to calculate their financial exposure and risk.

"Food companies put a myriad of additives and different ingredients into our food products,"​ the company stated yesterday in press release. "Each one in its own right may not be harmful to the population. But, in combination with other substances from our diverse eating habits, there may be a risk of high levels of exposure to harmful substances."

Creme Software teamed up with another Irish company, Wirefile Health Informatics, to enable complete online, on-demand data collection and analysis of the data.

Wirefile developed the the population consumption data in an appropriate format. The Wirefile analysts can gather up-to-date and detailed information on the consumption habits of the population.

This information is then combined with the amount of saturated fat, nutrients, carbohydrates and calories in the food products. The result of this analysis is a complete and accurate distribution of population exposure to these ingredients.

"The following questions can now be answered by regulators and researchers,"​ Creme Software claimed in a press release. "What exactly is the consumption of the highest five per cent of consumers of saturated fat? Are they at risk?"

For example, many of the products that consumers use for cooking contain varying quantities of salt, Creme stated. When they combine this with the amount of salt in processed foods, it turns out that the amount of salt that the population consumes is far too high.

Cronan McNamara, Creme's chief executive officer, said the software allows clients to design studies and collect data more efficiently.

"This data can then be analysed, managed and shared efficiently and easily using Creme's scientifically validated safety assessment models,"​ he stated in a press release. "This all leads to more up to date data sets, more accurate analysis by researchers, government departments and companies and ultimately improved consumer health."

The software emerged from over five years of research carried out at Trinity College Dublin under nutritionist Mike Gibney, the company stated.

Related topics Food Safety & Quality

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