LiFT course and FSS conference 2024

Several LiFT PhD students attended the “The Consumer Perspective on Food” course at Örebro University and the Food Science Sweden conference titled “The Food System in Transition” from April 8th to April 12th, 2024.

The course covered various essential topics for understanding consumer behaviour and preferences. Leading experts from academia and industry delivered lectures, exercises, and workshops throughout the course.

Course content:

  • Cultural Aspects & Communication: Marleen Letjes (ORU) discussed how diet, migration, and epidemiology influence food consumption based on cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Elin Boll (Arla) led a session on business marketing and communication.
  • Sensory Science: Prof. Åsa Öström (ORU) introduced sensory science with sessions on Swedish sustainable products, the role of sensory departments in companies, and workshops on sensory evaluation methods for plant-based products. Participants also explored the physiology of the senses and engaged in sensory testing of wine and caviar.
  • Societal Demands: Carolin Zorell (ORU) lectured on political consumerism, while Nicklas Neuman (Uppsala University) spoke about the social conventions of eating. A practical workshop with small group tasks further enhanced understanding.
  • Marketing & Communication: Rebecka Persson (Orkla) discussed health communication from a company perspective, and Linda Nordgren (Oatly) covered strategies for changing the food system through marketing and communication.
  • LiFT PhD students also participated in the Food Science Sweden conference: “The Food System in Transition”, at Örebro University Hospital Campus on April 10th, where they presented their research to a wider audience as part of the course.

Matdagen 2024

Matdagen was taking place at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Stockholm 25th of April 2024. The theme for this year was “EU and Sweden 30 years after the referendum – what do we want with Europe?” The next morning, the LiFT students gathered at the Swedish Food Federation to have seminars about “Processed foods – facts and opinions”. The program included the following presentations:

  • The EU regulatory system for food (Nicklas Amelin, Livsmedelsföretagen)
  • Debate and science about processed foods (Elisabet Rytter, Livsmedelsföretagen)
  • Why do we process foods (Andreas Håkansson, Lunds University)

Link to Matdagen 2024 on YouTube

LiFT course 2023

The LiFT course “Regulatory and ethical aspects of food production and consumption” was hosted by SLU in Uppsala, 13-17 March, 2023.

This course explored legal and ethical aspects regarding food production and the management of the food chain. The course focused on the laws and the policies, self-regulations and private standards that govern the structure and content of the Swedish food system. Sustainability aspects including environmental aspects, such as natural resources and risk analyses were also considered.

Read more about the course here

LiFT course 2022

The LiFT course “The Food Industry in Sweden” was hosted by Lund University in Lund, 14-17 November, 2022.

The course was divided into three parts: Food politics, branding and competitiveness, and sustainability. The lectures were given by representatives from Livsmedelsföretagen, Sweden Food Arena, RISE, Malmö University, and Lund University. AAK presented their company and how they work with customer co-development. Orkla presented how they think about production and sustainability. Aventure gave a presentation about their innovative food products. We also organized two study visits. During the study visit to Oatly, a Swedish food company that produces alternatives to dairy products from oats, we learned about this company, history and products, and had a tour in the labs. Lastly, we visited Culinar at Fjälkinge outside Kristianstad, where we learned about their consumer-oriented product development. We also had the possibility to visit the factory.

MAT-Dagen 2022

MAT-dagen was taking place at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Stockholm 5th May. The day started with a LiFT workshop on the current trends in the food sector at the Swedish Food Federation. The program included the following presentations:

  • Consumer trends affecting production – this is what companies see (Carl Eckerdahl, Swedish Food Federation)
  • Trends in food and how vegetarian eating has developed over time (Rebecca Persson, United Minds)
  • Trends in vegetarian meat substitutes (Rebecka Persson, Orkla Foods Sverige).

Then, the PhD students had opportunity to discuss the current trends with the speakers.

The theme of Matdagen was “The food sector in times of crisis” with a panel discussion with representatives from the farmers, the food industry and the retail sector discussing which actors in the food chain that will take the costs associated to increased price of food.

The day after, the LiFT students visited Delicato, the largest pastry bakery producer in the Nordic countries and had a guided tour at the production site.

Dissertations 2022

Semhar Ghirmai from Chalmers Technical University, Department of Biology and Biological engineering, Division Food and Nutrition science, defended her PhD thesis: “Preventing hemolysis as a novel strategy to limit hemoglobin-mediated lipid oxidation in fish muscle”. Friday 25 November 2022, at 10:00, Gustaf Dalénsalen, Chalmers Tvärgata 5, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Klara Sjölin from Lund University, Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition, defended her thesis: “Industrially Pre-Treated Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) Served in Large-Scale Food Service Systems”. Friday 11 November 2022, at 9.00, Lecture hall KC:A, Kemicentrum, Naturvetarvägen 14, Lunds Tekniska Högskola LTH, Lund.

Olle Hartvigsson from Chalmers Technical University, Department of Biology and Biological engineering, Division Food and Nutrition science, defended his PhD thesis: “Maternal and neonatal metabolomes and their associations to immune maturation and allergy in early life”. Friday 10 September 2022, at 09:00, Lecture hall 10:an, Kemigården 4, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Anja Herneke from SLU, Uppsala, Department of Molecular Sciences defended her PhD thesis: “Plant protein nanofibrils: characterizing properties for future food”. Thursday 9 September 2022, at 09.00, Lecture hall Lennart Kennes sal, SLU, Ultuna.

Cecilia Mayer Labba from Chalmers Technical University, Department of Biology and Biological engineering, Division Food and Nutrition science, defended her PhD thesis: “Nutritional limitations of a green protein shift with focus on iron”. Tuesday 6 September 2022, at 10:00, Lecture hall 10:an, Kemigården 4, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Anna-Lovisa Nynäs from SLU Alnarp, Department of Plant Breeding defended her PhD thesis: “Harnessing the potential of green leaves: Agricultural biomass as a source of sustainable food protein”. Friday 5 May 2022, Crafoordsalen, Navet, SLU, Alnarp.

Eva Schmitz from Lund University, Division of Biotechnology, defended her PhD thesis: “Dietary fibre production from oat hulls”. Thursday 3 February 2022, at 9.15, Lecture hall KC:A, Kemicentrum, Naturvetarvägen 14, Lunds Tekniska Högskola LTH, Lund.

LiFT course 2021

The LiFT course “Innovation Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Project Management” was hosted by Chalmers in Gothenburg, 18 – 21 October 2021.

The aim of this course was to introduce managerial issues with the emphasis on technology strategy, entrepreneurship, and project management in business-driven research and development (R&D) settings. The course included three parts: Business strategy and innovation management, engagement and economics of research and development projects, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property (IP) strategies. Speaker were invited from the Department of Technology management and Economics at Chalmers, the School of Industrial Technology and Management at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and other experts in leadership, economics, legal counsel etc.

Dissertations 2021

Xue Zhao from SLU, Department of Molecular Sciences defended her PhD thesis: “Novel potato starch : new structure and beneficial qualities”. Monday 11 October 2021, at 09.00, Lecture hall Lennart Kennes sal, SLU, Ultuna.

Mursalin Sajib from Chalmers Technical University, Department of Biology and Biological engineering, Division Food and Nutrition science defended her PhD thesis: “Valorization of herring filleting co-products to silage – Control of protein hydrolysis and lipid oxidation during ensilaging and possibilities for separating herring silage into multiple products”. Friday 1 October 2021, at 10.00, Lecture hall EE, Hörsalvägen 11, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Hasitha Priyashantha from SLU, Department of Molecular Sciences defended his PhD thesis: “Variation in raw milk quality: impact on milk coagulation and cheese ripening”. Friday 10 september 2021, at 09.00, Zoom.

Laura Andreea Bolos from SLU, Department of Molecular Sciences defended her PhD thesis: “Comfortably numb: Choose, eat, waste. Four experimental essays on consumers’ acceptance of sub-optimal food”. Friday 26 February 2021, at 13.00, Zoom.

LiFT course 2020

The LiFT course “Innovation strategy, Entrepreneurship and Project management” planned to be held at Chalmers in Gothenburg, 23-26 November 2020 has been post-poned.

Information about new dates for the course (possibly in late spring or fall 2021) will come.

Matdagen 2020

Matdagen at the Modern Museum May 7th 2020 has been cancelled.

LiFT course 2019

The LiFT course “Food Ethics and Leglisation” was hosted by SLU in Uppsala, 6th-8th May, 2019.

The course gave an overview of food legislation and included legislation and ethics from the industry´s point of view, food safety – risk assessment and management, pseudoscience in food and health, risk and crisis communication and animal ethics, with implications to food. The presentations were provided by lecturers from the National Food Agency, the Swedish Food Federation, Lund university, Uppsala university and SLU.

As a co-event to the course in Uppsala, 11 LiFT PhD students participated at a seminar 9th May, organized by Elisabet Rytter at the Swedish Food Federation in Stockholm.

The program included a presentaion of the Swedish Food Arena (SFA), by Marie Gidlund, director for the SFA and information about the current Health claims/labelling of food by Elisabet Rytter. After the seminar the PhD students attended to the Matdagen at the Modern Museum, this year with the topic public health.

LiFT course 2018

The research school LiFT organized the course “Swedish Food Industry” in Lund from 29th October to 1st November 2018.

The course gave an overview of the organization of the Swedish food actors, including food policy in Sweden, market strategies, packaging logistics in a food supply chain, R & D activity in the food industry and much more. The course included a study visit to Tetra Pak, a multinational food packaging and processing sub-company of Tetra Laval.

Various speakers from Swedish food industries and academia delivered lectures during the course. Some of them are former LiFT PhD students.

“We learned how Swedish food industry has developed over the past decades, we discussed challenges and innovative solutions. This course indeed was an important component of my PhD study”, says LiFT PhD student Hasitha Priyashantha, one of the course participants.

Dissertations 2019

Gabriel Barbosa de Oliveira from Chalmers department of Biology and Biological engineering, division Food & Nutrition science, defended his PhD thesis:“Processing of berries – Effects on functionality, stability and bioactivity of anthocyanins”. Tuesday 17 December, 2019, at 10:00, Lecture hall Kollektorn, Kemivägen 9, MC2-huset, Chalmers tekniska högskola Göteborg.

Stina Burri from Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrit

on Faculty of Engineering (LTH), Lund University, defended her PhD thesis: “Antioxidants as potential anti-inflammatory components in processed meat products”. Wednesday 6 December, 2019, at 09:15, Lecture hall A, Chemistry centre, Lund University.

Maria Karlsson from Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish Agricultural University, defended her PhD thesis: “Stability of ultra-high temperature treated milk. The effect of raw milk quality, storage temperature and storage time”. Tuesday 5 December, 2019, at 13:15, Room L, Undervisningshuset, Ultuna, SLU Uppsala.

Hanna Harrysson from Chalmers department of Biology and Biological engineering, division Food & Nutrition science defended her thesis: “Food ingredients from cultivated seaweeds. Improving storage stability and protein recovery“. Friday 4 October 2019, at 13.00, Lecture Hall KA, Kemigården 4, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Dissertations and och Licentiat seminars 2018

Graziele Gustinelli from Chalmers department of Biology and Biological engineering, division Food & Nutrition science and RISE, presented her licentiate seminar on: “Supercritical fluid extraction of bioactive compounds from beery seeds“. Monday 11 June, 2018 at 13:15, Utsikten, Room 7033, Kemihuset, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Niklas Engström from Chalmers department of Biology and Biological engineering, division Food & Nutrition science, defended his PhD thesis: “Toward celiac-safe foods – Investigation of the interaction between transglutaminase 2 and gluten“. Friday 8 June, 2018, at 10:00, Lecture hall KB, Kemihuset, Kemigården 4 Chalmers tekniska högskola Göteborg.

Cecilia Tullberg defended her PhD thesis “Oxidation of marine oils during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and its effects on stress in human intestinal Caco-2 cells“, Friday 2 February 2018 at 10:00 Lecture hall KC, Kemigården 4, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Current LiFT PhD students

  • Andrea Bolos, SLU
  • Emilia Berndtsson, SLU
  • Mathilde Brunel, SLU
  • Thomas Eliasson, SLU
  • Semhar Ghirmai, Chalmers
  • Olle Hartvigsson, Chalmers
  • Anja Herneke, SLU
  • Therese Hjort, Chalmers
  • Mukul Hossain, LTH/LU
  • Huang Fang, LTH/LU
  • Jayarathna Shishanthi, SLU
  • Mathias Johanson, SLU
  • Ludwig Lundqvist, SLU
  • Cecilia Mayer Labba, Chalmers
  • Klara Nilsson, SLU
  • Elise Nordin, Chalmers
  • Siri Norlander, LTH/LU
  • Anna-Lovisa Nynäs, SLU
  • Solja Pietiäinen, SLU
  • Laura Pirkola, SLU
  • Hasitha Priyashantha, SLU
  • Mursalin Sajib, Chalmers
  • Eva Schmitz, LTH/LU
  • Louise Selga, SLU
  • Klara Sjölin, LTH
  • Mia Stråvik, Chalmers
  • Joao Trigo, Chalmers
  • Jingnan Zhang, Chalmers
  • Xue Zhao, SLU

Dissertations 2017

Daniel Johansson försvarade sin avhandling “Impact of Cereal Food structures on Metabolic Effects and Satiety“, fredagen den 20 januari 2017 kl 9:00 i Lennart Kennes sal A281, BioCentrum Ultuna, SLU, Uppsala.

Nikul Soni försvarade sin avhandling “The impact of the fatty acids EPA and DHA on murine gene expression: a possible role in the prevention of high fat diet induced metabolic dysregulation” , onsdagen den 25 januari 2017, kl 10:00 i föreläsningssal FH, Fysikgården 4, Fysikhuset, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Otto Savolainen försvarade sin avhandling  “Mass spectrometry based metabolomics: Development of a next generation GC-MS method and its application to type 2 diabetes and dietary biomarker research”, fredagen den 10 mars kl 13:00 i KB, Kemigården 4, Kemihuset, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Linda Ekström försvarade sin avhandling “Tailoring the course of postprandial glycaemia to bread: On the importance of viscous fibre for acute and semi-acute glucose tolerance and appetite“, den 29 mars 2017, kl 9:15 i sal A-C, Ole Römersväg 3, Lunds tekniska högskola.

Susanne Djurle försvarade sin avhandling “Carbohydrate Quality of Barley Products with focus on β-glucan” fredagen den 12 maj 2017, kl  9:00 i Lennart Kemmes sal A281, Ultuna

Disputationer under 2016

Karin Jonsson  försvarade sin avhandling “Early dietary exposure is associated with allergy development in the FARMFLORA birth cohort“, fredagen den 28 oktober, 2016 kl 13:00 i sal KA, Kemigården 4, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Linnea Qvirist försvarade sin avhandling “Biofortification of fermented foods with selected yeast strains and process for raised folate content and mineral availablity” måndagen den 28 november  2016 kl 10:00 i 10:an, Forskarhus 1, Kemihuset, Chalmers tekniska högskola, Göteborg.

Genomförda kurser inom LiFTs forskarskola 2016

Forskarskolan LiFT organiserade tillsammans med forskarskolan “Food in Focus” kursen  “Multivariate statistics and experimental design” i oktober 2016.

Kursen arrangeradesi Uppsala, vid Ultuna uppdelad på två delmoment. Del 1 (Multivariat analys) den 3-4 oktober och del 2 (Försöksdesign) 6-7 oktober. Kursen Innovationsstrategi, entreprenörsskap och projektledning  genomfördes den 11-14 april 2016 vid Chalmers i Göteborg