Validation and market uptake of a natural disinfection whey-based formula for whole and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables

Project Information

WHEYCOM

Grant agreement ID: 674797

DOI 10.3030/674797

Project closed

EC signature date 10 July 2015

Start date 1 August 2015

End date 31 July 2017

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost € 697 000,00

EU contribution € 487 900,00

Coordinated by

AGROFIELD SOCIEDAD LIMITADA
Spain

Objective

WHEYCOM was born to solve a twofold problem: the necessity of more healthy and sustainable sanitizers for washing of whole and fresh-cut F&V and the need to reduce the amount of waste coming from the cheese industry.
Chlorine-based chemicals are the most widely used disinfectants in fresh-cut industry. These sanitizers pose health and environmental risks. They can react with organic matter in water and form trihalomethanes as by-products, which are carcinogenic compounds. Besides Chlorine is included in the indicative list of the Directive on industrial emissions as a major water pollutant. The application of chorine in ready-to-use F&V is already banned in some European countries, including The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium because of their potential toxicity.
On the other hand the whey is the liquid fraction that is obtained during the production of cheese. The content raised in lactose is the main reason why whey is considered to be a highly polluting product. For each kilogram of cheese about 9 kilograms of whey are generated. Current whey processing systems are not economically viable for most SME.
The project WHEYCOM aims to exploit the results of previous efforts carried out in research and development of a whey-based solution for the sanitizing of whole and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables (F&V). To this end, the optimization of the formula and validation, homologation and replication activities will be carried out.

Fields of science

• agricultural sciences › agriculture, forestry, and fisheries › agriculture › horticulture › fruit growing
• agricultural sciences › agriculture, forestry, and fisheries › agriculture › horticulture › vegetable growing
• natural sciences › chemical sciences › inorganic chemistry › halogens
• social sciences › economics and business › business and management › commerce
• agricultural sciences › animal and dairy science › domestic animals › animal husbandry › animal feed

Programme(s)

• H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy Main Programme
• H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument

Topic(s)

• SFS-08-2014 - Resource-efficient eco-innovative food production and processing

Call for proposal

H2020-SMEInst-2014-2015

See other projects for this call

Sub call

H2020-SMEINST-2-2014

Funding Scheme

SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

Coordinator

AGROFIELD SOCIEDAD LIMITADA

• Net EU contribution: € 487 900,00
• Address: POLIGONO INDUSTRIAL PASADA DEL pab 4 ; 26140 LARDERO ; Spain
• SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes:
  Region
  Noreste › La Rioja › La Rioja
• Region: Noreste › La Rioja › La Rioja
• Activity type: Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
• Total cost: € 697 000,00