The formation of the chemical contaminant, acrylamide, during high-temperature cooking and processing of wheat, rye, potato and other mainly plant-derived raw materials was reported in 2002, and the presence of acrylamide in foods is now recognized as a difficult problem for the agricultural and food industries. Acrylamide causes cancer in laboratory animals and is therefore considered to be probably cancer-causing in humans. It also affects the nervous system and reproduction. Cereals, of which wheat is the most important, generate half of the acrylamide in the European diet, with biscuits, snacks and breakfast cereals being of particular concern. The FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has recommended that dietary exposure to acrylamide should be reduced and the European Commission is expected to issue guidance values on acrylamide levels in food before the end of 2010. The current draft of the guidance values proposes levels that will not be consistently achievable for many products. The proposed guidance level for breakfast cereals, for example, is 400 parts per billion (ppb), while levels in some wheat-based breakfast cereals are over 1000 ppb. Furthermore, many Member States support these guidance values becoming regulatory limits. The food industry therefore requires both short-term solutions and a long-term programme of reduction in the acrylamide forming potential of wheat in order to comply with this regulatory situation as it evolves. Methods for reducing acrylamide formation during processing have proven to be difficult to apply to wheat products, either being ineffective or having an unacceptably adverse effect on product quality. The development of commercially viable wheat varieties that are low in acrylamide-forming potential but retain grain characteristics that are important for end product quality would help to address, at source, the problem of acrylamide formation in food manufacture, catering and home cooking, without the need for additives or potentially costly changes to processes. The high-temperature degradation of an amino acid, asparagine, in the presence of sugars (glucose, fructose and maltose) has been shown to be the major route for acrylamide formation and the limiting factor in wheat products is free asparagine. Wheat contains significantly higher levels of asparagine than most other grains. Furthermore, whole wheat grain and wheat bran, which have important health promoting properties, tend also to have higher asparagine levels than refined wheat flour. This project seeks to identify currently available varieties and genotypes of wheat that are low in asparagine and provide wheat breeders with the genetic tools to reduce the concentration of asparagine further. This application is being submitted through the BBSRC's stand-alone LINK scheme. The project will benefit from the involvement of a major European/GB wheat breeder and a consortium of wheat supply chain businesses, allowing for the identification and review of key targets by the industrial partners. The level of industry support is indicative of the importance of the acrylamide issue to wheat supply chain businesses and the potential impact of the project. A letter of support has also been provided by the Food Standards Agency. The project will use state-of-the-art techniques for analysing amino acid concentrations in wheat flour, exploit the genetic resources in wheat that have been developed at Rothamsted and the John Innes Centre, including mapping populations, wheat genetic modification (as a research tool) and high-throughput screening of mutant populations, and utilise the latest DNA sequencing techniques to study differences in gene expression between high and low asparagine genotypes. The impact of reductions in acrylamide-forming potential of grain on performance in industrial processes will be assessed by food industry partners.

There are significant concerns about the UK's ability to meet national and international climate change targets and long term security of supply. There exists many opportunities to improve the efficient use of thermal energy in existing buildings/plants and modes of transport and to give greater consideration to thermal energy management in future designs. Industrial consumption accounted for 18% of total UK final energy consumption in 2011. Within this industrial sector, heat use (space heating, drying/separation, high/low temperature processing) accounts for over 70% of total UK industrial energy use. The market potential for waste heat is estimated to be between 10TWh - 40TWh per annum. Recent developments in energy processing and the need for CO2 reduction have led to a growing interest in using this heat. SMEs account for 45% of industrial energy use but their processes and plants are often less efficient, largely due to the financial cost of optimisation . It is therefore important to ensure support and focus is given to SMEs, particularly addressing the barriers to effective thermal use applicable to this part of the economy. Commercial and residential buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of the UK's total non-transport energy use, with space heating and hot water accounting for almost 80% of residential and 60% of commercial energy use between sectors. Marine and rail transport contribute over 14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent to UK annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and similar opportunities to those in the industrial and building sectors to reduce thermal energy demand exist. The adoption of increasingly stringent emissions legislation and increasing fuel costs have made it even more important that the thermal energy in the power and propulsion is optimised, for example through greater energy recovery and storage. The SusTEM Network will build upon the success of the PRO-TEM Network and expanding its remit. This will include the engagement of researchers with social and economic expertise and widening the network through further engagement with industry, particularly SMEs, academia and government and policy makers (local and national) who have not previously participated in the PRO-TEM Network. SusTEM Network will have the following key objectives: 1. Provide a forum to incorporate stakeholder opinions in the area of thermal energy management for the industrial, building, and transport sectors. 2. Engage with multi-disciplinary researchers within the research community at UK HE institutions, including End Use Energy Demand Centres, to maximise dissemination, impact, reach and significance of research outcomes. 3. Stimulate knowledge transfer between academia, industry, government and other stakeholders. 4. Identify and promote future research requirements based on partner contributions, road-mapping and links to Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTN), European Technology Platforms (ETP) and other relevant networks and initiatives. 5. Foster long-term collaboration between outstanding research teams in the UK and China and to ensure there is a two way transfer of knowledge.

Centre vision: The EPSRC Centre for Innovative Food Manufacturing will meet the challenges of UK and global food security through developing world-leading technologies, tools and leaders, tailored to the specific needs of food products. With a turnover of £76.2bn (20% of the UK total), Food and drink is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK employing around 400,000 people. With an anticipated rapid growth in 'better value' products and in products designed for the nation's Health and Wellness, in particular for the ageing population, food manufacturing requires innovation in increased productivity - to produce more from less - to preserve natural resources such as water and energy, to minimise waste generation and to decrease the trade deficit in the sector. Crucially this will enable the UK food sector to be at the forefront of the next generation of sustainable production which are more natural and healthier., and to develop more resilient supply chains leading to state of the art manufacturing capability, in an increasingly competitive landscape. The proposed research focuses on identifying not only new sources of raw material but also on reducing the demand on existing resources through a simultaneous improvement of food products, manufacturing methods and supply networks. In this context, some of the key research questions are: How do we fully valorise biomass (including waste re-use) as new sources of raw material in food production?; How can we design and manufacture products with the high nutritional values using fewer raw materials?; How do we improve the efficiency of food production processes (e.g. through smart monitoring technologies; process intensification / flexible manufacturing) to consume fewer resources (materials, energy and water) across the supply chain?; How can we eliminate the production and post-production waste caused by inefficient supply and manufacturing activities and /or relationships? The scope of the proposed research focuses on the manufacturing activities from 'post-farm gate to supermarket shelf', and will be considered under two specific Grand Challenges (GC): 1) Innovative materials, products and processes and 2) Sustainable food supply and manufacture. These research challenges closely align with the EPSRC call for 'Centres for Innovative Manufacturing', in particular the three areas of Resource Efficiency in Manufacturing: processes and technologies towards complete reuse of key materials and components; the need to dramatically reduce energy demand, including the incorporation of smart energy monitoring and management technologies; optimisation of material and product re-use, re-manufacturing and recycling, Innovative Production Processes: manufactured foods being complex formulated systems, and Complex Multifunctional Products: food is a high volume product assembled using processes which operate from the nano- (raw material) to the macro-scales (packaged goods). The proposed EPSRC Centre brings together world leading expertise in the areas of biomaterial science, formulation engineering and sustainable manufacturing. Loughborough and Nottingham are involved in the current EPSRC Centres and will ensure complementarities with other EPSRC research portfolios. The Centre will deliver demonstrable tools, methods and specific technologies, will develop academic and industrial leaders, and will provide evidence to support future policy making, thus ensuring the long-term competitiveness and security of the UK and global food supply chain. The proposal benefits from the interest and support of a wide range of stakeholders from ingredient producers and manufacturers to retailers and governmental organisations and has exploitation opportunities as the research challenges fit with the strategic themes in the new TSB High Value Manufacturing Strategy 2012-2015.

Potato and onion are major UK and worldwide crops required year-round by consumers and processors. Due to seasonal production, long term storage is necessary, during which produce must be maintained with good quality for fresh consumption and processing, and in a nutritious state. Potato tubers and onion bulbs are natural over-wintering structures with a tendency to resume growth during storage, resulting in sprouted produce that is unattractive and unsaleable, or unsuited to processing due to compositional changes such as increased sugar levels. Multiple strategies are used to extend dormancy and minimise sprouting and waste, including low temperature storage and application of sprout suppressants such as chlorpropham, maleic hydrazide or ethylene. Such treatments are not fully effective as quality deterioration may occur even if sprouting is inhibited and legislation increasingly limits use of many of these chemicals. In addition, long-term cold storage is a major economic cost with a substantial carbon footprint. Development of alternative strategies to maintain tubers and bulbs in a dormant state and long-term suppression of sprouting are top industry priorities. Genetic studies in potato have shown that inheritance of tuber dormancy characteristics is affected by several genes acting alone or in combination, but the identity of these genes is unknown. Despite substantial progress, a full understanding of the biology of dormancy and sprouting has not yet emerged, and this substantially hampers development of new strategies for storage, and breeding of new varieties with better dormancy and sprouting behaviours. Fortunately recent advances in the field of molecular biology allow us to make major advances to address these issues. Scientific studies have revealed common roles in potato and onion for several plant hormones including abscisic acid, ethylene, gibberellins and cytokinins, in regulation of dormancy, and sprout growth, suggesting that knowledge of one commodity further our understanding of another. This project will benefit from major advances in potato genetics, especially publication of the genome sequence, as well as huge developments in DNA sequencing technologies which now enable in-depth analysis of the relatively unexplored but highly complex onion genome. New, powerful potato genetic resources will allow us to pinpoint the position and identity of genes that exert the greatest control of dormancy and sprouting. These resources include large mapping populations, developed by crossing highly divergent parents. Preliminary studies have already revealed genomic regions containing key genes that can drive crop improvement and new management methods. The assembled research consortium brings together James Hutton Institute, Cranfield University, Imperial College London and Greenwich University, providing a wealth of experience in genomics, genetics, molecular biology, physiology, agronomy and storage of potato and onion. Project outcomes will include (1) identification of key genes in potato and onion, their variant forms and regulatory mechanisms that underpin potato tuber dormancy, (2) development of genome-wide data on major genes in onion bulb dormancy and sprouting, and (3) comparison of shared and distinctive elements of dormancy and sprouting control in potato and onion, leading to elucidation of key physiological and molecular control steps. Through involvement of industry representative bodies and companies, information generated can readily be translated towards enhanced, variety-specific storage regimes, enabling reduced chemical usage and less reliance on expensive low temperature storage. Knowledge of key regulatory genes can in the longer term be adopted by breeders to develop potatoes with better dormancy characteristics.

The UK food chain, comprising agricultural production, manufacturing, distribution, retail and consumption, involves more than 300,000 enterprises and employs 3.6 million people. The food and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector, employing 500,000 people and contributing £80 billion to the economy. It is also estimated that the food chain is responsible for 160 MtCO2e emissions and 15 Mt of food waste, causing significant environmental impacts. Energy is an important input in all stages of the food chain and is responsible for 18% of the UK's final energy demand. In recent years, progress has been made in the reduction of energy consumption and emissions from the food chain primarily through the application of well proven technologies that could lead to quick return on investment. To make further progress, however, significant innovations will have to be made in approaches and technologies at all stages of the food chain, taking a holistic view of the chain and the interactions both within the chain and the external environment. The EPSRC Centre for Sustainable Energy Use in Food Chains will make significant contributions in this field. It will bring together multidisciplinary research groups of substantial complementary experience and internationally leading research track record from the Universities of Brunel, Manchester and Birmingham and a large number of key stakeholders to investigate and develop innovative approaches and technologies to effect substantial end use energy demand reductions. The Centre will engage both in cutting edge research into approaches and technologies that will have significant impacts in the future, leading towards the target of 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050, but also into research that will have demonstrable impacts within the initial five year lifetime of the Centre. Taking a whole systems approach, the research themes will involve: i) Simulation of energy and resource flows in the food chain, from farm-gate to plate to enable investigations of energy and resource flows between the stages of the chain and the external environment, and facilitate overall energy and resource use optimisation taking into consideration the impact of policy decisions, future food and energy prices and food consumption trends. ii) Investigation of approaches and technologies for the reduction of energy use at all stages of the chain through reduction of the energy intensity of individual processes and optimisation of resource use. It is expected that a number of new innovative and more efficient technologies and approaches for energy reduction will be developed in the lifetime of the Centre to address processing, distribution, retail and final consumption in the home and the service sector. iii) Identification of optimal ways of interaction between the food chain and the UK energy supply system to help manage varying demand and supply through distributed power generation and demand-response services to the grid. iv) Study of consumer behaviour and the impact of key influencing factors such as changing demographics, increased awareness of the needs and requirements of sustainable living, economic factors and consumption trends on the nature and structure of the food chain and energy use. Even though the focus will be on the food chain, many of the approaches and technologies developed will also be applicable to other sectors of the economy such as industry, commercial and industrial buildings and transportation of goods. The Centre will involve extensive collaboration with the user community, manufacturers of technology, Government Departments, Food Associations and other relevant research groups and networks. A key vehicle for dissemination and impact will be a Food Energy and Resource Network which will organise regular meetings and annual international conferences to disseminate the scientific outputs and engage the national and international research and user communities