Københavns Universitets Videoportal

The history of food science – episode 4 – We survived on the rye bread

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 11:49:40 GMT

In the history of the Food Science part 4 - We survived on the rye bread Professor of food chemistry Leif Skibsted is interviewing associate professor emerita Åse Hansen (both from UCPH FOOD) about the importance of bread for our nutrition and about the research in bread, sourdough, taste etc.

The rye came to Denmark at the end of the Iron Age, and the first clay ovens found for baking raised bread are from the Viking age. When people talked about bread, they always meant rye bread. The wheat bread was only eaten by the nobility and the rich, but today we know that the rye is far healthier for us, because we traditionally eat the whole kernel from the rye. We have traditionally milled the wheat to flour in such a way that 25% of the grain - and precisely that part with most nutrients - was sorted and used for animal feed. However, when eating whole wheat flour (also called graham flour), these nutrients are not lost. It is not about eating very coarse bread with lots of whole grains in it, but just about having to grind whole grains into flour instead of sorting out the coarser parts of the kernel, including the bran.

You also get an answer as to why the sourdough is so important to the taste of the bread, about the researcher Mikkel Hindhede, who during the First World War made experiments with his assistant Madsen to prove that a diet without much meat was preferable.

The History of Food Science in Denmark - Part 2

Tue, 28 May 2019 12:27:48 GMT

Link to the History of Food Science in Denmark - episode 3

Link to the History of Food Science in Denmark – episode 4

Link to the History of Food Science in Denmark – episode 1

In Denmark, the modern history of food science begins with the establishment of the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (RVAU) at Frederiksberg in 1858 – which today is a part of the University of Copenhagen. The RVAU employed researchers/teachers who, through research, dissemination and education, paved the way for a huge export adventure of butter and bacon at a time when Denmark was struggling to keep up the export of cereals.

One of the key researchers was Niels Johannes Fjord, the Niels Bohr of food science in Denmark. Fjord was extremely energetic and set up his own experimental institution, where he and colleagues from the RVAU developed brilliant solutions to problems that were crucial to Denmark’s economy and helped to create the foundation for the Danish welfare system. Fjord’s research became incredibly important when falling prices and high international competition in the grain market meant that Denmark had to majorly reorganise its agriculture. Butter and bacon became the new gold for the country’s export earnings. The question is whether today we are facing a similarly radical shift in food production?

The challenges of climate, human demand and the UN’s sustainability goals are forcing us to question our current food production. Perhaps we are on the threshold of a new revolution, having to come up with solutions to feed an increasing population in a sustainable way.

Professor of Food Chemistry Leif Skibsted is the host who shows us the past of Danish food science and draws threads right up to the present.

The TV series is in Danish but is texted in English.

The History of Food Science in Denmark - Part 1

Tue, 28 May 2019 11:18:57 GMT

Go to Part 2 of The History of Food Science in Denmark

Professor of Food Chemistry Leif Skibsted is the host who shows us the past of Danish food science and draws threads right up to the present.

The TV series is in Danish but is texted in English.