Food Research Institute

Food Research Institute was established in 1950 after splitting from the Association for Research in Industry and was named Frozen Food Research Institute. Later, it was transformed to Research Institute for Food Preservation.

From January 1, 1965 it include as a subsidiary branch to the Central Research Institute of the Food Industry in Prague. Since 1^st pf January 1969 it became an independent organization - Food Research Institute. Since that time, FRI was directly manged by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Slovak Republic. „Biocentrum“ a new department for technological research from the laboratory level to a level of a pilot plant has been established in Modra.

Since 1^st of January, 2014 FRI became a part of the National Agricultural and Food Centre based in Lužianky.

Currently, the principal activities of the institute is scientific research and development in food chemistry, analytical chemistry, microbiology, genetics, food science and technology, including hygiene and sanitation of the food industry facilities.

Our scientific research departments:

Department of Chemistry and Food analysis
Head of Department – Ing. Blanka Tobolková, PhD., blanka.tobolkova@nppc.sk

Department of Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Head of Department – RNDr. Tomáš Kuchta, DrSc., tomas.kuchta@nppc.sk

Department of Risk Evaluation, Food Composition Data Bank and Consumers´ surveys
Head of Department – Ing. Světlíková, angela.svetlikova@nppc.sk

Biocentrum Modra
Head of Department – Ing. Stanislav Baxa, PhD., stanislav.baxa@nppc.sk

Food Research Institute co-operates with organizations and institutions within the European Union in the fields of food quality and safety, provides expertise and participates in projects.

Slovak Food Composition Data Bank (SFCDB), is a unique activity dealing with food composition and nutrient content of foods. It collects information resources, specific facto-graphical information which is further systematically processed. Complex of procedures and techniques of data storage and data retrieval are processed. Based on our specific data, documentation and compilation, the outputs for specific users in different ways and areas (nutrition, health, school education, etc.), both in electronic and printed forms are provided.

Food Research Institute is involved on the long-term basis in research activities focused on the mechanism of development and possible elimination of contaminants in food, for example mycotoxins, acrylamide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls or furan. Comprehensively it addresses theoretical and experimental aspects of the determination of these substances in foodstuffs. Another well established research field regards advanced analysis of aroma profiles of food products by gas chromatography – olfactometry. Further important experimental research areas are the development of DNA-based analytical methods for detection of pathogens in food, detection of allergens, food authentication and analysis of microbial consortia in cheese and wine.

Based on financial support from the EU structural funds in years 2010-2015, Centre of Excellence for contaminants and microorganisms in food has been established allowing FRI to provide cutting-edge research and development focused on food safety and quality. With the use of the modern infrastructure, original analytical procedures for determination of undesirable substances and bio-contaminants, as well as procedures to remove them from food are developed. The emphasis is put on the transfer of the scientific knowledge to the food industry. Modern infrastructure and distinguished experts facilitate implementation of research, development and innovations to modernize the food production sector in Slovakia, improving its competitiveness in the market.

Journal of Food and Nutrition Research

In 1959 Frozen Food Research Institute has started to publish Information about Frozen Food Research Institute. Since 1962,Bulletin of Frozen Food Research Institute has been converted to a journal. Since 1982, the journal was renamed to Bulletin of Food Research and became the first national scientific food-oriented journal. Since 2006, the journal became published in English language as Journal of Food and Nutrition Research and became included in major international databases, such as Web of Science, Current Contents and SCOPUS.

Trends in Food Processing

FRI also publishes for twenty years the magazine Trends in Food Processing in Slovak language.