Dr. Pyke's contributions to science over many years havebeen recognized by his professional colleagues; he has beenmade a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, a Fellowof the Institute of Food Science and Technology, a Fellow ofthe Institute of Biology and a Fellow of the Royal Society ofEdinburgh. In recognition of his national and internationalservice, Dr. Pyke was awarded the Order of the BritishEmpire in 1978.

U1trafiltered Milk Research at Laval

Canadian cheesemakers can increase their efficiency andexpand cheese production in Canada by using ultrafilteredmilk powder instead of fresh milk. This is the finding ofresearch carried out at Laval University for the federalgovernment, through funding from the Canadian DairyCommission.

Ultrafiltration involves passing milk through a very finemembrane. In this way large amounts of water are removed,leaving behind only the useful milk solids. The use of ultra­filtered milk reduces the volume of milk to be stored andprocessed when manufacturing cheese.

In a cheddar cheesemaking study, the volume of milkused was cut in half by ultrafiltration. This made it possibleto produce twice as much cheese in the same vat. The processalso required only half the normal amount of rennet.

Additional advantages were found using ultrafilteredmilk powder instead of ultrafiltered fluid milk. By using milkpowder produced from ultrafiltered fluid milk, it is possibleto keep summer production surpluses for use during winterperiods when milk deliveries are lower but demand for cheesehas increased. Cheesemakers can also save on storage andtransportation costs. Additional savings are possible onevaporation and drying costs when manufacturing ultra­filtered milk powder.

At Laval University, research was carried out on the useof ultrafiltered milk powder to manufacture three types ofcheese: camembert, cheddar and cottage cheese. The bestresults were obtained with cottage cheese; there was littledifference in taste between cottage cheese produced usingtraditional methods and that made from ultrafiltered milkpowder. A good quality mild cheddar cheese was also pro­duced but the attempt to make camembert was unsuccessful.

There is an opportunity for Canada to become a leader inthe production of ultrafiltered milk powder, and this newproduct could help cheesemakers save money and expandcheese production in Canada.

Meat Research Facility at Lacombe

The Treasury Board has approved $2.5 million in federalfunds to build a new meat processing laboratory at Agricul­ture Canada's Lacombe, Alberta, Research Station. TheLacombe station has a top meat research team with aninternational reputation, but the present facilities are notadequate to carry out all the needed research.

The new facilities will allow the research team to carry outstudies on many aspects of the meat processing industry,especially the effects of pre- and post-slaughter conditions onmeat quality. There will also be research on methods ofincreasing the shelf life of pork and beef.

The building will house a modern abattoir, capable ofhandling twenty-five cattle or fifty hogs per day, a cooler andcutting room, and laboratory equipment for microbiologyand muscle biochemistry work. The facility will also be usedto compare carcass meat yields with current grade standards,and to compare carcasses of different breeds as part of thestation's cattle and swine breed evaluation programs. Thisresearch cannot be carried out in commercial meat process-

viI Affaires de I'Institut

ing facilities and the laboratory will make it possible todevelop more efficient methods of processing high qualitymeat products at a reasonable cost.

Aspartame Approved

Sugar free soft drinks with not more than one calorie per100 mL have been reintroduced to the Canadian marketfollowing federal government approval of aspartame, a lowcalorie sweetener composed of two amino acids like thosewhich occur naturally in foods.

Soft drinks sweetened with aspartame will fill a gap in themarket which has existed since Health and Welfare Canadabanned saccharin for use in soft drinks and other processedfoods in June 1977. Cyclamate, another low calorie sweet­ener, was banned for use in soft drinks in 1969. Bothproducts are still available as tabletop sweeteners.

Aspartame is composed of two amino acids, L-asparticacid and L-phenylalanine. These are commercially producedbut are identical to the amino acids found naturally in foods.Searle Food Resources Inc. will market the sweetener to thefood industry as NutraSweet (trademark).

Aspartame is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. A softdrink sweetened with aspartame could contain not morethan one calorie per 100 mL as opposed to about fortycalories for a similar product sweetened with sugar.

Aspartame is currently being marketed in Belgium,France and Luxembourg as a tabletop sweetener and hasreceived government approval in Tunisia, Brazil, Mexicoand the Philippines.

In Canada, Dr. A. B. Morrison, Assistant Deputy Min­ister of the Health Protection Branch of Health and WelfareCanada, issued an Information Letter on aspartame in Sep­tember 1979. Progress was delayed in order to monitor theresults of a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) into the use ofaspartame in the United States. Canada has been waiting forthe affirmation of the acceptable daily intake, recommendedin 1980 by the Joint Experts Committee on Food Additives(JECFA) of the Food and Agricultural Organization! WorldHealth Organization, a United Nations agency.

G. D. Searle & Co., of Skokie, Illinois, the pharmaceuti­cal company which discovered aspartame in 1965, claims thesweetener has been subjected to one of the most extensivetesting programs ever undertaken for a food additive peti­tion. The tests, on both animals and humans, began in 1967and are continuing.

Almost immediately after the Food and Drug Adminis­tration (FDA) approved aspartame, a marketing stay wasissued against the sweetener and a PBOI into aspartame'ssafety was scheduled. The PBOI has heard testimony from anumber of researchers, including Dr. John Olney of theUniversity of Washington, who reported that aspartamecaused brain tumors in rats. G. D. Searle & Co. has chal­lenged Dr. Olney's report, assembling a battery of research­ers who have pointed out errors in testing proceQures. Searlehas also maintained that aspartame is a compound of twoingredients found in nature and that many foods - includinghamburgers and mother's milk - would have to be banned ifthese compounds were considered dangerous.

The non-nutritive sweetener cyclamate was banned inCanada in 1969 following reports that it caused cancer in anumber of tests involving animals. In 1978, Abbott Labora­tories of Montreal filed new research data with the HealthProtection Branch (HPB) which indicated cyclamates werenot carcinogenic. The HPB accepted some of Abbott's re­search but cited a West German study which indicatedcyclamates were responsible for testicular atrophy in rats.Cyclamate is available in a number of European countriesbut has not been permitted in the United States since 1970.

J. Insl. Can. Sri. Technol. Alimem. Vo!. 15, No. r. 1982