Healthy Snacks Produced from Waste

Healthy Snack Produced from Waste Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ruhan Aşkın Uzel, Head of Food Processing Department at Yaşar University Vocational School, developed a dried fruit-based snack using waste and by-products from the nuts and dried fruit sector. Uzel obtained a utility model registration for the healthy snack produced with a formula that allows people of various age groups to find a taste suited to their preferences. Approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food are discarded globally each year. While hunger and food waste problems persist, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ruhan Aşkın Uzel, Head of Food Processing Department at Yaşar University Vocational School, developed a healthy snack by utilizing waste and by-products from the nuts and dried fruit sector, which has recorded rapid growth in recent years and entered world rankings in exports. The product also obtained utility model registration with the support of Yaşar University Information and Technology Transfer Office. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ruhan Aşkın Uzel noted that recovery of food sector waste and by-products in our country is costly and that options for converting them into food materials are insufficiently diverse, stating: "For this reason, they are either disposed of directly or can only be evaluated as energy sources, fertilizer and animal feed. The project's starting point is the revaluation of sector waste and by-products and contributing to the national economy with a new functional food. From dried fruit waste and by-products, the snack food has acquired a new taste in ergonomic form, while the natural adhesive properties of the materials were combined with the physical properties of waste food products. The materials containing food waste or by-products used in the manufactured product contributed to the quantitative and qualitative quality properties of the final product and shelf-life improvement parameters," he said.

Consumable as a Between-Meal Snack

Assoc. Prof. Uzel, noting that the product in a format with size, shape and biological properties of content suitable for single-serving packaging, can be consumed as breakfast supplement and between-meal snack; at school, during travel, at stops, at camp, while hiking, cycling, driving etc., stated: "The product addressing a wide range of uses will also be an indicator that food waste and by-products can be used as enriching functional components. At the same time, it assumes a kind of social responsibility role in transmitting long-standing consumption habits to the new generation, albeit in new forms of food models." Ruhan Aşkın Uzel, expressing that they developed the product with a formula where individuals from various age groups would find a taste suited to them: "With the dried fruit-based food product for which we obtained utility model registration, proceeding from the possibility that not every product will be equally appreciated by everyone, a healthy snack was developed where people of all ages would find a taste suited to them. This food product will not experience shelf-life problems thanks to its size, shape and the biological properties of the materials it contains, making it suitable for single-serving packaging. Moreover, food components that are consumed with information gaps or prejudices, which are seen as deficient in body composition in relation to social structure and consumption habits and are sources of vitamins, minerals etc., will be consumed, thus increasing nutritional value gains in terms of daily required quantities. Our developed product also follows the principles of sustainable food production, green production and circular economy," he said.