ICUMSA News n°72 – August 2013
Message from the President
Arrangements for the 29th Session of ICUMSA
The 29th Session of ICUMSA will return to the format of the 25th and 26th Sessions and be held immediately following the SPRI 2014 Conference. The Session will take place on 4th and 5th September 2014 and will be held at the Stream Palace Hotel, Ribeirão Preto, S.P. Brazil.
The SPRI Conference will take place between 31st August and 3rd September (Wednesday 3rd being a visit day where ICUMSA delegates are welcome to join).
These dates and venue have been selected as they immediately follow the FENASUCRO & AGROCANA 2014 EXPO and thus gives the opportunity for delegates to attend this major sugar/sugar cane exhibition as well in one trip.
SPRI will be handling the registration details for both the SPRI Conference and ICUMSA Session and details will be given out as soon as they become available.
I would like to thank Charley Richard and the SPRI staff for their work, so far, in planning the next Session and I am sure it will prove to be as successful as the 25th and 26th Sessions were.
Changes to General Subject Referees
I am very pleased to announce that Dr Jan Maarten de Bruijn has agreed to become the ICUMSA Referee for General Subject 8 (Beet Sugar Processing). This is exceptionally good news as Jan Maarten is also President of the Scientific Committee of ESST (European Society for Sugar Technology) and thus will reinforce the already strong links between ICUMSA and ESST. Jan Maarten has had a long involvement with ICUMSA having previously been a Referee and also Chairman of the Dutch National Committee. I am sure you will all join me in wishing him well with the work in General Subject 8.
Subject 7 Progress - Amélia de Andrade Ferraz
To start this new subject a survey was initially undertaken which asked ICUMSA members to indicate which indirect methods of analysis should be tested and also on which sample types. A meeting was then held with interested parties to discuss the survey findings and plan the work for this session. The aim of the work is to establish a validation procedure for indirect methods of analysis and the current plan can be summarised as follows:
- Products to test: White and Raw Sugar - final product
- Parameters to test: Colour
- Instruments to test: Instruments with a long and well
established performance record
- Indirect methods to test: Reflectance (online colour
measurement) and NIR
Locations where the tests will be carried out:
- White Sugar colour by reflectance: S.C. Zaharul Oradea
in Romania and Nordic Sugar in Nykøbing, Denmark.
- Raw Sugar colour by NIR: SRA - Sugar Research Australia.
I am pleased to report that Margaret A. Nemeth, from Statistical Consultants Plus (USA), will join the group to give the necessary statistical support in designing the studies and evaluating the data obtained.
It is expected that data collection and treatment will take place up to the end of 2013.
General Subject 9 Collaborative Study – Dr Vasudha Keskar
The plan this session is to conduct a collaborative study for the determination of Zn, Cd and Sn in Plantation White Sugar using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The method developed for Cu determination, and presented at the last Session, has been extended for these analytes and anyone interested in taking part in the study is requested to contact the General Subject 9 Referee.