New Research will Help make Foods Healthier, Safer and More Nutritious
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The projects and studies will stimulate innovation in the UK’s food and drink sector and lead to the development of new technologies and processes, with an emphasis on healthy and safe food. Funding for the research and development will be provided by the Technology Strategy Board, with support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC), Defra and Scottish Enterprise. Including contributions from the participating companies the total value of the R&D exceeds £14.5 million.
Twenty-seven major collaborative R&D projects have been awarded a share of £6.5m government funding. These projects will aim to develop highly innovative technologies or processes that are novel to the sector and whose application and implementation will be technically challenging. The projects to be funded include, for example, novel processing methods to retain the nutritional quality of raw fruit and vegetables in processed foods; formulation technologies to enable the reduction of fat and salt in food products; identification and development of functional foods that improve heart health, and strategies to enable the control of Campylobacter in poultry.
In addition, twenty-four small and medium-sized businesses are to receive up to £25,000 each to carry out small-scale technical feasibility studies, which may be taken forward later into larger scale projects. These studies will be in areas such as, for example, extending the nutritional life of fruit and vegetables; development of novel products to increase satiety (feeling of fullness), and novel methods to identify ingredients which safeguard bone health.
Ian Gray, Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said:
“Changes in our dietary and lifestyle patterns have seen an increase in diet-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and stroke. These exciting new research projects and studies, which between them cover the whole food supply chain from agriculture through to retail, have the potential to make a positive impact in the longer term, improving public health and reducing the burden these diseases place on our health system.”
Professor Tim Benton, Global Food Security Champion Designate, said:
"Global food security is not simply about providing people around the world with enough calories to survive, but ensuring that everyone has access to a safe and nutritious diet. By looking at ways of reducing the fat and salt content of some food products and at making processed foods more nutritious these projects could make a valuable contribution to providing people with a balanced healthy diet.”
Maggie McGinlay, director of Scottish Enterprise’s food and drink team, said:
“The global health, nutrition and wellbeing market is expected to be worth around £348 billion by 2012. With the UK market worth £20 billion and Scotland’s share of this at £1 billion, we're already helping companies to target this emerging sector through our Food and Health Innovation Service. It's great to see that 11 of the 51 projects being announced today are being led by Scottish companies looking to exploit these market opportunities for growth."
The government funding will support and stimulate innovation in the UK’s food and drink sector, which makes a significant contribution to the nation’s economic wealth. UK food exports continue to grow in value but to remain competitive requires flexibility, with innovation at the heart of product and production improvements.
