News
Diet and health research funded
28 Jul 2015£3.7M of research to investigate diet and health has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) in partnership with a consortium of 14 food and drink companies. The companies supporting the initiative are Campden BRI, Coca Cola, Danone Research, DuPont, Leatherhead Food Research, M&S, Mondelez […]
£3.7M of research to investigate diet and health has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) in partnership with a consortium of 14 food and drink companies.
The companies supporting the initiative are Campden BRI, Coca Cola, Danone Research, DuPont, Leatherhead Food Research, M&S, Mondelez International, Nabim, Nestle, PepsiCo, Sainsbury’s, Sugar Nutrition UK, Unilever and Waitrose.
The funding will support six research projects to improve understanding of the connection between diet and health. The outcomes of the projects will help to inform the development of new products by the food and drink industry that address diet-related health issues in the longer term.
Among the projects are studies that will explore novel ways to reduce levels of saturated fats, sugar and salt in foods, how to use environmental prompts to encourage healthy portion control and a comparison of the metabolisms of breast-fed and bottle-fed babies.
The funding is provided through the Diet and Health Research Industry Club (DRINC), a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) led partnership with the 14 food and drink companies, with support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC).
“Our health is closely linked to our diet and is important to us individually as well as to society and our economy as a whole,” said Dr Celia Caulcott, BBSRC Executive Director, Innovation and Skills. “
“These Diet and Health Research Industry Club projects will conduct valuable research to address important challenges for industry and consumers that can be translated into real benefits for all.”
“I am delighted that six world-class studies into aspects of diet, health and disease are to be supported in the new round of Diet and Health Research Industry Club funding,” said Professor Dr Judy Buttriss, Director General of the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) and chair of the DRINC steering group. “All six have the potential to produce important results that could deliver real benefit to the health and wellbeing of consumers in the UK, and around the world.”
BBSRC and MRC will together fund 90% of the six projects, with the remaining 10% coming from industry partners.
The six projects have been funded in the second call of the second phase of DRINC. The first phase of the Club allocated £15M to support high quality diet and health research between 2007-2010.
An independent evaluation in 2011 recommended the continuation of DRINC to maintain the UK’s strength in diet and health research, which underpins the needs of the food and drink industry. The companies in this industry form the single largest manufacturing sector in the UK, employ 3.7 million people, and account for around 7% of UK GDP.
In total the second phase of DRINC will fund £10M of research.