Functional foods, Nutrition and Health

Saúde
Beginning with the needs detected in the meeting held last year the priorities detected in this group were the following:
  • Improvement of products and foods through incorporation of new functional ingredients.
  • Interest in the new legal framework of functional food regarding the European regulation on nutrition and health claims about food (Regulation (EC) 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 20, 2006).
  • Reclamation of components of agri-food sub-products or waste to obtain new functional ingredients or for its use for the design of new functional foods.
The groups propose creating a map of services, breakthroughs, and trends in the area of functional foods, including:
  • Natural functional foods (raw materials).
  • Functional processed foods to which some components/ingredients are added, eliminated, or increased or one component is substituted for another.
  • Food with one or more of its components modified through genetic engineering, (raw materials) to increase their functional characteristics.
  • Food with modified bioavailability of one or more of its components.

Furthermore, as was shown last year, the collaborations among the groups must be close, especially with the reclamation group.

The goals of the group are:
  • Specify the lines of action to carry out in this field.
  • Promote, support, and advise in the preparation of collaborative projects of Research, Development, and Innovation (R+D+I) at the autonomous community level, as well as the national and international level.
  • Promote a system of participation in the workgroup.
  • Promote the dissemination of research results, news and regulations related with the functional foods of interest for the Galician sector.
Some examples collected in the SRA (Strategic Research Agenda): 
  • Healthful functional foods and new foods, bioavailability of components of interest in foods, as well as their metabolism.
  • Evaluation of the impact of the programs for training and nutritional communication on eating habits.
  • Define the bases of the traditional Galician gastronomy culture, in particular the Atlantic diet and the consumption of fish, and its potential health benefits.

 

WORKGROUP MEMBERS