Technology Boost for Food Sector
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12 October 2011
Over 50 research projects and studies aimed at developing healthier, safer and more nutritious food are to share over £7 million of government investment.
The projects and studies - one being led by food ingredients company Macphie of Glenbervie - 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 foodproducts; identification and development of functional foods that improve heart health; and strategies to enable the control of Campylobacter in poultry.
In addition, 24 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.
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.
More information is availabel from the Technology Strategy Board
