Personalised Nutrition to be Highlighted at Vitafoods Europe

06 May 2013 --- Diabetes, vascular disease and Alzheimer’s are just a handful of the health conditions that we face in the current global epidemic of chronic diseases. While traditional health care models provide crucial support and treatment, the food and drink industry can also play an integral role in the prevention and management of disease.

One area where scientific and ingredient innovation is pushing boundaries is personalised nutrition.

Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in individuality and self-expression, which has been driving demand for products and services offering a more personal touch. But now science is beginning to go a step further in personalisation, looking at the relationship between nutrition and gene expression.
 
Research on personalised nutrition has been increasing, however specific information is still relatively scarce. In response, the EU has invested nine million euros in a four-year project entitled “Food4Me” which is designed to further our knowledge and explore potential application areas.
 
At Vitafoods Europe 2013 a special session is dedicated to personalised nutrition in the internationally renowned conference programme. Four experts share their knowledge to give an insight into breaking science and to help manufacturers better understand how to create products in line with this trend.
 
Opening the session on personalised nutrition is Dr. Dilip Ghosh, who looks at the drivers and consumer attitudes in the personalisation of health and nutrition. He explores the key growth areas in the functional food and beverage markets and examines how manufacturers can capitalise on them. Dr. Matthias Knarr then tackles obesity. His session investigates the beneficial properties of Satisfit LTG MC, a satiety providing hydrocolloid that forms a gel in the stomach at body temperature. 
 
Next up, Dr. Wenzhong Wu talks on the functionality of branch chain amino acids (BCAAs) in nutraceutical beverages for faster muscle recovery. Here, he investigates opportunities and challenges, as well as the potential use of ingredient Synnovo®, an instantised BCAA. Closing the session, Dr. José Zubeldia takes a look at how Xanthigen, a combination of fucoxanthin and pomegranate oil can modulate insulin-responsive genes in muscle cells in obese people.
 
Chris Lee, Portfolio Director, Vitafoods Europe comments: “Personalised nutrition is an exciting area where emerging science is really pushing boundaries. There is still so much to learn about how our DNA can be affected by the food we eat so the potential for manufacturers in the near future is massive. The session at Vitafoods Europe is sure to be a talking point, thrusting the latest scientific thinking to the fore.”