The Academy backs nutrition and food research with seven million euros
29 December 2006
The projects to be funded within the Academy of Finland's Research Programme on Nutrition, Food and Health (ELVIRA) have been selected. The programme will consist of a total of 15 projects running for four years each. The Academy will support the projects with seven million euros, and some funding will also be provided by Tekes and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The main objective of the ELVIRA programme is to support high-quality and innovative research knowledge of foods and nutrition, which in the long run makes it easy for consumers to make healthy and safe food choices. "Special emphasis is on scientific, societal and economic impact of the research. Prospective research results are expected to help in promoting health and well-being and developing the Finnish food industry," says Programme Manager Sirpa Nuotio.
The research programme will examine issues related to foods and nutrition from several different perspectives. The selected projects study, for example, consumer behaviour, impacts of genetic factors, food safety, probiotics, as well as food processing and health promotion.
One of the selected projects is a joint project between the National Public Health Institute, the University of Helsinki and the Centre for Military Medicine. The project studies eating habits during the military service, as well as the development of masculine cultures and sense of health, and their links to eating habits. Moreover, the project aims to increase the demand for healthy foods among conscripts. The project is headed by Docent Antti Uutela from the National Public Health Institute.
Another project to be funded is a transdisciplinary joint project headed by Professor Markku Mäki from the University of Tampere. The project seeks new views on occurrence of celiac disease, diagnostics and grain product manufacturing. Celiac disease is one of the most common life-long food-related disorders. The project aims to bring improvements to foods suitable for people with celiac disease in order to make the foods healthier, safer and more diverse. The project partners are Helsinki, Tampere and Kuopio universities.
The projects funded within the Research Programme on Nutrition, Food and Health (ELVIRA) are listed on the programme's website on www.aka.fi/elvira.
More information:
- Programme Manager Sirpa Nuotio, Academy of Finland, tel. +358 9 7748 8261, email sirpa.nuotio@aka.fi
- www.aka.fi/elvira