Tag: Targeted food

Reports

Consumer's evaluation of enriched seafood product concepts / Consumer survey of enriched seafood dishes

Published:

01/03/2013

Authors:

Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir, Kyösti Pennanen, Raija ‐ Liisa Heiniö, Rósa Jónsdóttir, Emilía Martinsdóttir

Supported by:

Nordic Innovation

Contact

Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir

Project Manager

kolbrun.sveinsdottir@matis.is

Consumer's evaluation of enriched seafood product concepts / Consumer survey of enriched seafood dishes

Compared to consumers elsewhere in the West, consumers in Europe seem to be more skeptical about food enrichment, and although food health claims carry a message of health effects, they do not necessarily make the product more attractive to consumers. Therefore, the development of enriched foods requires an understanding of consumer demands. An online survey was conducted to evaluate consumers' responses to product ideas on seafood that had been enriched with omega-3, fish proteins and algae, with different information on possible effects and functional properties. Icelandic consumers (n = 460) evaluated ideas for cod products and the results showed that enrichment of such seafood was a viable option, especially with omega-3. Although information on enrichment had a rather negative effect on people's experience of product ideas, information on ingredients and health effects of consumption had a positive effect on people's experience and the likelihood of buying the products in question. The impact of such information was somewhat greater among those consumers who placed more emphasis on health and had a positive attitude towards targeted foods. Finnish consumers (n = 432) evaluated ideas for salmon products and the results showed that the enrichment of seafood with kelp was one of the best results, especially when information on the reduction of salt content was included. From the results, it can be concluded that the enrichment of seafood is a realistic option. However, it is very important to consider the labels and information to consumers about such products.

Compared to consumers elsewhere in the Western world, European consumers generally seem to be more suspicious towards enrichment of food. Although health claims in food products communicate the health effect, it does not necessarily make the products more appealing to consumers. Therefore, development of enriched foods requires understanding of consumers' demands. The aim of this study was to measure consumer responses towards various concepts of enriched seafood products. Web ‐ based questionnaires were used to study Icelandic and Finnish consumers' responses towards concepts of convenience seafood products enriched with omega ‐ 3, fish proteins and seaweed extracts with different information about possible effects / functional properties. Icelandic consumers (n = 460) evaluated cod product concepts and the results showed that enrichment of convenience seafood was a realistic option, especially with omega ‐ 3. Although information about enrichment had rather negative effects, information about ingredients and health effects positively affected product perception and buying intention. The effect of information was greater among consumers which placed higher emphasis on health and expressed more positive attitudes towards functional foods. Two sets of Finnish consumers (n = 432) evaluated nine salmon product concepts. The results showed that products enriched with seaweed received relatively the highest scores, especially when information about salt reduction was provided. To conclude, enrichment of convenience seafood products with marine based ingredients is a realistic option. However, it is very important to consider labeling and information provided to the consumers.

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Reports

QALIBRA-Heilsuvogin. Fourth Annual Report

Published:

01/12/2010

Authors:

Helga Gunnlaugsdottir, Nynke de Jong, Matthew Atkinson, Heleen van Dijk, Meike Wentholt, Lynn Frewer, Bjorn Thorgilsson, Heida Palmadottir, Andy Hart

Supported by:

EU, Matís

QALIBRA-Heilsuvogin. Fourth Annual Report

This report is the fourth and final annual report of the European project QALIBRA and covers the period 1.04. 2009 to 31.12. 2010. QALIBRA, or “Quality of Life - Integarted Benefit and Risk Analysis. Webbased tool for assessing food safety and health benefits, ”abbreviated QALIBRA (Heilsuvogin in Icelandic), is the name of a European project, which falls under Priority 5, Food Quality & Safety in the 6th EU Research Program. This is a three-year and 9-month project managed by Matís ohf. The project manager for the project as a whole is Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, department manager at Matís. The aim of the QALIBRA project is to develop quantitative methods to assess both the positive and negative effects of food ingredients on human health. These methods have been presented in a computer program that is open and accessible to all stakeholders on the website project http://www.qalibra.eu. The methods developed test two types of food, ie fish and target foods. Participants in the project are from Iceland, the UK, the Netherlands, Greece; Portugal and Hungary.

This is the fourth and last annual report from the “QALIBRA - Quality of life - integrated benefit and risk analysis. Web - based tool for assessing food safety and health benefits ”project funded by the EC's Sixth Framework Program, Priority 5, Food Quality & Safety. It began in April 2006 and ended December 2009. To assess the balance between the risks and benefits associated with a particular food, they must be converted into a common measure of net health impact. Uncertainties affecting the risks and benefits cause uncertainty about the magnitude and even the direction of the net health impact. QALIBRA has developed methods that can take into account multiple risks, benefits and uncertainties and implemented them in a web ‐ based software for assessing and communicating net health impacts. The methods and software developed by QALIBRA were used to carry out detailed case studies on the benefits and risks of oily fish and functional foods. The software developed in the project to assess and integrate beneficial and adverse effects of foods is available at the website of the project http://www.qalibra.eu. Participants in the project: Matís, Iceland, coordinator, The Food and Environment Research Agency United Kingdom, National Institute of Public Health and The Environment, The Netherlands, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, University of Patras, Greece, Altagra Business Service.

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Reports

QALIBRA Final activity report / Final Report QALIBRA

Published:

01/12/2010

Authors:

Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, Andy Hart, Anna Kristín Daníelsdottir

Supported by:

EU, Matís

QALIBRA Final activity report / Final Report QALIBRA

This report is the final report of the European project QALIBRA or “Quality of Life - Integrated Benefit and Risk Analysis. Webbased tool for assessing food safety and health benefits ”or QALIBRA - Heilsuvogin in Icelandic. Matís ohf managed the project, which was partly funded by the European Union, with a total of seven participants from six countries. The project began on April 1, 2006 and formally ended on December 31, 2009, but the final completion lasted until 2010. This report describes the main results, benefits and results of the project. The aim of the QALIBRA project was to develop quantitative methods to assess both the positive and negative effects of food ingredients on human health. When we eat food, we get both negative and positive elements in the body and until now, food risk assessment has been limited to examining the effects of individual substances on living beings (eg experimental animals). The QALIBRA project developed methods that take into account both the negative and positive aspects of food consumption and evaluate the overall impact of the risks and benefits on human health as well as the uncertainty of the assessment. These methods have been presented in a computer program that is open and accessible to all stakeholders free of charge on the project's website http://www.qalibra.eu. The methods were tested on two types of food, ie fish and target foods.

This is the final report to the commission from the “QALIBRA - Quality of life - integrated benefit and risk analysis. Web - based tool for assessing food safety and health benefits ”project. QALIBRA was an EU 6th Framework project with seven partners, conducted between 1st April 2006 and 31st December 2009, although the finalization of project was accomplished in year 2010. In this report the objectives, main work performed and achievements of the project to the state‐ of ‐ the ‐ art are summarized. To assess the balance between the risks and benefits associated with a particular food, they must be converted into a common measure of net health impact. Uncertainties affecting the risks and benefits cause uncertainty about the magnitude and even the direction of the net health impact. QALIBRA has developed methods that can take into account multiple risks, benefits and uncertainties and implemented them in a web ‐ based software for assessing and communicating net health impacts. The methods and software developed by QALIBRA were used to carry out detailed case studies on the benefits and risks of oily fish and functional foods. The software developed (QALIBRA tool) in the project to assess and integrate beneficial and adverse effects of foods is freely available on the website of the project http://www.qalibra.eu.

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Reports

QALIBRA-Heilsuvogin. Third Annual Report

Published:

01/10/2009

Authors:

Helga Gunnlaugsdottir, Nynke de Jong, Matthew Atkinson, Heleen van Dijk, Meike Wentholt, Lynn Frewer, Bjorn Thorgilsson, Heida Palmadottir, Andy Hart

Supported by:

ESB

QALIBRA-Heilsuvogin. Third Annual Report

This report is the third annual report of the European project QALIBRA and covers the period 1.04.2008 to 31.03.2009. QALIBRA, or “Quality of Life - Integarted Benefit and Risk Analysis. Webbased tool for assessing food safety and health benefits, ”abbreviated QALIBRA (Heilsuvogin in Icelandic), is the name of a European project, which falls under Priority 5, Food Quality & Safety in the 6th EU Research Program. This is a three-and-a-half-year project managed by the Fisheries Research Institute (now Matís ohf). The project manager is Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, department manager at Matís. The aim of the QALIBRA project is to develop quantitative methods to assess both the positive and negative effects of food ingredients on human health. These methods will be presented in a computer program that will be open and accessible to all stakeholders on the World Wide Web. Participants in the project are from Iceland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal and Hungary.

“QALIBRA - Quality of life - integrated benefit and risk analysis. Web - based tool for assessing food safety and health benefits ”is a project funded by the EC's Sixth Framework Program, Priority 5, Food Quality & Safety. It started in April 2006 and will end in 2009. To assess the balance between the risks and benefits associated with a particular food, they must be converted into a common measure of net health impact. Uncertainties affecting the risks and benefits cause uncertainty about the magnitude and even the direction of the net health impact. QALIBRA will develop methods that can take into account multiple risks, benefits and uncertainties and implement them in webbased software for assessing and communicating net health impacts. The objectives of QALIBRA are to develop a suite of quantitative methods for assessing and integrating beneficial and adverse effects of foods, and make them available to all stakeholders as web-based software for assessing and communicating net health impacts. The participants in the project are: Matís, Iceland, coordinator, Central Science Laboratory, United Kingdom, National Institute of Public Health and The Environment, The Netherlands, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, University of Patras, Greece, Altagra Business Service, Hungary, National Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries Research, Portugal.

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Reports

HEALTH DIET: A summary of the main categories of health foods and scientific evidence of their effectiveness

Published:

01/07/2008

Authors:

Sigrún Mjöll Halldórsdóttir, Guðjón Þorkelsson, Þóra Valsdóttir

Contact

Guðjón Þorkelsson

Strategic Scientist

gudjon.thorkelsson@matis.is

HEALTH DIET: A summary of the main categories of health foods and scientific evidence of their effectiveness

Foods that are considered to be able to improve human health can be classified as health foods such as unchanged organically grown foods, dietary supplements and target foods. In the first part of this dissertation, definitions and regulations are reviewed, the material and function of popular health products and permitted health claims are discussed. According to regulations, food supplements are foods that are intended as a supplement to a regular diet, but targeted foods are often defined as foods that have been modified in order to increase their health effects. The second part of the dissertation deals specifically with proteins in health products with an emphasis on the bioactivity of peptides. Bioactive peptides have a beneficial effect on health beyond normal nutritional value. They can have physiological effects on the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system, immune system and nervous system. The effects of peptides in these systems are reviewed. The potential of fish muscle protein in the healthcare product market is being considered. Nowadays, a very large amount of underutilized by-products from seafood, and research has therefore focused a lot on finding ways to utilize and increase their value. The target food market is booming at the moment and is forecast to expand. Seafood has a positive health image among consumers and therefore health products that contain fish muscle protein could have an impact. However, it requires the right taste, texture and bioactivity to be delivered to the consumer, in addition to which the products need to be introduced to the products in a targeted and powerful way.

Food that has the potential of improving health can be categorized as health food eg organic food, dietary supplements and functional food. Definitions, regulations, composition and functionality of popular health food and permitted health statements, are discussed. According to regulation dietary supplements are foods that are intended as an addition to a normal diet, however functional food is commonly referred to as food that has been fortified to enhance its positive effects on health. The latter part of this paper discusses proteins in health foods with emphasis on bioactive peptides. Bioactive peptides have a positive effect beyond their regular nutritional value. They have been shown to have a biological effect in the alimentary canal, the heart and the vascular system, the immune system and the nervous system. The mechanisms involved are reviewed. The potential of fish protein in the functional food market will also be addressed. Today, great quantity of marine by-products are underutilized. Therefore, emphasis has been within the research community on finding methods to utilize and enhance their value. Currently the functional food market is blooming and is expected to grow in the following years. Marine products have a positive health image among consumers, thus health products containing fish proteins could be a great success. To be realized, this requires that the right taste, texture and bioactivity is delivered to the consumer accompanied by a good advertisement campaign.

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Reports

QALIBRA-Heilsuvogin. Second Annual Report

Published:

01/06/2008

Authors:

Helga Gunnlaugsdottir, Nynke de Jong, Matthew Atkinson, Heleen van Dijk, Meike Wentholt, Lynn Frewer, Bjorn Thorgilsson, Heida Palmadottir, Andy Hart

Supported by:

ESB

QALIBRA-Heilsuvogin. Second Annual Report

This report is the second annual report of the European project QALIBRA and covers the period 1.04. 2007 to 31.03. 2008. QALIBRA, or “Quality of Life - Integarted Benefit and Risk Analysis. Webbased tool for assessing food safety and health benefits, ”abbreviated QALIBRA (Heilsuvogin in Icelandic), is the name of a European project, which falls under Priority 5, Food Quality & Safety in the 6th EU Research Program. This is a three-and-a-half-year project managed by the Fisheries Research Institute (now Matís ohf). The project manager is Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, department manager at Matís. The aim of the QALIBRA project is to develop quantitative methods to assess both the positive and negative effects of food ingredients on human health. These methods will be presented in a computer program that will be open and accessible to all stakeholders on the World Wide Web.

Participants in the project are from Iceland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal and Hungary.

“QALIBRA - Quality of life - integrated benefit and risk analysis. Web - based tool for assessing food safety and health benefits ”is a project funded by the EC's Sixth Framework Program, Priority 5, Food Quality & Safety. It began in April 2006 and will end in 2009. To assess the balance between the risks and benefits associated with a particular food, they must be converted into a common measure of net health impact. Uncertainties affecting the risks and benefits cause uncertainty about the magnitude and even the direction of the net health impact. QALIBRA will develop methods that can take into account multiple risks, benefits and uncertainties and implement them in web-based software for assessing and communicating net health impacts. The objectives of QALIBRA are to develop a suite of quantitative methods for assessing and integrating beneficial and adverse effects of foods and make them available to all stakeholders as web-based software for assessing and communicating net health impacts.

The participants in the project are:

Matís, Iceland, coordinator, Central Science Laboratory, United Kingdom, National Institute of Public Health and The Environment, The Netherlands, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, University of Patras, Greece, Altagra Business Service, Hungary, National Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries Research , Portugal.

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Reports

Blue whiting as a target food

Published:

01/03/2008

Authors:

Margrét Geirsdóttir, Ragnar Jóhannsson

Supported by:

Rannís

Contact

Margrét Geirsdóttir

Project Manager

mg@matis.is

Blue whiting as a target food

The aim of the project was to answer the research question: What bioactivity can be obtained from peptides extracted from blue whiting with enzymes? Bioactivity is a prerequisite for the use of blue whiting as a target food. Isolated blue whiting proteins were used as raw materials. The study showed that degraded blue whiting proteins have bioactivity. However, the sensory properties of products did not prove to be good enough and yields were low. This was especially so due to the difficulty of obtaining fresh blue whiting as a raw material. In the second steps of the project, it was decided to use cod. The aim was to investigate in particular whether isolated cod proteins had other properties than hacking in terms of sensory evaluation and antihypertensive properties of products. The result was that no differences in these characteristics were found in the study. The project investigated the interaction of hydrolysis with enzymes and processing properties and bioactivity. The interaction of hydrolyzed blue whiting proteins isolated by a new method and their bioactivity has not been performed before and was an international novelty. The project acquired extensive knowledge in the field of enzyme degradation and the bioactivity properties of protein products.

The aim of the project was to answer the question: What kind of bioactive properties do peptides produced by enzyme hydrolysis of blue whiting have? Some sort of bioactivity is needed if they are to be used in functional food. The substrate for the hydrolysis was isolated blue whiting proteins. Well-known, commercially available enzymes were used to hydrolyze the proteins to different degrees of hydrolysis (%DH). The blue whiting hydrolysates showed bioactive properties, but their sensory characteristics were not good. Furthermore, the yield of the process was low. The reason for this was a shortage of fresh raw material. Thus, in the next steps cod was therefore used. The main aim was to study whether different sensory and bioactive characters were achieved when isolated proteins were used compared to mince. The results of the project indicate that there is no difference. In the project the connection between enzyme hydrolysis and functional and bioactive properties was examined. Main emphasis was on the effect of using isolated proteins as raw material for enzyme hydrolysis. In the project important knowledge in the field of enzyme hydrolysis and bioactivity was gained that will facilitate future research.

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Reports

QALIBRA-Heilsuvogin. First Annual Report

Published:

01/06/2007

Authors:

Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, Nynke de Jong, Matthew Atkinson, Lynn Frewer, Bjorn Þorgilsson, Heiða Pálmadóttir, Andy Hart

Supported by:

European Union (EU), Matis, CSL, RIVM, WU, UPATRAS, Altagra, IPIMAR

QALIBRA-Heilsuvogin. First Annual Report

This report is the first annual report of the European project QALIBRA and covers the period from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007. QALIBRA, or “Quality of Life - Integrated Benefit and Risk Analysis. Webbased tool for assessing food safety and health benefits, ”abbreviated QALIBRA (Heilsuvogin in Icelandic), is the name of a European project, which falls under Priority 5, Food Quality & Safety in the 6th EU Research Program. This is a three-and-a-half-year project managed by the Fisheries Research Institute (now Matís ohf). The project manager is Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, department manager at Matís. The aim of the QALIBRA project is to develop quantitative methods to assess both the positive and negative effects of food ingredients on human health. The aim is for these methods to be presented in a computer program that will be open and accessible to all stakeholders on the World Wide Web. Participants in the project are from Iceland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal and Hungary.

This is the first periodic activity and management report for the project QALIBRA - “Quality of life - integrated benefit and risk analysis. Web - based tool for assessing food safety and health benefits ”. The report covers the period from 01.04.06 to 31.03.07. QALIBRA is partly funded by the EC's Sixth Framework Program, Priority 5, Food Quality & Safety. It began in April 2006 and will end in 2009. The objectives of QALIBRA are to develop a suite of quantitative methods for assessing and integrating beneficial and adverse effects of foods and make them available to all stakeholders as web-based software for assessing and communicating net health impacts. The participants in the project are: Matís, Iceland, coordinator, Central Science Laboratory, United Kingdom, National Institute of Public Health and The Environment, The Netherlands, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, University of Patras, Greece, Altagra Business Service, Hungary, National Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries Research, Portugal.

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