FDBusiness.com

Results from four major EU-funded nutrition projects exploring weight management, heart disease and healthy ageing are to be revealed at this year’s Vitafoods Europe Conference.

Taking place at Palexpo, Geneva, from 10-11 May 2016, the conference will play host to a selection of the world’s leading experts on nutrition and health, who will present key findings from a quartet studies commissioned under the EU’s multi-billion-euro Horizon 2020 research and innovation initiative.

During a dedicated weight management session on the morning of 10 May 2016, conference delegates will hear first from Professor Julian Mercer from the University of Aberdeen’s Rowett Institute of Nutrition & Health. He will outline findings from the EU-funded Full4Health study, which has been looking into the psychology of eating habits.

Taking the stage immediately afterwards will be Dr Angela Bonnema, Senior Nutrition Scientist at USA-based Cargill, with Soraya Shirazi-Beechey, who is Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biochemistry at the University of Liverpool. They will present results from Project Satin – SATiety INnovation, an EU-funded study of nutrients and ingredients that promote satiety and could therefore help to curb obesity. The session will include a practical focus on how the findings of the research can be implemented by the nutraceutical industry.

Later that day, in a session covering heart health, the Vitafoods Europe Conference will see Dr Paul Kroon, Research Leader at the UK’s Institute of Food Research, reveal findings from BACCHUS, another EU-funded project – this time investigating how the bioactives found in food could offer cardiovascular health benefits.

The fourth EU-funded project to feature at the conference will be NU-AGE, a major healthy ageing research initiative involving a consortium of 30 companies and organisations from 17 EU countries. A presentation on the findings of this will be delivered by project co-ordinator Professor Claudio Franceschi from the University of Bologna in Italy.

Day one of the conference will also feature sessions focusing on cognitive health, infant health and digestive health. Highlights include:

• A rare European conference appearance by Professor Andrew Scholey, who will jet in from Australia – where he is Director of the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology at Swinburne University – to discuss bioactives for the brain and methodologies for assessing cognitive function
• A chance to hear from Catherine Field, Professor of Nutrition at the University of Alberta in Canada, who will present evidence demonstrating the importance of DHA supplementation during pregnancy and lactation, drawn from a study involving more than 600 pregnant women
• An update on latest developments in the use of probiotics and prebiotics to maintain health and tackle disease from Dr Alojz Bomba, Head of the Institute of Experimental Medicine at the University of Košice in Slovakia

On day two of the conference, attention will switch to marketing strategies, product safety and regulatory issues. In the morning, delegates will enjoy a unique insight into the future of ‘intelligent food’ from Katrina Lytton, UK Nutrition Lead at KPMG.

Kicking off the afternoon session will be a panel discussion debating the merits of incorporating pharmaceutical standards in the functional nutrition industry. Chaired by Jo Pisani of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the panel will include David Mela, Senior Scientist with Unilever’s R&D operation, and Inga Koehler, Senior Manager Regulatory Affairs at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. Later in the day, regulatory experts EAS Strategies will present an extended session offering a roadmap for bringing new nutritional ingredients to the EU market. The conference will close with a look at the regulatory aspects of packaging, including the tricky issue of intellectual property, from law firm Bird & Bird.

Over the course of the two-day conference, delegates will be able to take their pick from a total of 44 presentations and expert panel discussions delivered by 45 Speakers from 13 countries. As well as details of the four Horizon 2020 EU-funded projects, delegates will also have the opportunity to attend no fewer than 14 clinical trial presentations.

Chris Lee, Vitafoods Portfolio Director at Informa Exhibitions, said: “For this year’s Vitafoods Europe Conference we assembled a panel of experts from both industry and academia to help us identify the best possible speakers for the event. The result of this new approach is an excellent line-up that is our strongest ever, with a clear focus on applied science, business growth strategies, quality assurance and regulation.”

He continued: “In addition, the conference programme is now more focused, so it will be easier for delegates to navigate and find the sessions that interest them most. The conference will bridge the gap between science and industry, enabling the sharing of knowledge and the facilitation of new partnerships. It’s an event that’s not to be missed!”