Meeting for European nutrition database
food can help improve the quality, healthiness and safety of
European diets has been called for later this year.
Congress organisers, the European Food Information Resource Network (EuroFIR), will also be using the event to talk about their work in producing universal guidelines for the nutrient content of foods across the union. EuroFIR was set up with the ambitious task to streamline food composition data into one online database, which could benefit companies working on health foods. Topics will cover food databank systems, new methods of analysing foods and details on food allergens. EuroFIR said this was the second international congress organized by the network and added: "Having access to quality and accurate compositional data about the food we eat is crucial to regulators, health policy makers, researchers, the food industry and the public." Food composition data - the information on proteins, lipids, sugars and other nutrients in foods - has become of huge value to the food business. It is used by food manufacturers on compulsory nutrition labels and also in new product development. The same data is increasingly used by researchers assessing the impact of diet on disease risk and the health of populations. Speakers for the two day meeting include representatives from the EURRECA Network of Excellence, the European Food Information Council, and the Spanish Nutrition and Food Safety Agency, which will be talking about Spain's strategy on nutrition, physical activity and prevention of the obesity. EuroFIR will also show how food composition data is used by a variety of organisations including public health, research and the food industry. In 2005 the European Commission announced it would spend some €12 million on setting up EuroFIR, as part of a series of five projects totalling €61.6m aimed at increasing the EU's investment in food research. Its creation came in response to concerns that member states' own research was not often complete or easily accessible.
