EIT Food and EIT Health Partners identify areas for cooperation at the Food4Health Workshop

The role of nutrition in preventing disease, and in helping cancer patients maintain their health, were part of the discussion when members of the EIT Food and EIT Health communities met 15-16 May 2019 in Rotterdam, Netherlands to shape plans for cooperation in the new Food4Health programme. Participants learned more about two Food4Health projects that are already under development and discussed the four focus areas identified for future initiatives.

Food4Health, a collaboration between the two EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of EIT Food and EIT Health, was launched earlier this year to help bring innovations for healthy eating to the market. The Rotterdam workshop allowed 80 participants from the two KICs to learn more about each other, the Food4Health programme and how they can be involved.

The Partners discussed the two top-down projects that Food4Health has already identified for 2019:

• Using indicators to influence consumer behaviour and prevent pre-disease through food and lifestyle-related interventions.
• Tackling muscle loss in cancer patients through nutrition solutions and lifestyle interventions.

Partners of both EIT Food and EIT Health can participate in a call for Expressions of Interest to apply for a chance to join in these projects.

Later in the Rotterdam workshop, Partners had the chance to share ideas for potential projects within four focus areas identified for future collaboration. Based on the business case ideas that were submitted by the Partners in April, it was agreed that initial Food4Health activites should focus on:

• nutrition for the prevention or treatment of diseases;
• food-drug interactions;
• gut microbiome;
• healthy food design.

Presentations

The workshop also featured presentations to inspire further cooperation in the areas of food and health. These included a lecture from EntrepreNURSE Shawna Butler on recent innovations that link food and health. She emphasised the valuable insights nurses have and encouraged everyone to involve nurses in their projects. Another interesting presentation came from Dr. Pauline Jansen from Erasmus University, who discussed “fussy” and emotional eating in children.

For more information

See the Food4Health activity page or contact Hayley Every, Kerstin Burseg, or Yu-Mi Lee