Thumbs up for 'personal' food
Research conducted as part of the Lipgene project to find technical solutions to the obesity crisis suggests that surprisingly many consumers are open to using DNA tests to help them take a more personalised approach to nutrition.
The five-year European Union (EU)-funded Lipgene was launched in 2004 to explore the potential of new technology and ingredients for improving the fatty acid profile of foods and to find out whether eating such foods would reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, which typically makes people prone to heart disease and diabetes. It is also exploring whether genetic variations between individuals and groups result in differing responses to such foods.
Although the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), which promotes the work of Lipgene, said the research had not made any major breakthroughs, a study in six EU states showed that overweight consumers were open to new functional foods and personalised nutrition plans, based on DNA tests. It added: "It's no good developing all these wonderful new ingredients and products if consumers don't want them."
The Lipgene results will be welcomed by researchers developing plants that produce more beneficial fats, such as omega 3, as well as manufacturers developing products tailored to genetic profiles. Unilever, for example, is spending £3.5M on functional food products and possibly £21M on growing the plant that produces the appetite suppressant Hoodia gordonii.
Many consumers also felt that eating genetically modified (GM) foods to tackle chronic health conditions was still preferable to popping pills.
According to separate research for Food Manufacture by Harris Interactive, more than a fifth (22%) of consumers claimed they would be interested in buying products targeting groups on the basis of genetic profiling (see p50).
Economists working on Lipgene claim that if it focused on developing lipid-modified meat, dairy products and eggs for the obese 20% of the EU population, the annual subsidy needed to cover the increased product costs would be about £4.1bn. However, if obesity were cut by one fifth its annual cost would be lowered by more than that.
