Subsidising new healthy products could save governments millions in fighting obesity, MEPs were told last month.
At a workshop in Brussels, Professor Mike Gibney of Trinity College, Dublin, said that governments facing huge bills in treating the obese would see a net gain if they subsidised changes made to the fat in food.
"Obesity is going to cost the EU around euro 30bn, whereas the cost of developing incentives to change the dietary content of fats would be a fifth of that," he said.
Gibney is a scientist involved in the European Union's 6th Framework project Lipgene on changing the fat composition in animal products, food crops and processed foods.
The workshop, organised by the British Nutrition Foundation (one of 25 partners in the project) set out to demonstrate that healthier foods could be developed but would need subsidising to have a major impact on Europe's health.
Lipgene is looking at using animal nutrition technology to reduce levels of trans fatty acids and saturated fats and boost polyunsaturated fats in animal products, including milk. It is also looking at increasing consumption of beneficial polyunsaturates, such as those found in fish, through gene technology.
Gibney said: "To increase fish consumption dramatically is not practical, but you can get the same material from algae. Technology is being developed to transfer genes from the algae into rapeseed oil plants to create a crop that offers the fatty acids profile we need."
Such products would need subsidising because they are inherently more expensive to produce because of the low volumes involved and the need to ensure identity preservation.
Experience with cholesterol-lowering products, such as Flora pro.activ, has shown that high prices hold back sales.