News & Updates

Swedes plough SEK 200m into anti-diabetic food research
Published: October 08, 2007

The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, VINNOVA, has announced it will plough SEK 200 million (21.9 million) into the centre, designed to promote theresearch into anti-diabetic foods.

"The fact that we’ve been given financial support is very fortunate for everyone working within the area. It also means a lot to the public health and the food industry," said Professor Inger Bjorck, head of the centre.

The mandate for the centre is to contribute to new understanding of food designed to reduce risk of obesity, type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Moreover, Maria Johansson, project manager at Lund University’s Functional Food Science Centre, told NutraIngredients.com that the research plan would follow the specific areas: Clinical documentation of the efficacy of food portfolios on Insulin Resistance Syndrome (IRS) risk factors; Food design exploiting the relationship of the gut microbial ecosystem and IRS risk factors; Food design exploiting the bioavailability of nutrients and bioactive components in relation to IRS; and weight maintenance/appetite.

An estimated 19 million people are affected by diabetes in the EU 25, equal to four per cent of the total population. This figure is projected to increase to 26 million by 2030.

In the US, there are over 20 million people with diabetes, equal to seven per cent of the population. The total costs are thought to be as much as $132 billion, with $92 billion being direct costs from medication, according to 2002 American Diabetes Association figures.

Vinnova’s funding will be spread over a ten-year period, with addition funding coming from industry and the regional government (Region Skane), with a number of companies already signed up, according to a release.

An increasing number of specialist research centres are sprouting up across Europe in response to the growth of obesity and related conditions. Indeed, only last week this website reported on a UK research hub, which could help inform government policy on the very real issues brought on by the growing obesity problem.

The Centre for Preventive Medicine officially opens its doors on Tuesday in Norwich and will bring together the expertise of the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Institute of Food Research.

Such a move comes at a time when medical problems associated with unhealthy lifestyles are putting a hefty price on health care services. The annual cost to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) for coronary heart disease is ₤6.3bn, while ₤1bn is spent on obesity related conditions.