The Greek food and drink federation (SEVT) has taken the initiative to establish the Hellenic Technology Platform ‘Food for Life’ in the context of the European one. The Hellenic Platform has produced the Position Paper where the research priorities of the Food sector have been identified in four main pillars:
- Nutrition & Health
- Food Safety
- Food Processing
- Food Chain Management
The Federation of Hellenic Food Industries is also involved in several international research projects, including the following specifically related to nutrition and health:
- NU-AGE (’New dietary strategies addressing the specific needs of elderly population for an healthy ageing in Europe’). The five year NU-AGE project is focused on the designing of a new food pyramid for people over 65 years old. This is developed from food based dietary guidelines used in Europe, illustrating the proportions of different foods that should be included in a balanced diet.
- VITASTEV (’Design and Development of Low GI Foods based on sweetening compounds isolated from Stevia rebaudiana cultivated in China and enriched with vitamins A and D’).
VITASTEV is a 3-year Hellenic research project supported by the Hellenic OP ‘Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship’. Initiated in October 2012, the project aims to develop and provide a quality assessment of an innovative, low cost, low glycaemic index / low glycaemic load, Stevia based product, enriched with Vitamins A and D designed especially to cover nutritional habits and needs in Greece and China.
