The four-year ‘Muscle Health and Function’ is the 26th research project at TI Food and Nutrition in Wageningen and Pepsi joinsDanone, DSM, Maastricht University and Wageningen University in taking part.
A TI spokesperson said the project spun out of many years of research into elderly muscle function with athlete muscle function being added presently as, “there are many similarities”.
Four PhD researchers, two post-docs and others will bring about 10 staff to the project with initial recruitment for trials underway. No specifics about research goals have yet been released.
1000 articles, 15 years
The spokesperson noted that since the first TI project began in 1997, there had been about 1000 scientific articles produced from the 26 projects.
Research for the current project will be published in peer review journals and therefore be available to the companies involved and others for product development later down the line.
“New scientific insights will support the development of foods and interventions for athletes, people with little mobility with fractures, and the frail elderly with low muscle mass and, consequently co-morbidity and disability,” TI said.
“By performing this kind of research, scientists and industry strive to contribute to the improvement of the mobility and independence of the growing elderly population.”
Dr Jan Maat, managing director of TI Food and Nutrition, added: “I am excited to welcome PepsiCo to our alliance. Within the last two years, the amount of our partners has more than doubled. This expansion proves the confidence that the government, industry and science have in our approach to increase the knowledge infrastructure and the innovation potential of the industry. In this way we aim to contribute to a fundamental and sustainable resolution to a growing number of health concerns. “
TI Food and Nutrition members include Cargill, CBL, Chr. Hansen, CSK Food Enrichment, CRV, CSM, Danone, DSM, FNLI, FrieslandCampina, Fromageries Bel, GlaxoSmithKline, Kellogg, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Philips Research, Productschap Zuivel, Unilever, VION and Wrigley.
