A major international effort is underway to develop food products that address malnutrition in the elderly.
The collaboration between 24 global scientific and nutritional organistions aims to create new functional foods for older people to address the problem of poor nutrition, and the resulting higher risk of health issues.
NZ dairy giant Fonterra recently joined the five-year project, The Prevention of Malnutrition in Senior Subjects in the EU, to help investigate the role diet and appetite may have in malnutrition and functional decline of people over 70 years.
Fonterra director of NZMP medical nutrition Maarten van Beek says the research findings will help Fonterra develop innovative new food products that prevent malnutrition and support active and healthy ageing, with Fonterra sharing technical knowledge and expertise to create inventive protein-enriched food concepts.
“A key focus of NZMP’s medical nutrition work is to develop great-tasting, protein-enriched nutritional solutions that are part of a normal diet for older people,” Van Beek says.
