Objectives
The CHANCE project’s aim is to address poor nutrition in the most significant populations at risk of poverty in Europe by developing attractive, affordable and nutritious food products using low-cost technologies and traditional ingredients.
The CHANCE project aims to adopt a new multidisciplinary approach, leading to nutritional strategies for the prevention of malnutrition in population groups at risk of poverty in Europe. Based on studies of at risk of poverty populations in Europe, determining who they are, what their nutritional problems consist of and what the underlying factors are. Food products preventing nutritional inadequacies – and at the same time being affordable and attractive to the target group – will be developed.
The CHANCE specific objectives are to:
Identify nutritional criticalities & barriers to healthy eating
- Identify the main population groups at risk of poverty in Europe, according to both geographical and social criteria.
- Identify barriers and promoters to healthy diet and healthy eating, including possible knowledge bias.
- Assess the dietary habits and nutrient intake of selected population groups at risk of poverty through a dietary survey based on food frequency questionnaire.
- Investigate the metabolic state of volunteers recruited within each selected population group.
Select ingredients & raw materials for new food prototypes
- Select raw materials and “critical foods” and transfer knowledge to food industries.
- Assign a “nutritional score” to each critical food on the basis of available food composition data. Price will also be part of the selection criteria, generating an “economic score” for each selected food.
- Combine the nutritional and economic scores to obtain a “CHANCE score”. Foods with the highest CHANCE score will be further developed.
- Consider regional and cultural differences and local food choices when developing meals.
Develop "CHANCE foods"
- Improve the nutritional quality of the foods in terms of enrichment of micro- and macronutrients and bioactive compounds.
- Optimise processing technologies in conjunction with traditional processing technologies
- Formulate protocols describing the food processing and manufacturing technologies improving the nutritional value, consumer acceptability, shelf life of CHANCE foods and meals without increasing their production cost.
- Evaluate the nutritional stability of the exploited ingredients in the industrial preparation of food prototypes and food design.
Produce "CHANCE food" prototypes- Design selected food products in terms of cost optimisation and improved product design;
- Assess stability and shelf-life of the selected CHANCE foods
- Design and pilot/industrially produce CHANCE food prototypes
- Assess feasibility of food prototypes and evaluate production
- Formulate optimal diets for selected population groups based on CHANCE foods.