Research
The Institute facilitates leading edge and impactful research across a wide range of areas, harnessing the extensive expertise that exists within the University and supporting effective and long-lasting collaborations with partner organisations.
Our research spans innovative ground-breaking research in health priority areas, the development of novel and responsive education and training programmes, and the design and delivery of exciting communication activity using the latest technology and approaches to engage with target groups.
- All
- Food Chain Sustainability
- Food Processing
- Cardiometabolic Health
- Brain Health
- Gut Health
- Behaviour and Consumer Trust
THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL PLASTIC FILM CLADDING MATERIALS FOR POLY-TUNNELS
Poly tunnels, growing areas enclosed by plastic film cladding, have transformed the production of many crops in the UK and around the world, by reducing losses from poor weather, pests,…Read More >
EIT Food Accelerator Network
Once you have applied for FAN, you will go through a rigorous selection process where you will be judged by a series of experts including successful entrepreneurs, investors and experts from…Read More >
Health SnaP
The purpose of this activity is to support healthy eating by developing a new food manufacturing technology and B2C business concept for at-site customised production of healthy snacks. The idea…Read More >
SuReBar: Integrating innovative sugar and fibre technologies to produce clean label sugar reduced products, demonstrated through cereal bars
Cereal bars are considered by many consumers to be a healthy snacking alternative, but in reality they often contain between 13% and 40 % sugar. In this project a new…Read More >
CleanFruit – Standardization of innovative pest control strategies to produce zero residue fruit for baby food and other fruit produce
Fruit crop protection is heavily dependent on chemical pesticides. Fruit processors need fruit free from pesticides for baby food and other specialized products. Fruit quality and safety could benefit from…Read More >
Seaweed supplementation to mitigate methane (CH4) emissions by cattle (SeaCH4NGE)
The project started in 2019 and the aim is to reduce methane (CH4) emission from cattle and increase product quality. There is a gap in the market for products with…Read More >
ONCOFOOD: New food solutions for cancer patients
According to the World Health Organization, in 2016 there were around 7.1 million patients who were diagnosed with cancer or were undergoing treatment for cancer in Europe. Close to 70%…Read More >
NMR-based MetabolomIcs foR orgAniC miLk authEntication (NMR-MIRACLE)
Started in 2019, this project will develop an analytical service to authenticate organic milk and enhance transparency throughout the dairy supply chain. This responds to an increasing consumer demand for…Read More >
Games of Food
Escape games provide an opportunity to share educational messages in an enjoyable way. In such games, groups of 3 to 8 players are locked in a room while they search…Read More >
Our Nutritious Protein
Consumer desire for protein-rich foods and beverages is driving growth and innovation in protein ingredients. The population growth together with the changes in the food consumption patterns away from animal…Read More >
Constituent sensing of small grains
Additionally, food safety requires the full traceability of crop constituents in the complete food value chain. This includes correct and seamless documentation of all production steps. One missing piece is…Read More >
Increasing consumer trust and support for the food supply chain and for food companies
This consumer-focused project will work with consumers, food companies and other stakeholders (industry bodies, non-governmental organisations, regulatory authorities and policy makers, media) across 6 countries in Europe and Israel to…Read More >
Influencer marketing for EIT Food: the EIT Food Ambassadors Programme
Launching a new sustainable product doesn’t necessarily create new consumer eating habits. So, how do we encourage uptake of new products, technologies or ideas? In an era where celebrities and…Read More >
Developing a Digital Toolkit to Enhance the Communication of Scientific Health Claims
Consumers often neither understand nor trust health claims on food packages, and so are not able to use them to make informed personal nutrition choices. One reason for this is…Read More >
‘SEE & EAT’: Communicating the benefits of visual familiarity as a strategy for introducing healthy foods into children’s diets 2020
Children’s food preferences depend on food familiarity and liking, and research shows that visually familiarizing children with foods before they taste them (e.g. by looking at picture books) increases their…Read More >
Food and Nutrition: Truth behind the headlines
This free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) will be developed and led by the University of Reading (UoR), working with researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the…Read More >
Cook Clever: a gamified solution to tackle household food waste habits
Consumers have a growing awareness of food waste concerns yet lack the know-how and motivation to change food related behaviors that can make a real impact in reducing food waste,…Read More >
Trust in Our Food: Understanding Food Supply System
How much do you trust your food? Learn about food supply systems, safety, sustainability and nutrition and quality. This online course explore the challenges and responsibilities of different people in…Read More >
EIT Food Digital Marketplace for Side Streams
The goal of this project is to enable companies worldwide to easily identify candidate side streams for valorisation to catalyse match-making between suppliers and buyers and to build a knowledge…Read More >
Building a business model to enhance consumer trust and influence decision making using a sustainability transparency labelling system
The proposal is centred on an EIT-Food Communications platform on sustainability and transparency, a communication system co-created with consumers with a central focus on increasing consumer trust in the food…Read More >
“LINKDAPA”: Linking multi-source data for adoption of precision agriculture
This project will use multi-source data to co-create with farmers and their advisers, crop management zones for precision agriculture (PA) solutions. The zones will be based on synergistic integrations of…Read More >
HarnessINg Seaweed to Produce Iodine-forRtifiEd organic milk (INSPIRE organic milk)
Iodised salt and milk are the main sources of I in human diets. However, organic milk is typically low in I and organic salt is not iodised. The project aims…Read More >
Impact on sustainability, shelf life and nutritional value by vertically farmed leafy greens via a new local supply chain
Access to fresh produce is and will continue to be an issue in the densely populated European cities. Due to the long and complex supply chain up to 40% of…Read More >
Integrating Precision Farming in Computer Game
In spite of these benefits, its adoption by farmers remains low. The co-creation of a new precision farming module for a farming simulator game is a novel and innovative way…Read More >
Consumer attitudes towards healthier processed meat products
The countries investigated will be UK, Spain and Denmark, countries with high meat consumption rates (> 80 kg per person/year in UK and Denmark and > 90 kg per person/year…Read More >
EIT Food TrustTracker®
The EIT Food TrustTracker® is an evidenced-based questionnaire which has been developed to measuring consumer trust in the food industry and is an important first step towards understanding this gap….Read More >
Smart Tags for Improving Consumer Interaction in Food Value Chain
The Smart Tags communication project is set to increase consumer trust towards food products by sharing information about the food product value chain during the whole life-cycle of the product,…Read More >
WeValueFood 2020
WeValueFood is a 3-year grand challenge project funded by EIT involving 11 European partners from education, academia and industry, communication sectors. The project runs from 2019-2021 and is led by…Read More >
Food System Master of Science Programme
Develop in-depth knowledge about food systems through studying consecutively at three distinct European academic institutions and use your knowledge to drive the future transformation of the food system. Aim of the course The programme…Read More >
Exploring Controversies in Food Production
The MOOC ‘Engaging with Controversies in the Food System’ will be developed and led by the University of Reading (UoR), working with researchers at the University of Turin (UNITO), the…Read More >
Interplay between different wheat cultivars and novel biostimulants to increase quality and yield in
Improving European farmers’ competitiveness through technology transfer and innovation integration is essential to address future challenges in the sector. Increasing wheat grain quality and yield and enabling sustainable intensification is critical…Read More >
inPaper: Innovative paper-based packaging technology and pack styles for food products
Packaging needs to become more sustainable! China is restricting plastic waste imports. Some countries have raised taxes on plastic bags or a complete ban. Within the food and packaging industry,…Read More >
Explore How Farmers Produce Food Sustainably
Sustainably producing sufficient, high quality, safe and nutritious food is a major challenge for the EU and globally. Farmers and primary food producers are responsible for providing a fundamental resource…Read More >
Superfoods: Myths and Truths
What is a ‘superfood’? What foods are ‘superfoods’? What effect do they have on the body and society? Goji berries, quinoa, amaranth and green tea are all foods that have…Read More >
Alternative Proteins as Food Ingredients
This SPOC explored new protein sources, and how they can be used in new products. Learners gained understanding of the chemical, biological and nutritional fundamentals of proteins, how they can…Read More >
Circular Food Generator Track
Food Generator Track is a competition which challenges Master or PhD students of 3 Universities to develop new, innovative solutions for and from food losses of production facilities and retail…Read More >
O-Live: Smart targeting of personalised food advice
The food that consumers buy and eat is influenced by a complex interaction of cognitive, sensory, economic, and health factors that lead to gaps between their intentions and behaviour. By…Read More >
Focus on Farmers
Agricultural technologies and innovations offer significant opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of farm businesses, through optimised yields, reduced environmental impact and increased profitability. However, farmer adoption of these…Read More >
SureChoc: Sugar reduced chocolate
Sugar reduction in foods remains challenging; it is not only the sweetness of sugar but also physiochemical properties and cost that have to be matched. A substantial portion of sweet…Read More >
Dairy products with reduced saturated fatty acids
Saturated fat intake in most EU states still exceed the guidelines for reducing cardiovascular disease risk. Dairy foods are major sources of saturated fatty acids (SFA) in many EU diets…Read More >
Quality Information Services and Personalised Nutrition
To further develop and test a digital platform as a supporting basis for creating and delivering personalised nutrition (PN) services in Europe via a non-profit organisation with payable services/memberships to…Read More >
How to effectively change food habits
Our project targets professionals in the health and fitness sectors that routinely deliver interventions to change the eating habits of their clients. The aim is to provide them with innovative…Read More >
The EIT Food School Network: Integrating solutions to improve eating habits and reduce food wastage 2020
The EIT Food School Network is a collaboration working towards improving dietary choices and reducing food wastage in preschool, primary school and secondary school pupils by bringing together industry, academia and…Read More >
How is Food Made? Understanding Processed Food
Building on the ideas explored in the current EIT MOOC, “Trust in the Food we Eat” the aim of this course is to continue to empower and engage citizens, by…Read More >
SUREBIC: SUGAR REDUCED BISCUITS AND CAKES THAT MEET CONSUMER SENSORY, NATURALNESS AND COST EXPECTATIONS
Reducing sugar consumption is essential for health but a huge challenge for the food industry. Reducing sugar in food is not just about replacing sweetness, but also about the challenge…Read More >
Nutrition for the ageing brain: Towards evidence for an optimal diet
Background As people age they become increasingly susceptible to chronic and extremely debilitating brain diseases. The precise cause of the neuronal degeneration underlying these disorders, and indeed normal brain ageing…Read More >
Inhibitory effect of spices on formation of carcinogen in fried meatballs
Background Spices are commonly used as flavour enhancer and natural antioxidants in meat products. However, effect of spices on the formation of carcinogens especially heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in…Read More >
Yogurt consumption – favourable metabolic profile in children
Background Dairy products are a good source of a number of important nutrients in the British diet such as energy, protein and other macro- and micronutrients. However, dairy fats are…Read More >
Smoke and Smoked Ingredients while Retaining the Smoky Flavor
Background The popularity of smoked foodstuffs such as sauces, marinades, and rubs is on the rise. However, during the traditional smoking process, in addition to the desirable smoky aroma compounds,…Read More >
What influences women’s choice to breastfeed?
Background The health and economic benefits of breastfeeding for both child and mother are well documented and have been recently highlighted in an important Breastfeeding Series in the Lancet (Rollin…Read More >
Wild Blueberry in Maintenance of Memory in Older Adults
Background The number of people aged 60 years or older is expected to rise from 900 million to 2 billion between 2015 and 2050, an increase from 12 to 22%…Read More >
See and Eat! Using Picture Books to Increase Pre-schoolers Intake of Vegetables
Background Despite efforts to educate parents and children about the benefits of healthy eating through government and health service campaigns (e.g. 5 A Day, Change 4 Life, Healthy Start), fewer…Read More >
Blood lipid reduction by a probiotic
Background Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the major causes of death and disability in industrialised countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that by the year 2020,…Read More >
Gut microbiota influence on healthy ageing
Background The ageing process leads to a potential decline in immune function and adversely affects the gut microbiota. To date, many in vitro and in vivo studies have focused…Read More >
Efficiency of Protein Utilisation In Lactating Dairy Cows
Background Appropriate dietary protein supply is crucial to the health and fertility of dairy cows and their ability to give high yields of milk. However, protein-rich feed supplements such…Read More >
Diverse Forage mixtures for sustainable livestock systems
Background Grassland comprises 50 % of the total UK land area and is a crucial resource for the ruminant livestock industries within the agricultural sector. This land is predominantly sown…Read More >
Effects of diet forage source on methane emissions from dairy cattle
Background The farming of ruminant livestock is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, which has 25 times greater global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Enteric methane not…Read More >
The effects of flavonoids on cognitive and mental health
Background Diet represents one of the most important lifestyle factors and can strongly influence the incidence and onset of cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases, and thus a healthy diet is…Read More >
Characteristics of dairy products produced from modified milk
Background There is interest in understanding if cardiovascular disease risk (CVD) could be reduced through the replacement of saturated fatty acids (SFA) in dairy products. Objectives The RESET study was…Read More >
Jersey milk: an effective way of improving Cheddar cheese yield and profitability
Background In the UK the use of Jersey milk for Cheddar cheese production is still limited, both in terms of the number of cheese makers actively using it and the…Read More >
Dietary Intervention and VAScular Function (DIVAS) Study
Background Cardiovascular diseases (coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease), are the primary cause of death worldwide. A key public health recommendation for reducing the risk of developing CVD…Read More >
Production of dairy products with reduced saturated fat content (SFA)
Background Adults, and especially children, exceed the dietary target (11% of food energy intake) for SFA in the UK. Consumption of SFA increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity (and…Read More >
Impacts of food insecurity on children
Background The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines food security as existing when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active...Read More >
The gut microbiota in children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Background Autism is a spectrum of developmental disorders that profoundly affects the way in which a child relates and communicates with others. Although ranging in degrees of severity, several impaired...Read More >
The impact of the Sugar Swaps campaign on nutritional intake
Background Eating and drinking too much sugar means extra calories, which causes fat to build up inside the body. This can lead to heart disease, some cancers or type 2…Read More >
Development of a prebiotic product Bimuno®
Background Gastrointestinal dysfunction and disease is the most common cause of hospital admission in the UK, making it a heavy burden for patients, the NHS and the economy. The human...Read More >