Academic Centre for Dentistry Amstersdam
University of Genoa
Göteborg University
University of Pavia
Givaudan
University of Tel Aviv
UCL Eastman Dental Institute
University of Verona

EC contact person

Project funding

NUTRIDENT is a €2.2m Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) funded by the EU within the Framework Programme 6 (FP6) - Thematic Priority 5: Food Quality and Safety, 4th Thematic call.

The primary objective of this Thematic Priority was to improve the health and wellbeing of European citizens through higher quality food and improved control of food production and related environmental factors.

This approach re-addresses the classical 'farm-to-fork' approach by giving priority to consumers' demands and rights for high quality and safe food. Taking the 'fork-to-farm' approach provides the primary driver for developing new and safer food production chains and foods, relying in particular on biotechnology tools and taking into account the latest results of genomics research.

A wider and innovative combination of disciplines beyond those traditionally used has been deployed. In addition to combining production, processing, nutritional and analytical expertise, the consortium has drawn on appropriate expertise from such areas as microbial modelling, molecular biology, genomics, dentistry, bacterial physiology and formulation science, to achieve our aims. Accordingly, this integrated approach has cut across several research areas and adopted a 'total food chain' approach.

NUTRIDENT consortium was drawn together to carry out a Specific Targeted Research Project under the call heading:

'5.4.3: Impact of food on health'

There is increasing evidence that consumption of certain types of food within a balanced diet may have a positive and even protective effect on health. The objective is to provide the scientific basis for improving health through diet and specifically:

T5.4.3.2 Food components reducing the risk of dental diseases (STREP)

The objective is to investigate the effects of food and beverage components on the mechanism of development of major dental diseases with the aim of risk reduction and possibly designing specific foods with nutrition and health claims ('functional foods'). The project should aim to identify the individual components in such foods that are responsible for these observed effects and should also consider oral microflora and possible physiological side-effects of these components. Processing methods able to increase the positive impact of these components on oral health should be investigated. The participation of industry, including SMEs, is strongly encouraged.

For further information visit: http://cordis.europa.eu/food/

This page was last modified June 2007