Tate & Lyle PLC is supporting a new research project that is aiming to improve the understanding of the UK food system and help people to make healthier and more sustainable food choices.
The world leader in ingredient solutions for healthier food is working with The University of Aberdeen’s Rowett Institute who is conducting the three-year research project.
The project will investigate how issues around poverty; food insecurity and obesity may affect shopping habits, and data will be gathered from participants in the UK who will share their experiences of being overweight.
The institute has been awarded a £1.6 million funding grant from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
The study will bring together a panel of consumers, charities, food and drink producers, retailers, and expert academics to advise, and develop strategies that can support future transformation within the UK food system.
As the only food and drink ingredient solutions supplier on the panel, Tate & Lyle will provide industry insight on their expertise in nutrition.
“We are delighted to be able to offer our guidance, expertise and know-how for this important piece of research,” global head of nutrition and regulatory affairs at Tate & Lyle, Dr Kavita Karnik said.
Karnik added: “We are a science-led organisation which helps big and small brands all over the world make food and drink healthier and tastier.
“Driven by our purpose of ‘Transforming Lives through the Science of Food’, we believe this research is essential to better understand food systems in the UK and provide real-world strategies of how dietary inequalities can be addressed within the food retail sector in an environmentally friendly way.”
Professor Alexandra Johnstone, Rowett Institute, also commented: “With the cost-of-living crisis it is only going to get harder for people to make healthy food choices, particularly those who are living with obesity and food insecurity.
“This is a vital piece of research, and we are very much looking forward to working with this excellent team on this extremely important topic.”
