Foaming and fat replacer ingredients

Obesity related illness presents a huge financial and social challenge to Governments and health services in the UK, EU
and around the world. The UK House of Commons Health Select Committee calculated that in 2002 clinical obesity cost
the English economy somewhere between £3.3-3.7 billion per annum. A similar calculation in 2006 by the EU commission
estimated that between 59 billion Euros and 236 billion Euros per annum or 7-28% of the total healthcare budget of the
member states was spent on the consequences of obesity related illness. It is estimated that by 2050 obesity will affect
60% of the UK population. If this problem is not addressed it will result in an unprecedented and possibly unsustainable
drain on healthcare resources in the UK. Tackling this huge problem will require a multi faceted approach, not least of
which will be attempts to modify the eating behaviour of large parts of the population. Food manufacturers have been
proactive in this respect by developing a range of low or reduced fat foods to replace less healthy alternatives. However,
reduced fat foods at present have low uptake by consumers and make little profit for industry. Market studies show that
consumers will not choose healthier food and drink products that have inferior taste or mouth feel to the less healthy
equivalent. In this study we aim to develop protein-based ingredients and enabling technologies for the formulation of foods
with reduced energy density while providing stability and mouth feel that are equivalent or improved compared to the
original versions. We will use a multi-scale approach that aims both to understand the microscopic role played by novel fat
replacers and emulsifiers, how these will impact on structure at the colloidal level, and how this determines texture in the
whole food. This will allow us to broaden our specific approach into a general strategy that can be applied to a wider range
of food products.

The ability to formulate and manufacture foods with a reduced energy density, which at the same time have sensory
properties closely matching those of the normal fat product, will have a large financial impact for the partner companies and
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Proposal original proforma document
Academic Beneficiaries
Describe who will benefit from the research [up to 4000 chars].
social and health benefits to the UK as a whole. Also, development of underpinning technology to facilitate production of
functional fat replacer ingredients would place the two academic partners at the forefront of the application of fundamental
research concepts to the intelligent design of food protein ingredients.
We have identified a number of benefits from this research that would impact on the partner organisations, the food
industry and society as a whole.
Economic: supply of commercially valuable protein prototypes from 2nd year of project resulting in potential additional
annual income stream building up to at least £400 million at (£1000/ton) (estimated by Premier Foods). Premier Foods,
Marlow Foods, Hlere and Mantons's will extend their product range during and after completion of the project. All partners
estimate that this will benefit them for at least 10 years after product launch. Nandi Proteins and Wright Agri Industry Ltd.
will benefit for at least 10 years after completion of the project by licensing fees and royalties.
Technical: new processes and products will be generated and patented. New methods for studying the formation of
structure in reduced fat products will be developed and applied to relevant systems. Agreement of all consortium members
will be sought prior to publication of the fundamental aspects of the project, to avoid jeopardizing granting of patents on
novel technologies and products arising from the project.
Environmental: reducing waste from food manufacturing plants and transforming waste into high value ingredients. We will
look at the modification of functional properties of food grade proteins that have traditionally been thought of as waste,
including pot ale or spent grain in brewing/distilling and a mycoprotein rich waste stream from Quorn manufacture (Marlow
Foods) that has already shown promise as a foaming ingredient. The technology to turn these in to useful functional food
proteins would demonstrate that so-called waste proteins can be converted to economically viable products, which would
open up the opportunity to apply the technology to other waste protein streams.
Social: the project will contribute to improve quality of life by reducing obesity of consumers which will come to effect within
1 year of completion of the project and will last as long as the novel ingredients and products are on the market. This is
potentially the most important impact of all given the huge economic cost to the UK of obesity related illness. We recognise
that the contributory factors for obesity are many and complex, and that overeating/eating energy rich foods is only one of
them. However, the manufacture of reduced energy density foods that look, taste and have the same texture as the higher
energy density equivalents could have a signiifcant impact on the problem.
Collaborative: the collaborative nature of the project will provide benefits to all partners. Industrial partners will gain access
to equipment and expertise which is generally not available within their own organisations. This will be of particular benefit
to the SME members of the consortium. Similarly, at a time of economic downturn when research budgets are tight, the
larger companies will gain access to highly innovative and novel ideas generated by the Universities and SME's. The
collaboration between HWU and UoE is in the spirit of the Scottish Universities Industry Innovation Network for Food and
Drink research pooling project, and will help establish Edinburgh as a major Scottish and UK centre for food research in
this area, and should lead to many years of collaborative food research outwith the current project.