Food & Drink Improvements

Challenges

Chemical food contaminants are a persistent problem when assuring the provision of safe and healthy foods for consumers. Cereals are frequently contaminated with mycotoxins produced by a fungal infection of grains in the field or storage. Guidance on good agricultural practices to minimize risks of Fusarium fungi and mycotoxins in UK wheat is available. As demand for high-quality UK food oats increases, guidance for growers to improve agronomy practices has also been developed. Prevention of Fusarium fungi and mycotoxins is, to date, not included in such advice. 

Once a cereal is contaminated, mycotoxins are subject to further plant metabolism, resulting in conjugated metabolites, so-called masked mycotoxins, which co-occur in cereal grains. Masked mycotoxins are not toxic per se, but the human gut microbiota releases free mycotoxins in the colon, which will contribute to exposure. 

The fate of some Fusarium mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol and its masked form deoxynivalenol-glucoside, has been well described in humans and validated urinary biomarkers are available to assess exposure. However, accurate assessments of dietary exposure to potent mycotoxins T-2 and HT-2 toxins in humans are very limited. Our preliminary work has shown that increased oat consumption resulted in increased urinary excretion of T2 and HT2, and there is an urgent need to better understand the absorption of T2 and HT2 and their masked forms from food and their metabolism in humans to fully validate urinary biomarkers to be used in human biomonitoring studies. 

Overall, the production of T2 and HT2 and their masked forms in oat cereals, their fate through processing and their contribution to overall exposure in humans are not well understood.

Questions

Solutions

This project aims to minimize the risk to consumers from mycotoxin contamination in cereal foods by improving our understanding of the sources of contamination in primary cereal production and processing and by assessing human exposure and risk through biomarker analysis.

Understanding contamination within the cereal industry and supporting testing 

We are improving our understanding of contamination within the cereal industry and testing common, commercially available tests for a range of type A trichothecenes and their masked forms in cereals. Several commercial tests are available for the determination of regulated mycotoxins in cereals. However, these methods are validated for specific free mycotoxins and their ability to detect masked forms is less well described especially for type A trichothecenes.

Identifying key intervention points to prevent and minimise mycotoxin contamination in the cereal supply chain

Much research has been conducted to identify the main drivers of fungal growth and mycotoxin production in agricultural systems with the main focus on Aspergillus fungi in maize and Fusarium fungi in wheat. These studies have identified a range of drivers from climate parameters to varietal differences and agronomy practices that are increasing the risk for fungal infection and mycotoxin contamination. However, less attention has been given to the oat supply chain and the production of mycotoxins and masked mycotoxins in oat cereals. The oat crops have already been identified to be at risk of mycotoxin contamination. This project focuses on identifying key intervention points in oat production and processing to minimise contamination. 

Inform risk assessment of human mycotoxin exposure through oat foods

Urinary biomonitoring is an important tool to assess dietary exposure to mycotoxins in consumers. Validated biomarkers exist for some mycotoxins, but the fate of type A trichothecenes and their masked forms in the human body is not well understood. We are predicting the bioaccessibility of mycotoxins from oat foods and confirming the findings in a human diet intervention to fully validate urinary biomarkers.

Project Partners

Progress

Challenges

The food supply chain is subject to potential contamination with natural and industrial toxins. Food can contain pathogenic microorganisms, natural toxic compounds or industrial chemicals added intentionally or accidentally. While acute food poisoning is relatively rare, long-term effects of food toxins are an area of concern and, therefore, routine testing of foods at different stages of agrifood processes is legally required. 

Toxin testing is typically carried out using analytic methods like high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS), using commercially available standards, or immunological methods. Chemical and immunological analyses are very specific and typically detect a single analyte. Targeted LCMS also requires standards for the toxins under analysis.

The number of toxins with distinct chemistry, but similar toxicity, is often substantial. For example, there are 300 different known mycotoxins and 700 different pyrrolizidines. The related substances can be produced by the same pathogenic organism or by the metabolism of the toxin and may escape detection by normal analytical techniques. For some toxins, therefore, separate tests exist for the original and the metabolised toxin. Thus, it is impossible to test for such a wide range of mycotoxins using antibodies or LCMS.

Cell-based assays

Cell-based assays utilise whole cells as indicators of a specific biological process and can be used to detect chemicals which elicit toxicity. Cell-based assays can measure a variety of biological outcomes utilising parameters, including cell viability, transcriptional changes or signalling events involving protein-protein interactions. Cell-based analysis of signalling interactions can lead to the development of immunological tests, biochemical assays, and biosensors.

Cell-based assays are used in the pharmaceutical sector for pre-clinical screening of novel therapeutic compounds but have also been used for food toxicity testing. Examples include grain-borne mycotoxins, packaging-derived xenobiotics, shellfish toxins, or pyrrolizidine alkaloids in herbal extracts. Cell-based assays can simply measure cell viability (including toxicity or, conversely, growth stimulation by endocrine activity) but can also interrogate specific signalling events affected by toxins. Whole-cell bioassays based on bacterial cells, yeast and nematodes have been developed and are used for the detection of food and environmental toxins in some commercial settings. Cell-based assays can provide an alternative for and a complement to immunological and chemical testing. As for these established techniques toxin detection is influenced by food matrices.

The advantages of cell-based assays include:

• Automatic incorporation of bioavailability and viability testing.
• Ability to test for a group of chemicals with a similar toxicity profile.
• Ability to identify toxins for which no established standards currently exist.
• This is an active area of research, and the full potential of cell-based assays has not been fully realised yet. 

Questions

Solutions

The overall objective of the project is to develop cell-based assays based on the toxicity mechanism of toxins to complement the existing chemical and immunological tests. The assays are expected to enable the detection of masked toxins and toxin metabolites. 

Cell-based assays for mycotoxin detection

Mycotoxins are a major hazard in the food chain. The term mycotoxin includes a wide variety of fungus-derived toxins with a variety of mechanisms of toxicity. Humans and animals can be affected by mycotoxin poisoning in response to acute and chronic exposure. Cell-based assays for mycotoxin detection have concentrated on cell viability and endocrine receptor activation in the specific case of zearalenone. 

We are utilising 3 parallel approaches to develop cell-based assay systems for mycotoxins. They are based on two established toxicity responses (immune toxicity and food refusal toxicity) and one novel approach utilising the transcriptional response in a cell type which has shown high sensitivity to mycotoxin treatment. The cell-based assays have diagnostic relevance on their own, but they also inform the development of novel immunological and biosensor detection approaches by identifying undetected masked mycotoxin variants which share toxicity patterns with currently regulated compounds.

The development of these assay systems is primarily focusing on toxins currently relevant for the Scottish agri-food sector, but this approach can also be extended to include toxins which may become problems in the future due to climate change, an altered trade environment and testing requirements due to the UK’s European Union Exit, and the development of novel foods and food contact materials as a consequence of a focus on sustainability, increased biodiversity and a circular economy.

Project Partners

Progress

Challenges

Initiatives to support consumers in making healthy food choices have failed to help Scotland meet its dietary targets. It is appreciated that this will not be achieved by a single approach. Reformulating food to be healthy, sustainable, and most importantly acceptable and affordable, has genuine potential in supporting these initiatives, but only if the supply chain is robust and economically viable. 

Our previous research has identified several crops that could be sustainably grown in Scotland (hemp, buckwheat, pea, and fava bean), with the main objective to address protein intake and reducing emission targets associated with livestock production. From a food formulation perspective, these crops are extremely versatile. For example, hemp grain can be milled to produce flour, and pressed to produce oil and dairy alternatives, with the co-products also having economic value contributing to an effective circular economy. 

The formulation of these crops can also contribute fibre, micronutrient minerals and vitamins and valuable bioactives to the diet. We have demonstrated that bread reformulated with hemp flour reduced hunger and modulated hormones associated with satiation. Buckwheat is a prime example of how we have developed a formulation to target the rise in postprandial glucose, which has been strongly linked to the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This formulation was shown to reduce blood glucose in people living with T2DM (controlled by metformin or diet). Furthermore, the formulation is also versatile and could be included in a range of products providing a much-needed and familiar range of foods and drinks to support those looking to have a healthy lifestyle but finding it difficult to make the correct dietary choices. Successful implementation of these strategies requires supply chains to be in place and this includes primary production. Increasing demand necessitates bringing all actors within the supply chain together.

Questions

Solutions

This project is supporting Scotland’s dietary and climate targets through supply-chain-driven food and drink reformulation. 

Multi-sector healthy and sustainable food and drink prototypes

Several food prototypes are being designed to meet a multi-market need, specifically: dairy alternatives, meat-based foods, bakery products and bread. These are intended to replace unsustainable and unhealthy food products high in calories and to reduce the harm from excess salt, sugar and fat consumption. 

• A ‘buckfood’ (buckwheat-rich) ingredient is being used to formulate and evaluate a high-protein plant-based drink (dairy alternative), high-protein shakes and plant-based yoghurt.
• Hemp-co-product ingredients are being used to develop meat-based foods such as patties. 
• Vegetable co-product ingredients are being used to develop bakery and bread. We are showcasing the use of micro-encapsulation to mask the taste. 

We are specifically identifying food formulation options which can be used as a basis for food product development:

• Meets the needs of the dairy, butchery and bakery sectors
• Encourages consumption of healthy alternatives to high-calorie foods
• Grown or produced sustainably in Scotland
• Considers Scotland’s regional and land use requirements
• Adopts circular economy principles
• Contributes to Scotland’s climate targets
• Acceptable to consumers
• Economically viable to produce and affordable

Crop and process waste to product supply chain 

We are supporting product innovation within selected supply chain networks, informing on best practices regarding formulation from "field to the fork". We are characterising (nutritional quality) and assessing (stability and acceptance) of products developed. These include a case study on reformulating Scottish staple foods driven by the dairy, meat and baked goods sectors. The case study is demonstrating the ability to deliver on reformulation that tackles potential food waste and food industry co-products as well as producing affordable staple products that meet Scotland’s dietary targets.

Regional perceptions of healthy sustainable food formulation 

We are working with the food and drink industry to explore the regional importance of food and drink innovation and food production that meets Scotland’s climate, dietary and biodiversity targets. This informs on the potential of regional procurement, which has relevance for a greener recovery and post-Brexit supply chains.  

RoadMap for supply-chain-driven food and drink reformulation success 

Working with our partners we are developing further impact through public-private partnerships by considering the success of food formulation, as well as interventions to deliver maximum impact. 

Overall Deliverable

This project seeks transformative success in bringing together food supply networks to deliver acceptable (taste, affordability) food products that will contribute towards meeting climate and dietary targets. We are producing clear guidance in the form of a RoadMap on how this can be achieved, including major barriers and suggestions for future initiatives and interventions.

Progress

Challenges

Crops, meat, dairy and fish represent some of Scotland’s most commercially important produce. For example, beef production is important for Scottish agriculture. In 2017 Scottish cattle farmers generated 27% of all Scottish agricultural output from the sale of animals for meat production and breeding, making it the biggest single sector of the Scottish agricultural industry. These food groups are also key components of a ‘healthy’ diet, yet the production systems can have quite different impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. Supply chain mapping allows resilience strategies to be put in place to rapidly react when there are supply shortages or changes in demand. Within the UK, generic maps of the supply chains have been produced. Generally, supply chain mapping is not commonly used to address compatibility with dietary guidelines, address alignment with consumption and purchase patterns, or assess how nutrient-density flows may impact the Scottish diet.

The UK’s EU exit and the Covid-19 pandemic have negatively affected many of these supply chains in different ways, with the introduction of export barriers having a particularly negative impact on sectors with a limited domestic market. Also, the concentration of consumer demand around some of the products in a specific food chain leads to imbalances in terms of what is produced and what is domestically consumed. Whilst the Scottish supply is sufficient to cover the Scottish consumption of several products, there are cases, like fish, where the consumption is only half of what is recommended, and full compliance with dietary recommendations cannot be satisfied.

To ensure healthy, sustainable, and secure food environments, it is important to understand how our diets relate to food supply chains - what is being produced, what is imported and exported, and how supply relates to what we eat and what we should be eating. Each supply chain has its own, often complex structure, for example, fish and shellfish operate across different sectors (fisheries and aquaculture), with sub-sectors having distinct supply chain routes, operational models, and timescales to market.

Questions

Solutions

This project aims to map the fish, crop, dairy and meat supply chains, and model the impacts and requirements of a transition to healthier and more sustainable scenarios of production and consumption.

Developing a database of food production

We are assembling a database for each of the above food systems using data on production, imports, exports, processing, purchase, and intake, and by integration of sectoral datasets, to map the supply chain, and construction of Scottish-based balance sheets for commercially relevant food products.

Mapping supply against intake, purchase, and dietary recommendations

We are using estimates of population size to assess net food supplies for human consumption per capita per week at the national level. We are subsequently evaluating the Scottish supply chains, based on production, landings (for fish only), imports and exports, including fresh and a range of processed products, in tonnage, and mapping these against national dietary recommendations, intake and purchase data. We are modelling data over the past five years to assess any effects of the UK’s EU exit and the Covid-19 pandemic on food supplies and consumption in Scotland.

Modelling of sustainable and healthy food choices

We are furthering our understanding of the nutritional and environmental impacts of future scenarios around food production and consumption. We focus on the environmental impacts and nutritional value of commercially important UK food categories are understood and the impacts transitioning to more healthy and sustainable options.

Project Partners

Progress

Challenges

There is a need for dietary shifts to make the transformation towards diets that are healthier and more environmentally sustainable. In the past 50 years, we have seen a shift towards unhealthy diets high in calories, and heavily processed and animal source foods. Transitions to unhealthy diets are increasing the burden of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases and are contributing to environmental degradation. Dietary guidelines are an important behaviour change policy tool to guide consumers in terms of the foods and diets they should be eating. However, healthy diets alone do not produce substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, dietary guidelines need to include recommendations for environmental sustainability.

A few countries have started to produce dietary recommendations for health and environmental impacts. In addition, dietary guidelines in most countries fail to take account of reasons behind peoples’ food choices, such as habits, preferences, affordability, circumstance, culture, and social norms. Another issue with the implementation of nutrient-based dietary guidelines is that people eat foods, not nutrients. Foods contain multiple nutrients that cannot be readily swapped for one another. Therefore, more food-based interventions are necessary for effective behaviour change strategies towards more healthy and sustainable dietary patterns.

Evidence on existing interventions

Food purchasing is a key determinant of food consumption, and interventions targeting the nutritional and environmental quality of food prior to or during shopping presents a clear opportunity for effective behaviour change. Individual-level interventions previously identified as effective behaviour change techniques include tailored dietary advice, information, self-monitoring, and personalised feedback. Interventions implemented in grocery stores, particularly those that manipulate price, suggest that swaps, and perhaps manipulating item availability, have an impact on purchasing and could play a role in public health strategies to improve health. Using swaps to promote health would be a scalable and low-cost intervention, but currently there is limited evidence on its effectiveness. The success of offering swaps depends on consumers accepting the suggested swaps, but most studies thus far did not explore why swap acceptance rates could be low. Acceptance could be low due to how swaps were framed, perceived to restrict freedom and personal autonomy, and perceived to be less palatable. Also, many consumers put lower importance on health messages and higher importance on taste and price. Indeed, product costs have been a particularly crucial factor for those on lower incomes, and lower price can encourage choices of healthier products more effectively than health status labels.

The development of behaviour change interventions requires an understanding of facilitators and barriers for consumers to make food choices that are healthier and more environmentally sustainable, but also economically affordable. Currently we know relatively little about how individuals interact with their food environment and apply their perceived knowledge of healthy and sustainable diets. Several factors including socio-economic, life-stage, demographic, and geographic background, can drive individual decisions and behaviours when selecting foods and drinks, indicating that behaviour change interventions require a more in-depth understanding of drivers of individual food choice, on a more granular level.

Questions

Solutions

The project aims to identify facilitators and barriers for adopting, and adhering to, recommended personalised food swaps that aim to reduce the intake of red meat and replace this with fish or plant-based foods, in young adults. We also assess the effectiveness of adopting healthy and sustainable food swaps to improve general markers of health in Scottish young adults.

This project is identifying the most frequently issued food swaps, and facilitators and barriers to adopt such swaps, to increase our understanding of consumer attitudes towards shifting to healthier and more sustainable diets in our study population on a food and drink level. In the analysis, we include and consider important socio-economic factors, like access and affordability, and motivation for dietary change. This work provides evidence-based recommendations for policy that will improve access to healthy and sustainable diets for different Scottish population groups, including the reconsideration of some of our dietary guidelines.

The overall expected output of this project is a fully operating, validated and user-friendly Food Swap tool that is implemented on a wider scale, either in research settings or in public health settings. The Food Swap is being applied in the human intervention study and tested during food events and public health meetings to collect customer feedback on the tool itself and its messaging. 

Project Partners

Progress

Challenges

There has been a lack of progress in changing dietary patterns in the Scottish population despite almost three decades of policy and government investment in interventions intended to address it. Self-reported dietary intake has been consistently poorer in more deprived households compared to more affluent households in Scotland and has declined further in recent years in the UK. Financial constraints and related stress and anxiety leading to reduced access to healthy foods, and reduced access to physical spaces and opportunities to practice physical recreational activities and food insecurity, all increase obesity risk.

Public health scientists have theorised that increased food insecurity, household economic disruption, household stress, and interruptions in healthcare will contribute to obesity and related co-morbidity. COVID-19 exacerbated existing health inequalities via the health effects of social and economic upheavals due to the pandemic, including job losses and social isolation. Therefore, it is likely that dietary patterns will further deteriorate in the post pandemic context unless dietary behaviour change interventions take account of household, socio-economic and individual circumstances in their design.

Social Prescribing

Many council areas in Scotland, including Aberdeen city, experienced declines in household income and increased health inequalities in 2020. Regeneration programmes have historically included interventions intended to improve nutrition in low-income communities. Such interventions are often designed and implemented in partnership with local communities and are commonly delivered via Health and Social Care partnerships in Scotland. One such is social prescribing (SP). SP recognises that people’s health and wellbeing are mostly determined by social, economic, and environmental factors, and seeks to address these needs in a holistic way. SP enables health professionals to refer people to a range of potentially beneficial, local, non-clinical services in addition to, or in place of conventional medical treatments. After initial referral from a primary care professional, a “link worker” evaluates the client’s needs and produces a “social prescription”, which either refers the client to a local enterprise offering a suitable form of support or directly prescribes a recommended course of action.

Social prescribing schemes are mainly focused on improving mental health and physical wellbeing, generally targeting people from lower income families who have a higher risk of suboptimal nutrition and mental health issues. Therefore, SP offers potential to support improved food practices in SP client households, which is currently under-realised: the social prescriptions issued are not necessarily based on the best scientific behaviour change evidence and may not be made with full awareness of all potentially relevant services offered by local authority and third sector partners.

Members of low-income families, living in the most deprived areas in Scotland are particularly at risk of suboptimal nutrition and obesity. While many different interventions and initiatives have been introduced into communities over the last 20 years to try and tackle obesity in lower income households, there is little evidence that such strategies have been successful and that they are rarely robustly evaluated. Uptake from individuals living in deprived communities is often low, and intervention design is often based on available community skills and resources rather than scientific evidence about what is required to change behaviour.

Questions

Solutions

This project aims to support individuals from low-income families to change their food and eating practices in ways that are beneficial to health.

Reviewing existing community-based interventions

We are working with local authority, third sector and NHS partners to review existing community interventions designed to improve health and support healthy eating. We are evaluating levels of food security, diet, and attitudes to dietary change. The decision-making approaches used by SP link practitioners, particularly associated with food and physical activity practices are also being assessed. We evaluate the existence and nature of behaviour change techniques contained in these interventions so that the active components/underlying of effective interventions can be identified.

In collaboration with stakeholders involved in the Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership, we mapped th full range of food access, with a particular interest in food-related community initiatives delivered in Aberdeen. Click here to access the map.

Current health inequalities interventions

We are conducting an intervention study, in collaboration with SP link practitioners and selected providers, that is collecting data on food practice and eating behaviour changes, food insecurity, mental health and well-being status, weight, diet, physical activity and systemic biomarkers.

This project is particularly focused on finding ways to reduce health inequalities in individuals from low-income households, a population where food insecurity, suboptimal health behaviours and associated morbidities are particularly prevalent, but not particularly responsive to current interventions. This project provides evidence-based recommendations for policy aiming at reducing food insecurity, improve consumer choice and reduce health inequalities.

Project Partners

Progress

Challenges

Generally, diets in Scotland are unhealthy and damaging to the environment. One solution is moving the population to more sustainable diets that are healthy and have a low environmental impact. For instance, a more plant-based diet, which comprise only small amounts of meat. Plant-based diets can have multiple health benefits when they include more whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, pulses, nuts, and whole grains. These diets typically have a lower environmental impact than meat-heavy diets.

Sustainable diets can have multiple co-benefits for health and the climate, which line with the Scottish Dietary Goals and Scottish Government emissions reduction targets to net zero by 2045. However, little is known about the type of food and meals people eat in place of meat and how it might change an overall diet. It can’t be assumed it will always be healthier. Hence, we need to be cautious about what we eat in place of meat. Plant-based convenience foods are increasingly available, but many are classified as highly processed which tend to be high in salt, sugar and fat, and if consumed regularly, could have negative consequences for health and the environment.

To support the right sort of dietary change, we need to understand barriers – both those people perceive and those they experience in the real world. While access and affordability are commonly cited barriers, social and cultural aspects of food choices are often overlooked, including the desire for convenience and familiarity. Understanding attitudes and personal, social, and situational factors driving or inhibiting the adoption of a more plant-based diet is critical for the development of policy interventions to change consumer behaviours and consumption patterns to create a healthier population and a more sustainable food system.

Questions

Solutions

The overarching aim of this project is to identify potential pathways to achieve healthy and sustainable diets and how to avoid unintended consequences in changing diets.

This project is extremely timely and critical as the need to improve diets is pressing. However, it is essential that shifts to more plant -based diets and reduction in meat do lead to improved health and environmental sustainability, since once established it could be challenging to reverse. The depth of evidence from this project supports the development of policy-related interventions and guidance for dietary recommendations for sustainable diets.

Perceived barriers and facilitators to eating a more plant-based diet

We are using multiple methods, including surveys and focus groups, to study the perceptions of the barriers people have towards changing diets and their lived experiences of switching to a more plant-based diet and eating less meat. We explore personal, social, and situational perspectives to generate ideas for facilitating change in diverse populations. We are also exploring the types of policy and intervention options that may be most effective in helping people eat more sustainable diets.

Experience of reducing meat consumption and real barriers to dietary

We are observing how perceived barriers to switching to a more plant-based diet play out in real life when people try to reduce their meat consumption in a free-living environment. We are conducting a mixed-methods trial where habitual meat eaters introduce three meat-free days a week into their diet and will observe through the lived experience, the challenges and facilitators they encountered. The findings will inform the development of interventions that can overcome practical barriers and facilitators while avoiding unintended consequences for health or the environment.

Contextual barriers and facilitators to healthy and sustainable diets

This project quantifies how the eating context (time, location, company) influences the decision to eat meat or meat-free meals. We explore what else might change in a meal if meat is reduced using the nationally collected dietary intakes data (National Diet and Nutrition Survey). The data covers a representative sample of the population in Scotland and will allow comparisons between socio-economic groups. The findings provide a more in-depth understanding of context and consequence of reducing meat consumption. 

Household purchasing habits of meat and plant-based foods and meals

We are identifying whether and what foods replace meat if meat purchases decrease in a household. Using data collected over time, we are building a picture of household-level changes in food purchasing behaviours. We also explore the potential external factors that may affect purchasing and will learn whether people changing one item in their food basket (meat or plant-based meat alternatives), trigger unexpected changes elsewhere.

Project Partners

Progress

Challenges

Studies suggest that there is, or has been, perceived value in the production of food and drink products with higher-value status in Scotland. However, the extent to which higher-value food and drink products generate additional economic value for their producers and regions of production has been much debated. The terms of that debate have become more complex since the UK left the European Union (EU).

Take, for example, EU schemes that protect food and drink products with specific geographical characteristics. The two main schemes - Protected Designation of Origin; and Protected Geographical Indication - are intended to provide consumers with reliable information and to promote fair competition, respect for intellectual property rights and the integrity of the internal market.

Such geographical protection came under UK control in January 2021. Products with existing EU protection were registered automatically but new registrations must now be made in Great Britain, to protect the name here, and also in the EU, to protect the name there and in Northern Ireland. To add to this complexity, some countries the UK is eager to secure trade deals with, such as the USA and Australia, have been reluctant to recognise such geographical protection

This project provides evidence to help policymakers and businesses understand the economics of higher value food and drink products and the impacts of the EU exit and other trade developments on them.

Questions

Solutions

This project aims to generate insights into the economics of higher-value status food and drink products. The project quantifies the extent to which higher-value products hold a price premium and face higher production costs than standard products. It also examines the factors in achieving a higher or lower gross margin, understands the impact of EU exit and other developments in international trade, and identifies opportunities to develop and promote them.

Review of ‘higher value’ designations for food and drink products

We are conducting a systematic review of international studies of higher value food products (pork, other meats, cheese, organic produce, game, and sea fish), quantifying their impact and value for money, and assessing their relevance to Scottish industry and consumers.

Identification of products with Protected Food Names and organic status in Scotland

We are identifying Scottish products with higher value status and conducting economic analyses of their prices and production costs, relative to conventional products, how higher-value products differentiate themselves from conventional products, and what the trade-offs are.

Case Studies of specially selected pork, other meats, cheese, organic produce, game, and sea fish

We are producing case studies of five different groups of higher value products: specially selected pork; farmed salmon, other meat products; cheese; and organic products. We chose these in consultation with stakeholders as they contribute to Scotland’s food exports and encompass a variety of higher-value accreditation and marketing strategies, and because they come from contrasting policy and marketing contexts. We are working with stakeholders to develop toolkits to inform producers interested in making higher value products for domestic, UK and international markets.

UK consumers’ willingness to pay for higher-value Scottish food products

We are running an online survey identifying the characteristics of higher-value food products that UK consumers are interested in (for example, prices, provenance, product characteristics, branding), and motivations for and the barriers to their consumption.

Overall, this project contributes to the sustainable development of high-value products and small and medium-sized enterprises in the rural economy. 

Project Partners

Progress

Challenges

Epigenetics is concerned with information in the genome in addition to that contained in the DNA base sequence. It comprises several mechanisms that involve chemical modification to the genome with functional consequences. It is emerging as a key mechanism through which the environment can directly influence the genome in ways that may be short term or may persist over decades, or even more than one lifetime, with significant consequences for biological function and health. Epigenetic regulation is important in species that contribute to the human food chain. An increasing number of reports cover the epigenetic changes following exposure to stress, toxicants and infectious disease, procedures such as artificial reproduction and cloning, both in the animals directly exposed and the offspring produced. These phenomena have been studied in sheep, cattle, and pigs and aquatic species, such as salmon and sea fish.

Such studies point to the epigenome as a record of a wide range of environmental exposures, physiological states, and reproductive and dietary histories relevant to multiple species that can be used to track provenance and many other aspects of the food chain. The task is to identify the genomic locations where the signals of interest reside, the conditions under which they can be used, and to use this information to develop reliable, precise, accurate, rapid, and low-cost, tests.

Stable-isotope ratios and elemental composition have also been used extensively to establish provenance in a wide range of foods including, shellfish, salmon, meat, sea fish, and milk and in regulatory systems designed to identify foods with Protected Designation of Origin. We have developed stable isotope natural abundance analytical techniques to trace food origin, provenance, and the flows of nutrients through the whole food system - from primary production and processed food to individual consumption - to explore the potential value of a Food Systems approach. The next required step relates to the sub-fractionation of organics (primarily the various saturated, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids), their analysis for both H2 and C13 isotopes, and the interpretation based on knowledge of metabolic transformations.

Questions

Solutions

This project aims to produce generic technologies, based on DNA and chemical analysis, to protect the safety, integrity, and quality of key food chains in Scotland. Significant changes to international trade following the UK’s exit from the EU magnify the scale of the challenge in this area and make the development of reliable technologies more urgent.

Stakeholder priorities 

We continue to engage with stakeholders to explain the potential of these technologies to them and to identify priority questions in each sector that can be used as exemplars.

Epigenetics

We are identifying the genomic locations where the epigenetic signals of interest reside, and the conditions under which they can be used, and are using this information to develop reliable, precise, and accurate tests.

• DNA extraction procedures are optimised for the form of sample collected.
• The epigenetic analysis employs both scanning and targeted approaches.

Natural Abundance

We are building on our previous work based on the sub-fractionation of organics (primarily the various saturated, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids), their analysis for both 2H and 13C isotopes, and the interpretation based on knowledge of metabolic transformations.

Distributed Ledger Technology 

Solutions require accuracy, precision, and security to monitor the human food supply chain and to marry this with Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) approaches that allow the acquisition and availability of data in near real-time. Several software platforms are already available, nationally, and internationally, for the use of DLT in the food supply chain. The challenge is to make a secure reliable link between the 'food' and the identifier, preferably based on technology that can be used in the field to produce information that can be rapidly distributed. This project is developing algorithms based on the research findings linked to the above testing methodologies designed to provide this functionality. The algorithms are programmed in Python for real-world use within DLT.

Project Partners

Progress

Challenges

Scotland has cultivated a reputation as a producer of high-quality healthy food. Underpinning this reputation is accurate and reliable food safety testing to produce nutritious and safe food. Accurately identifying food and feedstuff ingredients contaminated with chemical or biological toxins is crucial to protect the public from harm and to reduce waste due to unsuitable foodstuffs being manufactured and then rejected.

Certain types of persistent organic pollutants are used in polymers, waterproofing agents, stain repellents, firefighting foams, and grease-proof food packaging materials. These pollutants resist breakdown, persist in the environment and bioaccumulate in blood, liver, and other organs. Drinking water can be a major source of contamination from production plants or recyclable food plastics inherent in the environment. Foods that contain high levels of these organic pollutants include fish, fish products, and meat offal.

Certain types of alkaloids, which are nitrogen-containing compounds produced in plants and fungi as defence components, can also be carried over into foods. These toxins are developed by several plant genera and can cause liver damage, acute narcosis, and paralysis. Food types containing them include honey, potatoes, cereals, herbal teas, supplements, herbs and spices, cereal grains, and even animal products, such as milk, eggs, and offal. Contamination can occur from weeds or via pollen. The prevalence of these contaminants in foods is not widely understood and sufficient evidence is required to reach a consensus on safe levels for legislative or regulatory purposes. Such information is timely and relevant as we transition from the settled alignment with the legal and regulatory frameworks with of the EU to post-EU Exit arrangements.

Scotland faces a significant and recalcitrant burden of diet-related disease caused in part by a diet too high in calories, fats, sugar, and salt. Two-thirds of the UK population is overweight and attempts to reduce this figure through dietary goals have failed for the last 17 years. This is a key challenge which requires new thinking and a multi-faceted and committed approach to drive change. Given the public’s resistance to changing their diet even in the face of major public health education efforts, reformulation of commonly eaten foods to reduce calories, fats, sugars, and salts may continue to be a valuable tool to provide dietary change. Innovation to provide new components that can aid such reformulation is therefore a potential novel area to bring about dietary change. The reformulation of commonly eaten foods can create innovative, healthier food products by providing specific dietary fibres, sugar substitutes and flavour components that allow for salt reduction.

Questions

Solutions

This project seeks to provide tools to rapidly identify chemical risks in foods and to contribute to improved consumer diets through reformulation to reduce harmful components, such as sugars, fats, and salt.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and alkaloid contaminants

Being able to rapidly screen raw materials for contaminants prevents unsafe foods from reaching the consumer and reduces waste. We are producing methods to detect in foods and raw materials levels of persistent organic pollutants (the poly- and per-fluorinated alkyl substances and the polybrominated diphenyl ethers), and ergot and plant alkaloids (pyrrolizidine alkaloids and tropane alkaloids, and the fungal-derived ergot alkaloids). We are adapting methods used to detect these pollutants in environmental samples to determine their levels in food samples. We define the accuracy, sensitivity, and feasibility of methods and provide the basis for rapid and practical detection at the field, purchasing, or processing stages. This work builds on complementary research in another project.

Reformulation of foods to reduce fats, calories, sugars, and salt

We investigate opportunities to produce innovative reformulation ingredients from primary produce, for example, proteins from novel protein crops but also their co-products and food-grade processing co-products, such as off-cuts or trimmings, and non-premium fruit, pomaces. These feedstocks are being examined as sources of dietary fibres and polysaccharides, proteins, and phytochemicals to replace fats, sugars, and salts but with the potential to increase nutritive quality, and improve food stability, all produced using food-grade methods. Streams enriched in crop-specific phytochemicals are being made available for testing as natural plant protection agents. We are producing a library of defined fibre-, protein-, and phytochemical-rich extracts from primary produce and co-products.

Project Partners

Progress