FRUSELVA, Ingredalia, the University of Barcelona, and the University of the Balearic Islands Advance Towards the Prevention of Childhood Obesity Through the FARO-i Project
Childhood obesity has reached alarming levels in recent decades and has become one of the main health concerns in childhood. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it was estimated that by 2016, approximately 41 million children under five years old were overweight worldwide. Furthermore, it is estimated that over 340 million children and adolescents (aged 5 to 19) were overweight or obese.
Some of the risks associated with obesity at an early age include type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mental health problems. It is in this context that the FARO-i project gains importance, as it seeks to address this challenge effectively and sustainably.
Reus, December 18, 2023
The Ministry of Science and Innovation, through the State Research Agency (AEI), selected and awarded the FARO-i project for the search and validation of functional foods that help prevent childhood obesity. This was granted within the Public-Private Collaboration Projects line, 2022 call, of the State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2021-2023, under the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
The project, led by Fruselva, a co-manufacturer of baby food for major supermarket chains worldwide, also features the valuable participation of the Navarrese startup Ingredalia, born from the agri-food sector of the Ebro Valley and the Tecnalia Technology Center. Ingredalia specializes in the development and industrialization of high value-added functional ingredients containing active compounds recovered from food industry by-products. Also participating are the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences and Gastronomy of the Food Campus of the University of Barcelona and the Community Nutrition and Oxidative Stress research group of the University of the Balearic Islands.
FARO-i (Formulation of Foods for the Regulation of Childhood Obesity) will last three years with an approximate budget of €670k. Its objective is to develop innovative foods for the prevention of childhood obesity, a public health problem affecting children worldwide, which, according to data from the Ministry of Health, costs over €2 billion annually in Spain.
The FARO-i project is an example of multidisciplinary Public-Private collaboration between prominent academic institutions, the Foodtech ecosystem, and a leading industrial company in its sector. The University of Barcelona and the University of the Balearic Islands will contribute their research expertise in nutrition and health, while Ingredalia will provide its experience in industrialization and scaling, as well as the formulation of high-nutritional-value foods with a focus on improving consumer health through what is considered nutritional supplementation and the versatility and agility in development that only a startup can bring to a consortium of this nature. Fruselva, as project coordinator, plays a fundamental role in the future commercialization of the developed foods, with the intention of helping to reduce, in the medium and long term, the average Spanish healthcare cost for childhood obesity. It also focuses on the need to channel university R investment towards real products that impact health and the market, in addition to positioning the Spanish food industry as a leader in the search for scientific solutions applied to food.
The FARO-i project is part of the growing awareness of the importance of healthy eating from childhood and the long-term health benefits it entails. The researchers and collaborators involved in FARO-i are determined and committed to contributing to the reduction of childhood obesity and providing practical, effective, and healthy solutions to families and healthcare professionals.
The consortium will invest over €670k, of which the Ministry of Science and Innovation will subsidize €351k, in addition to granting an innovation loan of an additional €266k, sourced from Next Generation EU (NGEU) Funds.
For Fruselva, this project is strategic within its 2022-2026 Innovation Plan, whose main research lines are functional foods, healthier diets, and Plant-Based products.
For the rest of the consortium, this project represents an incentivizing effect that allows them to dedicate resources they did not have to advance their main and strategic lines of work, with special mention to the progress in generating clinical studies necessary for the industrialization of their ingredients for the startup Ingredalia.
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