New Functional Food Initiatives The Teagasc Food Research Directorate will lead the five-year Marine Functional Food Research Initiative (award â‚Ź5.2m). This major initiative aims to exploit the natural bioactive components from marine sources for use as functional foods or ingredients. The Marine Functional Foods Research Initiative is a research programme funded by the Marine Institute and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The Consortium consists of Teagasc (Ashtown Food Research Centre (co-ordinator) and Moorepark Food Research Centre), University Colleges Cork and Dublin, NUI Galway, University of Limerick and the University of Ulster. The Food Research Directorate will also play a major role in the Dairy Industry led Functional Food Research Centre funded by the industry and Enterprise Ireland (award â‚Ź20m).
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Building Capability in Food Research The National Food Imaging Centre (NFIC), based at Moorepark Food Research Centre, is the first of its kind in Ireland and is now fully operational. It comprises a suite of imaging equipment including: a field emission cryo scanning electron microscope, a confocal scanning laser microscope, an atomic force microscope, various light microscopes and image analysis software. This equipment is available to support both the research community and the R&D activities of the Irish food industry.