The overall goal is successful product development of enriched seafood dishes with bioactive compounds from the ocean, such as seaweed, fish proteins and fish oil and to increase the variety of seafood products with functional properties available to Consumers.
This includes stability and bioactibity studies of the various ingredients and on the effect of enrichment on stability and quality of the seafood products. Acceptance of the concepts and the prototypes for targeted consumer groups in consumer studies in the Nordic market is a part of the project as well as communication and market strategy planning for the seafood producing companies. The aim is also to measure fatty acid profiles of the blood of a certain group of consumers using enriched seafood dishes for period of time to use to calculate individual protection of persons against lifestyle diseases.
WHY
Consumers increasingly search for food products with known bioactivity either natural or added ingredients as means to improve their health or prevent diseases. The market for these types of products is one of the fastest growing markets in the world today. Few companies in the Nordic countries are producing seaweed powders, fish protein powders and omega fish oil powders ready for seafood consumer dishes.
There are no seafood products on the market in Europe with added natural seaweed powders. Seafood proteins are finding their way into seafood products with good success due to very recent advances in processing technologies. By adding the fatty acids to lean fish products, the lean fish products will acquire the requested properties of fatty fish. There is a tremendous potential for the Nordic countries for better utilization of marine raw materials and conversion of these materials to high value ingredients in a production of high value enriched seafood dishes.
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Consumers can choose from a variety of food supplements for their diet. The food supplement market of vitamins, minerals and proteins has been steadily growing as functional foods.
The developed products will become an option for consumers to choose enriched food instead of food supplements which will be of benefit and appeal certain consumer groups.
The idea is to develop innovative convenience seafood products enriched with marine-based ingredients such as seaweed powder and powder of fish oil or fish proteins, either using one ingredients or a combination of ingredients, which may positively enhance positive health effect, salt reduction, flavor and stability of the products.
These developments open the door to a large range of innovative (sea)food products enriched marine bioactive ingredients and give consumers greater choices when seeking to enrich their diet with compounds with nutritional
benefits.
The composition of the consortium consisting of two different research companies with expertise in product development, consumer research and
marketing, two seafood processors and three companies producing various bioactive ingredients is innovative with great possibility of successful outcome of the project
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VISION
A successful outcome of the project will open up new possibilities in local and foreign markets for producers of innovative bioactive marine based products, fish protein, seaweed and fish oil products as ingredients in functional (sea)foods. The results of the projects will increase variety of seafood products with functional properties for consumers and value of ocean based raw material, especially byproducts and un-utilised resources.
WHO is in the project?
Project owner
Grímur Gíslason
Grímur Kokkur ehf. Seafood producer, IS
Project leader
Emilía Martinsdóttir
Matis ltd. Icelandic Food and Biotech R&D Company , IS
Project members
Riku Isohätälä
Hätälä Oy, Seafood producer, FI
Kyösti Pennanen
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, FI
Ola Eide
Itogha Food AS. Ingredients producer, NO
Bergur Benediktsson
Norður, IS
Rósa Jónsdóttir
Marinox Ingredients producer, IS
Bytt ut: Johnny Koch
CARNAD Ingredients producer, DK
Med: Bergur Benediktsson
Norður, IS