FAIR - Preliminary results of fourth call
The fourth call for proposals for the Community's specific RTD programme in the field of agriculture and fisheries (including agro-industry, food technologies, forestry, aquaculture and rural development) (FAIR), was published in June 1996 (OJ No C 171/S 114 of 15.6.1996). This was a targeted call addressing the following specific areas of the FAIR programme: - Area 1: Integrated production and processing chains (demonstration projects only); - Area 2: Scaling-up and processing methodologies (RTD and demonstration projects); - Area 3: Generic science and advanced technologies for nutritious foods (RTD and demonstration projects). A total of 264 proposals were submitted under this call, most of them dealing with Area 3, which is divided into the following sub-areas: - Area 3.1: Consumer nutrition and well-being: The proposals submitted in this area deal with consumer issues, dissemination measures, diet and health, and bio-availability. Projects cover all aspects of the role of nutrition in cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, allergies, weight control, and the toxicology and bio-availability of a large variety of foodstuffs. Consumer aspects deal with a wide range of issues such as acceptability and choice of novel foods, organic foods and vegetarianism; - Area 3.2: Optimized food materials: The vast majority of proposals submitted in this area deal with the genetic manipulation of plants and foodstuffs to improve nutritional content. Some good examples include proposals covering: the molecular farming of proteins; dietary fibres; starch; edible vaccines; genomic mapping of the mushroom; new probiotics; sweeteners and other functional foods and additives; - Area 3.3: Advanced and optimized technologies and processes: Proposals cover the dairy, meat, fish, cereal, fruit, vegetable, and food and drink sectors. These proposals are highly innovative and deal with a very wide range of technologies such as: food curing, cutting, contamination, formulation, fermentation, temperature and vacuum treatments, storage, redox phenomena, sensor and automation, and food quality control; - Area 3.4: Generic food science: Proposals deal with food toxicology and microbiology, and the fundamental aspects of biochemistry and biotechnology in relation to food stuffs and their structure/function relationships. Important areas covered include new anti-fungals and anti-microbials in the safety of various foodstuffs, detection of pathogens, agents for preservation, and ways of improving flavour, controlling lipid levels and identifying QTLs and other markers for improving food quality. Proposals submitted under Area 2 (Scaling-up and processing methodologies) of the FAIR programme deal with non-food scale-up technologies in the bioenergy, green chemical, and forest products sectors. Specific areas covered include: the upgrading of agro-industrial wastes into higher value-added products; the use of natural fibres from plants and trees for industrial uses; the recycling of water in industrial processes; and the gasification and fermentation of biomass into energy and higher value-added chemicals.