NUTFOOD, HEALTHIER DAIRY AND MEAT PRODUCTS FOR CONSUMERS

NUTFOOD is a project that aims to research and develop healthy dairy and meat products. The initiative is based on animal feed made from locally produced oilseed oils and oilseed cakes.

Leartiker Food Technology has partnered with this project, part of the ELKARTEK programme, together with other centres including NEIKER, METABOLOMIPS (EHU-UPV) and BIOARABA.

Animal feed lies at the core of this project: sheep and pigs have are given feed that contains different types of seeds. The sheep’s milk and pork are then analysed to evaluate which type of feed provides a raw material with enhanced nutrition that can consequently have a benefi cial impact on consumers’ health.

The project, which ends on 30 June 2022, continues to evolve and Leartiker has begun to produce dairy and meat products —yoghurts, cured cheeses, hamburgers and cured sausages, and more— that incorporate the fresh raw material and also involve a curing-ageing process (cheese and cured sausages).

Consumers tend to avoid animal-based foods because they are associated with unhealthy saturated fats. The aim of this project is to study how to improve the fatty acid profi le of meat and milk by infl uencing the animals’ diet. Healthier dairy and meat products should be developed as a result, making it possible for health-conscious consumers to incorporate these foods into their diets.