Finished projects

On this Wednesday 06 June 2018, 40 kids of the 6th grade of two elementary schools visited the exercise studio of UM Sports in Maastricht. During this KidzCollege the kids looked at different types of food and the labels on that food: What is healthy now and why? What's in food? Is the advertising about food always correct? And do healthy chips exist?

In addition, at the college they found out whether it matters whether you are active or not: can you eat extra if you have been exercising very hard? And if so, is that a whole bar of chocolate or is it something else? By cycling on a home trainer, the kids found out that it does not automatically mean that cycling very fast burns more calories than cycling slow. They hopefully learned to be more critical when they buy or eat food, and now know that eating some candy every now and then won’t harm!

The asparagus from Limburg: analyzing its nutritional content and possible health claims. Teboza in Helden covers the whole asparagus chain, from research and processing until cultivation and sales. Nonetheless, the area of nutrition and health claims was more or less unexplored territory for the company from the North of Limburg.

By working together with ZON Fruit & Vegetables and the Food Claims Centre Venlo, this changed. This collaboration saw science become practice, by answering the questions:

• Which bioactive ingredients contains an asparagus?
• Which proven nutrition or health claims may already apply to the asparagus?
• What health effects are attributed to these components?

This resulted in a list of scientifically substantiated nutrition and health claims being directly applicable. Rik Kursten from Teboza says: "In my opinion, the entire report covers just a page or six. But all content is workable. At the office we have stacks of fist-thick research reports are found that we cannot apply. So, these six pages with fifteen scientifically founded nutritional and health claims are very valuable to us."

For a regional blueberry cooperation, FCCV conducted a literature study on the blueberry’s nutritional content. We studied the ingredients of the blueberry in general, with the help of nutrient tables and with recommended daily amounts as they apply in the Netherlands.

By means of literature research it could be established that nutrition claims can be made on several specific content substances, such as claims on fiber content.

Since 2006, all claims about ingredients of a food product and their health effects must meet European requirements. These so-called nutrition and health claims, can be used in the marketing of food products and to tell consumers more about the positive effects of consuming such products.

In the knowledge trajectory 'Health', attention is paid to what health is and how diet can influence health. This knowledge is linked to legislation on nutrition and health claims and how such claims can be used in the marketing of products. In five interactive Masterclasses, regional entrepreneurs in the agrifood sector will receive an interactive lecture followed by working out and discussing a case (which takes about 2,5 to 3 hours). With the help of this case the scientific substance is made directly applicable.

Based on the received knowledge and current challenges, the partners individually deliver one case that is elaborated by students. The partners can make their own choice on the topics covered. The students conduct guided literature research into the entrepreneurial demand and deliver a business report in mid-December as a result of this research. An example of an entrepreneurial demand may be that for a product it is selected which content substances the product contains exactly and in what quantity these substances can be found in the product. Subsequently, students will analyze which claims can be made on these products based on current European legislation and regulations. They will also analyze which claims are most suitable for these products and how these claims may be used.