An investigation into the health benefits of seafood and how seafood products could be made safer is to be carried out with EU funding.
The integrated project SEAFOODplus will also investigate related issues in aquaculture, the environment and the economy. A total budget of about €26m (US$32.6m) is available for the project, €14.4m of which will come from EU promotion programmes.
SEAFOODplus will also take into account limited fisheries resources by focusing on better utilisation of seafood. The project aims to improve knowledge and create novel products enabling the seafood industry to maximise “the proper and economic utilisation of scarce fisheries resources”.
One section of the project will investigate the health effects that fish proteins have on the composition and metabolic activity of intestinal flora. Investigations will also be carried out to find out how Omega 3 fatty acids affect the bowel, brain, heart, skeleton and fatty tissue.
