Ensuring health for EU citizens

Providing good nutrition, ensuring the health of all EU citizens and addressing challenges such as a growing and aging world population, rising obesity rates and healthcare costs, has become imperative. We need to build on the global impetus and make sure Europe is on a mission for health and nutrition. Delivering health and good nutrition to all Europeans goes beyond awareness and science – it also requires creating an environment that puts nutrition within reach.

Sustaining a healthy diet is not easy. In our modern lifestyles, ensuring a sufficient intake in macro- and micronutrients is more difficult than ever – this is why a more targeted approach to nutrition is essential. Durable and creative solutions and alternatives such as “nutrition on the go” and functional foods are needed to make it easier for Europeans to adhere to nutritious diets. Consumers require trust, transparency and quality from the food industry. World leading SMEs, traditional family enterprises and innovative suppliers are working tirelessly to fulfill customer demands and help addressing the global food challenges. European companies are among leaders in this sector but they need the support of the EU policy makers to help creating the right regulatory environment fostering innovation.

The objective of this Working Group is to outline challenges and solutions as well as actively contribute to a healthy future for EU citizens. Raising awareness of the role of nutrition to tackle the megatrends, communicating about the benefits of healthy diets and promoting nutrition education and the access to healthy choices would be among the key priorities of this initiative.

Leadership

  • Chair CHRISTINE SCHNEIDER

    Member of the European Parliament
    Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
    Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

  • Special Advisor for Food Supplements Manufacturing GEORGIO FERRARIS

    CEO Fine Foods & Pharmaceuticals N.T.M. S.p.A.

  • Special Scientific Advisor for Agriculture, Food & Environment PROF. ROBERTO PAPA

    Professor in Agricultural Genetics of the Department for Agricultural, Food & Environmental Sciences of the Polytechnic University of Marche
    Director of the Cereal Research Centre-Agricultural Research Council (CREA-CER) in Foggia, Italy (2010-2014)
    Leading the Plant Genetics & Plant Breeding Research groups of UNIVPM
    Coordinator of the INCREASE project, “Intelligent Collections of Food Legumes Genetic Resources for European Agrofood Systems”
    Coordinator of the ERA-CAPS Project “BEAN_ADAPT-Evolution in a changing environment”