European Food Information Resource Network (EuroFIR)
Summary
EuroFIR, the world-leading European Network of Excellence on Food Composition Databank systems, is a partnership between 40 universities, research institutes and small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) from 21 countries, as outlined in the map below. The principal objective is to build and disseminate a comprehensive, coherent and validated databank providing a single, authoritative source of food composition data in Europe for nutrients, and newly emerging bioactive compounds with putative health benefits. This objective is of fundamental importance to the Food Quality and Safety priority, and is an essential underpinning component of all food and health research in Europe.
The University of Surrey is responsible for the component of the project that looks to better understand different user and stakeholders group needs with regard to food composition data related tools.
Currently, the following activities are planned:
- Delineate the importance of food composition data in the various sectors of health, trade regulation & legislation, agriculture, and environmental protection across Europe.
- This activity will review a selection of former European-funded research projects and future initiatives that have been or will be undertaken in different speciality areas (sectors) but are in a broader sense related to food. The results from this activity will demonstrate the magnitude and scope of food composition data in Europe.
- Analyse selected European food composition database management and organizational structures
This activity will focus on the history, management structures, funding sources, and lines of communication with all users & stakeholders. The main aspect of this analysis is to determine what structures exist that enable interaction between stakeholders, users and compilers of food composition data on a national level and whether they are sustainable in the future.
- Interview European National Food Consumption Survey Managers.
Objectives
The objectives of this activity are:
- To understand European National Food Consumption Survey Managers’ wants and needs with regard to food composition data.
- To understand European National Food Consumption Survey Managers’ relationship with the national food composition databases.
- Hold interactive workshops with key food composition data users
- To elicit topics to be included in the generic questionnaire used in Activity 5
- Elicit food composition data users’ views of currently used data
The aim of this activity is to develop a generic questionnaire regarding user views about national databases. The questionnaire will cover topics such as the preferred and most appropriate formats to access data, timeliness of making data updates available, quality requirements, pricing and communication related to developments relating to food composition data.
- Collate an inventory of European nutrition analysis software
The aim of this activity is to provide an inventory of nutritional analysis software available in the EuroFIR partner countries with particular reference to functions, target audiences, and pricing. A final analysis of this information will highlight the limitations of currently marketed nutrition analysis software and will aid in identifying how the network can add value in the software development process and exploit these potential enhancements financially.
- Interview developers and marketers of European nutrition analysis software
Interviews with developers/marketers of nutrition analysis software are needed to better understand their wants and needs, and their relationship with the national food composition database managers and customers (i.e. end-users of food composition data).
- Evaluate the usability of prototype websites
In conjunction with other network partners and through analysis of interfaces of current on-line databases a study involving usability testing of prototype websites could be performed. Usability testing is a process of assessing users’ interaction with innovations that applies to measures of cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills.
Funder
Team
Researchers
Professor Monique Raats
Professor; Director of the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre
Biography
Professor Monique Raats is a senior academic and research leader with more than 35 years of experience in developing interdisciplinary research, securing external funding, and translating evidence into policy, practice and societal impact. Originally trained as a nutrition scientist, she has built an internationally recognised interdisciplinary research portfolio spanning behavioural and social sciences, public health, health services research, healthy ageing, sustainability, governance and implementation.
Professor Raats is an inclusive, evidence-led leader with extensive experience directing large multidisciplinary programmes and fostering collaborations across universities, government, healthcare, social care, industry and international organisations. She previously served as Founding Co-Director of the University of Surrey's Institute for Sustainability and as Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, where she led research strategy, infrastructure development and cross-faculty/university collaboration.
She is Director of the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health (FCBH) Research Centre, one of Europe's leading centres for interdisciplinary food-related research. Together with the Department of Nutritional Sciences, FCBH was awarded the prestigious 2017/2018 Queen’s Anniversary Prize in recognition of its internationally outstanding research and impact.
Research
Professor Raats' research focuses on understanding how individuals, organisations and systems influence food-related behaviours, health outcomes and sustainable lifestyles. Her work integrates behavioural, social, policy and systems perspectives to address major societal challenges including healthy ageing, obesity, public health, food security and sustainability.
Key areas of research include:
- Behavioural and policy interventions that support healthier and more sustainable lifestyles
- Social, ethical and governance dimensions of food, health and sustainability challenges
- Food systems research that examines the interactions of stakeholders across complex food environments
- Innovation in food consumer science through new data sources, data linkage methods and interdisciplinary approaches
- Public health nutrition and the implementation of evidence into policy and practice
Her research has employed a wide range of qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches and has informed policy development, health promotion initiatives and stakeholder engagement across multiple sectors.
Career and Scholarly Contributions
Prior to joining the University of Surrey, Professor Raats held positions at the Institute of Food Research (now the Quadram Institute), Health Education Authority and University of Oxford.
She has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal articles, numerous professional and policy publications, over 20 book chapters, and has co-edited two influential volumes:
- The Psychology of Food Choice (2006)
- Food for the Ageing Population (1st edition 2009; 2nd edition 2016)
Her work has contributed significantly to the development of behavioural nutrition, food choice research, healthy ageing and public health policy.
National and International Leadership
From 2011 to 2018, Professor Raats served on the UK Government's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and was a member of its Subgroup on Maternal and Child Nutrition, contributing evidence and expertise to national nutrition policy and guidance.
She is also a founding member of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Between 2001 and 2006 she served on the Society's Board of Directors and was Secretary from 2004 to 2006. ISBNPA has become the leading international learned society for researchers working at the intersection of diet, physical activity, behaviour and health, and supports excellence in research through its annual congress and the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
Dr Bernadette Egan
Senior Research Fellow/Deputy Chair University of Surrey Ethics Committee
See profile
Professor Richard Shepherd
Emeritus Professor of Psychology
Biography
Richard Shepherd is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology, having retired in August 2011. He obtained degrees in Natural Sciences from Cambridge and in Psychology from Cardiff and Southampton. He was a Research Fellow at the University of Surrey and then worked at the Institute of Food Research from 1982 to 1998, initially in Norwich and then in Reading, before joining the University of Surrey as a Reader.
He has carried out research on a range of issues related to the factors influencing food choice. In particular this has involved the development and application of social cognition models to food choice issues and the exploration of the factors influencing dietary change. He has also conducted research on the perception of risk and risk communication particularly in relation to food issues. He has published widely in all of these areas of research, including editing two books.
He has directed research funded by BBSRC, ESRC, MAFF, FSA, Wellcome Trust and industry, in addition to several collaborative European projects funded by the EU. He is a Chartered Psychologist and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society. In the past Richard has been a member of the UK Food Standards Agency Social Science Research Committee, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Social Science Expert Advisory Group and the ESRC Grant Assessment Panel.
Anja Fragodt
Researcher
Margaret Lumbers
Researcher
Outputs
Refereed papers
Egan MB, Fragodt AF, Raats MM, Hodgkins CM, Lumbers M (2007) The Importance of harmonising food composition data across Europe. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 61, 813-821. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602823
Egan MB, Fragodt A, Hodgkins C, Raats MM (forthcoming) Compilation of food composition datasets- an analysis of user needs through the Use Case Approach. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Egan MB, Fragodt A, Raats MM (2006) The importance of harmonising and sustaining food composition data across Europe. Nutrition Bulletin 31, 349-353
Egan MB, Fragodt AF, Raats MM, Hodgkins CM, Lumbers M (2007) The Importance of harmonising food composition data across Europe. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 61, 813-821.
Egan MB, Hodgkins C, Fragodt A, Krines C, Raats MM (2009) User-centred food composition data - analysis of user needs through the Use Case Approach. Food Chemistry 113, 804-807.
Hodgkins C, Raats MM, Egan MB, Fragodt A, Buttriss J, McKevith B (2010) Optimising food composition data flow within the UK Food Supply Chain and to external stakeholders. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 23(7), 749-752
Non-refereed papers
Egan MB, Fragodt A, Raats MM (2006) The importance of harmonising and sustaining food composition data across Europe. Nutrition Bulletin 31, 349-353.
Published abstracts
Fragodt A, Raats MM (2006) Working towards a web-based pan-European access to on-line nutrient databases: UK nutrition researchers’ needs and expectations. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 65, 97A.
Research groups and centres
Our research is supported by research groups and centres of excellence.