Truefood

The project is coordinated by the economic interest grouping SPES GEIE, encompassing 11 national food federations, including ANIA. The 31 project partners can be considered centres of excellence in their sector, with solid experience in traditional food products.

May 2006

48 months

TrueFood aims to improve the quality and safety of traditional food production systems in Europe and stimulate innovation through research, demonstration, dissemination and training activities.

Traditional food products are not merely limited to protected trade names, but also include all regional and national production that uses traditional manufacturing methods.

The project should lead to improvements in the image and reputation of traditional products amongst consumers and producers, by favouring economic development at all levels of the production chain.

Five objectives for TrueFood

Identify and quantify the perceptions, expectations and attitudes of the European consumer in terms of safety and the quality of traditional food products and of innovations likely to be applied to these products.

Identify, evaluate and transfer to the industry those innovations guaranteeing increased microbiological and chemical safety of traditional products.

Identify, evaluate and transfer to the industry those innovations improving nutritional quality, whilst maintaining and improving other characteristics of quality valued by the consumer (sensory quality, respect for the environment, animal welfare and ethical standards).

Support the marketing and sustainability of traditional food product development chains.

Establish effective and sustainable tools for the transfer of technologies and innovations to the industry, specifically adapted to SMEs in Europe.


TRUEFOOD study’s outcomes provide evidence-based support to promote the production and the appropriate consumption of healthier traditional foods; hence our discoveries could be translated into applications for sustainable and valuable improvements of Europe’s food-related industries and businesses, as well as consumer protection policies. Finally, results obtained within food and health aim at supporting the EU commitment of taking the implications for health into account in all its policies.

To get more detailed information about the results:
http://www.truefood.eu/page.asp?ID=23