Moorepark: home of healthy foods
FEW Irish agri-research institutions are as well known to the general public as Moorepark; thousands drive past it every day in their cars on the Cork to Dublin road.
The neat blocks of buildings set in the rolling countryside north of Fermoy are regarded by many as the flagship of Teagasc research, having played an enormous role in the development of Irish agriculture, over 40 years. Moorepark earned a world wide reputation for the quality of its research work in dairying, and several foreign leaders have heaped praise on what its scientists have achieved.
Now Moorepark is responding to evolving lifestyles, while continuing to play a vital role in assisting dairy farmers to cope with the demands of their radically changing industry. An enormous market for healthy food has grown in the modern world, linked to the emergence arrival of more than aone billion overweight adults and some 300 million people who are clinically obese.
Continually and rapidly responding to these realities of consumer demand is key to the well-being and vibrancy of the Irish agri-food industry, said Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan, when she recently opened a E5.3 million biotechnology food centre and conference rooms at Moorepark. “Lifestyle changes have engendered an epidemic of diet-related health issues which is driving increasing demand for food that confers health benefits,” she said.
“Health motivated dieters represent the fastest growing segment of the market. As consumers increasingly become cash-rich and time poor, their interest in health promoting and nutritious foods increases. In addition, pharma-foods offer an alternative route to combating chronic disease and stress-induced conditions increasingly characteristic of today’s pressurised lifestyles,” she said.
Moorepark has already formed an important alliance with University College Cork to establish the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, a major research initiative funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Scientists at Moorepark say that diseases such as obesity, colon cancer and diabetes are legitimate targets for research on dietary intervention.
“The power of modern bioscience is such that we can now probe the connections between these diseases, and our response to the food we eat, with greater confidence of achieving an understanding of the mechanism involved. This can lead to the identification of the food constituents that are either harmful or beneficial. From this information, food companies can build a product development agenda,” they say.
Moorepark is particularly supporting the expansion of the functional foods industry in Ireland, which has ambitious plans to expand sales to around 200 million in five years. That important work has been boosted by the biotech centre opened by Minister Coughlan. Research is being undertaken at the centre on functional foods, food quality and safety, and on molecular genetic tools for animal breeding.
The five high-grade laboratories will accommodate 20 new post-doctorate scientists and post-graduate students, as well as existing elements of the biotechnology research programme amounting in total to about 40 researchers.
Moorepark Technology, a Teagasc subsidiary, which provides pilot plant services to the food industry, has also been presented with IS 343 accreditation. It is the first research and development service company in Ireland to receive such recognition. Dr Paul Ross, Head of Biotechnology at Moorepark, said the most advanced techniques will be employed at the new laboratories, with the primary aim of harnessing new sciences in the creation of opportunities for Ireland’s food companies.
The laboratories will spearhead Teagasc’s commitment to research-based innovation in the food industry, which has been at the core of the Moorepark programme over several years.
Dr Liam Donnelly, Head of Moorepark Food Research Centre, sees the development as a platform for expansion. As the State strives to meet its obligations in research under the EU Lisbon agreement, there will be a doubling of public research expenditure in the immediate years ahead.
He described the current investment in Moorepark as of great strategic importance to the food industry, since it helps to position food research to capture its share of that expenditure increase, by putting in place the scientific capacity to compete with other sectors. Dr Donnelly said the new laboratories’ programme will be part of an overall increase in emphasis on “foods for health” research at Moorepark.
“With few development options open to food companies in traditional commodities, the future development and dynamism of the food sector will be created in entirely new areas, and functional foods or foods for health are identified as one of these,” he said.
Minister Coughlan is clear about what is required here. “Without investment in R and D, Ireland’s food industry will be outstripped and out-paced by others who already possess the necessary research capability to meet these demands,” she said.
Minister Coughlan said she was glad that Teagasc Moorepark is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and with a corps of researchers with an international reputation for excellence.
However, she pointed to the low level of expenditure generally on R and D across the EU, which devotes only 1.96% of GDP to it, compared to 2.6% for United States, and 3.1 % for Japan. In Ireland overall, the figure is 1.4% of GDP.
The EU Lisbon Agreement of 2003 set a target for the EU to become the most knowledge-based economy in the world, and for member states to increase investment in R and D to 3% of GDP.
Underlining the government’s commitment to supporting investment in this area and to building the knowledge economy, she said a cabinet sub-committee on research was recently established to drive Ireland’s R and D agenda forward.
Minister Coughlan warned, however, that raising Ireland’s investment in R and D from the current 1.4% of GDP cannot be achieved by public funding alone. “Although significant additional public funding will be required, it is also necessary to generate more R and D investment by industry. Research investment by industry in the food sector in Ireland is low.
“One reason for this is that the sector comprises a large number of small companies, which do not have resources or background in R and D. “We need to stimulate and generate a culture of R and D, innovation and risk taking in the food industry sector, which could lead to Irish owned intellectual property and move Ireland’s position further up the value chain.
“A key element in addressing the needs of the market place and consumer requirements is to focus on ensuring we are researching and developing not only the products which are consumed today but those which will be demanded in a few years time.”
Minister Coughlan said the dominant challenge facing the food industry today is the production of quality, innovative and nutritious food products for the international consumer at highly competitive prices. Specific areas of opportunity exist in the areas of consumer foods, functional foods and beverages, food ingredients and speciality foods.
Ms Coughlan described the new Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre as an exciting development between Teagasc Moorepark, UCC and industry to conduct research at the interface of food, pharma and health.
“The link between public research and industry, bridged by Moorepark Technology, is essential if the Irish food industry is to fully capitalise on the valuable research being carried out on this site. The new Teagasc Vision, embodied in the Moorepark Biotechnology Centre and representing an investment of some E6m since 2000, offers enormous scope and potential to companies who wish to engage in the challenge of R and D and the substantial rewards it offers,” she said.
