Good food is nutritious, safe and healthy, but it must also look and taste good. The new EU-funded TasteLab project is building a unique testing environment for assessing the taste, quality and consumer acceptance of food products.
The two-year TasteLab project was launched in early September. The project has a total budget of approximately 436,000 euros. Of this, approximately 350,000 euros is provided by the Regional Council of North Savo through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The testing environment will be developed by project experts at the University of Eastern Finland’s Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition in collaboration with companies and other stakeholders in the sector.
The participating companies are Biosafe – Biological Safety Solutions, Eväsmiehet, Kala-Lappi, Lepomäen tila, Osuuskunta Maitomaa, Potwell, Pure Dried Nature, Ravistamo, Suvenmakea and OLD store & cafe.
Project Manager Kaisa Raninen says that the appeal of food is influenced by its sensory properties such as taste, smell, a pleasant texture and an attractive appearance.
“However, taste is highly individual and strongly linked to personal experiences as well as learned habits and attitudes. At the same time, food products must also meet the requirements of production, retail and logistics. They must be safe and of high-quality, have a sufficiently long shelf life, and be appealing to consumers.”
“We want to develop a broader range of methods for identifying and assessing the full spectrum of food quality. Our aim is to provide companies with expertise, methods and operating models that will enable them to give greater consideration to the importance of taste, quality and consumer experiences in food product development,” Raninen says.
For further information, please contact:
Jenni Korhonen, Senior University Lecturer, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, tel. +358 40 355 2948, [email protected]
