AZTI-Tecnalia's Food Research Unit is participating in a Cenit programme of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology aimed at creating new foods that prevent obesity. This project under the name PRONAOS has set itself the general objective of conducting research into genetic, molecular and nutritional factors that regulate body weight. AZTI Tecnalia's contribution will concentrate on developing new foods by means of innovative technologies that help to regulate weight and prevent obesity, one of the main public health problems in our society.

The specific tasks that AZTI-Tecnalia will be developing in the PRONAOS project consist of designing new meat products that aim to control obesity through the incorporation of bioactive compounds. At the same time, the nutritional profile of these products will be optimized while maintaining their physicochemical and sensory properties.

The technology centre is also planning to work on the design of formulations and new technological processes directed at developing new foods or controlling body weight. These products will include recommendations for their consumption and the percentage of recommended daily amounts (RDAs).
Finally, AZTI-Tecnalia will be conducting trials to assess the effectiveness of the functional foods developed so that their effect on the reduction of body fat can be demonstrated.

Thirteen Spanish companies from the dairy, meat, cereal, diet products and beverages sectors are participating in the PRONAOS project alongside biotechnological companies and companies that supply ingredients. In collaboration with these companies, research centres from all over Spain are involved in the scientific development of the project.

The PRONAOS initiative is based on the NAOS strategy, developed by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) of the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumption and promoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The strategy seeks to encourage healthy eating and promote physical activity in order to slow down the growing trend in obesity in the population. WHO data indicate that over a thousand million adults on a world level are overweight and of them at least 300 million are obese.

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