Scientists at AZTI-Tecnalia's Food Research Unit and at Tecnolat, the company that develops functional dairy products, are working on incorporating fats that are more health giving into dairy products. The aim is to improve the nutritional profile of these products and reduce the risk of developing specific diseases linked to diet (cardiovascular disease, body weight control, etc.). The final aim is to incorporate conjugated fatty acids -molecules with functional properties produced through chemical synthesis as well as using biological methods- so that new functional foods can be designed.

Functional foods respond to the growing demand from consumers of health-giving foods. They are foods that not only provide the usual nutrients, but benefit our bodies and lead to a better state of health and well-being, too. These foods also play a preventive role when reducing certain risk factors linked to the development of diseases. In this case, conjugated fatty acids will be incorporated into dairy products; these acids are known to exert a positive effect as agents in the prevention of obesity and other widespread diseases among the population like cardiovascular diseases. What we are dealing with here is a line of innovative research because of the type of fatty acids that will be incorporated into dairy products. The production "in situ" of these fatty acids by means of micro-organisms as an alternative method to chemical synthesis is a further factor to be taken into special consideration.

This work comes within the framework of the HIGEA Project, which is conducting research into and looking for new methodologies and technologies for preventing chronic diseases. The project, which received approval in September 2007 and is scheduled to have a four-year duration, brings together a consortium of 14 companies from a range of sectors that conduct research in the field of chronic disease prevention.
The main aims of HIGEA can be summed up as follows:

• By using preventive methods based on improving health through diet, to reduce the risk of suffering non-transmissible chronic diseases (obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases) that today constitute a major public health problem.
• To build up knowledge about ingredients, methodologies and technologies for formulating and producing foods that meet the demand and the social need for food products with properties that are more health giving.
• To use clinical trials to scientifically validate and verify statements on their effectiveness in improving and reducing the risk of diseases.
• To build a platform for business and technological cooperation in order to carry out technical development projects involving new health-giving products and their corresponding production processes.

The HIGEA project is likewise part of the CENIT Programme dependent on the Spanish Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Commerce. This programme envisages the funding of big, integrated, industrial research projects of a strategic nature, on a large scale and with a broad scientific and technical scope; these projects are oriented towards research planned in future technological areas and have a potential for international projection. Their aim is to build up new knowledge that could be of use in creating new products, processes or services or in integrating technologies of strategic interest, thus contributing towards an enhanced technological positioning of the Spanish fabric of production.