Purdue News
Purdue News
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December 10, 1999 Center puts prevention in breakfast, lunch and supperWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue researchers are hoping to make disease prevention a big part of breakfast, lunch and dinner. They're bringing together biomedicine, food science, health care and food production in the university's new Center on Enhancing Foods to Protect Health.
"In 1995 we spent one trillion dollars on health care to treat diseases. I believe we should spend money on keeping people healthier to improve the quality of life by using nutraceuticals and functional foods," says Bruce Watkins, Purdue food science professor and director of the new center. "Nuraceuticals" are food components that are not necessarily classical nutrients, but that seem to offer some protection against disease. "In the future, foods may be matched to an individual's risk for chronic disease. This is how food and agriculture are going to develop as we move into the next century," Watkins says. "We'll be creating foods that are better for people." The role of foods in disease prevention is the focus for 50 center researchers who come from five schools at Purdue, plus medical researchers from Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis and industry affiliates. They'll identify and evaluate nutraceuticals, and work to produce healthier foods for our tables and for companion animals. Just as importantly, they'll prepare students to work in food industries that will bring us better food products. "The Center for Enhancing Foods to Protect Health is an excellent partnership between researchers from different disciplines and between the university and industry," says Dean of Agriculture Vic Lechtenberg. "This is the wave of the future in food production, and it is exciting for Purdue Agriculture to be a part of it." Source: Bruce Watkins, (765) 494-5802; watkins@foodsci.purdue.edu PHOTO CAPTION: Purdue food science Professor Bruce Watkins and graduate student Amy Devitt check the color and texture of eggs designed to have a better-balanced fat content. (Purdue Agricultural Communications Service Photo by Tom Campbell)
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