Abstract
On page 425, Richard Shepherd outlines The Eating, Food and Health LINK Programme that aims to bring high quality science and its commercial application together. The programme is sponsored by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the government departments, and DEFRA and the DoH. Academic and industrial partners can come together to prepare proposals and bid for funding. Money from industry or certain charities is matched by public funds and the projects must aim improve diet and health in the UK. The research is centered on six inter-related themes; protective and beneficial components of the diet: physiological and psycho logical factors regulating appetite and energy balance; health, innovation and risk, understanding the factors determining food choice, changing demographics, labour markets and consumer demand; food chain 'shaping' of consumer decisions. The first eight projects, some of which relate to more than one theme, funded by the programme so far are described. Topics covered range from the iron status of vegetarians to the use of smart card technology to gather data on food choices. proposals are invited until 2003 and details of how to get more information about the programme are given.