Matlyst

Based on existing knowledge about home-living elderly consumers’ preferences, dietary requirements and ageing processes, MATLYST aims at collecting new and necessary insights about elderly’s daily life, wishes and needs in order to develop holistic meal concepts for the whole day.

MATLYST emphasizes preventive aspects to optimize possibilities for good health in the later years. Knowledge about which factors that contribute to food choice and food habits among elderly is crucial to promote a healthy and active lifestyle and good health during old age. This knowledge will form the basis for more targeted food innovations that can motivate and contribute to a healthier diet and a healthier old age.

In MATLYST a wide array of consumer studies has been conducted to identify age-related factors associated with food, food behavior and food habits among active elderly living at home. Insights from the studies constitute directional input for the food industry to develop prototypes of products adapted to older age segments. MATLYST is designed for collaboration between the industry partners about prototype/concept development that will cover the nutritional requirements of home-living elderly throughout the day. An essential factor in development of prototypes that will be tested in MATLYST, is to ascertain how changing digestive processes in elderly influence nutrient uptake. Development of a new rapid method to test how products influence digestion using a model tailored to specifications of the elderly age group will be of particular use to the food industry. The project has developed two prototypes that have been through sensory and consumer testing as well as testing in a digestion model for elderly. Results from this testing have provided relevant information for testing a second concept food.

A core activity in MATLYST concerns communication and dissemination activities due to the holistic perspective involving food throughout the whole day as well as many different partners. Results from the project have been disseminated in scientific settings as well as for users and authorities. New approaches to dissemination and communication will be tried and tested.

Relevant information about the project and the theme food and elderly can be found on www.matlyst.org

Aim of the project

The project aims at developing innovative products and solutions to make it easier for elderly people to achieve a healthy diet through the following sub-goals:

Sub-goal 1: Identify new and necessary consumer insights about the target population.

Sub-goal 2: Identify texture characteristics and bio-availability of relevant nutrients in prototypes/products.

Sub-goal 3: Develop prototypes/products using an open innovation process based on insights from sub-goals 1-2.

Sub-goal 4: Disseminate and evaluate results.