That's a very impressive-looking shop window, but I had difficulty finding substance, even in what they say they are going to do. Here is the only place I could find any science, and it's no more than a few very well-known and clear-cut examples of gene/diet interaction, and a promise of more. Here are the Aims and Objectives and here the Expected Outcomes, and, well, I realise that's the sort of Eurospeak one must write for an EU Framework project (I speak from experience), but according to that page it's been going a year already, and I don't see even a schedule of deliverables.
I looked at their list of members and thought "cat-herding" (speaking from experience again), then looked on their contact page and at last found a real scientist doing real science. The head of the project is Mike Gibney at University College Dublin. As I know nothing about nutrition, it would be presumptuous for me to say much more than that if you're interested in nutrition, his blog looks well worth reading.
Mike's blog is definitely worth reading - the recent post on salt is particularly pertinent. Often when talking about nutrition and genetics the question is "why do we need it"? We know how to eat well, just have a balanced diet, physical activity etc. Well there are at least two answers to that
1) King Cnut - the tide is coming in and nothing will stop it. Yes we have zillions of healthy eating gospels. We have more "weight loss" aids and foods than ever before, we have apps, web sites, gadgets and pills, all designed for healthy eating...
I stumbled on this project during my research: food4me.org
The complete mapping of the human genome sequence in 2000 introduced the possibility of individualised medicine, including personalised nutrition. During this time the field of “nutrigenomics” emerged, which examines the relationship between food and gene expression. Many were hopeful about the ability to plan diet recommendations based on an individual’s genetic profile.
However, the promise of personalised nutrition has failed to develop as a commercial service, and matching dietary advice to genetic profiles has proven difficult. Some companies offer genetic mapping and health reports, but these services are often based on inaccurate information.
There is a need to comprehensively analyse the opportunities and challenges in the field of personalised nutrition. In addition, the fundamental question remains, “how can we best use our current understanding of food, genes, and physical traits to design healthier diets tailored for each individual?”
To address these concerns, Food4Me has gathered an international group of experts to survey the current knowledge of personalised nutrition, and to explore the application of individualised nutrition advice. The Food4Me project will also investigate consumer attitudes and produce new scientific tools for implementation.