Summary

SEAFOOD-AGE aims to contribute to healthier ageing and the circular economy paradigm.

Prospects indicate that around 2040, the 65+ age group will be in the range of 24% to 45% of the population across the Atlantic Area regions. Malnutrition is a common problem mostly due to changes in eating habits, food choice and difficulties for meal preparation and intake.

Healthy ageing requires a healthy diet, and seafood products provide essential nutrients not always accessible to older adults. With their valuable nutritional properties, marine resources can play a major role in healthier ageing. However, the efficient and sustainable use of marine resources poses further challenges.

SEAFOOD-AGE project is a transnational joint effort aimed at creating solutions towards healthier ageing and a circular economy seafood sector. It will exploit the maritime dimension of the AA regions and will adopt circular economy concepts to generate ready-to-eat seafood for healthy ageing, produce novel eco-packaging and develop a smart label for better quality, safety and minimum food waste.

To reach its goals, the project will:

Design sustainable, healthier, safer, high-quality ready-to-eat (RTE) seafood products to meet the 65+ adults’ needs and reduce food loss;

Produce eco-innovative packages exploiting natural resources and by-products to meet 65+ adults’ requirements;

Design smart predictive labels to aid retailers to reduce food waste while optimising quality and safety, and to support ageing consumers to make better-informed RTE seafood choices;

Develop competencies for innovation and accelerate the pace of embedding the circular economy principles into the seafood sector.