Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead today announced a new £4 million project to help Scottish food and drink companies tap into global opportunities in the rapidly expanding health and nutrition sector.

The new Food and Health Innovation Service - funded by Scottish Enterprise - will help 400 companies over the next five years to access Scotland’s leading research in food and health to develop and launch new or improved products.

The project aims to build on Scotland’s international reputation for quality natural products such as berries, fish, meat and oats, as well as research expertise at institutions such as the University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, Queen Margaret University, the Scottish Crop Research Institute and Heriot-Watt University.

Speaking at the official launch event today, Richard Lochead said: "Scotland has a justifiably proud heritage of excellence in research, not least in the food and drink arena.

"I’m delighted that with this £4 million investment we will be harnessing this expertise to provide the science, innovation and technology which are vital to sustainably growing the industry."

Read the press release on our media centre