With the goal that the Swedes will open their eyes to whole grains, the partnership Full KornsFrämjandet is underway. The organization is based on a collaboration established a few years ago between approximately 20 partners in business, academia, authorities, public meal operations and civil society organizations. Maria Alexandersson has been hired as project manager for the task of increasing whole grain consumption.
FullkorsFrämjandet’s clear objective is to increase wholegrain consumption, which is done in close collaboration with the EU project SWITCH.
The Swedes eat too little whole grains, while it prevents cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and bowel and rectal cancer most of all dietary factors.
“It makes a lot of sense to get hold of something that has such a great positive impact on the health of so many people,” says Maria Alexandersson, project manager since 1 October.
Maria Alexandersson has previously held roles in communication, marketing and project management at, among others, Fria Bröd and Orkla.
The operation has several legs where communication efforts such as seminars, social media efforts and collaboration with health professionals are important instruments to reach the goals. Working to ensure that FullkornFrämjandet gets more players is another.
“That the business community together with academia, authorities, public meal operations and civil society organizations work together to improve public health through more whole grains in food will really be able to make a difference,” says Britta Ekman, head of unit at the Unit for Sustainable Food Consumption at the Swedish Food Agency. “That more people eat whole grains benefits public health and is completely in line with the dietary advice.”
“Whole grains are fantastic with benefits such as better public health and more environmentally friendly food, which brings interesting opportunities for companies,” says Karin Jonsson, sustainability manager for Paulig’s product portfolio. “Supporting FullkornsFrämjandet is a concrete way to contribute to better public health in its sustainability work, outside of the company-specific agenda. We both hope and expect that more actors from different directions will choose to join this initiative .”
FullkornFrämjandet is based at GoCo Health Innovation City in Mölndal/Gothenburg. GoCo is an arena with the ambition to create a cluster for world-class health where WholekornsFrämjandet is connected to the newly formed innovation hub led by the EU project SWITCH.
In Denmark, whole grain intake has more than doubled since 2007 when the Danish counterpart Fuldkornspartnerskabet started. At the same time, it can be seen that an increased intake of whole grains has given companies business advantages.
The partners included in the Whole Grains Främjandet are: Cancer Foundation, Chalmers University of Technology, National Association of Dietitians, Fazer, Heart and Lung Foundation, City of Gothenburg, Lantmännen, Leksands Knäckebröd, Livsmedelsföretagen, Livsmedelsverket, Nestlé, Paulig, Polarbröd, Sveriges bagare & confectioners/Bread institute, Sveriges bakery suppliers association, Svensk Dagligvaruhandel and Wasa Barilla.
For more information, contact:
Maria Alexandersson, project manager
070-752 24 65
maria.alexandersson@fullkornsframjandet.se
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