EDITOR'S NOTE
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Each year NZ Food Technology News focusses
in on companies and people, with the Annual
highlighting not necessarily the best but those
who you should be in contact with and those
perhaps doing things a little differently.
This year we’ve added to the exposure, and
incorporated ‘Suppliers to Watch’, so you can
kick start your 2020 food manufacturing or
processing plans.
We’re all about food as an industry, and behind
every tempting morsel is a shed-load of
people, products and services that can make
the difference in your operation. All too often
lip-service can be paid to partnerships… but to
move forward and to really get the most out of
any business relationship, expand partnership
to collaboration. Link with like-minded. Pick
ideas from those that have already tasted
success and whatever you do if you need that
‘good oil’ then go to an expert source.
We have plenty of them littered throughout this
issue. Make sure you get in contact and move
your company forward.
Hope you’re enjoying the start to the New Year
– 2020. The year to focus.
CHIT CHAT
New Zealand’s expertise in
maternal and infant health
research has led to the University
of Auckland’s Liggins Institute
and its research transfer
company, Auckland UniServices,
completing its first clinical
trial, the CLIMB study, in
collaboration with Chongqing
Medical University (CQMU), in
South-Western China.
“We are pleased to have reached
this milestone and to see the
exciting capability we have in
China now. This successful
partnership paves the way for
further trials and collaborations
in the future. The results of the
CLIMB study are also expected
to create potential economic
benefits for the New Zealand
dairy sector,” says Auckland
UniServices chief executive Dr
Andy Shenk.
The CLIMB (Complex Lipids
in Mothers and Babies –
Comparison of Different
Maternal Milk Preparations
during Pregnancy) study, which
was sponsored by Fonterra NZ
and co-funded by the Primary
Growth Partnership (PGP), was a
first for CQMU and was the first
trial delivered by UniServices in
China.
The three-year trial recruited
1500 pregnant women and
started in 2015. It followed the
progress of infants for a year
after birth. The trial explores the
impact of mothers’ complex milk
lipid intake on birth outcomes,
infant brain development and
general maternal health. The
researchers are currently
analysing the results of the
CLIMB trial.
“The project not only reflects
the efficient assistance and
advanced level of the research
teams of both parties, the
Chongqing Medical University
and the University of Auckland,
but also reflects the strong
leadership and sincerity of the
management of the two parties,"
says Professor Yang Zhu of the
CQMU.
Chongqing is China’s most
populous municipality (around 30
million) and its medical university
was ranked ninth among all
Chinese medical universities in
2019. The University of Auckland
is New Zealand’s leading
university.
Despite Chongqing being home
to such a large population, there
has been little applied nutrition
biomedical research undertaken.
The bio-banking facility and
established patient database
had to be introduced through
the CLIMB study, and the hard
work of the CQMU project team
to establish a clinical nutrition
trial unit and experienced
research nurses, supported by
UniServices’ project management
expertise and Liggins Institute
clinical trial expertise.
The resulting bio-bank and
database now gives CQMU the
chance to undertake hypothesisgenerating
research. It has
serial biosamples and metadata
throughout pregnancy, and some
limited infant and paediatric data.
“This means that we can study
a variety of socio-demographic,
clinical, haematological and
biochemical parameters from the
perspective of pregnancy and
infant outcomes. Bio-banks and
metadata sets such as these
can be “mined” for decades
and support further research,”
says Professor Philip Baker, the
trial’s co-investigator along with
Professor Hongbo Qi.
THE LAUDING OF PEOPLE,
COMPANIES AND PRODUCTS
FONTERRASPONSORED
RESEARCH PAVES
MATERNAL/INFANT
NUTRITIONAL MILK
PATH IN CHINA
Greg Robertson
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
