April 2000

Establishment and Focused Strengthening of Nutritional Health Science Research System Aimed at Prevention of Lifestyle Diseases

Contributing to better food and health is a key component of the corporate philosophy of Ajinomoto Co., Inc., which is aiming to become a global corporation in food and amino acid products from its origins in Japan.

On April 1, 2000, the company established the Nutritional Health Science Research Project Dept. The new department will (1) explore and develop new functions of amino acids, and (2) conduct functional exploration and development of new natural materials, with the goal of developing food products that contribute to maintaining health through the prevention of lifestyle diseases.

Amid a flood of health and nutrition information inundating the public, the Nutritional Health Science Research Project Dept. will work toward the early discovery of new functions for "amino acids" and "natural materials." These are candidates for high-value-added food ingredient with sound scientific evidence, noticeable benefits, and applicability throughout the world. In November 1999, then-Professor Michio Takahashi, an authority in the field of nutritional physiology, was invited from Tokyo University as a research adviser, and is now commissioned as the first General Manager of the Research Project Dept. By enhancing basic and applied research, the group will quickly generate R&D results.

It is known that lifestyle diseases accompany aging and occur at different times in different people. Delaying these diseases as much as possible is "lifestyle disease prevention." Ajinomoto will develop a methodology of detecting physiological changes that appear before the onset of lifestyle diseases, also known as "advance symptoms," and then delaying the progress of the disease using food components such as amino acids and natural materials. The scope of lifestyle diseases includes obesity-related illness, hypertension, diabetes, and arteriosclerosis, and suitable targets will be set in line with the progress of research.

Profile of Nutritional Health Science Research Project Dept.

1. General Manager Michio Takahashi (Corporate Advisor) 2. Organization Approx. 20 people The project will be started with in-house researchers, but the use of other people, both in Japan and abroad, from inside and outside the company, is being considered. 3. Research Facilities Research will be based at the Central Research Laboratories, and approximately ¥600 million has been allocated for the planned construction of Nutritional Health Science Research facilities. 4. Research Themes Group for Nutritional Physiology: Evaluative development and application of amino acids that applies nutritional physiology research Group for Searching Effective Natural Materials: Functional exploration of natural materials

 

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