Welcome to the
Institute of Food Research

IFR aims to fulfil a UK and international leadership role in delivering:

fundamental food & health research
applied and translational research in food & health for societal benefit
high level training in food and health research
effective networks with:
- academic and research centres for research and training
- food industry for strategic research and knowledge exchange

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IFR for Business

The Food and Health Network, IFR’s knowledge transfer portal.

IFR Extra, a commercial subsidiary of IFR, providing food science solutions - fast!

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IFR forms part of the
Norwich Research Park

Welcome to the Institute of Food Research

The National Collection of Yeast Cultures (NCYC)

ComBase: Improving the microbiological safety of foods

ComBase: Improving microbiological safety

Latest News

Enterprising IFR student wins ‘Business Engagement’ prize at Postgraduate Research Showcase
June 2013
Emily Blakesley was awarded the prize for Best Business Engagement poster at the 2013 Showcase of Postgraduate Research. The showcase, part of UEA’s 50th anniversary celebrations highlighted the diversity of pioneering research being undertaken by some of the 1,500 Postgraduate students across the Norwich Research Park.
300 Leading Experts Meet at the First UK-Ireland Food Business Innovation Summit
June 2013
IFR and Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority in Ireland jointly organised the first UK-Ireland Food Business Innovation Summit. It brought together over 300 leaders from the UK & Irish food industry to identify ways research, innovation and training could boost the agri-food sector in both countries by working collaboratively.
Serial entrepreneur and scientist becomes chairman of the Institute of Food Research
May 2013
Dr Tim Brears has been appointed Chairman of the Institute of Food Research from 1st June.
Follow the journey food takes through our body
May 2013
What happens to our food when we eat it is a mystery to many. Even to scientists who study the links between food, our bodies, and health, there are many unanswered questions. Part of the Institute of Food Research’s research is to better understand how food interacts with the gut.
Mining the botulinum genome
May 2013
IFR scientists have been mining the genome of C. botulinum to uncover new information about the toxin genes that produce the potent toxin behind botulism
Benchtop NMR breakthrough
May 2013
Scientists from the Institute of Food Research have been test-driving a prototype instrument developed by Oxford Instruments that promises to revolutionise access to a potent laboratory analysis technique called NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance). Building on a long track record of scientific data analysis the IFR team are devising new mathematical software that will help to collect and analyse data automatically.
Contact killing of Salmonella
April 2013
IFR research has shown that our gut bacteria can inactivate Salmonella through a mechanism that relies on being in close proximity, or cell to cell contact. Modelling this interaction is being used to find ways of controlling Salmonella.
Reliably higher levels of healthy compound in Beneforté broccoli
April 2013
Field trials and genetic studies have shown that a new variety of broccoli reliably yields higher levels of a health-promoting compound. We are now recruiting volunteers for a new study to see how eating broccoli may affect the risk of heart disease
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IFR Science

IFR is one of eight institutes that receive strategic funding from the Biotechnology and the Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

IFR science aims to meet the challenges of supplying safe, nutritious food that promotes healthy ageing now and in the future. IFR provides underpinning science for government and the food manufacturing industry.

IFR has two strategic research programmes:
Gut Health and Food Safety, and Food and Health.

Our science strategy aims to understand the working of the intestinal tract, how food-borne bacteria can cause human disease, and how the chemical and physical nature of our food influences health and can add value to the food chain. We have strategic relationships with other BBSRC institutes, the University of East Anglia and Imperial College, London.

IFR Science within the strategic programmes covers a number of research themes:

	Food structure
	Food bioactives
	Exploitation of co-products and wastes
	How the GI-tract functions
	Microbial food safety
	Biomathematical approaches in food safety & gut health