WHAT ARE THE DANONE INSTITUTES
1. FUNCTION
Danone Institutes are non-profit organisations aimed at contributing to the improvement of the quality of the diet of the general population.
To that end, they:
• Promote scientific evidence-based knowledge in diet and nutrition
• Disseminate relevant knowledge on diet and nutrition to professionals such as health care professionals, teachers, journalists as well as to the general public.
Danone Institutes gather internationally renowned scientists in diet and nutrition, originating from independent organizations (universities, public research centres.) and are committed to taking a multidisciplinary approach combining medicine, biology, and human sciences.
2. A STRONG ETHICAL ORGANISATION
Danone Institutes are independent from the Danone company. They define their own programs in order to be relevant in their local environment.
• They have no commercial objective;
• They act freely and independently;
• They function on the basis of guidelines which guarantee a clear and democratic organisation;
• Their publications never contain any commercial information.
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3. DANONE INSTITUTES TODAY
Today, almost 200 international experts in diet and nutrition are involved in the 15 Danone Institutes located around the world (Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Spain, USA).
In each country, Danone Institute develops specific programs including:
• research support through grants, credits, fellowships, scholarships…
• publications of research findings
• organizations of scientific conferences
• publication of newsletters and books for professionals (health care professionals, educators, journalists)
• organization of training and education sessions for professionals (health care professionals, journalists)
• production of pedagogic material, leaflets, booklet, TV and radio programs, PC games… for parents, pregnant women, children, teenagers, and the elderly.
In addition, Danone Institutes can join their skills to develop international activities such as the Danone International Prize for Nutrition, organization of international scientific conferences, collaboration with European research programs, publications…
Programs may deal with any food or nutrient that could have an impact on human health. They are generally focused on major public health and nutrition issues.
4. DANONE INSTITUTE OVERALL ACTIVITIES
• Support to research:, Danone Institutes have, to date, funded more than 600 research studies, which accounted for more than 10 million EUR.
• Prizes and awards: more than 40 prizes and awards have been attributed to outstanding professional initiatives for 500 000 EUR.
• Symposia, workshops and educational meetings: Since 1991, 137 events involving top-level scientists have reached more than 24.000 health professionals.
Berthold Koletzko, Manuel Serrano Rios
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• Publications related to health & nutrition: 72 publications and 6 newsletters present professionals with overviews of recent developments, promote consensus and/or explore controversy of relevant issues.
• Education programs for the general public. More than 70 programs towards the general public such as nutrition lectures, distribution of folders and brochures, etc. have been organised.
For more information, visit www.danoneinstitute.org.
