IFR Extra has recently revised its offering in Food Quality and Consumer Sciences. Please click the links for more information:

Food Quality

IFR Extra can help you in all aspects of food quality; we help reduce changes in quality that occur during processing or storage.

Consumer Sciences : getting the most out of consumer data with IFR Extra

One of the services provided by IFR Extra social scientists is the acquisition and interpretation of data obtained directly from in depth interviews with consumers. This approach adds value to and complements market research, product testing and sensory sciences.

The Human Nutrition Unit  at IFR is now managed by IFR Extra and is available to commercial customers.

The Human Nutrition Unit (HNU) is a stand alone unit designed for conducting human intervention studies. The unit promotes quality research in a user friendly, professional environment complying with Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Research Governance and Ethics guidelines.

The HNU offers the following facilities:

• Medical room for undertaking clinical procedures, equipped with infusion pumps, ECG monitoring etc.

• Small laboratory equipped with balances, bench top centrifuges etc.

• Diet kitchen with associated chilled and frozen food storage areas (regularly inspected by the local Environmental Health Department)

• Dining room

• Two sitting rooms

• Additional rooms for undertaking clinical measurements and conducting interviews

• Additional services include pulse wave velocity and body fat measurements.

The HNU is managed by a highly experienced Consultant Nurse Manager. We can undertake a range of specialist skills including phlebotomy, cannulation and IV infusions etc. The Unit also benefits from the support of a local GP acting as the HNU medical advisor, and emergency clinical cover is provided by the East Anglia Medical Centre. The unit is overseen by a senior research scientist based at IFR with considerable practical experience in conducting human intervention studies

The HNU team can offer a wide range of combined clinical and dietary skills including study design, preparation of protocols and associated documentation required for ethical review, and also the development and preparation of diets and test meals.

Many human studies will require ethical approval.  We can obtain this approval for customers but the procedure requires a certain amount of lead-in time. Please contact us if you are interetsted and we can talk you through the process.