I would like to thank you for attending this award ceremony for the 5th Danone International Prize for Nutrition.

As you know, Groupe DANONE has long been driven by the certainty that the food industry has a role to play in helping people to eat healthily and to live well. Groupe DANONE has always been committed to nutrition and health, and this commitment is demonstrated by our research programmes, the composition of our products, our compliance with principles of responsibility in consumer information, our on-going dialogue with the scientific community as well as our institutional initiatives.
 
An example of our long-standing commitment to nutrition and health was the creation, in 1991, of the first Danone Institute. Since then, Groupe DANONE has supported the development of an international network of 15 local Danone Institutes, bringing together more than 200 internationally known independent scientists.

The goal of the Danone Institutes, which are independent, non-profit organisations, is to promote public health by making a positive impact on the state of nutrition and diet knowledge and practice. To achieve this goal the Institutes support the research and training of health professionals to increase awareness of the critical link between nutrition, diet and health. Danone Institutes also develop education programs for the general public. Since 1991, they have supported over 630 local research projects, allocated more than 10 million Euros in grants and prizes, organised almost 130 scientific conferences, edited dozens of professional publications, and issued millions of informative and educational brochures.

Last year, Groupe DANONE decided to reinforce the dynamism of this network by creating Danone Institute International, a coordinating structure that promotes cooperation and knowledge sharing between Danone Institutes and between their members all around the world. It also facilitates the development of innovative international projects such as the Danone International Prize for Nutrition, the organization of large scientific meetings with the best experts, and helps to develop partnerships with renowned institutions. Through this new international structure, we hope to contribute to the progress of health and nutrition knowledge, as well as to strengthen the sharing of best practices within the international scientific community.

On the basis of the very positive feedback received from recipients and participants in the programs organized by Danone Institutes, I can say that these independent entities have, over the last 14 years, acquired a solid reputation in the scientific community.
 
And, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all Danone Institute members for these excellent results based on their strong involvement and their emphasis on scientific excellence, as well as the uniqueness and attractiveness of the programs.

Our commitment to diet and nutrition however goes far beyond institutional activities and has been recently formalized through a Food, Nutrition and Health Charter which sets out our convictions and commitments in this area. I would just like to take this opportunity to say a few words about it. In line with our  determination to promote health through action rather than just words, the
Charter is based on concrete practices, most of which have been firmly anchored in the culture of the Group and its subsidiaries for many years.
 
The Charter recalls Groupe DANONE’s five main convictions – balance, variety and pleasure in the diet, conviviality at meal times and the provision of information to customers, and formalizes nine commitments covering products, research, relationships with health professionals and public authorities, and communications. These commitments are supported by all Groupe DANONE employees, and especially by Danone Vitapole, our Research and Development centre near Paris, which works on new product development, the improvement of product nutritional profiles, and the optimization of production processes etc.
Groupe DANONE’s involvement in the field of health nutrition is also embodied by our efforts to permanently innovate in order to develop products adapted to the nutritional needs of consumers throughout the world – biscuits enriched in calcium in Brazil, in iron and calcium for children, as well as to improve the nutritional profile of existing products : e.g. reduced fat (in Vitalinea dairy products and biscuits), reduced or limited sugar content (Bledina baby food, Lu breakfast lowered in sugar…), better nutritional density (fibres, vitamins, minerals)...Finally, we also focus our communication on the promotion of physical activity, for example with the organisation of Danone Nations’ cup or the launch of the “Let’s Move” programme in several cities in France, which promotes physical activity among children through fun games about nutrition.
Coming back to our active support of institutional activities and this award
ceremony, I would like to say that Groupe DANONE is proud to contribute to the
recognition of outstanding researchers and research teams who dedicate their life to advancing scientific knowledge in Nutrition. So, on behalf of Groupe DANONE, I would like to offer my very warmest congratulations to Professor David Barker for having developed new ideas in Nutrition, which have such promising applications in public health. May I also take this opportunity to thank every institution and scientist, which has been involved in the process in charge of selecting the 2005 Prize laureate.

I will now hand over to Professor Marcello Giovaninni, from Milano University,
and Chairman of the Jury 2005 who will introduce the 2005 laureate …