EGEA 2018 is part of the European programme “FRUIT & VEG 4 HEALTH”, with the aim of promoting improved health by better food practices and policies to also ensure adequate consumption of fruit and vegetables.

Since 2003, under the chairmanship of Professor Elio Riboli and thanks to EGEA scientific committees, APRIFEL has been developing the EGEA conference, a strategy for evidence-based policymaking which brings together multi-disciplinary knowledge and stakeholdersto explore and develop concrete recommendations for policy and practice changes. EGEA has received support and recognition from the European Commission, in particular DG AGRI and DG SANTE. The EGEA Conference was hosted at the European Commission in Brussels twice in 2007 and 2010.

EGEA is a unique international scientific conference on nutrition and health with a special focus on fruit and vegetables (F&V). At the crossroads of research, market and public policy, EGEA mobilizes decision-makers across frontiers and sectors to promote a diet rich in F&V, healthy for individuals and for their environment.  The EGEA consensuses have played an active role for example in guiding European policy and in setting up the European School Scheme.

Healthy foods must improve health and not just fill stomachs. Despite increased attention by global policies to improve nutrition, translating this momentum into results remains difficult. The United Nations General Assembly launched the “Decade of Action for Nutrition 2016-2025” in order to turn commitments into concrete actions among which are those based on the evidence especially of the needs in the first 1000 days of life and those that can help parents to make healthy choices (F&V) in a food environment that shapes us from an early age.

Multiple scientific studies show that promoting a healthy nutrition and lifestyle throughout life is a major protective factor against many chronic diseases (obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers …). In particular, daily consumption of F&V is proven to play a positive role in the prevention of non-communicable disease. Moreover, a low consumption of F&V is considered by the WHO as a risk factor for health.