Cold meats with Omega-3 pioneered by Spanish company

Grupo Frial, a Spanish company based in Madrid, is rapidly becoming one of the World's pioneers in incorporating vital components such as omega-3 and anti-oxidants in popular foods like cold meats, sausages and patés.

Despite its relatively small size - and despite the fact that private investment in research in Spain is nowhere near as common as in many other developed countries, Frial has invested millions of euros in R+D projects with the Autonomous University of Madrid. Since becoming the owner of the first ever international patent in functional meat products in 2005, investment in research has continued to grow, and Frial spent 10 percent of its income on research.

The company's main driving force is its chairwoman, Paloma Frial. One of Spain's most dynamic business women, Frial started working at the company when its founder (her father), Ramon Frial died. She took over the control of the company when she was eighteen, determined to instill in the company the values which her father had always defended - "responsability, quality and teamwork", and to concentrate her efforts on ensuring that her father's name would become a reference for quality and research in the food industry.

In 2003 Frial and a team of scientists from the Food Sciences Research Group at the Autonomous University started investigating means of incorporating components known to be beneficial to health into some of the cold meats produced by Frial. The result was Vidalim, a formula combining Omega-3 and natural antioxidants which is included in the production process so that the resulting FrialVida (which means FrialLife) products have the added value of containing substances which are known to fight radicals and help to prevent certain diseases.

In declarations to the Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias, Paloma Frial explains further: "All FrialVida products (turkey breast, ham, sausages, beef and roast pork loin) retain all their flavour, quality and nutritional value, but thanks to the incorporation of our patent, they are even more healthy because they balance the content of polysaturated fats and help the prevention of chronic illnesses, aswell as other signs of deterioration related to age".

Frial was named Best Spanish Foods Company in 2005, an award given by the Spanish Food, Agriculture and Fishing Ministery, and this year has been awarded the Madridfusion prize. Since launching the new FrialVida range last year, the company has started exporting to Greece, Portugal and France, and has received enquiries about the patent from the USA and Japan. Companies and research teams wishing to contact the company can do so by emailing Frial at pfrial@grupofrial.com

Related: Grupo Frial