A new Center for Health and Nutrition Research will be established at the University of California, Davis, to examine the role that California fruits, vegetables and nuts play in providing vitamins and important compounds that lower the risk of chronic diseases.

Initial funding for the center, totaling more than $6.4 million, was recently received as part of the settlement of an eight-year-old antitrust case involving six major vitamin manufacturers.

The funds will be used over the next four years to establish and operate the center, and will support research focused on the impact during pregnancy of diets that are rich in plant-based compounds called flavonoids, the effects of walnuts and fish on coronary heart disease risks, and the effects of almond consumption on cardiovascular disease prevention.

The center will be led by UC Davis nutrition professor Carl Keen, who holds the Mars Chair in Developmental Nutrition.

Funding for the new UC Davis nutrition center was part of a $310 million settlement, which was reached with three European and three Japanese companies that together control more than 80 percent of the world's vitamin market. The settlement included $85 million for California.

The vitamin manufacturers pleaded guilty in federal court in 1998 to an international price-fixing scheme, which resulted in consumers and businesses being overcharged over a span of 12 years for a variety of products including breakfast cereals, milk, juices, pet food, dietary supplements, animal feed and beauty products.

Because of the difficulty in determining the damage suffered by individual consumers due to the price fixing, the consumer portion of the settlement, totaling about $38 million, will be used to fund "projects of general benefit to Californians," according to the California Department of Justice. This includes nutrition and aging research, food banks, health education, and grants to the dairy and poultry industry. The UC Davis nutrition center funding is part of this consumer portion of the settlement.