Channel 4's Food Hospital trials see cherry juice sales soar

1 December 2011

Following the launch of the first television-led food science trials, sales of a UK tart cherry juice have more than doubled as thousands of viewers test its ability to treat insomnia. The public are able to take part in this research as part of Channel 4's The Food Hospital series, which may add to the growing evidence that there might be a natural remedy to insomnia.

As 15,271 people have signed up to the Insomnia trial so far, Channel 4's Multi-platform Commmissioning Editor Kate Quilton comments, ‘With one in ten of us reliant on medication to help us sleep, the public are able to take part in research on this and other conditions. The thousands of people getting involved clearly show how relevant this is to consumers wanting to use food to improve their health.'

The Food Hospital is a pioneering series examining ‘food as medicine' and putting this emerging area of medical science to the test nationwide by asking viewers to take part in scientific studies online - the Big Food Trials. These are conducted in conjunction with The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health at University of Aberdeen and sleep specialists Sleepio, who are interested in experimenting with new ways of collecting data for their research and the results of the trials so far will be revealed during the series.

The third Food Hospital programme, broadcast 15th November, officially launched the Big Food Trial into insomnia. Drinking either hot milk or tart cherry juice over a period of two weeks, participants are helping researchers at Sleepio gather information on whether these can improve sleep - and if one is more beneficial than the other.

Prof Colin Espie, Co-founder of Sleepio says ‘The trials are a unique opportunity for the public to get involved directly in learning about what affects their health. The incredible response to the sleep trial highlights the fundamental importance of not just what we eat, but also of how we sleep. We hope the data collected adds to our growing survey of how the UK is sleeping.' 

In the television studies, people eat specific foods to see if they can help improve insomnia, reduce high blood pressure, lower cholesterol and even improve memory. Online, using social media and the website to encourage participation, The Food Hospital is engaging viewers in new, innovative ways to make science accessible and relevant to people's lives. And instead of calling participants into clinics or hospitals, the series is now helping experts reach out to these people remotely via channel4.com/thefoodhospital, the iPhone app and facebook.com/thefoodhospital, constituting valuable research into how simple foodstuffs could improve illnesses, on a national scale.

The Food Hospital website is the second best performing site across c4.com for November (a close second to Misfits). Episode 4 of The Food Hospital took the site to 3.5 million page views, 37,331 people signing up to the Big Food Trials, almost 50,000 completing online surveys, and over 26,912 iPhone app downloads.

The Food Hospital's Big Food Trials via the website, the iPhone app, Facebook and in the episodes, are introduced to viewers throughout the series, Tuesdays, 8pm, Channel 4 and the Insomnia trial results will be revealed Tuesday 6th December.

 

http://www.channel4.com/thefoodhospital

 @foodhospital

Notes to Editors:

• The Food Hospital series is averaging 2.2m viewers consolidated - 17% up on the consolidated slot average of 1.9m. For more information about upcoming episodes of The Food Hospital please go to http://www.channel4.com/info/press/programme-information/the-food-hospital
• For more information about The Big Food Trials please visit http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-launches-first-television-led-online-food-science-trials
• Maverick TV's multiplatform team have developed and built the Food Hospital site working with a range of scientific, research, dietetic and healthcare partners. The team have extensive expertise in is this area having developed and built the multi award winning Embarrassing Bodies site for Channel 4, and the hugely successful My Healthchecker tests.
• Multiplatform production company, Mudlark, built the suite of The Food Hospital trial applications for iPhone, Facebook and the web, enabling participants on any of these platforms to engage with this pioneering online experiment and to receive daily reminders, encouragement and progress reports. Mudlark will format the carefully anonymised data for the partnering scientific institutions to analyse.
• The results so far of the Insomnia trial using tart cherry juice and hot milk will be revealed in episode 6, Tuesday 6th December, 9pm, Channel 4.
• Insomnia Big Food Trial participants take two 250ml glasses of either hot milk or tart cherry juice in morning between 8am and 10am, and in the evening, two hours before going to bed, for two weeks and record their results each day using channel4.com/thefoodhospital, the iPhone app or facebook.com/thefoodhospital).
• The Big Food Trials will continue online after the results are revealed on air during the series. It will not be possible to start a Big Food Trial after 9th January 2012 and all the Big Food Trials will end by 19th February 2012.
• Sales of Cherrygood have more than doubled in November.
• For more information about Sleepio's research please go to www.greatbritishsleepsurvey.com.