Sirpa Seppanen, nutritionist with Glanbia, advises his employer on the content and image of its diary products.
My job is to bring nutritional analysis to everything we do in Glanbia. My work varies a little depending on the time of year. I work between the Yoplait factory in Inch, Co Wexford, Glanbia House(our headquarters in Kilkenny) and our Dublin head office in Tallaght.
People are becoming very health-conscious in Ireland and so that's were I come in. I advise on the content of food - I look at a product and make sure it is low in fat, low in salt and introduce added fibre.
If we are developing a yoghurt drink for dieters, I would research the diet of Irish people and see what Irish dieters are lacking nutritionally, such as vitamin D, folic acid or calcium. We make the product relevant to the Irish consumer.
In addition, I work with the marketing team on how to present a product to the public and advise them on relevant legislation.
I also meet with health professionals and consumers and speak to them about the benefits of dairy foods in general and Glanbia's food specifically.
Obesity seems to make the headlines everyday and I think salt is becoming a big issue here too. I feel I'm in the right place at the right time.
Nutrition and public health issues have come to the fore and I feel that people are not looking for the information that I have.
Among women, there are still a lot of people with the attitude "if I'm skinny, I don't have to care about my health".
The reality is that fit and fat is better than thin and sedentary. They are concerned with calories rather than with whether the food is good for them or not.
For me, product development should start from the public health issues that exist in Ireland and in the West generally.
So I'm fortunate that I work for a dairy company because dairy is already intrinsically good.
One of our recent products, chocolate and strawberry flavoured milk, was designed to get children back to drinking milk and away from soft drinks.
I live in Mullingar so I leave home at 6 a.m. to avoid traffic and arrive at work in Tallaght at 7.15 a.m. So even my normal day involves a lot of driving. I have breakfast in the car - usually a Yop.
I also work at home one day a week to keep up to date with research in the nutrition area.
I enjoy food. I cook a lot and I love to experiment with food. I read a lot of cookery magazines and love trying out new food products.
Good nutrition all comes down to the food pyramid.
I am careful with fat and try to eat fish twice a week.
I eat three dairy products a day and always eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day - I bring a bag of fruit to the office to make sure I eat enough fruit.
Of course, I also eat chocolate and biscuits.
When I was moving to Ireland, a lot of people back home in Finland told me it would be all fish and chips in Ireland, which is not true.
I was surprised at how little fish the Irish eat. However, the basic Irish meal of meat and two veg is a very health option. There are no extras and it is very simple.
Hopefully that won't disappear.