Each month, we put the spotlight on a Tirlán employee and for our October newsletter, we’re talking to Senior Nutrition Manager Lorraine Moran

In this edition of Chewing the Cud, we are delighted to feature Lorraine Moran, Senior Nutrition Manager and a dedicated and passionate member of our team. Lorraine is passionate about all things food-related and even outside of work, the Westmeath native, who now lives in Dublin, loves to cook for her husband Fred, 7-year-old daughter Josie and 1-year-old son James.

Like many others, Lorraine’s journey with us began during Covid. Since then, her passion, commitment and cross-functional work with R&D have made a significant impact on our organisation.

“I absolutely love food and always knew I wanted to work in food and dietetics. At the time, there were very few opportunities to qualify as a Dietitian in Ireland, so I went to the UK and trained over there. I worked in the NHS in England and Scotland in a range of different clinical specialties within hospitals. I was there for 11 years in the end. It was great to get experience and then work in the private sector.

“I worked for a few years with Abbott Nutrition and joined Tirlán in 2020. I love promoting food as a solution to ill-health and good health. Milk and oats are such an important part of a healthy, balanced diet and it’s great to have an opportunity to help commercialise natural, healthy products with trusted brands like ours.

“Our food industry is changing all the time, so it’s critically important that the Nutrition team keeps updated on health and nutrition policy in our markets and scientific updates. Science never stays still.

“All our work is rooted in strong science and we’re proud of the integrity of the information we share with our colleagues and customers. The Tirlán products and ingredients are highly trusted and respected. I feel we have a duty to support the innovation of healthy products and ingredients. Rebecca Barron, Nutrition Manager, and I work hand in hand with R&D, commercial and marketing teams at Tirlán to deliver this innovation.”

Even when on holiday, Lorraine continues her good food journey and loves trying new places, new tastes and new local cuisine. She is very appreciative of food heritage and food history fascinates her.

“I’m really into food history. I’m a bit of a geek and love learning about where food comes from, such as recipes that date back to the Victorian period. I sometimes try out these recipes in my own kitchen, which my family either loves or hates. But they’re willing guinea pigs nonetheless, which is nice!

“It’s great to be involved in such a positive and fast-moving field. Dietetics is such an evolving sector and I’m a new member of the European Dieticians Association. I was recently appointed to the Professional Practice Committee. It’s a huge honour and privilege. We will be looking at establishing professional competencies across the European region to try to harmonise them and elevate them if possible. There aren’t many industry dietitians appointed, so it’s exciting to take on the challenge and I’m absolutely up for it.”