Pigs are being used in healthy eating trials at the Queensland University's (UQ) Gatton campus in southern Queensland, reports ABC News.

Researchers from the Centre for Advanced Animal Science at Gatton, in the Lockyer Valley, will compare pigs fed whole cereal grains to those on a less healthy diet.

If that turns out a success, research will be expanded to other food groups.

Professor Mike Gidley says existing research has identified what foods are healthy, without understanding why.

"What it doesn't tell us is how we can make it better or which aspects we need to pay particular attention to if we want to develop more healthy foods for the future," he said.

UQ says pigs are ideal for the trial because their digestive tract is similar to humans and because they are not fussy about what they eat.