To support the growing demand for wellness food supplements among the diet-conscious public in the State and the country, a food park that promotes manufacturing of food products with health benefits is coming up here under the joint aegis of the State government’s Department IT & BT and the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI).
The institute, which has already embarked upon developing food products aimed at addressing type 2 diabetes and obesity in laboratories, will essentially provide incubation facilities for industries and start-ups in the area of functional foods and nutraceuticals.
“We are already in the process of developing food products for diabetes patients and people suffering from obesity”, CFTRI Director Ram Rajasekharan told The Hindu. The proposed facility, which will come up on CFTRI premises, would facilitate discovery of new products/innovative technologies, analytical testing and safety studies for promoting entrepreneurs.
Citing the food product aimed at people suffering from type 2 diabetes, Prof. Rajasekharan sought to clarify that the product was not an “alternative therapy, but merely a supplement”. Research was also continuing in the area of developing food products that addresses obesity by studying the dietary practices.
He said its laboratories would use the same platform used in the discovery of drugs to identify food products to address an ailment. “Unlike drugs, the food products will not be toxic or have any side-effects”, he said.
Meanwhile, sources in CFTRI said the facility was expected to begin functioning on its campus in about two months while work on renovating a building earmarked for the park that is under way would complete by October 2015.
Entrepreneurs could come and make use of the facility including the pilot plant facilities at CFTRI, which would also provide tech know-how, besides testing and safety evaluation of the food products.
“Importance and role of food in maintaining wellness of the body are well established and there is a huge potential for nutraceuticals (food products with health benefit properties) the world over. Besides, the ability of many nutraceuticals to influence chronic diseases is also considered as a great opportunity for treatment,” said a CFTRI scientist.
Presently, India’s share of nutraceuticals in the world market is less than 1 per cent. “A large number of nutraceuticals are imported at a high cost
There is also concern about the unproven health claims and benefits of these products,” the scientist said, adding that the facility at CFTRI would facilitate the entry of traditional and non-traditional nutraceuticals into the global market with proven scientific evidence.
