Designer food, with enhanced or modified nutrients to cater to different needs of people, is likely to be the future of food industry, said Ram Rajasekharan, Director of Central Food Technological Research Institute, while inaugurating the first international conference on food, nutrition and health here on Tuesday.
Citing the advancements being made in food processing technologies, Dr. Ram Rajasekharan said that in the future it might not be necessary for a person to compromise on taste or quantity of food to lead a healthy life.
He said that people would have a variety of options with specific nutritional values to choose from depending on their needs. Pointing out that application of nanotechnology had begun to revolutionise the food industry, he said, “Diabetic patients can have food as they wish since the nature of the food will be altered to slow down absorption by the body.”
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Delivering a key-note address on nano-food, C. Anandharamakrishnan, Director of Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, said that while there were exciting advancements happening in the field, there were also major hurdles to be overcome.
S. Rethinavelu, Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Food Grains Marketing Yard, while delivering the presidential address, made a plea to the State government to take steps for setting up a food park in the proposed Madurai-Thoothukudi industrial corridor.
“The Union government has proposed to set up 42 food parks, to facilitate research and development. Tamil Nadu government should initiate steps to get one here,” he said.
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