The world has to move towards more varied, diverse and balanced use of edible plants and animals than it has been doing in the name of ‘civilisation’ to tackle the problem of global food scarcity, said Prof S A Abbasi, head, Centre for Pollution Control and Environment Engineering, Pondicherry University, addressing the gathering at the national conference ‘Foods 2011’ on February 11 at MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai.
Greater use of insects as poultry can ease some of the pressure the world is experiencing to produce more expensive and more ecologically harmful macro livestock meat, the scientist explained.
Pressing for the urgent need for food safety globally, Ramesh V. Bhat, international food safety specialist, pointed out that the global food system between now and 2050 will face enormous challenges, as global population was estimated to reach 9.1 billion by 2050. He also explained that fake foods, also referred to as fraudulent foods, counterfeit foods which typically mean the intentional adulteration of food with cheaper ingredients for economic gain had become an industry worth $ 49 billion a year.
Underlining the serious implications of the problem of food adulteration, Bhat quoted the report of the Chinese ministry of health, which said 2,94,000 infants had been affected by melamine contaminated infant formula by the end of November 2008. The crisis occurred as a result of the intentional adulteration of milk with melamine at primary production level in rural China Investigations carried out by a Russian agency revealed that one-fifth of all food; beverages and tobacco in Russia are counterfeit.
 Primary preventive programmes, such as good hygiene practice, good manufacturing practice and hazard analysis and critical point systems, aimed at food safety, will improve consumer protection.
The two-day national conference, featuring more than 30 speakers, scientists, researchers, academicians and food industry experts, discussed various topics .such as application of scattering techniques in food science, insights into the food market, impact of lifestyle, diet and health, creating food entrepreneurs among self-help groups and application of microwaves in food processing.
A panel discussion on genetically modified food stressed the role of GM technology in ensuring food security. The scientists listed the useful applications of GM technology in agriculture, processing, nutrition, health and microbiology.
|