TEARS FROM AND FOR ONIONS-WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

Is onion an important food for Indians? Obviously it appears so as reflected by the political significance attached to shooting prices that rule the onion markets across the country. It is not easy to forget what happened in Delhi State two decades ago when spiraling onion prices resulted in collapse of the then government. Present situation is reminiscent of what prevailed then and it appears Onion and Petrol are competing with each other to see which will breach the Rs 100 mark first! What is incongruous is the effect of this price escalation of onion on the national economy and the muddied thinking of the present day government in tackling the same. Here is a take on this "tear some" issue as is being experienced by the Indian citizen every day!

"The uptick of wholesale prices to a six month high of 6.1% in August, largely fuelled by a 244.6% increase in onion prices, is bad news for the economy. Not only does it set back hopes of a rate cut to boost investments in the monetary policy review by the RBI at the end of the week, it also highlights the government's continuing inability to manage the food economy and rein in volatility of food prices. Blaming bad weather doesn't cut much ice. The rising prices of essential food items like rice despite good monsoons are mainly due to the large stocks accumulated to meet the needs of the food security Act. The continuous increase in minimum support prices for rice and wheat by the government has also proved counterproductive as it has discouraged a shift in cropping patterns to vegetables or the diversification of production to livestock, fish and poultry. Consequently, prices of vegetables and high protein foods like milk, eggs, fish and meat have shot up, making them unaffordable to the poor. Inadequate storage facilities and the failure to modernise the food supply chain have also added to the problem. Curbing volatility in food prices and improving supply would require strong measures by both state and Union governments. States have to reform the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act to allow for contract farming, direct marketing and setting up markets in the private sector. Adequate credit has to be ensured for setting up cold storage chains. The bias against large organised retailers, including foreign chains, has to be dropped. Given their global supply chains, they would have cooled domestic prices by realigning their procurement orders. The government should also shift to direct cash transfers from food subsidies, thus reducing the need to build huge stocks".

If government sources are to be believed this phenomenon is unlikely to last for long and the prices would come down in a "few days" time! According to records onion prices have been ruling abnormally high during the last few months and it is far fetched to expect the prices to come down soon. Announcing imports is just a play of words meaning nothing as not even a kilogram of foreign onion has landed in the country yet! It is a pity that consequences of policies announced like the Food Security Act are not thought of and how the country will suffer because of these follies. It is believed that farmers may increasingly switch over to cereals in the coming years because of high procurement prices offered to them, further endangering the nutritional security of the population. One can only hope that a more cohesive and visionary government after the coming general election will address these issues and reverse the present disastrous policies ruining the country. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE AGAINST CONSUMERS!- CAN IT BE TRUE?

Where will the consumer go if the scientific community works in connivance with the industry in supporting health claims that are not substantiated or proved? The latest controversy in the US regarding the alleged role of the American Heart Association (AHA) in giving certificate to processed food products as heart healthy when they were really unhealthy products if critically scrutinized, refuses to fade away soon. The bitter legal fight, recently reported from New York concerns the healthiness of a famous brand of soup which has been given the "Heart Check" certification by the Association in spite of it containing high levels of Sodium supposed to be a villain in diseases like blood pressure, kidney disease, heart attack and stroke. Since the Association is collecting a hefty fee for awarding such certificates, many consumer right activists feel that it is unethical and illegal. Here is a take on this issue which can be expected to be fought bitterly in the coming days. 

"At the center of the federal lawsuit is the "Heart-Check" certification by the American Heart Association,  and whether it rightfully conveys that a product carries particular health benefits. The lawsuit says the nonprofit group lets Campbell and other companies use the "Heart-Check" label on products that run counter to its stated mission, in exchange for fees. The American Heart Association says its goal is to fight cardiovascular diseases and stroke. To earn its "Heart-Check" certification, the group's website states that products must have no more than 480 milligrams of sodium per serving. But the website also notes elsewhere that "low sodium" is defined as having 140 milligrams or less per serving, the lawsuit notes. "The AHA, for a fee, abandons its general, non-commercial dietary and nutritional guidelines," the lawsuit states. A can of Campbell's "Healthy Request" condensed Chicken Noodle Soup, which bears the certification mark in question, is listed as having 410 milligrams of sodium per half-cup serving. The lawsuit notes that there are two or more servings per can, meaning there would be at least 820 milligrams of sodium in a can. A representative for the American Heart Association, Amit Chitre, said in an email that the group doesn't make recommendations on what qualifies as an appropriate level of sodium for an individual serving. The group simply states on its website that people should aim to eat 1,500 mg of sodium or less per day. The lawsuit states that the AHA's seal of approval misleads people into thinking in that products made by Campbell "possess some cardiovascular benefit not enjoyed by products that have not been certified by the AHA." It states the only difference is that Campbell pays money for the certification."

It is just not correct to call a soup healthy if its one serving provides almost 30% of the daily intake of sodium recommended by many health pundits and international nutrition agencies. Imagine the effect of a single can of this soup being consumed in a day which can soak the consumer with more than 50% of the daily allowed sodium in the diet! A low sodium food product containing no more than 10% of the RDA for sodium is considered as healthy and AHA should have looked into the sodium content as one of the parameters for certifying products as heart healthy. As rightly said in the legal suit, other products containing same amount of sodium manufactured by others without the Heart Check certification will have a disadvantage in the market because of their unwillingness to pay for AHA certification. It will be interesting to wait for the decision of the court as and when it is pronounced. One can only consider such controversies unhealthy especially when scientific bodies indulge in selling their seal of approval in such arbitrary fashion!  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

PURPLE TOMATOES-WILL THE CONSUMER ACCEPT IT?

Every consumer identifies red color with tomato and brighter the color, more appealing is the produce to most consumers. Can any consumer reconcile to a color other than red when it comes to tomatoes? Wine ripened tomatoes, though cost a little more, are much sought after because of the natural ripening process while still attached to the plant whereas ethylene ripened fruits are a pale shadow of naturally ripened tomato. There are also hybrid varieties that is firmer in texture and easily amenable to stand the rigors of transport over long distances but it appears they are incapable of ripening fully to the glorious red color. Industry is pulled between its desire to please the consumer on one hand and ground realities vis-a-vis handling, packing, storage, distribution and marketing on the other hand  that may entail significant losses through rotting. If the latest development in tomato breeding is any indication scientists are about to launch a new variety of tomato with a purple color and extraordinarily tough texture that can withstand long journeys with almost 100% more shelf life! The GM route adopted by the researchers to create this variety may be some what controversial but if their safety is proved beyond a shadow of doubt, it may be a win-win situation for both the consumer and the produce industry. Here is a take on this new development which will have significant impact on health of the population.

In research to be published in Current Biology, Martin and colleagues studied tomatoes enriched in anthocyanin, a natural pigment that confers high antioxidant capacity. The purple GM tomatoes have already been found to prolong the lives of cancer-prone mice and in the latest findings they also more double the normal shelf life of tomatoes from an average of 21 days to 48 days. "Post-harvest losses due to rotting are such a serious problem for growers and supermarkets that even an increased shelf life of one day would make an enormous difference to them," said Yang Zhang, lead author from the John Innes Centre. One way to improve shelf life is to pick tomatoes early when they are still green and induce them to ripen artificially with ethylene. However, this results in loss of flavour. Another method is to grow varieties that never fully ripen, but these also never develop a full flavour. In the current study, anthocyanins were found to slow down the over-ripening process that leads to rotting and softening, achieving a tomato with a long shelf life and full flavour. The purple tomatoes were also less susceptible to one of the most important post harvest diseases, grey mould caused by Botrytis cinerea.

Anthocyanins are well known antioxidants with far reaching health benefits and the new variety of purple tomato will go a long way to protect humans from diseases like cancer if the rat studies are duplicated in humans through clinical trials. Though the exact procedure in evolving this new variety has not been revealed, it is safe to assume that the same will be patented. One crucial question that will throw a spanner on the commercial success of purple tomato is whether the consumers will accept a GM product if there is transparency in labeling. Probably it may take some years before purple tomato starts adoring the dining table, at least in that GMO loving country, America!  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ANOTHER FOOD PACK LABELING INITIATIVE-WILL IT WORK?

Scouting for good but healthy foods is a nightmare for many families visiting a supermarket where thousands of products are presented as attractively as possible tempting the buyers to pick them up. While the price tag and expiry date weigh heavily in making purchase decisions so often, some discerning buyers do glance through the nutrition labeling though it is far from clear as to how much they really understand! Food safety authorities world over deserve kudos for putting in place a "front of the pack"  labeling regime that is helpful to millions of consumers to have a better understanding about the contents of the pack before making actual purchase and over the years the system is progressively being modified to make it more and more transparent and consumer friendly. Still attempts are going on in some parts of the world to bring about more clarity and in one such attempt in Australia, a new type of labeling guideline is being introduced to enable the consumer to decide at the first sight itself how healthy the product is without being forced to spend time and efforts to read through the fine printed information presently in vogue. This system is based on a system of star rating and following critique gives an idea about its mode of working and logistics of implementation.

The introduction of an easy-to-understand food labelling system was a key recommendation of the 2011 Blewett review of food labelling commissioned by the federal government. But reaching consensus on the best system to implement has been difficult. Food manufacturers have voluntarily adopted their industry's own percentage daily intake (%DI) labelling scheme since 2006. But the scheme doesn't meet the Blewett review's requirement for an "interpretive" system. The daily intake system only presents information about the contribution that a single serve of food makes to the "average" person's daily dietary requirement. It has been criticised as being confusing for consumers, and potentially misleading. The Blewett review specifically recommended traffic-light labelling, which uses green, amber and red to show, at a glance, the relative healthiness of products, as the preferred scheme. The recommendation was strongly supported by public health groups. But traffic-light labels are vociferously opposed by industry, primarily because food manufacturers don't want to put red (negative) labels on their products. By the end of 2011, the federal government had rejected the call to implement traffic-light labelling. This was widely seen as government caving in to lobbying pressure from the food industry, which has been extremely active in its campaign against traffic-light labelling, both in Australia and internationally. In an effort to develop a labelling system that could be supported by all parties, the federal government established a multi-sectoral committee to work on a proposal for a new scheme in 2012. In May 2013, this committee finalised their recommendations for the health star system. The scheme is based on a system proposed by the US Institute of Medicine. Under the proposed system, processed foods will be labelled using a scale ranging from half a star (least healthy) to five stars (healthiest). The front of food packages will also have an icon showing the number of kilojoules in the product, and nutrient information on saturated fat, sodium and sugars. Only the kilojoules in the product will be expressed in terms of recommended daily intake.Foods that are considered healthy (using government-defined criteria) will also be able to list a single "positive" nutrient (such as calcium) icon on the front of the package. And the standard nutrition information panel that is currently displayed on the back of the pack would remain in place. The system will initially be voluntary, and implementation is expected to be accompanied by a government-sponsored marketing campaign to explain and promote it.

Though on paper it looks really good, implementing the same will be a hard job because of the difficulties involved in assigning stars to thousands of products with different chemical and nutrient composition. Still it should be possible to implement the new guidelines in cooperation with the industry. Since the star rating system is voluntary at present there may not be any serious hiccups during the initial period as most products with good health credentials will queue up for getting the coveted star rating and once products start appearing in the market with the health star icons printed on the front, a positive force is likely to be unleashed that will push more and more manufacturers into the star rating system. When fully implemented the market environment may become so sanitized that bad and unhealthy packed foods would probably disappear from the shelves sooner than later! One aspect about this new policy which cannot be appreciated is that the government does not want to make it mandatory in the interest of its citizens. Probably industry may eventually be forced to implement the star grading system by mandatory policy compulsions.    

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A DIGITAL TOOL FOR AVOIDING FOOD WASTAGE- NEW DEVELOPMENT

Consumers invariably face a dilemma regarding the quality of food within a sealed pack though the date marking on the label indicating the manufacturing date and expiry date give them some clue. Still millions of consumers believing that the food they buy must be as fresh as possible scout for packs with most recent manufacturing date and get assured that they are safe. However after taking home these purchased items may lie on the kitchen shelf some more days and some time not utilized till the expiry date is reached. Under such circumstances the critical question is whether these food items can still be safe or not? Many food pundits suggest that food packages past their expiry date should not be thrown away as most of them would be still good and safe for consumption. It is argued that after all expiry date is not an absolute figure but an indicative one for the consumers to be more cautious. Still many consumers are not willing to take risk with their lives and like to err on safer side not consuming them which end up in the garbage bin. Here is an innovation claimed to be of help to such consumers in taking a decision regarding how safe is the food inside a package with the help of electronic sensors printed on flexible packaging material used to fabricate the pouches.

To fight food waste, producers could include an electronic sensor circuit in their packaging to monitor the acidity level of the food, for example. The sensor circuit could be read with a scanner or with your mobile phone to show the freshness of your steak, or whether your frozen food was defrosted. Researcher Eugenio Cantatore of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e): "In principle that's all already possible, using standard silicon ICs. The only problem is they're too expensive. They easily cost ten cents. And that cost is too much for a one euro bag of crisps. We're now developing electronic devices that are made from plastic rather than silicon. The advantage is you can easily include these plastic sensors in plastic packaging." The plastic semiconductor can even be printed on all kinds of flexible surfaces, which makes it cheaper to use. And it makes sensor circuits costing less than one eurocent achievable.

How versatile this sensor might be, can be assessed only after wide scale testing of different food products and various packing materials under factory conditions. What criteria are used to design these sensors are not clear and due to different type of food spoilage one sensor may not fit for all of them. For example food is spoiled due to chemical changes caused with or without oxygen, undesirable textural changes, moisture ingress, microbiological changes etc and if really one can come up with a sensor that can monitor all these changes, there is nothing like that. But according to the inventors the above development may take at least 5 years before becoming a reality. If there is reasonable confidence that it will materialize consumers will not mind waiting for such a day for enabling him to buy packed foods with more confidence and trust. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ENSLAVING THE CONSUMER-THE NEW GAME BY FOOD INDUSTRY!

Food industry has a responsibility to protect the health of its consumers by manufacturing healthy products because of the confidence and trust they receive from them unreservedly. Unfortunately this trust is being systematically undermined by practices considered unethical and hostile to consumer interests, at least by a major segment of the industry during the last three decades.  Safety authorities are increasingly being forced to bring in mandatory steps to discipline this industry which seems to be more focused on making easy money at the expense of the consumer. The enormous "money clout" and political patronage from the elected representatives make them immune to any penal action and corrective efforts by the government. The result is massive health crisis that is happening in countries like America where obesity and over weight people make up more than 50% of the population! Scientific data regarding adverse consequences of food additives are systematically suppressed and food standards are diluted through nexus with safety authorities. Now comes the news that American food industry controlled by a few monopolistic giant players have infiltrated into professional organizations for influencing technical decisions by scientists and generate industry friendly data. Here is a take on this unfortunate trend which needs to curbed at any cost 

"Instead of joining the fight against the obesity and diabetes epidemics, the food industry—Big Food—persistently pushes favorable legislation in Congress through aggressive and, more often than not, successful lobbying, as the recent "Monsanto Protection Act" proved. As if this were not enough, Big Food companies such as Coca-Cola, Kraft and Hershey's seem to have also basically taken over the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), the largest organization of dietitians and nutritionists in the country. And this is without even mentioning that research has led these companies to learn how to manipulate people's tastes and habits. Public health attorney Michele Simon talks about this in "And now a word from our sponsors: Are America's nutrition professionals in the pocket of Big Food?"—a report that questions the ethics of the Academy's acceptance of such sponsorship. "The food industry's deep infiltration of the nation's top nutrition organization raises serious questions, not only about that profession's credibility, but also about its policy positions," says Simon in the report's summary. Simon's reports that in the past 10 years there has been more than a three-fold increase in sponsorships from the Big Food industry. One of the most loyal AND's sponsor is the National Cattleman's Beef Association, followed by ConAgra, General Mills, Kellogg's and the National Dairy Council. Coca-Cola, Kraft and PesiCo come in next. If it were just because the Academy needs the funds to do its educational outreach, all this might be understandable. But has AND at least established some guidelines about the messages broadcast by the companies to their own people? It doesn't seem so. Paradoxically, the Academy represents itself as an advocate for Eating Right (their public campaign's brand), calling people to make informed choices and to develop sound eating and physical activity habits". 

What will happen to the consumers in the US if this trend continues unabated with many scientists in the pockets of the industry? Are their lives going to be more and more uncertain with practically no choice regarding what they want to eat? Who is to be believed and who are their real friends and protectors? The scientific community as a whole must be ashamed of themselves for this unholy alliance with this dubious industry! Where will the common man go in search of truth? Is a time coming for the consumer to be self reliant in terms of food safety by shunning the processed foods and in stead go back to their kitchens to make their own foods, preferably with organic food raw materials? May be yes.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A FATAL NEXUS AGAINST CONSUMERS-THE US TRAGEDY!

The power of the GM food industry has recently been demonstrated in no uncertain terms when the government in the US prohibited courts interfering with propagation of transgenic plants like sugar beets in future! In no civilized country such a thing can happen because of the responsibility cast on the government to protect the citizens from any type of danger to their life. No doubt that the GM foods have come to stay in the US market, uncontrolled and unregulated by the government there because of the massive influence of the GM food industry on the law makers there through financial donations during election. Of course there is an ethics committee of the Senate which is after all a closed club of supporters of GM foods and nothing concrete can be expected from it in cases pertaining to corruption by the GM food industry. There are wide spread protests against this sordid policy orchestration though it is unlikely the government would bend. Here is a sad commentary on this new twist to the GM food story which can at best be described as a tragedy. 

Why is this such a big deal? The court system is often our last hope, with Congress, the White House, and regulatory agencies deep inside industry's pocket. Several legal challenges have resulted in court decisions overturning USDA's approval of new GMO crops, for example, sugar beets. So the biotech industry, unable to make its case to a judge, figured why not just rewrite the Constitution instead, with the help of a Democratic Senate led by Senator Barbara Mikulski, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Despite Montana Senator Jon Tester's best attempts to stop the so-called biotech rider, the measure was pushed through. (Industry had tried to get a similar measure passed more than once last year.) Tester minced no words in an article in yesterday's POLITICO about this and other industry power grabs such as weakening small farmer protections: These provisions are giveaways, pure and simple, and will be a boon worth millions of dollars to a handful of the biggest corporations in this country. They deserve no place in this bill. We simply have got to do better on both policy and process.

No doubt the GM foods have been tested extensively and no specific evidence has surfaced damning the technology or the products derived from this new breeding techniques. But all the studies which have found little evidence of safety risks are based on limited scale and short time duration. Those who care for the precious lives of future generation have the right to insist on establishing the safety beyond a shadow of doubt. The intolerance of criticism by scientists, social activists and consumers is great, GM food industry does not want its products to be even labeled so that one can make an informed choice whether to buy them or not! USA is the only country in the world which exempts the GM foods from declaring the same on front of the pack label. If such unlimited power is given to an irresponsible industry controlled by a few transnational corporations, what would be the fate of the consumers and how he can resist the force feeding strategy adopted by them? There is still hope that such brazen nexus between the "destroyer and the protector" will not be allowed to get away unchallenged in the coming days!  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

E-TRAINING FOR RIGHT EATING!-A NEW APPROACH

One of the reasons ascribed to putting on weight in human beings is eating the food too fast which leads to ingesting more than what is required by the body. Consumption of too much calories beyond one's actual need, the body tends to convert the excess ones into body fat. While ideally strict eating discipline can avoid over eating, it is more easily said than done. This is true especially in countries where ready to eat foods of diverse tastes are easily available at low prices. Taking into consideration this human gullibility, an innovative technique has been developed which involves designing electronically controlled spoons and forks that can warn the consumer about fast eating. Here is a take on this interesting innovation.

What's the coolest new gadget at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week? It's too soon to tell. But I have an early favorite for the title of oddest new gadget: theHAPIfork and HAPIspoon. They may sound like characters from a nursery rhyme, but this fork and spoon connect to the Internet and can monitor and record how you eat. The HAPI utensils measure how long your meals last, how long you pause between each bite and how many mouthfuls of food you consume. If these utensils think you are eating too fast, they will vibrate — it feels kind of like a silent ring on a cellphone — to let you know to slow down. Unfortunately, they are not yet programmed to beep or issue electric shock if you chew with your mouth open. However, you can plug them into your computer when you are done with your meal and upload the data about what you just ate. And you can share it all on Twitter.

Interface between daily activities including eating and electronic apps is providing many gadgets for daily use by the consumer to monitor and adapt the living style to what is ideal as per expert recommendations. Though this looks intimidating to most consumers, there are many who are excited about electronic gadgetry, willing to use them regularly. It remains to be seen whether man will ever give up his innate, God-given mental strength in controlling his destiny in favor of a battery of soulless electronic gadgets!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

WILL THERE BE MEGA LAW SUITS AGAINST FOOD INDUSTRY?

The "sugar in the food" controversy is raising its head again, threatening the food industry in a serious way which the latter cannot ignore any more. There are thousands of studies which have implicated over consumption of sugar in creating dreaded life time disorders like diabetes, CVD and obesity but there is still no unanimity regarding the adverse consequences sugar may have on human health. The food industry is exploiting this lacunae to put in the market more and more products containing high sugar levels. It knows well that like tobacco, sugar is also an addictive and consumers, especially the kids, can be depended to to buy these unhealthy products again and again. If the coincidence between the onslaught of obesity and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) becoming cheap in the US is taken into consideration, no further evidence is needed to implicate HFCS as one of the major critical factors for the progressive health deterioration among American citizens. Here is a critique on this subject which is both illuminating and logical to understand. 

"The first people in America to say smoking was bad for your health were greeted with derision and called quacks. Even while studies emerged in the 1950s linking smoking to various ailments including lung cancer and heart disease, tobacco supporters (nearly half of Americans smoked back then) questioned whether anti-smoking campaigners detracted from more serious attempts to get at the real causes of these diseases. Robert Lustig, a pediatrician and author of a book out last week, Fat Chance, is sympathetic. He's heard it all before. He wants sugar (both the table variety and high-fructose corn syrup) regulated like alcohol. He wants products full of sugar to get health warnings, like on cigarette packs. Sugar, he says, is toxic in high doses, and should be treated as such. It's also making us really fat. Excess sugar turns into liver fat and that fat makes the liver more resistant to insulin, he explains. The pancreas, which makes insulin, then has to make more. This raises insulin levels in the blood stream, and forces energy into fat, which causes weight gain. Then there's the effect on the brain. High insulin levels block actions on the hormone leptin, which tells the brain when the body has had enough to eat. People who eat lots of sugar are told by their brains that they are still hungry and so keep eating. Lustig says that food companies know this and that's why there's more sugar than ever before in our processed foods. The more sugar foods contain, the more consumers will eat. Here is a (rather long) video of him explaining the science at greater length. Lustig's research started in 1995 while working as a pediatric endocrinologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee. He noticed that children whose hypothalamus were damaged, following neurosurgery to remove tumors, started producing too much insulin and became lethargic and fat. He prescribed a drug to block the insulin and the children ate less, became more active and lost weight. He says the weight loss was the result of the drug (i.e., a hormonal change), not the change in behavior. Since then Lustig has done four studies, two with children and two with adults, to verify the phenomenon. He has concluded that the obesity problem is not about our couch potato tendencies but about the amount of sugar Americans consume, which he says is double what it was two decades ago".

The argument of the author of the above critique, that a day will come, sooner than later, when the food industry will face mega law suits for health damage by millions of citizens who face bleak prospects of leading a healthy life because of industry's deliberate strategy of restricting the product mix to high fat and high sugar containing ones, is logical. This reminds every one about the unhappy saga of tobacco industry of yesteryear which ignored and suppressed colossal evidence against tobacco blatantly and with no remorse about scientific findings implicating tobacco in lung cancer. Looking back, it became a tragedy of Himalayan proportion for the tobacco industry which had to shell out more than $ 300 billion for its past sins and omissions as reparation. Why not food industry learn from the history and overhaul its product basket with less and less sugar, salt and fat, all implicated unequivocally in many human disorders? Earlier this bitter truth is realized better it will be for this high flying industry.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

INFLATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION COST-INDIAN AGRICULTURE ON CROSS ROADS

It has been said umpteen number of times that Indian agriculture system as it works to day is a no-win situation for both the farmer as well as the consumer. As food inflation is intimately linked to production cost, during the last one decade the cost of agricultural inputs has climbed steeply, in spite of billions of rupees of subsidies supposed to be doled out by the federal government. Almost 700 million people stay in rural hinterlands, close to the agricultural production areas working against all odds to raise food crops for the entire nation and with average size of land holding estimated to be less than 2 acres per family what can one expect from the agricultural activity which depends heavily on regular rainfalls. Land productivity being abysmally low, being fraction of what is achieved even in African countries, agriculture is not and has never been a viable pre-occupation for many. Absence of a long term agriculture policy which makes some sense, the drift is clearly visible with thousands of farmers choosing the suicide route for salvation. As this subject has several dimensions, a detailed discussion here is out of place but reference to the article cited below gives some insight to the problem India is suffering from.

"The key reasons for the escalation in the cost of producing food in India are the rapid increase in farm input prices and long-term structural deficiencies such as low productivity, fragmented landholdings, and declining public investments in agricultural infrastructure. The prices of various farm inputs, measured by WPI inflation rate, were subject to significant increase over the years. On an average basis, the WPI inflation rate (Base: 1993-'94) of light diesel oil has recorded an increase of 18.28 per cent between 2003-'04 and 2008-'09. During the last two years also, together with fertilizers and electricity, the prices of most of these farm inputs have increased substantially. As regards labour cost, according to the estimates provided by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), between the second half of 2008 and second half of 2011 the agricultural wage rate at the all India level has increased sharply by 74 per cent. The rise in the wage cost ranged from 43 per cent in Himachal Pradesh to 102 per cent in Odisha. A multi-pronged approach is needed to tackle the increasing cost of food production. Estimates show that more than 40 per cent of the total variable CoP in Indian agriculture consists of labour. Due to reasons such as high non-farm wages, aspirational migration, educational attainment, and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) farm labour has become scarce and costly in rural India. Some of the sensible ways to overcome the labour shortage are increased mechanisation of the farm operations, including that of small land holdings through group farming method; extending the provision for taking up asset creation works on private agricultural land under MGNREGS to more beneficiaries; and making agricultural operations a part of MGNREGS on an equal cost sharing basis between the farmer and the government"

Will there be salvation for this country ever? Sadly the federal government seems to be banking on its FDI policy to get foreign investors for helping the farmers of this country! If during the last 65 years of Independence the country has not been able to provide the farmers even with simple infrastructure for carrying out the farming activities efficiently, will this nation become permanently dependent on imports of vital foods like pulses and oil seeds? The argument that the country is exporting food grains and sugar cannot gloss over the fact there are about 300 million people in the country who are considered impoverished, malnourished and hungry with inadequate access to food. As the report above points out there has to be a serious re-look at the agricultural policy to provide a conducive environment for the farmers of this country to produce food economically and help consumers to access the same at affordable prices.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

PROCESSED FOODS-RECURRING SAFETY DOUBTS!

The most frequently asked question by the consumers world over is whether commercial foods marketed by the processed food industry are really safe for short term as well as long term consumption? It is a tragedy of Himalayan proportion that no safety agency whether national or international is willing to say these foods are "absolutely" safe! Of course such a situation is understandable considering the complex composition of foods and enormous cost of running longitudinal safety studies on each and every ingredient used while processing. But the fact that consumer is not "protected" fully must sink in and there is nothing like an absolutely safe food. Consumer must weigh in the relative risks of enjoying a food or not consuming it at all before taking a purchase decision. At least those products coming under the supervisory regime of safety agencies carry lesser risks provided the market monitoring is done with vigor and efficiency. Here is a "caustic" comment on the safety of processed foods which tells its own story!

"Those unpronounceable ingredients listed on food packages are all tested, regulated and safe, right? When a company adds a new additive to its food, they have to ask permission first, don't they? According to a review by the Pew Health Group's Food Additives Project, the answer is a resounding, "No!" Of more than 10,000 chemicals allowed in human food as of January 2011, a third were approved by those with a vested interest. Either the product manufacturers themselves or the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association Expert Panel gave them a stamp of approval. The other two-thirds got the blessing of one of the agencies charged with regulating additives. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) looks after pesticides. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has responsibility for all other chemicals.It is easy to do the math. Double-blind, peer-reviewed studies are costly. Testing the safety of a new chemical requires longitudinal studies. Even those are not enough since chemicals never interact with the body in isolation. Tracking one chemical at a time or even narrow combinations is an imprecise method. So it is very difficult to be sure if something is safe or not. Neither the EPA nor the FDA has the budget for major research projects. That leaves us in industry hands. Their version of the "precautionary principle" could probably be defined as, "a rule meant to keep our profits healthy unless we are caught making people sick, in which case we will find legal means for avoiding responsibility."

In defense of the regulatory agencies, it can be said that they are doing a job as best they can under financial and infrastructural constraints imposed by the democratic governments which have many other priorities. What is reprehensible, however, is playing to the money power of the industry in bending rules or "looking the other way" when there are adequate scientific basis for hauling the defaulters and violators. It is true that industry is allowed to use thousands of chemical additives, many unnecessary, in the name of technical necessity. No wonder consumers are increasingly turning towards organic food industry which has a better hold on the chemicals used in their products. While in countries with poor food industry base people consume high proportion of unprocessed foods with their diets predominated by these components. In contrast in many wealthy countries the proportion of processed foods in the daily diet can be as high as 80% making them more vulnerable to food related safety episodes too frequently. As there are no uniform international norms practiced by all countries, such a situation is likely to persist for a long time to come.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

  

"IN-BAG COOKING"-ANOTHER CONVENIENCE IN THE KITCHEN

Food packaging is mainly intended to containerize the contents for convenience of use but over the years the packaging media have become highly functional also performing such useful tasks like preservation, protection, insurance against post processing infection, immunity to oxidation etc. From the simple materials like leaves, some parts of plants and man made papers used traditionally, packaging industry has come a long way and to day it offers a fantastic range of synthetic materials with phenomenal functional versatility. High strength, pliability, transparency, efficient sealing properties, heat durability, easy opening designs, recycling ability etc are hall marks of most packaging materials available to day. Tetrapack technology, aseptic packaging mode, bag-in-the box designs, MAP. CAP, zip lock versions etc are to day very commonly deployed for food packing. After the advent of Microwave heating and cooking technology, need for new types of packaging materials and designs that can with stand the high temperature and internal pressure generated without imparting any taint or leach out dangerous chemicals, has emerged and here is one of the recent developments in this field as being reported about new packing modes that can withstand both freezing as well as cooking temperatures.  

"Cook Chill bags are constructed from multi-layer films designed to protect foods from oxygen and moisture while preserving taste, texture and aroma. Foods made with the Cook Chill process can be stored refrigerated for up to 45 days, then reheated just before serving. The foods can be frozen for up to a year. The strong, ergonomic handle on Plascon's Cook Chill Handle Bags allows the end user to safely handle and transport filled bags even when the contents are hot. The handle can also be used to safely remove bags from hot water during the retherming process. Cook Chill Handle Bags incorporate an angled bottom seal, which maximizes yield of the product when the bag is emptied by eliminating corners where food can be trapped. After filling, Plascon Cook Chill Handle Bags can be clipped or sealed depending on the end user's preference. Cook Chill Bags on a Roll were developed to make the storage and dispensing of Cook Chill bags more convenient and to keep corrugated packaging out of commercial kitchens. Health departments in many areas prohibit corrugated in the kitchen due to contamination concerns. Cook Chill Bags on a Roll are wound on a plastic core and are as easy to dispense as paper towels. They can be used in conjunction with Plascon's Stainless Steel Bag Dispenser that can be used on a counter or mounted horizontally or vertically on a wall to keep bags close to workstations while protecting them from spills and splashes. Bags on a Roll are available in 10" and 12" widths and are packaged 100 bags to a roll and 4 rolls to a case. Each roll is individually wrapped. "These new bag configurations give our customers options that allow them to choose the bag that best fits their application," said David Peterson, CEO of Plascon Group. "We continue to use Cryovac films, the highest quality film that was developed specifically for the Cook Chill Process, which has outstanding seal integrity and the strength and durability to withstand the rigors of processing, handling and transportation."

One of the dangers in microwave heating is that if sealed or closed packs are heated without opening and transferring to open and compatible containers before heating, there is the likelihood of the closed pack bursting with risk of injury to the user. It is usually recommended that contents from a sealed pack must be either opened or transferred to microwavable containers before heating. The new development is highly consumer oriented with convenience in mind and can be cooked directly in hot water or microwave oven with no inherent risk of bursting. Imagine the comfort level of a house wife if unopened bags or packs from a frig or freezer can be taken straight for heating or cooking in hot water or microwave oven just before consumption. Packaging industry which has made tremendous advances, especially during the last two decades can be depended upon to come out with such game changing products with enhanced safety and convenience for the consumers, if the food processing industry continues to grow at the present pace in the coming years.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com