IMPROVED STEVIA-A NEW DEVELOPMENT

Though 80% of total sweeteners produced in the world comes from sugarcane, sugar beets and corn starch, the so called non-caloric sweeteners, both synthetic as well as natural are rapidly catching up with the former, growing at a frenetic pace. This multibillion industry boasts of a few well established synthetic sweeteners like Aspartame, Saccharine and Acesulfame, besides semi synthetic ones like Sucralose and Erythritol  while Stevia and Monk fruit represent the natural ones. Of all the non-caloric sweeteners, Stevia glycosides extracted from the leaves of Stevia plant seem to have created a sustained interest among the consumers, probably because it is truly natural. What is holding back Stevia glycosides from overwhelming the food processing industry so far is the bitter and licorcie like after taste noticed in most commercial preparations available in the market. This drawback is reported to have been neutralized by recent development of technology to separate the sweetest component of the glycoside cocktail present in the crude extract, viz Rebaudiside A glycoside (RebA) which has practically no after taste. Here is a take on this new development with some implications for the food industry world over, trying to create products with low sugar to cater to diabetic and weight watching consumers.

"Tate & Lyle (TATYY.PK), the British $5.7 billion market cap global ingredients and food solutions provider recently introduced Tasteva ™, a stevia product the company had been developing for over two years. Tate & Lyle tested over 80 stevia extracts to understand the sensory profile and characteristics. It then isolated certain steviol glycosides to optimize the sweetness that did not have any of the bitter or licorice aftertaste that has been associated with early stevia products. The company claims that feedback from customers who have tried Tasteva shows that the product delivers a clean sweetness and a clear taste advantage over Reb A 97 and other stevia ingredients. According toJeremy Thompson, Director of Natural Sweeteners Product Management at Tate & Lyle, these advantages had been demonstrated across a wide range of food applications, including beverages and dairy. The company also found that Tasteva can cut the sugar levels in colas by 50% with no bitter aftertaste and no need for masking agents. This is a big step in the evolution of stevia because up till now cola manufactures were only able to reduce the sugar levels 30% before the taste was affected. Tate & Lyle sees Tasteva not just for beverages but for food manufacturers that are seeking sweetness from a natural source. Tate and Lyle introduced Tasteva Stevia Sweetener in Latin America, as part of Food Ingredients South America in São Paulo, and plans for more regional roll-outs in 2013".

With the metabolic syndrome disease, diabetes spreading like a wild fire and more than half the population in the developed countries being either obese or over weight, time has come to sideline the nutritive sugars, if possible, in favor of non-caloric counter parts and Stevia and Monk fruit fit into this bill. Of course whether natural sugar as known to day, will ever be replaced completely by one or more of the alternative choices is a question begging for an answer. However considering that no perfect match has been found so far to match natural sugar in terms of its chemical, physical and functional properties, it is unlikely that sugarcane, sugar beets or corn derived sugars will disappear from this planet for the next 100 years! At best industry may switch to blends of natural sugars and non-nutritive sweeteners for developing new products with untainted sweetness and the proportion to day is 50% to 70% of sugar in such blends which may come down progressively in the coming years with renewed research efforts.

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

THE "OMNIPOTENT" CAFFEINE-WHY THERE IS NO OVERSIGHT YET?

Caffeine, which is both a stimulant as well as an addictive substance, is present in beverage crops like Coffee, Tea and Cocoa. As consumption of these beverages increases the alertness of the consumer, there are millions who take them regularly every day though medical experts and health pundits frown upon its consumption by pregnant women and children. According to present thinking an intake beyond 300 mg a day may carry potential health risks for many people and this maximum recommended level is slowly being reduced to 180 mg per day per an adult. Recent reports about some deaths in the US being ascribed to consuming Caffeine loaded energy drinks highlight the piquant situation in which safety agencies find themselves. In absence of scientific evidence that implicates Caffeine as an unsafe food constituent and safe levels at which it can be ingested not arrived at, it becomes difficult to clamp a ban on the use of Caffeine in formulated foods and beverages. This situation seems to be encouraging many processors to use Caffeine as an ingredient in new formulations claiming some or the other beneficial effect for such products. Here is a take on this evolving situation which is receiving attention world over.

In light of new reports linking 5-Hour Energy drinks to several recent deaths, sleep-deprived consumers may need to find another source of packaged vigor. PepsiCo's Frito-Lay has an unlikely alternative: Cracker Jacks. The company is launching a new line of the sugary treats — aptly named "Cracker Jack'd" — that will contain caffeine, Advertising Age reports. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has previously battled such consumer products companies as MillerCoors Brewing Company and Airborne, claims the caffeinated Cracker Jacks violate federal food laws. "Boxes of Cracker Jack are famous for having a toy surprise inside," CSPI said in a Wednesday statement. "But what parent suspects that Cracker Jack might come with a surprising dose of a mildly addictive stimulant drug?" CSPI warned that if the government doesn't crack down on the upcoming Frito-Lay product, it could "set off a new craze in which manufacturers add caffeine to more and more varieties of foods and beverages."

Those who oppose use of Caffeine, often considered as a drug, cite the present US Rules which allow this chemical only in Cola beverages which may contain about 72 mg per a serving size of 12 fluid ounce. Unfortunately there is no mention about using Coffee solids or extracts in any food preparation which loophole is being exploited by the industry and there are such products already in the market providing more than 70 mg per a 2 Oz serving size. The argument by the industry that these products are targeted at adult consumers or the level of Caffeine is already declared on the label cannot justify putting in the market such potentially harmful food products. Probably it is time for safety agencies to revisit presence of Caffeine, either used as a chemical ingredient or through coffee solids and extracts and make the law relating to this more explicit.

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

LONG LIFE BREAD-NEW TECHNOLOGY

Bread making was an art or skill till about 5 decades ago. But enormous strides made by bakery scientists since then in developing more and efficient technologies and reducing the time required to make high quality bread products have resulted in taking guess work and gut feeling out of reckoning. But there is one area where little headway has been made and this is with regard to extending the shelf life of the product without adversely affecting its eating quality. Now comes the news that a bakery company in the US has come out with a claim that it can make bread with 60 days life! Here are some details about the above claim and in absence of much technical data it is very difficult to vouchsafe for the veracity of the claim.

"One of the biggest threats to bread is mould. As loaves are usually wrapped in plastic, any water in the bread that evaporates from within is trapped and makes the surface moist. This provides excellent growing conditions for Rhizopus stolonifer, the fungus that leads to mould. In normal conditions, bread will go mouldy in around 10 days. But an American company called Microzap says it has developed a technique that will keep the bread mould free for two months. At its laboratory on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, chief executive Don Stull showed off the long, metallic microwave device that resembles an industrial production line. Originally designed to kill bacteria such as MRSA and salmonella, the researchers discovered it could kill the mould spores in bread in around 10 seconds. "We treated a slice of bread in the device, we then checked the mould that was in that bread over time against a control, " he explained. "And at 60 days it had the same mould content as it had when it came out of the oven."

Making a product last long is not a difficult task if the sensory quality of the food product is not kept in focus. There are a few chemical preservatives available to day that can inhibit the growth of most microorganisms but such methods cannot prevent chemical or physical changes that occur in all foods at moisture levels beyond 2% at temperatures above zero degree centigrade. In a product like bread with a moisture content of 40% and under ambient conditions staling is bound to take place and according to present state of knowledge there are no fool proof technology yet to prevent staling. stale bread is characterized by crumbling and powdering with the texture of the product getting lost progressively in a matter of few hours. The new method reported above involves treatment of the packed bread with microwave radiation which is supposed to destroy fungal spores but whether it will affect the typical texture of bread adversely is not clear. Retrogradation of starch grains in the bread during storage is a reversible phenomenon and probably bread preserved with the method reported above may regain its texture if it is reheated under optimum conditions in a kitchen microwave oven.

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

FOOD SOLUTIONS-URBAN AGRICULTURE

According to experts watching the food scenario in Australia, that country is going to face a food crisis one day or the other, if adequate steps are not taken immediately to disperse production, creating smaller entities working nearer to consumption centers. It seems, on an average, fresh food supplies in many urban settlements reach there after traveling about 1500 kilometers in most cases and any disruption of this flow due to conditions beyond the control of the industry, people will be starved of fresh food supplies in 2-3 days time. This is the logic behind serious pleas by many planners to encourage setting up of local production centers near the urban settlements. Such an approach also reduces the carbon foot print very significantly besides providing fresher food with superior quality. Here is a commentary touching upon this issue which is very revealing.

"Steven Newton, the chairman of the Retailers Action Working Group, which plans food industry responses to potential national crises such as pandemics or floods, said that ''fresh food would be the first thing to go in a crisis''. He said the supply channels of Australia's increasingly concentrated and commercialised farming industry were more vulnerable to disaster shocks than the dispersed small-scale farming model of 30 years ago. Sally Hill, of the Youth Food Network, wants to turn back the clock to a time when fresh food came from local farms distributed across the urban hinterland and people grew vegetables in their backyards. ''The average distance food travels is 1500 kilometres,'' Ms Hill said. ''If anything interrupts that flow you have a real crisis on your hands.'' The Youth Food Movement, which grew out of the global slow food movement, argues that sourcing food locally and from smaller farms would not only insulate supply from the interruptions of disasters but also alleviate longer-term threats to food security such as climate change. ''If we had a really broad network of people going through local [farmers] or growing it themselves in their backyard you have a lot more resilient system,'' Ms Hill said. ''That tackles a whole lot of associated problems, like emissions from transporting food.'' She encourages young urbanites to think critically about where their food comes from and buy from local farmers - or grow their own. But getting young people interested and involved in agriculture is a difficult undertaking. The Bureau of Statistics has found the average Australian farmer is 55. Enrollments in agriculture courses are down dramatically. This year the University of Western Sydney's campus in Richmond - formerly Hawkesbury Agricultural College - suspended its agriculture course due to low student interest".

Theoretically such proposals are sound in concept but very difficult to implement. There are a few countries where urban agriculture is deliberately encouraged through incentive oriented policies but their impact nation wide cannot be considered significant. Australia is a country with vast land mass and centralized food production is easy to achieve. Therefore decentralization with emphasis on local production in and around urban areas may be some what formidable in nature. Still investment in developing lands near major towns and cities and creating a green belt for exclusively producing fresh crops like fruits and vegetables can bring in lot of advantages to the urban families. Parceling out small plots of land on a long lease to willing families for doing some type of farming operations, backed by evolving standardized input packages for use by these new generation of agricultural entrepreneurs may still be feasible if adequate efforts are made by the government. Such models can be thought of in many countries where land is controlled by the government and real estate activities are minimum.

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

THE "APPAM WOES"!-A TEMPLE's UNENDING PROBLEMS

Neyyappam which is the most sacred prasadam offered at the ancient hill shrine at Sabarimala is again the the news for wrong reasons! This fried product made from rice flour, coconut and jaggery is a traditional component of feasts and other festival celebrations in practically every home in Kerala and is made by shallow frying the semi pasty batter in ghee in special cast iron moulds, called "Appa Kara" and depending on the temperature and time, the product can be soft or hard to chew. The Sabarimala appam is supposed to be fried to a low moisture content with a view to confer long shelf life so that pilgrims can take home the same for sharing with their families and friend. Unfortunately there is neither science nor technology involved in this preparation as it is a traditional product evolved over centuries requiring inherited or acquired skills. Food scientists seem to be least concerned to study this product from a scientific angle and preparing this product on a large scale calls for battery operations requiring artisans in huge numbers. According to recent reports, an acute scarcity of workers in this labor starved state is hampering the authorities to increase production to meet the unsatisfied demands of pilgrims who visit this shrine in droves from all over the country. Here is a take on this situation as being reported by the Travancore Devaswam Board (TDB) authorities.   

'A shortage of hands is affecting the production and distribution of 'appam prasadam', at the Lord Ayyappa temple. The situation, which has been continuing for the past two weeks, is yet to be solved. The restriction on the sale of 'appam prasadam' to two packets per pilgrim, continued  until Monday. The shortage of workers has affected 26 of the total 96 appam 'karas'. Though the production and packing of appam were given on contract, the contractor has failed to employ adequate number of workers, sources said. Contractors are offering only a meagre `200 per day for a worker. This is affecting the possibility of finding sufficient number of workers. The passive attitude of the Devaswom authorities towards the problem, has left the problem unresolved".

This sorry state of affairs is a bad reflection on the callous attitude of the state government while the food research organizations in the public sector also have to bear equal responsibility for neglecting such traditional products for a long time in their pursuit of "glamorous" research! Unlike many other temples, bringing about beneficial transformation in Sabarimala is much easier as there is no cast or communal clash when modernization is taken up. Can the Government of Kerala take adequate courage in its hand to appeal to the Government of India to direct an institution like CFTRI or DFRL or others with adequate facilities and expertise to take up immediately a project that will come up with a standardized process and a mechanized manufacturing system for manufacturing clean, hygienic, safe and high quality appam at Sabarimala. After all there is no dearth of money with TDB and it is time it spends the same for the welfare of millions of devotees coming to the shrine every year. 

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

YEAR ROUND FRESH PRODUCE-LOCAVORE MOVEMENT GETS A BOOST

Almost all fruits and vegetables are seasonal in nature available only during certain times of the year. Seasonality of crops, because of the over riding influence weather conditions have on the growth of these plants, has been the greatest drive engine for development of many food preservation and processing technologies ever since man set his foot on this planet millions of years ago. Technologies like canning, dehydration, salt and sugar seeping, freezing, refrigeration, irradiation, etc help to prolong the life of fresh produce very significantly. However the products made by these technologies always fell short of the expectations of the consume who invariably cherish fresh foods if they are available all year round. As earth has different weather zones across the latitudes and longitudes with varying temperatures, humidity, sun shine and rain fall, every country has a typical crop foot print and enables them to tap global markets during times of short supply. However this factor is slowly being marginalized after the development of technologies such as green house production and hydroponics. Here is a take on this emerging trend.

But increasingly, farmers from West Virginia to Maine and through the Midwest are going indoors to produce tomatoes and other veggies in demand during the winter months. "There's a huge increase in greenhouse operations," Harry Klee of the University of Florida tells us. "This is unprecedented, the level of opportunity," says Mock, whose business is booming. And surprisingly, according to skeptical foodies like chef Todd Wiss, the best greenhouse tomatoes come incredibly close to reproducing that taste of a perfectly ripe, summer garden tomato. "It's amazing," Wiss says after trying a greenhouse-grown Gary Ibsen's Goldheirloom tomato. These are a far cry from the flavorless supermarket tomatoes typically found this time of year. When tomatoes are shipped long distances, they're usually harvested before they're ripe, which compromises taste. Plus, as we've reported before, some of the flavor of those supermarket varieties has been accidentally bred out. The advantage of the new greenhouse model is that the tomatoes are grown not far from the cities where they're sold and eaten. And it's the locavore ethos that's driving this trend. "What's harvested today will be delivered to stores tomorrow," says Paul Mock of Mock's Greenhouse and Farm in Berkeley Springs, W.Va. Mock's business has boomed in the last few years, as retailers such as Wegmans and Whole Foods in the D.C., metro area snap up his heirloom and cherry tomatoes, as well as cucumbers and lettuces. "There were times I had to pound the pavement" to sell produce, Mock says. Now he's being paid a premium, since "locally grown" produce is in high demand. "I'm finally having fun." The taste of Mock's tomatoes starts with the seed. He uses only organic varieties, including cherry and several heirloom varieties. Allison Aubrey/NPR Now even New Englanders can get summertime-tasting, fresh tomatoes grown not too far from home. In Maine, Backyard Farms is leading the way. And vertical greenhouses are changing the landscape, too, from the new garden spot at Chicago's O'Hare Airport to Vertical Harvest of Jackson Hole, Wyo., which is just getting started. So how do they grow? Many of these operations are turning to hydroponic farming, which means the plants are not grown in soil. As we've reported before, soil is one key component of tomato flavor, but it's not the only one. The hydroponic tomatoes get their nutrients (and fertilizer) from liquid solutions fed directly via irrigation hoses. This typically requires less water and less land than traditional farming. In fact, it uses up to 10 times less land and seven times less water per pound, according to Kate Siskel of BrightFarms, a company that's scaling up local produce by building greenhouses at or near supermarketsMock says there's another advantage of indoor growing: "We've had very little damage from bugs." And he's been able to avoid using chemicals on the leaves or fruit of his plants.

Local food movement which started some years ago advocates consumption of food produced nearer to the consumption centers and naturally cities and urban areas where food consumption is greatest cannot afford to grow food crops on precious urban lands which are extremely expensive besides lack of infrastructure to support agriculture in a big way. Of course feeble attempts are being made to adopt urban agriculture in a limited way and these include sky roof gardens, terrace gardens, balcony gardens, gorilla cultivation, etc but their impact is rather limited. Advent of green house technology and hydroponics which require limited land with high production potential has opened up enormous possibilities to promote locavore conscious consumers who frown upon the destructive impact of commercial agriculture which churns out safety-suspect foods with large carbon foot prints. Hydroponic technology may revolutionize the concept of agriculture production in the coming years and offers a ray of hope for the future of this planet and health of the denizens.

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

LIES, DAMNED LIES AND ABSOLUTE LIES! THE AD GURUS MUST BE HAULED UP

Recently Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was reported to have issued "notices" to a few food manufacturing companies for promoting their products through unethical advertising campaigns claiming unproven health benefits to the consumers if they buy their brand of products. Knowing pretty well the fate of these notices, it can be safely concluded that nothing will come out of these notices because these manufacturers represent the "cream" of the Indian food industry as of now with enormous economic and political clout. Still consumer can take some comfort that "some thing" is being done to highlight the malpractices being indulged by them. It has been often proved that the State can never provide succor to its citizens who invariably have to knock on the doors of the courts to get justice. Here is an illustration of such wrong doings which have been highlighted in the following article.

"It's all lies. Nothing happens if you use it," burst out my octogenarian mother, provoked by a shampoo commercial promising to turn your tresses soft, silken, and strong. I was torn between amusement and pity. Who believes the tall claims made by advertising execs in this day and age? Certainly not my four year old who has already been informed — to fob off potential requests for crap toys and candy — that all ads are lies designed to get some sad sack to spend her precious money. And it's worked. Each time, Karisma Kapoor touts that anti-aging cream on TV, Mallika promptly declares on cue, "How silly. No cream can make you look nice." A bitter truth that the rest of us girls have taken a lifetime to learn, after spending thousands of rupees on body lotions that leave your skin dry, creams that don't whiten, hair loss shampoos that don't work, diet supplements that leave your waist undiminished. Beauty products are the worst offenders the world over in the lies-in-advertising business, but in India, they have close competition from children's 'health' drinks. A screen-grab of a Complan ad from YouTube. Image used for representational purpose only. Boost claims to provide "three times more stamina thansadharan chocolate drink". Complan Memory claims to contain "memory chargers" to ensure that your kid is a betterratta-baaz than the next. Horlicks will make your laadla"taller, stronger, sharper". And hey, don't bother with that glass of milk if it doesn't contain Bournvita to ensure the right level of calcium absorption. Pediasure, "helps in a child's growth and development". Each of these claims is "misleading and deceptive," according to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) which plans to prosecute Heinz India, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott India and other mega-companies in 19 such cases of false advertising. There's plenty of bad news for adults as well. No, Special K will not make you skinny, those Nutrichoice biscuits may not be a healthy snack, and multigrain Maggi is likely no more nutritious than the ordinary kind. Before we get too excited at the prospect of overdue justice, we should know that the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 doesn't impose much more than a paltry Rs 10 lakh fine. A reason perhaps why FSSAI is baying for real blood. Earlier this year, FSSAI director Asim Choudhary told Indian Express that it was time to hit these companies where it really hurts: "Similarly these companies must not not be allowed to telecast such advertisements by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and there should also be a ban on their advertising on social networking sites so that in course of time these misleading advertisements will be monitored at more than one level." An alternative strategy is to go after the other great beneficiary of false advertising: celebrities. Actors have made a fortune endorsing false claims made by a wide range of products, lending their brands to campaigns that actively deceive consumers. Investors in the Susi Emu Farms were furious with brand ambassadors Sarath Kumar and Sathyaraj.According to Times of India, "The duo had appeared in TV advertisements for Susi Emu Farms, calling it one of the most lucrative business ventures while district collectors were sending out advisories cautioning people against investing in such schemes." Earlier this year, Bollywood actors Govinda and Jackie Shroff were booked by the Food and Drug administration in a false claims case against a herbal oil endorsed by them. But why stop at them? But don't hold your breath waiting for the government to crack down on SRK, John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone for endorsing fairness products that often contain chemicals like hydroquinone and mercury that cause hyper-pigmentation with extended use. A few punitive cases, however, will do little to dent the constant onslaught of marketing in our consumerist world where everyone is always trying to sell us something. But here's the problem with advertising: false claims are just the tip of the iceberg. A recent study conclusively connected fast food advertising with child obesity rates in North America, while another study found that television viewing was inversely related to intake of fruit and vegetables, and positively related to intake of candy and fast food in American children. Now, I can go blue in the face telling Mallika all about TV ads that lie, but what about those dreadful chocolate biscuits? The totally crap, sugar laden stuff that doesn't pretend to be healthy and tastes so, so good. Now what are we going to do about that?

What is nauseating in this whole episode is the role played by celebrity persons whether in Bollywood or in the scientific world who lend their face and voice in promoting patently unjust claims for a few bucks. In the absence of any code of conduct under the Press Council to haul up those indulging in this nefarious activity, the culprits easily get away. Imagine an icon in Bollywood promoting a brand of noodles among children, in stead of sending the most appropriate message that children must eat more fruits and vegetables for growing and remaining strong! What is more disgusting is some of the scientists, knowledgeable as they are, lending their names for promoting products which they know very well are not that much healthy as being claimed. For all of them smell of money is so overwhelming that they chose to ignore their conscience! It is time the Press Council take appropriate action against the manufacturers, the media and the promoting persons without further delay.

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