Social media often sounds more frightening than it should. Not everyone would be familiar with how risk-based food safety Acts protect consumers. Words like ban and carcinogen become keywords for the reader’s attention. Only a month earlier, the CFS recalled oyster mushroom powder from another country for the presence of ethylene oxide. In September 2020, Belgium raised the alarm about ethylene oxide residues in sesame seeds exported from India. Such alerts and recalls are routine. Despite food control systems, food failures occur throughout the world. When failures occur in whichever marketp ..read more

At a time, when fake news cleverly mimics facts to create a false narrative, your only trustworthy source is the food label. It is controlled by regulations; facts are verifiable and anything false or misleading is punishable. No other media is so strictly controlled. Labels, however, do not speak a consumer’s language.  They speak “bureaucratese”. When a label is defective, they are said to be mislabelled, misleading or misbranded. Such words keep us in awe of the law more than they inform us. But if you ask the right questions a conversation with the label may follow.  Try it. How ..read more

There has been some perception in the minds of consumers and activists that processing may be causing losses of nutrients and that home cooked foods using unprocessed ingredients in the market may be better than processed foods. Although it may be true if the fruits and vegetables and others were freshly harvested and home cooked. However, considering that these fresh ingredients come from long distances and harvested days ago, there may be many changes taken place. Some processed foods especially frozen foods etc. may be actually more nutritious than many fresh foods. Then after several revis ..read more

We have all enjoyed a sweet jam on bread or jelly sprinkled with sugar, at least once in our life. If so, then we are no strangers to the gels in our food. Gels are found in a lot of our everyday food products. They are semi-solid substances and can retain large amounts of water within their structure. Gels are formed when gelling agents (mainly polysaccharides and proteins) are dispersed in water. Gels impart a wide range of textures from soft and creamy (like pudding) to firm and elastic (like gummy candies). Gelling agents come from a variety of sources like plants, animals, seaweeds, and ..read more

Last year was celebrated as International Year of Millets and we have witnessed many activities in order to increase the consumption and production of millets along with its popularization among all stake-holders not just here but globally. India is the largest producer of millets with about 20% of global production. Almost half of bajra or pearl millet (about 44% of global production) is produced in India. Thus, we can make some difference in the millet scenario. As nutrition security is under threat due to population, global warming, pollution, lifestyle changes and consequent health problem ..read more

Have you ever noticed redness or swelling at an injury site for example, when you get a cut or a bruise? It happens due to the body’s immune system reaction and thus results in acute inflammation, which is the body’s protective reaction. Whereas, an immune response that lasts for months or even years is known as chronic systemic inflammation. This can cause tissue damage and set off a chain reaction of health issues. It can arise and persist as a result of poor lifestyle choices like regular junk food, smoking, a sedentary life, stress, and insufficient sleep. Basically, a normal, transient im ..read more

The market and consumption of packaged or processed foods is growing because of the changing lifestyle of people. This in turn leads to more consumption of Food additives with these foods. Food additives are substances added in small quantities to food during processing. They are very important tools in food product manufacturing and have specific functions in food processing which include improving the safety, quality, texture, taste, visual appeal, nutritional value, or shelf life of the final product. Different additives could be colors, preservatives, enzymes, artificial sweeteners & f ..read more

Various nutrients are needed every day in order to complete the diet in all respect, making it nutritious and healthy. It is never possible to have exact requirements day after day with each nutrient contributing 1 RDA, not more or less. People don’t eat like they take medicines which are taken as doses. Food is not consumed as doses of nutrients so there will always be variations, with some nutrients being more than necessary, others being less. There are sometimes conditions develop such as pregnancy, ailment or old age, when the requirements differ and many times it is not easily possible t ..read more

Non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, high blood pressure, and diabetes are rising the world over and India is no exception. This is the result of rapid urbanization leading to unhealthy lifestyles and eating habits. Some other factors are pollution, a rise in the aging population, and bad habits like smoking and drinking. Amongst the NCDs, Diabetes is spreading like an epidemic in India. Controlling these diseases will have a great financial burden on individuals and governments. Diabetics have impaired carbohydrate metabolism. Because of in ..read more

Our forefathers have been processing foods for thousands of years and we really do not consider them processed as we became so used to them. Wheat flour, poha, dried grapes, tea or coffee as we get it at home, do not grow in the field. Even the wheat kernel or rice paddy does not grow in farms. After it grows, farmers harvest it and then they dry it. Drying is one of the most ancient processing. After drying the chaff is removed by threshing so we get the grain. Similarly, paddy is prepared after harvesting of rice by drying and then husk is removed by milling to get rice kernels, either brown ..read more