Sachin Jagdale – Mumbai
Unhealthy eating habits can lead to the onset of some kind of disease. Nutrition and Sciences 2014 conference, held in Mumbai recently, focussed on the nutritional requirements for all the age groups and possible impact of lack of nutrition on overall health. Many national and international experts in the field of nutrition revealed different aspects of nutrition and nutritional products at the conference.
The conference also had sessions dedicated to discuss regulatory compliance. In India, getting regulatory clearances has also always been a time consuming process. Therefore experts debated on clarification of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) policies and implementation guidelines to ensure regulatory compliance, harmonisation with the industry and smooth product approval process.
Speakers covered a wide range of topics during the conference. Dr Dilip Ghosh, Director, Nutriconnect, Sydney, Australia, revealed very important facts associated with antioxidants. He also talked about misconceptions associated with them. The overall market for antioxidants was valued at $86 billion in 2016. Ghosh talked about recent product developments in medical foods for metabolic disorders / nutritional insufficiency and neurodegeneration.
Dr K Madhavan Nair, Scientist-F, National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR), Hyderabad spoke about effectively incorporating science in policy making and implementation to promote the growth and sustainability of the nutrition industry. He said, “We eat what we buy and decisions about what we buy are heavily influenced by food industry, government policies and consumer beliefs and behaviours about nutrition. A scientist’s point of view is largely governed by objective, peer reviewed science.”
Prabodh Halde, VP AFST(I), Head-Regulatory, discussed regulatory challenges related to global scientific developments in ingredients and nutrition categories. Halde stressed on the need for positive participation with the authorities for regulation making.
As commonly assumed, microbes may not always be harmful to the human body. Humans and bacteria have a symbiotic relationship.
Ravi Menon, The Bell Institute of Health & Nutrition, General Mills, Minneapolis, MN, USA, spoke about gut microbia and their role in nutrition.