ASSOCHAM’s symposium on ‘Nutraceuticals, Herbals and Functional Foods’ held in New Delhi

Delhi Government plans to launch 1000 ‘Aam Aadmi Clinics’ by the end of next year

Usha Sharma-New Delhi

Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) recently organised a national symposium on ‘Nutraceuticals, Herbals and Functional Foods-Marketing, Promotion and Regulatory Framework’ in New Delhi.

Commenting on the disease burden on the economy and needed action, Satyendar Jain, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi informed that the state government has come up with various initiatives to improve the healthcare scenario in the state. He said that the government has recently inaugurated its first ‘Aam Aadmi Clinic’ and there are plans to open another 1000 clinics by the end of next calendar year.

Jain added, “Delhi government is focusing on how to cure different disease profiles and has allotted 20 per cent of the total budget on health.” He shared an analysed report about the first clinic, where it has been found that the newly opened centre is more frequented by women than men and around 80 per cent of the women have low haemoglobin levels. He said that people often give importance to the calorie intake and forget to pay attention to intake of minerals and proteins.

Dr BK Rao, Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council of Healthcare and Hospitals and Ex-Chairman, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said that there are big challenges in the regulatory framework for the nutraceuticals products in India, which needs immediate attention.

PK Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, PMV Group and Chairman, ASSOCHAM MSME Council said, “The nutraceuticals industry in India is one of the rapidly growing markets in the Asia Pacific region. Factors, like rising awareness about health and fitness, ageing population, changing lifestyle are fostering this growth.”

PK Jain added, “The Indian nutraceuticals industry is expected to grow at 20 per cent to $6.1 billion by 2019-2020. At present the industry is pegged at $2.2 billion and is mainly focused in the Southern region followed by the Eastern region, the three major states being Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.” He urged the Centre as well as NCT of Delhi to provide special incentives to emerging nutraceuticals companies so that they will be in a position to offer affordable medicines to the needy.

Shushmul Maheshwari, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, RNCOS spoke about the trends and developments in global nutraceuticals market. He highlighted that a task force committee has been formulated which has conceptualised the guidelines for the sector and FSSAI is analysing it.

Maheshwari suggested introducing soya milk in mid-day meal instead of normal milk, since chances for milk adulteration will be less, which will result in children having more nutritional benefits.

Dr HK Chopra, Co-chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council of Healthcare and Hospitals and Chief Cardiologist, Moolchand Medcity emphasised that there is a need to promote health. He also underlined that today we are just treating the effects not the core cause of the disease. He urged the minister to encourage nutra companies under the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Arun Kelkar, Managing Director, Hexagon Nutrition India informed about the differences between nutra and Ayurveda products and how herbs are different from herbal extract.

Vani Bhambri Arora, Deputy Director, Quality Council of India (QCI) gave a brief introduction on the international scenario related to the food and pharma sector and issues regarding stringent regulations. She also informed various standards available in the market for food and nutra, like Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HCCPs) and the need for third party assessment certificates.

Dr Shilpi Sharma, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology, IIT Delhi talked about the safety and efficacy issues in probiotics. The last session of the symposium discussed and analysed issues and solutions related to the Indian nutraceutical sector.

Rajesh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer and Director, SAMI Direct said that the nutra industry is facing challenges related to lack of awareness.

Anil Joshi, Chief Executive Officer, GCV Life talked about the different strategies required for nutra products in the cutting-edge, technological world.

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