New food product development programmes for more availability to increasing population

By 2050, the world population is set to increase from six to nine billion. Therefore, the world needs to
double food production.
One-in-eight persons worldwide are chronically hungry. And of these, nearly 60 per cent are resource
poor farmers.
The world needs to enhance food production amid limited natural resources and adverse climatic changes.
Together, we must meet the needs for increased food, fiber and energy while protecting the environment.
The world needs to produce more while conserving more, thus improving farmers' lives. (Source: United
Nations & UN Food & Agriculture Organisation)
India with its population of more than 1 billion accounts for close to 17% of the global population. It is
one of the most attractive consumer markets in the world with the increase in income levels across the
population segments. Food and grocery comprise the largest share of the spending pie followed by
personal care items, thus offering a lot of scope for the food-processing industry. According to NCAER
data, the consuming class, with an annual income of US $980 (Rs 45,000) or above, is growing and is
expected to constitute over 80% of the population by 2009-10. The increase in income levels and higher
tendency to spend provides great opportunities for companies across various sectors.
India has a relatively young population with close to 55% of population in the age group of 20- 59 years.
This group is also high in consumption and therefore, this trend is expected to provide a further boost to
the growth of consumption in India.
Innovation in agriculture provides the greatest hope for solutions. To meet the food and energy needs of a
growing population, while protecting an already wounded planet, we need to employ innovations in
agriculture in the decades ahead. Pressures of climate change, hunger, poverty and an already fragile
ecology make it imperative for immediate action in implementing these solutions.
According to Government estimates, Rs 1,000 billion investment is needed in this sector across
all segments of the value chain, from agri inputs to logistics to front-end infrastructure and distribution,
out of which bulk of investment will be from private sector.
As a result, various private corporate houses like Reliance have ventured in this space with full
vigor. Hence, there is immense potential for investment in this sector. To facilitate the prompt growth of
food-processing industry, the Government has implemented the scheme for infrastructure development
comprising a food park scheme, establishing packaging centers, integrated cold chain facility; value
added centers and irrigation facilities.
It is estimated that the food production in India is likely to grow two-fold in the next ten years.
Thus, there is ample of opportunities for investments in food and food-processing technologies,
equipments, especially in areas of canning, dairy & food-processing, specialty processing, packaging,
frozen food and thermo processing, cold chains and in the area of food retail.
One of the key reasons for low levels of food processing is poor infrastructure for storage,
marketing and distribution of food products. 25-40% of agri-produce is lost post harvest season.
According to estimates, Indias marketable surplus is set to increase by 350 mtpa to 870 mtpa by 2012.
40% of the increase (150 mtpa) would be accounted by perishable fruits and vegetables. The need for
investments in the areas of infrastructure and supply chain is evident from the fact that Indias current
storage infrastructure for all food items is only 100 mtpa.
The Government has announced various policy and fiscal measures to expand the storage
capacity. It has announced 15-25% capital subsidy scheme for facilitating construction of rural go downs
and has also sanctioned 16 mt of new capacity the last five years.
1. Scheme for Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation, Infrastructure and
modernization of slaughter houses or abattoirs: The estimated cold-storage capacity at 19.5 mt
is less than 15% of the annual horticulture production and is mainly dominated by potatoes (80%
of capacity). The size of cold chain industry is estimated to be around US $2.2-2.7 billion and is
1

2.

3.

4.
5.

6.
7.

expected to grow at 20-25% annually. FDI to the extent of 100% is allowed in the sector. With the
rising focus on horticulture, increasing corporate participation and advent of food parks and agri
export zones is likely to result in significant restructuring of cold storage infrastructure with an
estimated investment of US $8-10 billion.
Voltas, Blue-Star and Kirloskar Pneumatic are some of the cold storage players and equipments.
Radhakrishna Foodland and Snowman Frozen are major providers of cold storage facilities.
Concor is setting up a countrywide network of 14 cold-chain complexes for horticulture in Delhi,
Mumbai and Bangalore among other places.
Supply chain: An efficient supply chain not only brings down the price of the end product but
also eliminates intermediaries by connecting farmers directly to the super stores. It has thus
become an important aspect of organised retail setup. The food supply chain in India is highly
fragmented with numerous intermediaries and lack of economies of scale. Sophisticated
applications such as demand forecasting, data integration, financial flow management, supplydemand matching, information sharing will enable it to become mature and efficient.
Food safety management systems: The tightening of restrictions and the introduction of the
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement by global industry bodies like the World Health
Organisation (WHO), have led to increased adherence of safety norms and regulations. Indian
companies will have to strictly adhere to international food safety standards in order to gain a
larger share of world trade.
In todays global market quality and food safety gives a competitive edge for the
enterprises producing processed foods and providing services. Apart from domestic standards for
food products, processes and management practices, Codex prescribes international standards for
safety and quality of food as well as codes of good manufacturing practices, which are accepted
worldwide. Further, equal emphasis is required to be accorded to R&D activities for development
of innovative products, cost effective processes and efficient technologies for food processing
sectors. The scheme for food safety, codex and R&D has been successful in making a dent in this
area in the country. The scheme comprises of following components.
1. Setting up/Upgradation of Food Testing Laboratories (maximum grant Rs. 2.50 crore per
project). (22 projects assisted in XI Plan so far)
2. Implementation of HACCP / ISO / GMP / GHP / Safety Management System in food
processing units (maximum grant Rs. 15.00 lakh / Rs. 20.00 lakh per project in general area /
difficult area). (18 Projects assisted in XI Plan so far).
3. Research & Development in food processing sector. (40 projects assisted in XI Plan so far)
4. Promotional activities including advertisement & publicity. (Rs. 46.78 crore spent in XI Plan
so far)
Machinery: In packaging, freshness and hygiene remains a key factor in determining buying by
consumers. In recent times, a number of new technologies have emerged both in processing and
packaging, which have made an impact on the shelf life of food products.
Mega Food parks Scheme: 30 mega food parks with investments of around US $110 million are
coming up across the country to attract FDI in the food-processing sector. The food parks will
have facilities ranging from cold storage, sorting, grading, food-processing, packaging and
quality control, and R&D laboratories. The government for these food parks has identified
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand and one Northeast region.
Food retail: Food and groceries form major portion (75%) of the retail pie. However, it has the
lowest level of penetration of 1% in organized retail. Branded foods market size is growing at 1520%. Players have outlined major expansion plans recognizing the opportunity.
Scheme for Technology Upgradation/Establishment/Modernization of Food Processing
Industries: Financial assistance is provided in the form of grants-in-aid for setting up of new
food processing units as well as Technological Up gradation and Expansion of existing units in
the country. Ministry extends financial assistance in the form of grant-in-aid to entrepreneurs @
25% of the cost of Plant& Machinery and Technical Civil Works subject to a maximum of Rs. 50
lakhs in general areas or 33.33% subject to a maximum of Rs. 75 lakhs in difficult areas.
2

Earlier all the applications for such grants were received by the Ministry through the State Nodal
Agencies. These applications were then centrally processed and grants disbursed directly by the
Ministry. From 2007-08, the receipt of applications, their appraisal,calculation of grant eligibility
as well as disbursement of funds has been completely decentralized. Under the new procedure, an
entrepreneur/applicant can file application with the neighborhood Bank branch/Financial Intuition
(FI). The Bank/FIs would then appraise the application and calculate the eligible grant amount as
per the detailed guideline given to them by the Ministry. The Banks/ FIs appraise project and its
recommendation for the release of grant is transmitted to the Ministry through e-portal
established for this purpose. After the recommendation and requisite documents are received from
the Bank/FIs, the Ministry sanctions the grant and transfer the funds through the e-portal itself.
This has resulted in faster sanction procedure and enlarged outreach of the Scheme. Ministry has
utilized almost the entire budget allocated under this scheme (except NER) and has assisted 2532
Food Processing Units so far.
Ministry has taken initiatives to create awareness in the industry/entrepreneurs by
advertisements, organizing investors meet and special meetings in NER. In so far as general areas
are concerned, the Ministry has been continuously reviewing the status and organizing meetings
with the focal point banks on a quarterly basis. Ministry has also engaged an agency (CMI) to
maintain the data and to monitor the scheme closely. Under this arrangement, the details of all the
pending applications along with their present status has been put in the public domain on the
website of the Ministry. Any applicant can find out current status of his application by clicking on
to http://www.mofpi@nic.in e-portal-status of applications OR http://cmi/mofpi/status. This
scheme has added huge processing capacity to the food processing industry which in turn has
resulted in significant reduction of wastages.
8. Education Policy: School feeding scheme
What is the school feeding scheme?
The school feeding scheme - or as it is officially called: the National School Nutrition Programme
- aims to foster better quality education by:
enhancing children's active learning capacity;
alleviating short-term hunger;
providing an incentive for children to attend school
regularly and punctually; and
addressing certain micro-nutrient deficiencies.
School feeding is a small part of the Integrated Food Security Strategy for South Africa, which was
introduced in 2002 and involves the Departments of Health, Social Development, Land Affairs and
Agriculture. The school feeding programme is therefore just one of a range of projects that respond to
nutritional needs, and does not try to respond to all problems around poor nutrition, hunger or food
security.
Who is eligible for school feeding, and are they being fed?
The selection for the school feeding scheme works in two ways. First, whole schools are selected
for funding for this programme because most of their learners come from poor families. Within
selected schools, learners are selected by age or grade or some other criteria for feeding. The
minimum policy is to feed all Grades from R up to Grade 7 for 156 out of approximately 196
school days per year.
Research found that not all children entitled to school feeding received food. While 90% of
eligible children (were reported to be receiving free food at school in the rural site, only 56% of
eligible children in the urban site were receiving food. On the other hand, urban children who
were receiving food at school got it more regularly than those in the rural site.

How does school feeding work in practice?

Feeding schemes provides only a small amount of food to help to relieve child hunger and also to relieve
poor caregivers from some of the burden of worry when they are unable to provide enough food for their
children.
There are a number of common problems with school feeding schemes that parents, teachers and school
governing bodies should watch out for:
While there are 22 approved meal plans, many providers have chosen "cold" menu plans that
don't require cooking facilities. The menu consists of brown bread with margarine, peanut
butter and jam, served with a powered milkshake supplement enriched with micro-nutrients.
In practice, it appears that children do not always receive all the food that is officially
allocated. While the urban schools reported that their stocks were sufficient to provide food
regularly, the rural schools did not always have all the ingredients available.
Parents talk of food disappearing from schools and in some cases, there has been corruption
and theft by people providing the food.
In many areas there is no system of accountability to the parent body. Many caregivers do not
know whether their children receive food regularly. Some say that all children in the class
receive food, others believe that the programme is only for children whose parents are
unemployed, or only for orphaned children.
Schools do not always operate properly, closing half-way through the morning or not opening
at all. During the rainy season the roads in rural areas can become impassable - meaning the
bread truck cannot get through to deliver bread and school feeding cannot happen. The
milkshakes require water and schools without potable water reported children with diarrhoea.
Who is excluded from school feeding?
As with the No-fee Schools and School Fee Exemption policies, children living in areas where schools
are too far and/or not operating are practically excluded from the National School Nutrition Programme.
But there are also exclusions inherent in the design of this programme. Young children under six years old
who are not yet at school cannot access food through the programme.
There is currently no government-funded nutrition programme at high schools, although it has been
reported that some provincial departments have used discretionary funding for this purpose. Government
will extend feeding to high schools in the next five years.
Merits of the development schemes in setting up new food development programmes:
1. the growth of agricultural commodity markets,
2. the expansion in size and reach of powerful transnational and national food conglomerates, which
are investing heavily in deep forward and backward integration of the crop, food trade, storage,
processing and retail businesses.
3. These are the conditions that India faces, and which provide the background to steady inflation in
our staple food baskets.
The limitations of current conditions in the Indian retail sector:
(1) That there has been a lack of investment in the logistics of the retail chain, leading to an inefficient
market mechanism. The point is made that India is the second largest producer of fruit and vegetables in
the world (about 180 million tonnes or mt) but has very limited integrated cold-chain infrastructure
with only 5,386 stand-alone cold storages which together have a capacity of 23.6 mt. It points out that
post-harvest losses of farm produce especially fruits, vegetables and other perishables have been
estimated to be over Rs 1,00,000 crore per annum, 57% of which is due to avoidable wastage and the
rest due to avoidable costs of storage and commissions.

(2) That intermediaries dominate the value chain, often flouting mandi norms and their pricing lacks
transparency. According to the union government, wholesale regulated markets governed by state Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Acts have developed a monopolistic and non-transparent
character. Indian farmers are said to realise only one-third of the total price paid by the final consumer,
as against two-thirds by farmers in nations with a higher share of organised retail.
(3) That there is a big question mark on the efficacy of the public procurement and PDS set-up and the
bill on food subsidies is rising. The DIPP has said that despite heavy subsidies, overall food-based
inflation has been a matter of great concern. It blames the absence of a farm-to-fork retail supply
system as being responsible for forcing consumers to pay a premium for shortages and a charge for
wastage.

Factors to be kept in mind while purchasing convenience foods:

a) All the packs should posses the ISI mark.
b) The weight should be same as on the container.
c) Expiry date and manufacturing date should be observed.
d) The brand name should be of high standard companies.
Advantages:
1. Convenience foods are suitable to all segments of population including army, airways, railways and
even patients with suitable supplements.
2. These are quickly and easily prepared products and save time as they require few cooking skills.
3. Convenience products are always available in ready to use forms.
4. The consumer may get a variety of foods such as; fruits, vegetables, food meat, fish and soups all round
the year for reasonable prices.
5. The production, storage and sale of industrially prepared products are subjected to strict regulations and
controls. Properly stored ready to use product are bacteriologically safer than fresh foods.
6. Modern production techniques and preservation methods minimized nutritional loss of pre cooked
products, no more vitamins or minerals are lost than in home kitchen.
7. Nutrients and vitamins of food sensory stimulating property (taste, smell, mouth feel) are in most cases
preserved.
8. They are useful to elderly, handicapped persons who cannot denote much time for cooking.
9. For most of the Indian families, it may not possible to purchase all equipments like oven, refrigents,
mixes and grinders etc. for preparation of food. But, readymade mixes can be prepared into any food
products.
Disadvantages:
1. Ready to eat food are sold either open or packed. Open foods are most exposed to environmental
pollution and handling, packed foods may not have labels and reports are not available in literate on the
quality of foods. So, these foods are not advisable in terms of microbiological safety for human
consumption.
2. Packed foods may not have proper labels regarding quality, nutrient content and date of manufacture.
Therefore these foods are suitable in terms of nutrition and microbial safety for human consumption.
3. Convenience foods often contain more fats, so that, its energy content is also very high and these
products may not be suitable for obese and cardiovascular patients. These sources of fat may be vegetable
or animal.
4. The salt content is also high and sometimes iodized salt may not used.
5. Most of prepared dishes may not provide full meal. The content of minerals, vitamins, bulk fibers may
be inadequate.
6. Ready to use products are very expensive. So, the products may not be available to all groups of
people.
7. Some people are sensitive to certain substances or additives, such as: artificial preservatives, coloring
materials, flavored compounds. So we must study label before use.
8. In market, very few shops have refrigeration facility and the unsold food is sold on next day. This will
leads to food poisoning. Once, open packet or container for one time preparation result to contamination
and textural changes at the time of second preparation.
Other special foods:(1) Speciality food products: Foods with particular nutritional advantages, which includes products for
health management for people with specific metabolic disorders. Ex.: lactose intolerance and for
diabetics, those who are unable to digest nutrients from normal diet., and those who need special
nutritional requisition like sport persons and for those food intake requires special compositional
standards. Ex.: Basis infant formula, weaning, sliming foods, foods for special medical purposes.
6

Existing infant formula being currently marketed in India do not offer the bio protective features that are
essential to protect the health of milk fed babies. Whey basic beverage with defined content of
minerals, trace elements, vitamins and other substances with nutritional effect may enhance the physical
performance of sport persons.
Products marketed for the particular segments population. Ex.: Children, single person household and
senior citizen are likely to dominant in future food market.
(2) Fabriculated and formulated foods: Products that have been designed and engineered, with the
ingredients, in new form, with or without additives and processing procedure or produced by blending,
structuring or by shaping of ingredients. A trend towards the modification of new food is likely to become
accelerated in future. This is because future consumer will demand for better nutrient balance in food
products to ensure health and fitness. An ideal product should be with proper packaging; preparation and
cooking and improved quality characteristic such as flavor, texture and month feel tasty. Hence, there is a
real need as well as opportunity for food product manufacture to develop food products, which are in
need to meet the above mention criteria.
CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS ON THE BASIS OF pH
Definition: pH is defined as: the negative logarithmic of H+ ion concentration. It is expressed as
reaction of field i.e. between acid and base. pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 in the scale. pH has direct role
in prolonging shelf life of products. Excellent keeping quality of foods is related to pH. E.g.: Salt drinks,
fermented milk, pickles, fruits, sauerkraut.
(a) Low acid foods: pH of 5 and higher. This includes peas, maize, corn, beans etc. which gets spoiled by
thermophilic, mesophilic and spore forming organisms like Clostridium butylinum and Clostridium
nitrificans.
(b) Medium acid foods: pH of 5.0 to 4.5. This class includes meat and vegetable mixtures, soups, sauces,
fish, which gets spoiled by thermophilic, mesophilic organisms such as Bacillus coagulants and
Clostridium butylinum. Destruction of these organisms need pressure process also.
(c) Acid Foods: pH of 4.5 to 3.7. These include tomatoes, pears, pineapples and figs. They are spoiled by
non-spore forming type organisms like Clostridium pasterenium. This can be preserved by processing in
boiling water temperatures.
(d) Highly Acidic foods: pH is 3.7 and below. This includes pickles, citrus juices etc. In these group
bacteria spores can be easily destroyed at pH 3. So spore generation is negligible.
It is considered that pH 4.5 is dividing line between acid and non acid foods. The pH above 4.5 required
processing and a temperature of 118 - 1210 c to keep it fit for consumption and avoid microbial activity.
Genetically Modified Foods (GMF): Biotechnology foods steps into genetically modified foods to
overcome the demand of food production and process safely. Genetic Engineering or biotechnology can
be defined as: Manipulation of plant, animal or microbial genomes, via; introduction of a characterized
DNA segments. The basic principle of genetic engineering is that genetic material can be transferred
from a cell of one species to another unrelated species, and made it to express itself in the recipient cell.
This technique is also known as recombined DNA Technology. The tools of biotechnology or genetic
engineering can be used in food industry to improve texture, color, flavor, stress tolerance and yield,
disease resistance and to improve self-life etc. of the product.
Advantages of GMF: Pest resistance, Virus resistance, ripening control for improving nutritional
composition, phytase production to retard microbial growth.
Disadvantages of GMF: Antibiotic resistance and allergencity.
7

FUNCTIONAL FOODS
The concept of functional foods was introduced in 1980 by Japanese to regulate the use of food for medicinal
purposes. Recently, the research was started to isolate or purify the food from some specific bioactive
compounds called Nutraceuticals that are generally sold in medicinal form not associated and demonstrated
to physiological benefits (or) provide protection against chronic diseases.
Functional foods play important role in promoting health and reducing health risks.
Functional foods may be defined as those with a traditional counter past, while nutraceuticals are those
derived from different edible source but consumed in medical form like tablets or capsules or pills.
Nutraceuticals can be prepared from chemical synthesis, fermentation and genetic engineering. They
include a range of agri food ingredients or Photochemical extracted from edible plants or animal
products. Ex.: Amylosulphides from garlic, this having cholesterol lowering properties. Lycopene from
tomato, is having antioxidant property. Nutraceuticals can be intake as in the form of fortification,
supplements or consume directly as genetically enriched foods.
Food for woman became a bonafide trend, where two major brands launched national companies for female
specific breakfast foods. They are Quaker Oat Company and Harmony breakfast Cereals Company. These
two brands represent products, specially formulated for female health with more effect of Ingredients such as
soy calcium, folic acid, Iron on specific conditions. Quaker Oat meal is in a position as a hot-healthy
cholesterol reducing food i.e. popular with woman where as Hormone meals features crunchy vanilla and
Almond clusters, in its food mix. The functional foods also known as designer foods medical foods,
fortified foods, nutritional foods, nutraceutical foods, therapeutic foods and healthy foods.
Advantages of Functional Foods:
Helps to reduce cardio vascular risk through the antioxidants and flavanoids.
Reduce the risk of cancer as they are rich in antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E and Selenium.
Helps in the reduction of obesity by using non-traditional or novel foods rich in dietary fiber.
Functional foods control immunity with water and fat soluble vitamins, PUFA (n-3 and n-6 fatty acids),
amino acids like arginine and glutamic acid.
Dietary factors modulation with functional foods can reduce the process of aging.

Designer Meat Foods: It is necessary to avoid harmful components, which gives negative physiological
effect, by increasing the concentration of beneficial components such as antioxidants, vitamins, essential fatty
acids, minerals, pro-biotics etc.
Types of designer meat foods: Designer meat products are classified into 4 groups:
1. Low fat meat products: The saturated fat is replaced with unsaturated or non-meat ingredients because the
saturated fat is responsible for high serum cholesterol level and other major reasons for certain diseases like
heart diseases, obesity, etc.
2. Low sodium meat products: Salt is an important additive in daily food activities. It is reported that 20-30%
of salt intake is by meat and meat products. High intakes of sodium will results to development of hypertension
and cardio-vascular diseases. In these products the sodium content is reduced by reducing the level of salt
added during processing to a minimum level.
Replace all or part of salt being used with salt substitutes like phosphate, lactate, potassium sorbate and
glutamate.
3. Nitrate reduced meat products: It is the critical agent in meat product processing as it stabilizes the color,
flavor and improves textural properties and impact preservative effect especially growth of microbes such as
Clostridium butylinum. Excess consumption of nitrates and nitrosamines improves the risk of cancer. The
nitrate can be replaced by erythrosine and niacin.
4. Other types: Products which are prepared with plant proteins, dairy proteins, oligosaccharides, plant
proteins, dairy proteins vegetables oils, synthetic lipids, bioactive ingredients, photochemical pro-biotics and
dietary fibers.