NUTRITION PEDDLING VENDING MACHINES-A NEW TREND

Vending machines offering snacks and beverages have an awful reputation in providing the so called junk foods because most of them stock high calorie, high fat, high sugar, high salt containing products with potential for harming one's health. These snacks are supposed to re-charge the body between meals and therefore not considered very harmful as the quantity consumed is some what limited compared to the meals. But over the years unhealthy foods have been able to sneak into the main stream category affecting the overall health of the population. With the advent of modern packaging technology many foods have attained sufficient ruggedness to be vended through machines located in any place. Under attack from health activists, an image make over was necessary for this sector and the same seems to be coming if latest trend is any indication.

"Much of the demand for more healthful vending machine fare has come from schools, according to Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Over the last decade, states have taken a variety of steps to improve school nutrition policies, she says. They've banned sodas, restricted sales of sweetened sports drinks and limited the amount of sugar and saturated fat in school snacks. Some states have set nutritional standards for food sold on campuses — in school stores, in cafeterias and even in vending machines. In Alabama, individual vending machine snacks must provide no more than 30 grams of carbohydrates, 360 milligrams of sodium or 10% of the 65 grams of fat recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a child or teen consuming 2,000 calories a day; snacks also have to provide at least 5% of the daily value of at least one of the following: vitamin A, vitamin C, iron,calcium or fiber. In Connecticut and District of Columbia schools, juice drinks in vending machines must contain 100% fruit or vegetable juice and can't have added sugars. In Kentucky, snacks must have no more than 300 milligrams of sodium and no more than 14 grams of sugar (unless they're fresh fruits). And in California, snacks, including those in vending machines, can't derive more than 35% of their calories from fat (including a limit of 10% of calories from saturated fats) or contain more than 35% sugar. Elementary school snacks can't exceed 150 calories, and middle and high school snacks can't exceed 250 calories. The new rules have prompted a number of entrepreneurs to launch healthful-vending-machine companies in the last couple of years, and many say business is booming".

Whether the vending machines or the fast food outlets or regular restaurants, consumers' choice of foods is determined by two factors. First the availability of foods liked by the consumer and second the food consumption habits of those patronizing such machines. After all vending machines are just convenient outlets from where one can get quick service without the regular hassle of going through a billing system and most customers will accept foods which are reasonably good in taste. It is up to the vendors to ensure that their machines are stocked with good foods with proper health credentials. State intervention is called for when these vendors ignore their social responsibility and peddle wrong foods with harmful health contributes. The initiatives taken by some states in the US in evolving mandatory nutrition standards for those foods eligible to be offered in vending machines are justified because the industry failed to refrain itself from peddling unhealthy products.

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

DIETARY FIBER FROM STARCH-A NEW STRATEGY

The crucial role of dietary fiber (DF) for maintaining good health is well known by now. In all dietary guidelines daily consumption of 25-30 gms of DF is recommended for good gut health and other health benefits. Cereals like Oats, Barley etc gained popularity because of high content of DF. Fruits and vegetables also provide DF but their daily consumption is limited because of availability and cost factor. Cereals such as wheat contain good levels of DF but modern processing technologies strip them of DF yielding only carbohydrate rich fractions. With pronounced shifting of dietary profiles from one rich in whole cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables to animal products based foods, intake of DF has dramatically come down and this shift is more pronounced in wealthy countries where plenty of meat based foods are available at affordable cost. This has led to discovery and development of many DF rich materials for incorporation into processed foods. As DF is a multi billion dollar industry to day, pace of development is almost frenetic with many big players trying desperately to latch on to the band wagon. Here is a report on this interesting development.

"About 25 years ago, scientists studying cereal grains discovered a starch that didn't exactly act like a starch; it acted more liker a fiber. Specifically, it was resistant to digestion and didn't break down until it reached the lower intestinal tract. Starch … resistant to digestion. Ergo: resistant starch. Resistant starch occurs naturally in a number of agricultural products and in three forms. RS1 is prevalent in seeds, legumes and unprocessed or minimally processed whole grains. In RS1, the starch molecules are packed into dense granules and have more of the cell walls intact, creating a physical barrier that leaves few ends for the enzyme amylase to access.
RS2 contains much of the carbohydrate amylose. It, too, is packed into dense granules like RS1 but is not gelatinized – therefore, the starch does not break down and absorb water. RS2 therefore is digested very slowly. It's typically found in potatoes, corn, underripe bananas and flour.The third form of resistant starch, RS3, only becomes resistant when portions of the starch chain expand and then contract during food preparation or processing. It's another high-amylose starch, but the amylose forms during cooking, when the starch gelatinizes -- and at that point, it's digestible. However, cool the starch and the amylose condenses and becomes undigestible. Potatoes, breads and some cereals (such as corn flakes) are common food sources of RS3".

While consumers would be thrilled with the above development, how far these DF rich products will prove to be as effective as "true" fibers contained in fruits and vegetables as well as in whole grains remains to be seen. Even if these non-digestible food ingredients do not measure up to expectations of classical nutritionists, they still serve a useful purpose in evolving food products with lower calories and fat content. With obesity and life style health disorders spreading like wild fire all across the world, there is a widely felt need to evolve many products with lower calories and acceptable taste profile, to serve the needs of the neo-rich population with unlimited cash to spare for indulging in unhealthy foods and leading sedentary life style! Resistant starch and other forms of DF will help this cause at least.

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

INDIAN INVESTMENTS IN ETHIOPIA-NEED FOR AN IMAGE MAKE OVER

Leasing of land from poor and impoverished countries, especially those in Africa has been severely criticized because of its colonial flavor! While these land transactions are purely based on business philosophy, there is another dimension viz, the sociological impact. As these countries are considered relatively less developed and do not have the wherewithal to utilize the potential, their vast stretches of land offers, leasing to resource-rich private players to cultivate them for a consideration is logically sound. Most criticisms about land deals center around the fact that the local population are unable to access to adequate foods due to shortages and the foods produced by the investors find their way to international market or to the countries of the investors. Though FAO is seized of the matter and model lease agreements are being discussed, fact still remains that the foreign investors are given land not hitherto utilized. May be there can be suitable provisions in the agreement to sell a part of the production from such land in the domestic market. It is also argued that the country offering land on lease can also import most appropriate foods relevant to the local population, with the investments received. As for Indian investors, GOI must ensure that country's image is not marred by the style of working of its entrepreneurs.

"About $2 billion, or 40%, of India's $4.78 billion investments in Ethiopia come from agriculture and floriculture companies, according to the ministry of external affairs. India is the East African country's second largest foreign investor behind the European Union, and ahead of China. Indian agriculturists doing business there try to offset criticism of being neocolonialists by taking on social initiatives and highlighting their contribution to the food security of the drought-prone and famine-hit country."Ethiopia has been a food-importing part of the world, and large-scale agriculture production by foreigners is only going to boost food supply," said Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi of Bangalore-based Karuturi Global Ltd, the world's No. 1 exporter of cut roses with 250,000 acres under rose cultivation in Ethiopia and which plans to triple cultivated area with crops such as maize. The 1994-incorporated Karuturi Global ventured seven years ago into Ethiopia to scale up its low-cost rose exports business. In 2010, it logged a 20% sales growth, touching $115 million, with expectations of reaching $1 billion in five-six years. But such large-scale commercial ventures are stoking doubts about bridging the gap between the demand and supply of food in Ethiopia. "Many of the transnational land deals being concluded in Africa are therefore not about cultivation of food at all, let alone cultivation of food for Africa," said an online report of Africa-focused agriculture policy group Future Agricultures. In recent years, manpower costs of India's largely marginal farmers have surged following greater availability of less strenuous factory jobs and welfare programmes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Yet, Indian corporations that can afford to hire mechanized harvesters to cope with labour shortages steer clear of large-scale farming owing to the difficulty of buying and operating on several small plots and government restrictions on agriculture ownership. Sara Cotton's Saleem had struggled with exactly these issues. So when he attended a 2006 road show by the Ethiopian government in Coimbatore and learned about labour costs in the African nation being one-tenth those in India, and the availability of thousands of acres of untouched arable land, he took the plunge".

India is facing acute shortage of oil seeds and legumes and there is every justification for GOI to encourage its citizens to go out side the country to invest on land and cultivation of these crops. The land leasing countries cannot expect that foreign investors are tempted to take up cultivation of low value staples where margins are very thin and when such lease deeds are finalized this factor needs to be kept in mind. It is wiser for the Indian investors to keep their ears close to the ground to understand the aspirations of local people and not to injure their feelings unnecessarily. In fact there should be a social content in such projects under which either a portion of the production is shared with them or part of the land is earmarked for production of native crops. Development of infrastructure like health centers, education facilities, power generation for local population etc can also be considered and investments on them should be factored into the project. Let this route be used for fostering better relationship between the people of India and that in the land leasing countries

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

ACTING AGAINST FOOD DRIVEN "SUICIDE"-NOW IS THE TIME

The latest move by the United Nations Organization to galvanize the member countries into taking preventive policy actions to arrest the current trend in the food industry world over to manufacture highly profitable but unhealthy foods may yet mark a turning point in fighting life style diseases caused by these foods. But how far the countries called for the meeting will listen to wiser counsel remains to be seen. If one has to go by results emanating from the earlier similar meeting on AIDS disease, probably nothing concrete may happen as the dreaded disease still continues to inflict life threatening health depredations through out the world. One of the proposals on the table during the meeting was related to discriminatory fiscal measures to discourage buying of unhealthy foods by the consumers and some countries have already implemented such a policy on which the jury is still out. Here is the relevant report about the latest efforts by the UN through the meeting at New York.

"A United Nations human rights expert today called for taxing unhealthy food, regulating harmful marketing practices and standing up to the food industry, urging world leaders not to miss the chance at a summit next week to end a state of affairs that kills nearly 3 million adults each year. "Voluntary guidelines are not enough. World leaders must not bow to industry pressure," Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier De Schutter said in a statement on the eve of the 19-20 September high-level General Assembly meeting on curbing non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and chronic lung disease, which are influenced by modifiable lifestyle risk factors such as the consumption of processed foods. "It is crucial for world leaders to counter food industry efforts to sell unbalanced processed products and ready-to-serve meals too rich in transfats and saturated fats, salt and sugars. Food advertising is proven to have a strong impact on children, and must be strictly regulated in order to avoid the development of bad eating habits early in life." Mr. De Schutter noted that the globalization of food supply chains means an increased supply of junk food such as energy-rich, nutrient-poor products processed with trans fats to ensure a long shelf life – which are particularly attractive to poor consumers because they are cheap – with "dramatic" consequences for public health, affecting disproportionately those with the lowest incomes. According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), at least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese, with 44 per cent of diabetes, 23 per cent of ischaemic heart disease and from 7 to 41 per cent of certain cancers attributable these factors. Mr. De Schutter noted that unhealthy diets are one of the reasons why public health expenditures increased by 50 per cent over the past 10 years in member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He warned against a failure to act decisively at next week's General Assembly meeting, only the second ever to deal with health (the first was HIV/AIDS), which at least 34 heads of State and government, 50 other leading government ministers and many specialists are expected to attend. "World leaders are about to miss a once-in-a-generation opportunity to crack down on the marketing practices and public policy gaps which contribute to unhealthy diets and consign people to debilitating diseases," he said. He cited the need to tackle farm policies that make some foods more available than others, for example by providing subsidies that encourage production of grains rich in carbohydrates but relatively poor in micronutrients at the expense of fruits and vegetables. "If we are serious about tackling the rise of cancer and heart disease, we need to make ambitious, binding commitments to tackle one of the root causes – the food that we eat," he said. "It is unacceptable that when lives are at stake, we go no further than soft, promotional measures that ultimately rely on consumer choice, without addressing the supply side of the food chain." Outlining the aims of the high-level meeting at a news conference in New York yesterday, WHO Assistant Director-General Ala Alwan noted that NCDs cause over 63 per cent of all the world's deaths, with the modifiable risk factors including tobacco, alcohol and lack of exercise as well as unhealthy food products".

How far mandatory measures will prove to be effective can only be speculated though common sense says that consumption of such foods is bound to go down if their prices go up significantly. Past history does not give sufficient basis for too much optimism and still the effort is worth initiating as food linked health disorders are assuming monstrous proportions lately. One of the possible constraints in evolving an acceptable approach to identify "bad" foods for imposing punitive taxes is lack of any scientific basis for such differentiation. A recipe can be amenable to hundreds of manipulations with varying nutritional value and no food can be permanently branded as bad. Legal issue also may come in the way as industry can dispute branding their foods as unhealthy without adequate evidence generated through clinical studies by the safety authorities. It is interesting to see how the current exercise will culminate and one can only hope that it will not end up with lot of high decibel platitudes without meaning much!

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

MAKING "BAD" FOOD COSTLIER - WILL IT WORK

Recent UN consultation meeting at New York deliberated on the urgent need to address the serious problem that confronts many countries, especially those with high wealth, in the form of rampaging epidemic of obesity. No country in the world would like to see its citizens increasingly looking like aliens from another planet with gross over weight and distorted body shape roaming all around, many of them suffering from multiple health disorders with serious consequences. One of the suggestions gaining ground is for individual countries to evolve a fiscal policy that will make "bad" foods very expensive. Of course opinions may differ regarding what constitutes a bad food but more or less there is unanimity that foods high in sugar, fat and salt are to be shunned if good health is to be maintained. The basis of fiscal initiative suggested is that costlier a product lesser will be the demand for it. Logically this may be true but according to a new study just published no single factor is responsible for the perpetuation of obesity and food alone cannot be blamed. Here is a take on this interesting finding.

"Using government body mass index data spanning a 27-year period, we analyzed multiple potential factors in the recent rise in American obesity, including food prices, physical activity at work, restaurant prevalence, urbanization, employment, and cigarette smoking. Based on the current conventional wisdom, you might guess that food prices or restaurant prevalence would affect obesity most. But among the variables we studied, the most significant factor in BMI increases was the decline in smoking. This makes sense: Cigarettes are an appetite inhibitor. This single greatest factor, however, still accounted for a very small share of the rise in obesity, about 2 percent. Obesity is also linked to urban sprawl, not surprisingly: More driving means less walking. Occupational fitness is another factor: More time sitting at a desk means fewer calories burned. Neither of these plays a large role either, though. Urban sprawl accounted for only 0.7 percent of the rise in BMI, occupational fitness 0.5 percent. And fast-food prices, grocery prices, and restaurant prevalence were all statistically insignificant. In other words, there's no one or two central causes of rising obesity. Philadelphia officials aren't wrong to be concerned about obesity. The obesity rate citywide is 40 percent, and 17 percent among high school students, according to Temple University. But our results indicate that antiobesity public policies are generally of limited utility. Besides soda, activists have accused corner stores and fast food of contributing to a "toxic food environment." Yet fast-food prices, grocery prices, and restaurant prevalence all registered statistically insignificant effects in our study".

The above report still does not absolve food from its over riding influence on weight gain and the scientific findings that net weight gain is caused by consuming calories more than required by the body for a given environment of living is indisputable. People should be aware of the bitter truth that body's energy need is governed by its need to perform the daily task of an individual while health can suffer from inadequate physical activity. Ultimately it comes down to one's "will power" to control food intake and this is governed by the environmental variations. It is believable that urge to eat or getting satiety from a given diet needs to be "managed" if weight gain is to be avoided. If it is agreed that eating too much food is a disease, those who indulge in it need to be treated as a patient requiring the attention of both psychologists and physicians!

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

NON-DESTRUCTIVE GLUCOSE MONITORING-A NEW GADGET

Regular Glucose level monitoring in the blood is considered the best way to control the diet and prevent frequent burst in the level of sugar due to consumption of daily foods. There is a prosperous industry which is thriving on gadgets and instruments designed for glucose monitoring and fast paced developments are taking place making the glucose assay easier and more convenient. Currently enzyme strip based monitors are ruling the roost and many concerned diabetics use them regularly and frequently every day. Of course the HbAc1 assay based on HPLC is a more reliable indicator of the glucose load over a period of 2-3 months and this is considered the best option by diabetic experts. Still daily monitoring gives sufficient confidence to the patients besides enabling regular diet corrections to keep the sugar level within the desired level. Recent development of a glow stick system to easily monitor glucose based on color change may revolutionize the patient care in the coming years. Here is a take on this innovation.

"Maybe you still remember the tattoo which helps to monitor a diabetic's glucose level. A permanent solution. Now Japanese scientists from the University of Tokyo created a new way for diabetics to monitor their levels. Instead of putting needles in your body, either to measure your levels or to get the special tattoo, you can also get a special 1mm glowstick inserted underneath your skin. This glowstick will glow whenever your glucose levels will increase. This hydrogel fiber is considered more accurate and stable than its predecessors. It even does not require oxygen and will work for 140 days (in mice that is). Parties with a diabetic will never be the same".

Though the development is based on animal studies and clinical trials are yet to be completed, there is no doubt that it will become a thriving industry once commercialization takes place. Probably the cost involved in implanting this device under the skin will decide about its universal acceptance. Also uncertain is whether the device implanted will be watched by the patient regularly. A more effective device, if it can be developed, would be to set off an alarm if and when the glucose level over shoots the limits set. Of course scrupulous control of diet is the ultimate answer to manage diabetes and no monitoring device is needed if one has the will power and discipline in eating!

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

STREET FOODS BECOMING GLAMOROUS?-GOOD FOR INDIAN CONSUMER!

Street vending, confined hitherto to small scale players with low expectations, seems to be graduating into technology and fashion driven activity world over. The Food Truck movement that is increasingly becoming popular in the United States has attracted big name Chefs who provide the required brand push to attract many customers and practically every city in this country is trying to cope up with the pace of growth of this sector through evolving the necessary control frame work to ensure safety of the fares offered by them. With modern communication technology like Tweeting these food truck entrepreneurs are able to make the business highly profitable. As these mobile vendors have ultra modern vehicles equipped with state of the art cooking facilities and procure practically every thing locally customers seem to have developed great confidence on the foods offered by them. In contrast road side catering still remains an archaic piece of institution of yesteryears with modernity hardly touching any face of its operations. Sporadic attempts to bring in reforms to benefit both the vendors as well as the customers do not seem to have created any impact on their working. It is in this context one has to see the recent developments in the country when educated entrepreneurs are entering mobile catering business with lot of ideas and innovative ability. The latest report reveals the interest shown by the graduates in fashion design entering the mobile catering business which bodes well for the sector.

"The roadside eatery has gone chic, smashing the stereotype of the quintessential dhaba and its hygiene concerns. And the entrepreneurs manning these mobile food outlets are no traditional businessmen. Some have designed clothes for hot shot models while others have trained in complex computer circuits. And suddenly, they decided to sell food and change the concept of roadside gourmet in the city. The enterprising bunch is led by a NIFT graduate who passed out in 2010. He launched the mobile food outlet Aahar Rath. It's actually a vendor handcart designed like a vintage car that sells authentic food like litti chokha, dal baati, dal pitthi, lassi, chhach and sherbet. All at affordable prices. A glass of packaged water co'mes free with a plate. Suraj Kumar, 24, who spearheads the venture is a graduate in fashion illustration from NIFT and also a guest lecturer at the institute. His two key aides - Rohit, an engineer in electronics from IP University and Ranjeet, an NIFT graduate. They are also employed with two reputed firms. Some employees are also pursuing courses at NIFT. One of them is Ashish Mehta from Suraj's home district in Bihar. He is a first-year student in leather designing. Mehta spends a few hours at the first stall near V3S mall on Vikas Marg and takes home Rs 2,500 a month. "I am studying and earning as well. I don't need monetary support from my family and I am enjoying the work. The food is hygienic and we ensure quality," he says. Suraj says this idea struck after he struggled to get good food at affordable price during his student days. "We selected the menu to promote authentic Indian food. Presently, the popular street-food is Chinese cuisine. We are forgetting our traditional food items. We are working on the menu and will introduce new items in other localities like Mukherjee Nagar where we plan to open outlets," says Suraj. On why he launched a street-food vend, despite graduating in fashion designing, Suraj said "most of my friends have taken to textile designing, but I preferred to enter a new world". The concept of fashion designing does not end with clothes and textile. "I have used my training to design the cart. And believe me, it's innovative. This was a stretch where nobody would even stop and even look. Now, people are flocking to our outlet to eat," the young entrepreneur says. Suraj's friend, Rohit, who works with a reputed cellphone manufacturer is upbeat on the viability of the venture. He provides support with design and concept promotion. He said, "We will expand to other areas of the city. We have moved an application for promoting this idea under the Promotion of Street Food Scheme of the central government," said Rohit.

While a good design vehicle which looks attractive will definitely be an asset, ultimately the quality of fare offered, their authenticity, safety aspects and cost will be the determining factors for success. After all one has to realize that customers are attracted to mobile eateries not for ambiance but for the quality of foods served and therefore it remains to be seen how far new designs or appearances will influence the customer attitude when fashion designers start using their expertise to bring out new mobile eateries to the street. A more appropriate alternative would be joint ventures between catering graduates and fashion designers ensuring mutual benefit, besides providing exciting fares to the customers. Probably this idea may catch up sooner or later and millions of patrons, who feast on street vending foods, will stand to benefit. In the mean time Singapore has been singularly successful in transforming the street vending scenario into a more orderly and organized business according highest priority to customer safety under their Hawker Center scheme almost 35 years ago! With almost all urban roads literally cluttered and choked, how can mobile catering business similar to food trucks can be a viable proposition in India? A more feasible alternative will definitely be setting up of a number of Hawker Centers in all cities in proportion to the population living there and move the vendors into these centers eventually.

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