FOOD, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT-CHALLENGES AHEAD

With fossil fuel prices rising rapidly these days, the energy scenario is being revisited to identify areas where energy can be saved significantly. That food processing and retailing system has come in for some attention in this regard is not very surprising. While the industry is continuously developing mechanized and automated processing plants to keep human intervention to the minimum, this is accomplished by using more energy. Similarly with free trade regime taking hold of global food business, foods travel over long distances to reach the retail markets. In many developed countries agricultural land is diverted for industry shrinking their production base continuously, necessitating more and more imports from developing countries. Thus food accounts substantially for energy consumption directly as well as indirectly. Here is a commentary on this vital issue based on data from the US that may be relevant to most of the countries in the world.

From the diesel fuel tractors that harvest our crops, to the refrigerated trucks that transport products cross-country, to the labor-saving technology found in the home such as toasters and self-cleaning ovens, the U.S. food system is about as energy inefficient as it gets. And it's only getting worse. A fall 2010 report by the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, ERS, called "Fuel for Food: Energy Use in the U.S. Food System," found that while energy consumption per capita fell by 1 percent between 2002 and 2007, food-related energy use grew nearly 8 percent, as the food industry relied on more energy-intensive technologies to produce more food for more people. Between 1997 and 2002, in fact, over 80 percent of the increase in annual U.S. energy consumption was food related. And estimates for 2007 suggest the U.S. food system accounted for nearly 16 percent of the nation's total energy budget, up from 14.4 percent in 2002, according to the report, which measured both the direct energy used to power machines and appliances (like trucks and microwave ovens) as well as the "embodied" energy used to manufacture, store and distribute food products. "This is what they call a fossil fuel party," says Kamyar Enshayan, director of the Center for Energy & Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa. "We've created a food system that relies heavily on fossil energy, and it's become so globalized that there are literally grapes from South Africa in the grocery store in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It's a long-distance shipping economy, which makes all of us vulnerable to disruptions in the supply chain and other unforeseen emergencies." That's particularly troublesome, he notes, when so much of the U.S. — particularly the Midwest — has such potential for primary production. "We have the best soils and a great climate and yet, most of what we eat is imported," says Enshayan. "You have to step back and say, 'Wait, why is a region like Iowa not feeding itself?" The environmental consequence of relying so heavily on a national and international network of suppliers is even greater, he notes. "It dulls our imagination and prevents us from paying attention to what sustains us," says Enshayan. "The loss of water and soil quality is right in front of us, but since our food doesn't come from it, why worry?" And then, of course, there's the impact on our climate.

"The production and distribution of food has long been known to be a major source of green house gas and other environmental emissions, and, for many reasons, it is seen by many environmental advocates as one of the major ways concerned consumers can reduce their carbon footprints," writes Christopher Weber, an environmental engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, in a 2008 paper called "Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the Unites States" that he co-authored with H. Scott Mathews. According to the report, the average household's climate impact related to food is estimated to be 8.1 t CO2/yr, or tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year, a common measure for determining how much global warming a type of greenhouse gas may cause. To put that figure into perspective, driving a car that gets 25 miles per gallon roughly 12,000 miles produces 4.4 t CO2/yr.

While energy consumption is one facet of the problem, environment degradation due to high CO2 emission from all activities connected with food production, processing and marketing, is another aspect that is worrying the planners. Since food is essential there is no way to avoid such emissions but it can always be pared down to unavoidable minimum for which industry, both production as well as processing and consumers will have to work hard to achieve. Probably local markets, farmers markets, organic food production and other efforts, though constitute a minuscule part of the current food landscape, do provide some options. Energy auditing and carbon foot print assessment for every food item consumed by human beings as well as reared animals need to be done for sensitizing the consumers and hopefully there will be natural weeding out of "guzzlers" eventually.

V.H.POTTY
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ULTRASONIC POWER FOR IMPROVED FOOD QUALITY-NEW FINDINGS

Use of Ultrasonic sound is very common as a diagnostic tool in the medical industry but its application in other areas was restricted somewhat till recently. In biological research sonicator that generates the ultrasonic sound waves is used to disrupt the cell wall in microorganisms to extract enzymes and study their characteristics. Lately food industry is finding use of this technology for cutting cheese, accelerating some reactions, improving juice extraction from fruits and cleaning processing equipment. There are also other reported use of Ultrasonic sound in food industry though it is not wide spread. Recently a totally new application of Ultrasonic energy has been reported in bakery industry in the manufacture of sponge cakes.

"The authors note that as breads, sponges and biscuit owe their distinctive appeal to their aerated structure, the goal of their study was to investigate the potential use of power ultrasonic in improving this essential attribute. As the formation of air cells during mixing is known to be important to a cake's texture, the effect of application of ultrasonic waves during the batter mixing stage was studied in terms of batter and sponge cake quality, said the Malaysian team. In terms of previous food processing applications, power ultrasound has been used to reduce total fermentation time of yoghurt after inoculation, to shorten the ice cream freezing process time and to reduce the drying time of orange peel, said the researchers. They note that the technique has also been used to minimize flavour loss, induce greater homogeneity and to generate significant energy savings during heat pasteurization of sweet juices".

Ultrasonic waves work through the phenomenon of cavitation which creates high temperature and pressure in a liquid medium, bringing about changes in the viscosity characteristics of the system. Though the cake batter is not considered a liquid system, still its behavior as a soft medium enables the Ultrasonic waves to improve the ultimate quality of the sponge cake on baking. Though the above study was limited in scope as it was carried out under laboratory conditions, it has the potential to become the standard for the bakery industry in many applications.

V.H.POTTY

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A "WEIRD" DIET PLAN-WHY DO PEOPLE PLAY WITH THERIR LIVES?

Is it not a tragedy that most people do not understand the basis of weight gain or weight loss or even if they understand, tend to ignore them without realizing the potential harm brought about by indisciplined eating practices.? Any one who knows a little arithmetic can understand that if one takes more foods or calories than that is required by the body, excess has to be deposited some where in some form, mainly as fat deposits in different parts of the body. It is just like managing one's finances with surplus going into term deposits while such deposits are some times mobilized for managing at times of inadequate income. Unfortunately ignoring this fundamental fact, people resort to crazy means to shed their unwanted body weight including practices considered life threatening. Here is an instance of such a practice "popular" in some parts of the US involving hormonal injections and starvation diets.

"Ms. Brown, 35, is not taking hCG to help her bear a child. She believes that by combining the hormone injections with a 500-calorie-a-day diet, she will achieve a kind of weight-loss nirvana: losing fat in all the right places without feeling tired or hungry. "I had a friend who did it before her wedding," Ms. Brown said. "She looks great." Women like Ms. Brown are streaming into doctors' offices and weight-loss clinics all over the country, paying upward of $1,000 a month for a consultation, a supply of the hormone and the syringes needed to deliver it. More than 50 years after a doctor at a Roman clinic began promoting hCG as a dieting aid, it is as popular as ever, even though there is scant evidence that it makes any difference. The regimen combines daily injections with a near-starvation diet, and patients, mostly women, are often enticed by promises that they can lose about a pound a day without feeling hungry. Perhaps even more seductively, they are frequently told that the hCG will prompt their bodies to carry away and metabolize fat that has been stored where they least want it — in their upper arms, bellies and thighs. In response to inquiries stirred up by the diet's popularity, the Food and Drug Administration warned in January that "homeopathic" forms of hCG, like lozenges and sprays, sold over the Internet and in some health food stores, are fraudulent and illegal if they claim weight-loss powers".

"The injectable, prescription form of hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin, is approved as a treatment for infertility and other uses, and it is legal for doctors to prescribe it "off-label" for weight loss. But the F.D.A. has also reiterated a warning, first issued in the mid-1970s, that is required on hCG packaging: It has not been shown to increase weight loss, to cause a more "attractive" distribution of fat or to "decrease hunger and discomfort" from low-calorie diets. The F.D.A. recently received a report of a patient on the hCG diet who had a pulmonary embolism, said Christopher Kelly, a spokesman for the agency. He said the hormone carried risks of blood clots, depression, headaches and breast tenderness or enlargement. Dr. Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor at Harvard medical school who researches weight-loss supplements, said that aside from the issue of side effects, the use of hCG as a diet tool was "manipulating people to give them the sense that they're receiving something that's powerful and potent and effective, and in fact they're receiving something that's nothing better than a placebo."

It is a mystery as to how such dishonest physicians who indulge in this type of unscientific and unethical practices, bordering on fraud, are allowed to get away amassing fortunes in the process. Though hormonal injection as a means of weight loss is not supported by any shred of scientific evidence, the merry go-around goes on unhindered with practically no restraint by the food safety agencies and drug authorities. More alarming is the reported side effects such hormone injections can cause including blood clotting and the consequent risk to life. It is time that an agency like the WHO comes out unequivocally against such questionable medical practices.

V.H.POTTY
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YET ANOTHER MISSION!-IS THE FOOD INDUSTRY SALIVATING?

At last the new Food Processing Minister at the Center seems to be thinking about the new"portfolio" thrust on him if the statement by a junior official of the Ministry is to be believed. Ever since there was the change in the government set up a few months ago, putting the MFPI in charge of the Agriculture Minister, all policy pronouncements were being made by the junior minister, raising some questions regarding the commitment of the cabinet minister to the subject of food processing. Why an an important pronouncement like launching of a National Mission on Food Processing Industry was not announced by the senior minister may remain a mystery. What is intriguing is the casual nature of the announcement in an insignificant seminar raising serious doubts about the sincerity of the effort to give a boost to the fortunes of food industry in the country.

"'On April 21 this year, at a meeting with the full Planning Commission, Minister for Food Processing Industries Sharad Pawar called for a National Food Processing Industry Mission so that the industry can achieve a growth rate of around of 25 percent by the end of the 12th Plan period from around 14 percent now,' U. Venkateswarlu, joint secretary in the ministry, told a seminar here. Venkateswarlu also urged representatives of the packaging, food processing and pharmaceutical industries to think of ways to manage post-use plastic and other non-biodegradable packaging materials in an environment-friendly way. 'There is nothing bad (about plastic or other non-biodegradable materials), it is bad only if it is not managed,' he said. 'If suppose the local milk booth offers consumers a small sum for returning used packets, the problem can be managed much better,' he pointed out. Referring to a public interest litigation now in the Supreme Court seeking a complete ban on plastics, the official said: 'Once the Supreme Court gives an order, we will all have to comply with it and there will be nothing that the ministry will be able to do to help the processing industry.' However, if the industry players on their own put in place systems for collecting and recycling non-biodegradable packaging materials, then there could be case for persuading the apex court not to order a complete ban and instead call for some regulatory norms, he added".

It is amusing to read about the "treatise" by this bureaucrat on plastics recycling, that too at a conference of plastic experts! Every one knows recycling of plastics is a subject that is posing enormous technical and logistical challenges confronting all the countries and no satisfactory solution has yet emerged that is practical and economical. It is rather comical for scientific organizations to "invite" bureaucrats and politicians, most of them subject illiterates for inauguration of scientific events, special lectures, key not address, etc knowing pretty well that they themselves have to prepare the "speech" to be read by the invited "guest"! Regarding the "Mission" mentioned above what is trying to be achieved by spending precious public money is not clear and if the experience of the past missions is any indication, nothing significant is likely to be achieved. Food industry must unequivocally tell the government that they do not need any "help" from it and will be grateful if there is no unwanted intervention causing unnecessary disruption to the development of the industry!

V.H.POTTY
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PACKED FOODS-THE IMPONDERABLES!

That a country like the UK, seriously thinking about changing its labeling regulation for avoiding unnecessary waste of foods by the retailing system there and at consumer homes is a matter that deserves consideration world-wide. It all started with a minister there starting the ball rolling by asking the consumers not to throw food even if they are "date expired" and it was rather odd to hear a government official contradicting the law of the land that is framed to protect the health of the consumer. Of course there is a point in what is said about date expired foods and their edibility but it is only proper that the law is changed to reflect the new reality. Unfortunately this may not be easy as it involves legal and logistical issues which will have to be dealt with. It is true that meat and dairy industries are already using the "use by" date to indicate that beyond that date the products are not safe to consume. But will the main stream food industry accept such a provision as it may open up a Pandora's box with divergence of views all around?. The UK "debate" is a welcome development and one has to wait and see what will emerge eventually.

"One exception is eggs, which the FSA says should not be eaten after their "best-before" date because they can contain salmonella bacteria, which could multiply. The agency cautions that the date is only reliable if the product is stored according to the instructions on the label, such as "keep refrigerated" or "store in a cool, dry place". These are distinct from "use-by" dates, which are the most important in terms of safety. Typically found on meats, soft cheeses and dairy-based items, "use by" refers to a time period after which a product should never be eaten, even if it still appears fresh. Sell-by and display-until dates are for the benefit of the retailer, rather than the customer, and are mainly used for stock control. However, the "best-before" label as we know it could be in for major reform as the government has been consulting on ways to simplify food labelling. According to the advisory body Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap), consumers can end up binning up to a quarter of their weekly food and drink purchases - worth £680 to the average British household each year. Wrap says it has identified confusion over date labelling, with consumers being unclear of the difference between "use-by" and "best-before", as one of the major causes for this".

One can understand the dilemma for any responsible government in choosing between the necessity to prevent enormous wastage of food and the need to protect the health of its citizens. If the "use by" date declaration is enforced, the industry is at a disadvantage because any consumer falling sick by consuming a food even a day earlier than that date, can sue the manufacturer for damages! Probably the present provision of "best before' date is better to be continued but the consumer can be given directions regarding the signs of spoilage for guidance and decision as to whether products after the date is safe or not. Also industry must be allowed to reprocess such date expired products as they are not unfit for consumption. It is interesting to see the retail marketing logistics in a country like the US where there is the differential pricing practices that enables the manufacturer to recover the cost within about a month of putting the products on the super market shelves by charging higher prices during that period and progressively reducing the retail price as the products approach "best before" date. For this to happen in a country like India, the present provision of declaring "MRP" must be scrapped so that differential pricing system will facilitate faster uptake of the products with practically no waste, at least at the retail level. If smart packs, now being developed with "spoilage sensors" inside the pack, are introduced the provision for declaring expiration date can be dispensed with

V.H.POTTY
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AGRI-RESEARCH IN AFRICA-FOOD SECURITY UNDER THREAT

African continent faces enormous challenges in achieving a modicum of food security because of over dependence of many countries there on foreign economic aid for sustenance. Especially those nations, liberated from French colonialism do not compare well with others as they have very little resources to meet the food requirements of their population. If a country like India could achieve self sufficiency in the production of staple foods, it is due to enormous indigenous efforts in agricultural research that brought about the Green Revolution. That each country must invest at least 1% of its GDP on agricultural research is a standard norm accepted by international experts and practically no African country can muster sufficient resources to meet this basic need. The tendency of international donors to tie their contributions to buying of food from their countries rather than strengthening the agricultural base in the donee countries further aggravates the problem. Also deplorable is the attempt by some western countries to use Africa for pushing their GM seeds which does not make any sense at all. Unless there is a concerted effort by the international community to upgrade the research infrastructure in Africa, many countries in the region are likely to face enormous unrest and misery in the long term.

"Studies show that investments in agricultural research and development have greatly contributed to economic growth, agricultural development, food security, and poverty reduction in developing regions over the past five decades," said Nienke Beintema, head of IFPRI's Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative, which carried out the survey. "New agricultural technologies and crop varieties have helped to increase yields, improve nutrition, conserve natural resources, and expand rural markets." In 2008, only eight countries in the study - Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, and Uganda - spent more than one percent of their agricultural GDP on research and development, in line with a target set by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), an African-led redevelopment effort for the continent. Many countries depend on donor funding, which tends to be short-term and unpredictable, leaving programs vulnerable and hurting efforts at long-term planning, the study found. To address the problems, the report calls for a boost in consistent and coordinated agricultural research funding, better pooling of resources, information and innovation at regional and sub-regional levels, and better efforts to build capacity, including more investment in agricultural higher education and better recruitment and training.

As the problems of countries in this continent are some what common, an appropriate approach could be to pool the local resources for undertaking organized and targeted research that would benefit most countries. Of course there are international organizations like the Rice Research Institute at Manila, Philippines or International Crop Research Institute Semi-arid Tropics ( ICRISAT) at Hyderabad, India which serve as examples of regional cooperation and similar research centers with focused programs on staple foods of Africa, assisted by international community can go a long way in addressing the long term food needs of the continent.

V.H.POTTY
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INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO SANITATION- FOOD INDUSTRY TO BENEFIT

Fear of microbial contamination is an over riding factor that weighs heavily in the minds of food processors, caterers and institutional food agencies. Of course plenty of knowledge exists to day regarding various ways of achieving satisfactory hygiene and sanitation that can pre-empt serious food safety problems. Chlorine has been used since ages as a disinfecting chemical by the food and beverage industry while protected water supplies world over use this chemical with good effect. However chlorine being a gas tends to get out of the system within a few minutes unless used in a closed loop. If the dream of some scientists becomes a reality, it may be possible to trap chlorine for a longer time on special surfaces like plastics and steel so that its continued presence acts as a deterrent to many pathogens that cause food safety problems. Here is a take on this new approach.

"Scientists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have recently received a four-year, $488,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) to create a "self-sanitizing" top layer for food processing surfaces such as counters and conveyors. In preliminary research published in the Journal of Food Protection from Journal of Food Protection in 2008 (71(10):2042-2047), a team led by Julie Goddard, PhD, assistant professor of food science at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, reported that halamine-infused surfaces could achieve a 5-log reduction for a number of organisms relevant to food quality, including Listeria and E. coli. "When you modify the surface of food processing materials, like some plastics and stainless steels, you can introduce halamine into just the surface layer," Dr. Goddard said in an interview with Food Quality. "Halamine complexes chlorine very strongly, so every time you rinse the surface with bleach, it recharges the layer's existing antimicrobial power. "With the new AFRI grant, Dr. Goddard's team will improve the technology and adapt it to other polymers, such as gasket material, and to stainless steel. "We'll also improve the activity and stability of the halamine," she said. "Our early studies are very promising. You could potentially apply this coating to existing materials; otherwise, it would be important to look at where in the plant it would be most useful and fit new portions of materials into existing ones."

Though this is still at a conceptual stage, there is sufficient basis to think that such an approach may work and soon the technology would be available to the processing industry and catering sector. There are some imponderable factors like the effectiveness of bonding between halamine and the solid surfaces, durability of the coating, any ill effect of continued emission of chlorine from the surface, effectiveness against some of the frequent pathogenic infections, etc and a full fledged research can only provide satisfactory answers to these issues.

V.H.POTTY
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