The
Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) organised a one-day
seminar titled 'The Future of Health and Wellness – Nutraceuticals and
Functional Foods under the aegis of its agro- and food processing expert
committee.
Nutraceuticals and functional foods are the two
sectors that help mitigate malnutrition in India. Although there is a
huge potential for the growth of the sector, its developments have been
nascent. A panel of experts pointed out that the country has a long way
to go to encash much of its bio-agri wealth.
The topic on which B
R Lokesh, chief scientist, nutraceuticals, Central Food Technological
Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, spoke was 'Functional Foods and
Nutraceuticals: The Future of Health'.
He said, “India is a
sleeping giant for food processing. The country's current economic
potential as producer and consumer of basic foods is around $45 billion,
and the size of the retail food market is estimated to be $330
billion.”
“Nutraceuticals could complement drugs and reduce the
over-dependence on medicines for treatment. There is considerable scope
for value addition of agri-by products. The biodiversity and traditional
knowledge dating could make India the world leader in the nutraceutical
market,” said Lokesh.
Quoting a report by Ernst and Young, he
pointed out that while the global market was estimated at Rs 5,148
billion, India's share was just Rs 44 billion (which accounted for a
miniscule 0.9 per cent). However, he added that there was a potential
for growth spanning between Rs 89 and 172 billion, driven by the sound
biodiversity and traditional knowledge base.
According to
Chitranjan Dar, chief executive officer, ITC Foods, packaged functional
foods was valued around $25 billion in India. He said, “The country is
seen as an underserved nation. It was important for the food processing
industry to address taste, convenience of consumption and develop
products evolved around India’s cultural milieu. Only then companies in
the space of nutraceuticals and functional foods would be able to
succeed.”
“The focus should be on fortification ensuring it
addresses the deficiencies in cognition, common ailments ad general
health. There was also need for clinical trails on human to validate the
safety and efficacy of many of these products. The next five fibve
years would see some genuine launches of functional foods, Maybe over a
decade later, the market for both nutraceuticals and functional foods
could be reckoned with,” the ITC Foods chief stated, while providing a
market overview, consumer insights and future trends in the sector.
Vilas
Ramrao Shirhatti, chief advisor, Nutritional Solutions Business, Tata
Chemicals Limited, said, “Breakthrough technologies, new process
technologies and new ingredients were seen to have provide a platform
for development of sports nutrition, prebiotics, symbiotics, dietary
fibres and fructo-oligosaccharides that could be functional food
ingredients. These could target aging, improve womens’s and eye health
and reduce cholesterol.”
“In an era of the emergence of gluten
allergy, there was need to look at alternate foods. For instance, the
pseudo-cereals are known to be better sources of starch, high protein,
fibre and minerals and sans gluten. With millets extensively cultivated
in India, it needed to capitalise the business opportunity,” said
Shirhatti.
Other speakers included Joe Lewis, food consultant
(who spoke about 'Food Claims: Consumer Messaging'), and K C Raghu,
managing director, Pristine Organics (spoke about 'Functionality of
Organically-grown Traditional Foods and Associated Regulatory Aspects').
There was a panel discussion with the experts chaired by G K
Vasanth Kumar, additional secretary, agricultural department, government
of Karnataka.
