The National Institute of Food Technology,
Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) signed Memorandums of
Understanding (MoU) with three research institutions - the Institute of
Food Safety and Health (IFSH), Chicago, United States; National Dairy
Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, and the Indian Agricultural Research
Institute (IARI), New Delhi - at an international seminar on emerging
food safety risks, organised on its campus recently.
“They were a part of NIFTEM’s endeavour to expand its capacity-building based on industry-oriented demand,” said Dr Ajit Kumar, vice-chancellor, NIFTEM. He stressed the agenda for 2014 as consolidation coupled with growth; innovative creations; attaining excellence in professionalism, and continuously striving for maintenance of harmonious relations.
According to NIFTEM, these MoUs would facilitate collaborative research as well as student and faculty exchange, which would create a strong network to address the issues pertaining to food quality and safety to a great extent.
This would be a long-term knowledge-based partnership between NIFTEM and other such institutions. The strengths of both the institutions would lead to more effective research for solving the problems of the food industry.
It would also result in the enhancement of farmers’ income by educating them about value addition, preservation and reduction of wastages, and therefore in inclusive growth. This would create a win-win situation for the organisations signing the MoU.
Earlier, while inaugurating the conference, Siraj Hussain, secretary, MoFPI, emphasised the importance of industry specific research targeted at solving food safety and security issues.
K Chandramouli, chairman, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), pointed towards the need for the involvement of all stakeholders in ensuring food safety, while experts from IFSH, NDRI and IARI highlighted the growing need to tackle the problem of food safety and security at all stages from farm to fork.
Conference to deliberate upon food safety challenges
The two-day conference listed the future risks for food safety and its drivers at the regional level, and provide recommendations for the concerned research agenda in developing countries like India, and would be followed a one-day workshop on food safety where hands-on training would be provided to the various participants.
A background paper on the conference reported that, annually, the number of people suffering from food poisoning in industrialised countries increases by 30 per cent. However, there is no such data available for developing countries.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), food-borne and water-borne diarrhoeal diseases together kill approximately 2.2 million people annually, including 1.9 million children.
In recent years, the frequency and number of food scares occurring due to zoonoses [bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), severe acute respiratory system (SARS), avian bird flu, listeria, E coli, Salmonella, etc.]; resistance to antibiotics; environmental pollutants [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorobiphenyls (PCB), dioxins and furans), technological innovations from biotechnology [genetically-modified organisms (GMO)]; contaminants such as mycotoxins, heavy metals and pesticide residues, and accidental radioactive contamination have received worldwide attention.
Emerging food safety risks are internationally being recognised by governments as a major concern in all food production systems. The increasing global nature of the food supply presents new challenges for assuring food safety and responding to emerging issues.
Meeting these challenges requires a proactive approach of development of improved response strategies, adaptable techniques and new communication channels.
Improved global food safety monitoring, regional and institutional collaboration and coordination, strengthened national food control systems, emergency preparedness and response planning at the international, regional and national levels are important pillars to support and strengthen the overall global food safety system.
And developing countries, with a strong agricultural base and expanding food processing industries, have the potential to become the food basket of the world, provided they respond to the food safety concerns.
“They were a part of NIFTEM’s endeavour to expand its capacity-building based on industry-oriented demand,” said Dr Ajit Kumar, vice-chancellor, NIFTEM. He stressed the agenda for 2014 as consolidation coupled with growth; innovative creations; attaining excellence in professionalism, and continuously striving for maintenance of harmonious relations.
According to NIFTEM, these MoUs would facilitate collaborative research as well as student and faculty exchange, which would create a strong network to address the issues pertaining to food quality and safety to a great extent.
This would be a long-term knowledge-based partnership between NIFTEM and other such institutions. The strengths of both the institutions would lead to more effective research for solving the problems of the food industry.
It would also result in the enhancement of farmers’ income by educating them about value addition, preservation and reduction of wastages, and therefore in inclusive growth. This would create a win-win situation for the organisations signing the MoU.
Earlier, while inaugurating the conference, Siraj Hussain, secretary, MoFPI, emphasised the importance of industry specific research targeted at solving food safety and security issues.
K Chandramouli, chairman, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), pointed towards the need for the involvement of all stakeholders in ensuring food safety, while experts from IFSH, NDRI and IARI highlighted the growing need to tackle the problem of food safety and security at all stages from farm to fork.
Conference to deliberate upon food safety challenges
The two-day conference listed the future risks for food safety and its drivers at the regional level, and provide recommendations for the concerned research agenda in developing countries like India, and would be followed a one-day workshop on food safety where hands-on training would be provided to the various participants.
A background paper on the conference reported that, annually, the number of people suffering from food poisoning in industrialised countries increases by 30 per cent. However, there is no such data available for developing countries.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), food-borne and water-borne diarrhoeal diseases together kill approximately 2.2 million people annually, including 1.9 million children.
In recent years, the frequency and number of food scares occurring due to zoonoses [bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), severe acute respiratory system (SARS), avian bird flu, listeria, E coli, Salmonella, etc.]; resistance to antibiotics; environmental pollutants [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorobiphenyls (PCB), dioxins and furans), technological innovations from biotechnology [genetically-modified organisms (GMO)]; contaminants such as mycotoxins, heavy metals and pesticide residues, and accidental radioactive contamination have received worldwide attention.
Emerging food safety risks are internationally being recognised by governments as a major concern in all food production systems. The increasing global nature of the food supply presents new challenges for assuring food safety and responding to emerging issues.
Meeting these challenges requires a proactive approach of development of improved response strategies, adaptable techniques and new communication channels.
Improved global food safety monitoring, regional and institutional collaboration and coordination, strengthened national food control systems, emergency preparedness and response planning at the international, regional and national levels are important pillars to support and strengthen the overall global food safety system.
And developing countries, with a strong agricultural base and expanding food processing industries, have the potential to become the food basket of the world, provided they respond to the food safety concerns.
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