Invited Talk: Role of Food Technology and Future Foods in Enhancing Human Health

It is hard to imagine that the science of food and nutrition is merely a hundred years old. The discovery of vitamin in 1914 is conventionally viewed as the date of inception of the science of nutrition. During the intervening decades, numerous advances in Food & Nutrition have enabled us to understand the role of food on health outcomes. Advances in food technology has played a major contribution to society’s health. Through better food preservation, a greater variety of nutritious products and food fortification. However, current progress in our understanding of the interplay between health, diet and nutrition is opening up exciting opportunities to use foods to deliver not just improved nutrition but importantly a better quality of life for all consumers. This presentation will examine the evolving link between food technology and nutrition from an historical and scientific perspective. At the dawn of civilization, hunter-gatherer’s survival was paramount and food was secured by foraging several hundred plants & animal sources. Today, less than 20 staple foods are used to feed the world’s population. Food technology has provided the technical ability to fashion foods with unique nutritional, sensory and gustatory attributes. The future progress in Food technology and nutrition research can only be achieved if private-public partnership is nurtured. Given the unique ecology and environment of Asia, it is important that researchers in this region craft their research questions in relation to the contemporary needs of this region.