Archives
Section Editorial
Technology
Paul J Moughan
Director, Riddet Centre, Massey University, Tunitea Campus, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Article Text
As we move towards the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, the international food industry finds itself facing some interesting challenges and opportunities. World population growth continues unabated with ever more mouths to be fed. At the same time food is being diverted to biofuel production in meaningful quantities and climate change appears to be leading to ever greater vagaries in food production, with losses of production to both floods and droughts. Supplies of some key input resources are dwindling. Genetic engineering has opened up amazing new possibilities in both animal and plant based food production and completion of the description of the human genome has highlighted genetic predisposition to disease at the level of the individual, and ushers in the science of nutrigenomics and the possibility of developing food products and nutritional regimens tailored to individuals, with health and well-being becoming central to food product development. Environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emission during food production and transport are in sharp focus.
Consumers are more sophisticated and aware than ever before and at least in developed countries have become quite used to a considerable degree of choice in the foods that they purchase. In both developed and developing countries consistent supplies of tasty, healthy convenient foods at reasonable prices are demanded.
It is against this quite extraordinary background (Cole 1999) that the food industry needs to plan its ongoing strategy of innovation. Maximising food production per hectare of land; minimising post-harvest losses; maximising the efficiency of energy and water utilisation during production, harvesting, processing, storage and delivery; optimising processing to ensure long product shelf lives with minimal nutrient losses; revolutionising design paradigms to produce more healthy ‘nature-like' food structures; and developing new convenience-based packaging and delivery formats are undoubtedly going to become key objectives for agricultural and food scientists alike.
In this section of Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, which is devoted to the role of technology in food innovation, we have asked respective leaders in the field to provide insights into contemporary scientific and technical issues likely to have a significant bearing on the industrial process of innovation in foods. The result is an informed candid snapshot of current and emerging issues. The overall contribution is not intended to be absolutely exhaustive and to provide a full scientific review of all relevant technical issues, but rather provides reflective comments from four different viewpoints. The aim is to raise awareness of what is a rapid rate of change in world food production, in consumer attitudes, in the biological sciences and in food technology. The world around us is changing rapidly and the food industry must adapt.
In the first contribution, Dr Michael Fenech places in context the emerging scientific areas of nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics and more specifically ‘genome health nutrigenomics' and ‘genome health nutrigenetics'. He addresses the role of human health at the most fundamental level, the health of the genes themselves and explores the idea that the risk for developmental and degenerative diseases increases with the degree of cellular DNA damage which in turn is influenced by nutritional status and the action of food components. Moreover, scientific evidence is presented in support of the hypothesis that optimal amounts of daily nutrients, (especially vitamins and minerals) can be defined in terms of prevention of damage to the genome (DNA damage) which in turn is dependent upon genetic polymorphisms, that vary from one individual to another. The whole concept of ‘genome health maintenance' targeted to individuals with a specific genetic makeup is cutting edge, offering completely new perspectives to the development of functional foods, nutraceuticals and to personalised nutrition.
Building on the theme of inter-individual differences in genetic makeup, and via environmental effects, genetic modification and differences in genetic expression, Dr Mike Boland expands in a practical context on opportunities for the food industry around the concept of mass customisation (second paper of section). The author describes mass customisation as ‘an approach to developing individually-tailored products from a range of mass-produced precursors that can be assembled and processed in different ways, usually enabled by a computer-based system'. In a foods context, mass customisation offers the distinct possibility of being able to match specifically designed foods and food intakes (serving sizes) to the varied nutritional requirements of a wide range of individuals, thus achieving personalised nutrition. Dr Boland foresees the day when meaningful science-based genetic testing services will be available and individuals armed with information on their genetic code will wish to tailor their dietary regimens to their own unique genome.
He discusses personalised foods in relation to the psychological needs for self-actualisation and empowerment (i-space). In a sense, the mass customisation of food for taste is already widespread (eg self-designed pizzas and sandwiches), but mass customisation for optimal nutrition and well-being is less common, although rudimentary products have recently entered the market, and offer the food industry a very significant opportunity for innovation. To date, the concept of involving the customer in pre-manufacture design of the product, using a real-time interactive food processing system, the ultimate approach to personalised foods, has not surfaced in commercial practice, other than in a very elementary manner. The food industry awaits imaginative thinking, to develop what stands to be an area of great potential.
In a paper by Dr Abby Thompson (third paper in section), concepts developed in the preceding two papers are captured in relation to the industry trend towards functional foods. A functional food is a food having targeted physiological and health related benefits over and above those associated with normal food nutrient intake. The drivers behind the growth in functional food products are discussed and the current status of the functional foods industry is assessed. It is concluded that functional foods are likely to become mainstream in the food industry and provide considerable potential to facilitate disease prevention and wellness in consumers. On a cautionary note, however, the longer term success or failure of the functional foods market may well be in the hands of the food industry itself. Claims around functional foods must be based on rigorous and complete scientific evidence and full compliance with regulatory and safety requirements. A plethora of functional food products currently on the market making dubious stated or implied health and performance claims raise the spectre of an eroded consumer confidence leading to consumer purchasing resistance. A less than rigorous whole-of-industry approach has the potential to undermine progress and lessen the opportunity. This would be a pity as the opportunity presented is substantial and offers to lift the food industry from a mature-market commoditised position towards value-added knowledge-embedded production.
Functional foods, and more generally foods processed in such a way so as to mimic natural food structures important in the maintenance of healthy nutrient uptake kinetics post-absorption in humans, are also considered to be pivotal at a societal level for combating the escalating prevalence of the so-called lifestyle diseases. It is for this reason that functional food development has attracted attention at government level globally.
It is anticipated that a new wave of specialised foods will soon emerge from current scientific investigation at a molecular and nanoparticle level into the chemical and physical properties of foods, and how these in turn influence ingestive (satiety) and digestive behaviour in the human consumer. Innovative food companies will quickly capture this new knowledge on the ‘biological functionality' of foods and novel food ingredients and completely new ‘nature-like' processed foods will appear on the market. Clearly, new food processing technologies and combinatorial processing technologies as well as combinatorial ingredient and indeed molecular interactions will play key roles in the development of such foods. It is thus fitting that the fourth and last paper in the section is devoted to the role of processing technologies in food innovation. Professor Peter Fryer and Dr Cornelis Versteeg review the history of development of novel processing techniques in the food industry.
Novel processing techniques such as high temperature short time; high pressure; pulsed electric fields; ohmic heating and cool plasma processing are discussed. The point is made that the food industry has tended to be more innovative with product development than has been the case with process development, and a useful argument ensues as to what are the barriers to implementation of new processes, and possible pathways to overcome these barriers. A case is made for the need for public funding of research and development into new processing methods and it is stressed that a multidisciplinary and integrative multisectoral approach to food processing is essential.
Continuous innovation is a must for the food industry in general and for individual food companies in particular. There is every reason for industry to be optimistic of a truly innovative future. The present synopsis paints a glowing picture of new horizons and prospects for innovation in foods.
I thank the respective authors for their thoughtful contributions which are both perspicacious and timely.
References
Cole J (1999) Global 2050 - A basis for speculation. Nottingham University Press, Nottingham, United Kingdom, pp.355.
eContent Home