{"id":58805,"date":"2025-11-10T20:29:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=58805"},"modified":"2025-11-11T12:20:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T06:50:06","slug":"functional-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-11-2025\/functional-foods","title":{"rendered":"Functional Foods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Society\u2019s approach to food is changing, with the next major shift focusing on <strong>functional foods and smart proteins<\/strong> that promote better health and sustainability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Functional Foods<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They are <strong>enriched foods <\/strong>that promote health or prevent disease, such as vitamin-enriched rice or omega-3-fortified milk.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They leverage several technologies such as <strong>nutrigenomics<\/strong> (the study of how nutrition interacts with genes), <strong>bio-fortification, 3D food printing, and bioprocessing.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Smart proteins&nbsp;<\/strong><br>&#8211; It refers to proteins sourced using <strong>biotechnology that aim to reduce reliance on conventional production.<\/strong><br>&#8211; These include <strong>plant-based protein<\/strong>s (restructured extracts from legumes, cereals, or oilseeds to mimic animal meat and dairy); <strong>fermentation-derived proteins<\/strong> (produced by microbial systems); and <strong>cultivated meat <\/strong>(animal cells grown in bioreactors without slaughter).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need In India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India faces a deeply uneven nutritional landscape, with<strong> over one-third of children stunted and persistent urban-rural disparities in protein intake<\/strong>. As incomes rise, the focus must shift from food security to nutritional security, emphasizing diets rich in proteins, vitamins, and antioxidants.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Achieving this requires<strong> balancing nutrition goals with environmental sustainability<\/strong> by building a resilient, climate-conscious food system.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Innovations like functional foods and smart proteins offer scalable solutions by enhancing the nutritional value of everyday diets without exacerbating ecological pressures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Status In India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India is making steady progress in functional foods and smart proteins under its BioE3 policy, with support from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-10-2025\/india-biotech-surge\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-10-2025\/india-biotech-surge\">Department of Biotechnology (DBT)<\/a> and BIRAC.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Key developments include bio-fortified crops like zinc-rich rice (IIRR, Hyderabad) and iron-rich pearl millet (ICRISAT), alongside private sector investments from Tata, ITC, and Marico in fortified staples.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The smart protein sector is expanding, with over 70 brands offering 377 plant-based meat, egg, and dairy products as of 2023. Startups like GoodDot and Evo Foods are leading innovation, while Zydus LifeSciences entered fermentation-based proteins in 2024.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The DBT has also funded cultivated meat research at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>However, regulatory clarity from FSSAI and infrastructure for large-scale fermentation and quality testing remain key challenges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Global Scenario&nbsp;<\/strong><br>&#8211; Japan pioneered the concept and regulation of functional foods in the 1980s. Smart proteins are a newer innovation, with Singapore becoming the first country to approve cultivated chicken for commercial sale in 2020.&nbsp;<br>&#8211; China has integrated alternative proteins into its food security and innovation agenda, while the European Union is promoting sustainable protein production through its \u201cFarm to Fork\u201d strategy.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To advance nutritional security, India must harness the<strong> potential of functional foods and smart proteins<\/strong>, which can also unlock significant economic and environmental benefits.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With the global plant-based food market projected to reach up to $240 billion by 2030, <strong>India could emerge as a key supplier<\/strong>, generating jobs across agriculture, manufacturing, and logistics. Environmentally, bio-based proteins offer a path to lower emissions and resource stress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>However there are challenges including regulatory gaps, risks of mislabelled products, limited infrastructure, and public scepticism toward lab-grown foods.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To address these, India needs a clear national regulatory framework under FSSAI, coordinated policy support, and robust public-private partnerships to scale biomanufacturing and localise technologies like precision fermentation. Public awareness and farmer inclusion in new value chains will be critical to ensuring equitable and sustainable growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source :<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/health\/does-india-need-nutritional-transformation-explained\/article70260345.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In News<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Society\u2019s approach to food is changing, with the next major shift focusing on functional foods and smart proteins that promote better health and sustainability.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Functional Foods<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">They are enriched foods that promote health or prevent disease, such as vitamin-enriched rice or omega-3-fortified milk.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">They leverage several technologies such as nutrigenomics (the study of how nutrition interacts with genes), bio-fortification, 3D food printing, and bioprocessing.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-11-2025\/functional-foods\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58805"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58881,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58805\/revisions\/58881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}