Food Safety and Nutrition

Our lives revolve around the decision of choosing those right things which bring us the most benefit. The choice of food isn’t left behind. Many questions arise such as the source of food, its nutrition value; whether it’s safe to consume or how it tastes etc. Today’s consumer wants to be truly informed of the food in depth- which ensures its safety along with its nutritional value.

Nutrition is the term which explains the process of food intake and its utilisation for health and growth. The food we consume consists of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and macronutrients. No single food item can alone provide all these components hence, in order to assimilate all nutrients in the required amount one must consume a combination of food items. The food choices made impacts our health immensely. The right and safe food is the key factor for a healthy and disease-free life.

To establish the food quality and preserve the nutritional value, food safety regulatory organisations worldwide have formulated regulations for respective countries to adhere to. In India, FSSAI is the food regulatory body which ensures the safety of the food. According to FSSAI, the packed food item must carry the nutritional value tag, alongside list all the ingredients including allergens such as gluten, peanut etc.

The food chain from the source to the consumer goes through many steps. For example, apple picked up from a farm in Shimla is consumed by a person sitting in his breakfast table at Kerala. The apple can be in its raw form or any processed form like jam. The quality and safety of the product (raw or processed form) will vary basis all the channels right from the farm, the packaging, storage, transport, processing, selling and up till consumption. This long chain network allows ample room for the food-borne pathogens to grow, thereby making the food non-consumable. The common pathogens such as Salmonella, E.coli, Listeria etc can easily grow if precautions are not taken. To ensure the food safety the food testing is done in terms of pathogen testing, allergen testing and adulteration. DNA based molecular testing is a rapid and accurate method to test the presence of pathogen, allergen etc. This gives the chance to prevent contaminated food from entering the market. The contaminated or adulterated food not only hampers the nutritional value but also results in foodborne diseases which can be life-threatening if not treated on time.

To deal with food safety concerns DSS Imagetech Pvt. Ltd. has developed DNA based kits for the identification of food Allergens, Pathogen, Species and GMO.