The second day of Fi & Hi India trade show, the B2B platform for food & health ingredients,was dominated by a seminar on 'The Way Forward - Nutrition, Dietary Supplements and Nutraceuticals,' which stressed on future nutrition with regard to nutraceuticals and dietary supplements.
Dr R B Smarta, secretary, HADSA, opened the event with his address on the topic. He stated, "This world is unpredictable and everyday you will find something unpredictable. We shouldn't wait for the government to take up steps to ensure effective outputs rather we as an industry supporting nutraceuticals and dietary supplements should initiate on our own. We don't have health as a priority. Infrastructure is a priority now, which is good and it should be."
He pointed out, "Indian nutra space in the market is growing with the world. The global nutraceuticals market is $171.8 billion and is expected to rise to $295 billion in 2022. We need to reduce illness through nutraceuticals. There are enough results and evidences that nutraceuticals can offer good health."
Dr Vaibhav Kulkarni, treasurer, HADSA, was the chair of the session. He spoke on Why the FSSAI rejected products without a proper mention. He said, "Imagine the load which is put on a single authority. There were 30 people in the screening committee for Product Approval to approve 13,000-15,000 applications. There were 30 million licences to be given which were pending."
Talking about the Ayurvedic elements in the Act, he said, "I think they (FSSAI) will remove Ayurvedic ingredients and products from the functional foods category." Mangesh Mantri, VP, global quality and regulatory affairs, ACG Associated Capsules Pvt. Ltd, gave a recap on the FSSAI Act implementation as to how it is being revised.
He was followed by Manoj Shirodkar, executive committee member, HADSA, who chaired the segment on Role of Nutraceuticals in Healthcare. C M Reddy, chief scientific officer, Innovertus Nutrition Technologies, spoke about innovations. He said, "Sixty-eight per cent Indians have some illness/ disease. Thus, probiotics can lead to even moodswings, according to a recent study. Even curd is good, all foods that your mother ate is good for you - concluded a recent study. Nutraceuticals can prove as health builders for people of our nation. And for infants, imagine nutraceuticals in the form of chocolates. It would be much more good. We have to try something out of the box.”
Later, the segment on Clinical Nutrition - The Way Forward in Dietary Supplements was delivered by Dr Nikhil Kelkar, executive committee member, HADSA. He said, "The global clinical market was about $37.6 billion in the last year and is expected to rise to $50.9 billion this year. The infant nutrition market was $21.4 million and is expecting a growth of 4.8 % this year. Increasing home care usage of nutritional products and high birth rate will shape the Indian market. The crucial and significant driver of the nutraceutical market is malnutrition.”
Post-seminar, ingredients manufacturing companies such as DiaBliss from India made presentations on how and why they are keen to generate business in India. Siva Vallabhaneni, chief operating officer, DiaBliss, in his presentation, pointed out, "The diabetic rate of the people having diagnosed with diabetes was just 3% in the 1970s and today it has increased to 24%. India is known as the diabetic capital and also is having most cardiovascular disease suffering patients."
Ingredients manufacturer Soyuzsnab from Russia showcased its offerings on probiotics/ probiotics, dairy, bakery ingredients in a presentation. Tomorrow the event will conclude with a special feature - 'Bake it Healthy' competition.
