NEWSLINE No. 55 July/August 2003

ISSN 0159-4419

Earlier this year the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST) provided to the Congress Organising Committee, in priority order, a list of nominees to present the IUFoST Distinguished Lecture at the 12th World Congress of Food Science and Technology held in Chicago on 16-20 July 2003. Dr Ismail Serageldin, former Vice-President of the World Bank and now Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina (The Library of Alexandria) in Egypt, was the recommended Lecturer and, indeed, an inspired choice. His presentation was not only a kaleidoscope of colour in the form of a magnificent and telling set of screen images, but the message to Congress delegates was equally powerful.

To address the Congress theme of Feeding the World…Opportunities Without Boundaries, Dr Serageldin discussed "Harnessing Science and Technology for Food and Agriculture in the 21st Century". His talk ranged over three principal issues: understanding food security, the challenges ahead, and the role of science.

Understanding Food Security

The facts concerning food security in developing countries outlined by Dr Serageldin are sobering: some 800 million people (mostly women and children) are chronically malnourished; malnutrition kills 40,000 people every day; and 2 billion people are iron deficient and 600 million are iodine deficient. The response must be to produce and handle foods differently. Food security must involve access to sufficient food by all people, at all times – in terms of quality, quantity and diversity – for an active and healthy life without risk of loss of such access. He stressed that "…food security is not just production, but also access; not just output, also process; not just technology, also the policy framework that embraces it; not just global, also national; not just national, also household; not just rural, also urban; not just amount, also content". Food security is a complex problem that must be tackled on many levels, and he urged that "…we must voice our moral outrage to address the rising inequities within countries and between countries". He noted that the assets of the world’s three richest people exceeded the combined GDP of the poorest 48 countries, and the assets of the world’s 15 richest people exceeded the GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The enormous gap between the rich and the poor remains, while the level of obesity of the population of some developed countries, at 22% of the population in 1991, is forecast to reach 42% in 2025. He urged an attack on hunger and its abominable consequences by "the new abolitionists".

The Challenges Ahead

Dr Serageldin outlined the five key challenges ahead :

• Increased food production is a necessary but not sufficient condition to ensure food security. Focussing on the small-holder farmer in developing countries was the key to environmental protection, poverty reduction and food security. There will need to be a 40% increase in grain production by 2020, mostly from yield increases, with most demand from developing countries. The demand for cereals for livestock feed will double in developing countries. In response to this production challenge, there will need to be increased areas under cultivation, as well as increased yields. Water is also a major constraint, as 10% of world grain production depends on unsustainable underground water withdrawals. How to increase yields? Through high input agriculture (fertilisers, pesticides), organic/peasant farming, and sustainable precision farming (the best science plus the best management). The key to the latter is appropriate government policies.

• Environmental protection is essential. The most important of which is to reduce the need for more land under cultivation as it saves both habitats and biodiversity. Remote sensing increasingly helps better management of resources. Reducing pollutants is essential, and precision farming will reduce water use. "Irrigated agriculture in developing countries accounts for 40% of all crop production, and 60% of all cereals. Remember: one calorie = one litre, necessitating more crop per drop! " New water sources will have to come from desalination of brackish waters and waste water reuse.

• Reducing postharvest losses must become a higher priority as up to 30% of food produced in developing countries is spoiled, damaged or does not reach consumers in an acceptable form. Losses can be reduced by better storage, better transport, efficient distribution systems, and adapting production systems to an increasingly urbanised world.

• Quality of food, especially nutritional quality for poor consumers in developing countries must be considered more seriously.

• Food and human health must be regarded as inseparable as healthier infants can absorb nutritious food better, and good food diets also help the fight against disease.

The Role of Science

Science enabled the Green Revolution to stop a potential famine in South Asia, and saved huge areas of land (>250Mha) from cultivation in developing countries. Humanity has a very narrow food base: most of the 250,000 plants are not edible, and many are poisonous. Of those 20,000 that are edible, only a few hundred are cultivated, about 100 seriously. Today, 12 crops account for 95% of the human food base.

The Doubly Green Revolution will require more genetically diverse crops, less chemical inputs, integrated soil, water and nutrient management, and more emphasis on small holder farming systems. Dr Serageldin stated that there needs to be a double shift in the research paradigm, involving contextualisation of crop research (with emphasis on the environment, farming systems, socio-economics and gender issues). The genetic revolution must be harnessed to embrace marker-assisted selection, tissue culture and genetic mapping, and the research paradigm must also change. The biotechnology challenge is to harness the huge potential for transgenic crops (40 Mha cultivated in 1999, much more now). Such crops have had limited benefit to consumers and the poor, and have had only marginal impacts on developing countries. The challenge is to gain public acceptance on issues such as ethics, safety, economic concentration of the benefits and intellectual property rights. The end result has been a move to scientific apartheid. Biotechnology must be harnessed to benefit the poor through better nutrition, better feed for animals, and better health (e.g. edible vaccines), leading to longer and more productive lives for those less fortunate.

Thus agriculture and the food sciences, and the wider application of biotechnology, have much to offer the world in the 21st Century. Dr Serageldin urged food scientists and technologists to become the new abolitionists in the quest to reduce hunger and poverty throughout the world. The key? Strong leadership. The answers are in your hands. q

Chicagoans claim they live in the most beautiful city in the world and they might be right. Situated on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, with the long stretch of the famous Grant Park providing a unique foreground, it has a wonderful view of the most spectacular architectural skylines imaginable. Chicago certainly provided a splendid setting for the 12th World Food Congress in July 2003.

There were some regrets concerning the reduced attendance and in the smaller numbers of countries represented. Lessons will have been learned about the need to separate the Congress from another major event and to clearly identify it as the unique international event in its own right. Ways will have to be found to make possible the greater participation of delegates from poorer parts of the world.

But the pluses far outweighed the disadvantages. One had the clear impression of the organisation taking some important initiatives to deal with weaknesses such as limited resources, whilst at the same time consolidating its strengths through genuine international integration.

IUFoST is the organisation for international cooperation in food science. Under the auspices of ICSU (International Council for Science) it co-operates with other national academies and scientific unions on issues of common interest and mutual concern. It is clear that ICSU needs special focus points to channel its principal actions. These match the fundamental social interests and concerns of people in our time and there is none more fundamental than the food we eat. Whether it is a question of food security in the developing world related to post harvest improvements, or to food safety or dietary concerns in the developed world, food is basic to all our needs. IUFoST has a direct role to play in each and every issue where food is involved.

Highlights of the Congress, especially in this connection, were the participation by Dr. Rosswall, representing ICSU in the General Assembly, the decision to incorporate the food engineering group under the IUFoST aegis, the developing liaison with regional groups including EFFoST, FIFSTA and ALACCTA, establishing a specific work programme on research with FAO. All these activities are in line with the declared objectives of IUFoST to represent the international interests of food scientists and to solve continuing problems related to food. The determined restatement of IUFoST’s commitment to its international role is an important boost to the future strength of the Union.

Everyone concerned in running the Chicago Congress is to be congratulated. The venue provided all the requirements for a successful congress and the hospitality and friendliness of IFT’s staff, and the Chicago people in general, greatly added to everyone’s enjoyment. Another aspect that contributed to the success was the format of principal sessions. There were many excellent plenary lectures followed by discussions groups on the subjects raised. This system generally worked extremely well and discussions were lively and informative. The idea to use the Congress to formulate an ongoing plan for the Union was successfully implemented.

Whilst IUFoST has not achieved all its objectives, far from it, there is a realisation now that targets are attainable and they are at least more clearly defined. Some will see current success in terms of changes made in the last few years, changes in structure in administration and so on, others in the significant events of the recent past such as setting up regional groups, the full recognition of IUFoST by ICSU and the Budapest Declaration. Yet others will return to the vision of the Founders who foresaw the needs of an integration of science working for the benefit of all. The truth is that the success of IUFoST depends on all of these things.

Much remains to be done but we go forward to France in three year’s time confident that the Union is on the right lines. We must ensure that the 13th World Congress in Nantes will be a "must attend" for everyone with an interest in the future of food science research, policy and development. The presentation at the closing ceremony in Chicago by Congress Chairman M Pierre Feillet, gave a foretaste of the planned programme, the concept and scope of which are exceptional and extremely impressive.

The anticipation of French cuisine in the context of a World Congress on food in the Capital gastronomique du monde is simply mouth watering! The title of "Food is Life" is most apt, brilliant in brevity, meaning and relevance. It might well be adopted as the motto of the Union. q

Students: the future generation of Food Science and Technology

The Young need nurturing, close monitoring and mentoring to guarantee the health of subsequent generations. African hunters spared young and pregnant wild animals lest they wipe out the next generation of that species and therefore create future food shortages. Perhaps students are not to be spared because in the first place, they are not hunted. However, it is a fact that, for the continued development of Food Science and Technology as a reputable scientific discipline, there is a need to nurture students in this area with the understanding that they are seeds with propensity to germinate and grow. By not nurturing them, the impact would be the same as hunting them and consequently and inevitably, leading to the stagnation if not the extinction of Food Science and Technology.

IUFoST Initiative

It is against this background that IUFoST strategically invited and sponsored students to the just ended 12th IUFoST World Congress of Food Science and Technology. The congress had the theme of ‘Feeding the World…Opportunities Without Boundaries’. In analysing the theme after participating in the congress, I suggest that this congress really did bring out in an explicit manner, opportunities for feeding the world. Most conferences, of this nature have an organized and systematic approach to its programs and presentations;

• presentation of chronology of issues under discussions and the status quo;

• semi-detailed presentations on the current or recent research on the subject matters;

• clarification and elaboration of presentations in form of plenaries;

• summary of key and arising issues; and

• discussions on the way forward.

The way forward rarely attempts to address all current or potential problems immediately, but in most cases current problems in the near future and the examination of potential problems is a longer process. It is therefore imperative that the Food Science and Technology youth are brought on board for continuity of purpose and development. Students should thus be actively involved in more and more activities and constantly be in touch with their predecessors to allow the realization of smooth and efficient succession.

A Challenge to Students

It is apparent that there are more opportunities for better involvement of students in the effort to prepare them for the future. Formation of active international or regional students’ bodies in Food Science and Technology, for instance, to champion student -based activities can augment students’ impact in development. It would however be better and advisable that such initiatives originate from the students themselves to generate a sense of ownership. So, students, rise up. Exert yourself not for recognition, award, fame and the like, but for the betterment of human survival and development.

We have the responsibility of shaping a better future by learning from the successes and failures of our elders, and coming up with more feasible approaches to development. The principle of ‘ancient roots but new shoots’ should apply. As mentioned in the students’ round table at the 12th Congress, the future challenges for the profession are communication and integration of Food Science and Technology into national, regional or international development activities. Better, efficient and more innovative ways of advocating for Food Science and Technology knowledge and research findings, to politicians for example, must to be sought. For instance, quantification (in monetary terms), the implication of food poisoning would attract the interest of policy makers more than mere research finding dissemination.

I envisage timely dissemination of well-packaged Food Science and Technology information in a way that the information can stimulate development to be the greatest challenge to future scientists and technologists. One feasible technique through which our discipline can stimulate development is collaborative efforts with other sectors and disciplines. This realization is a key one and was strategically and conspicuously employed in the 12th Congress where various disciplines in the entire food chain presented their perspectives and approaches to the opportunities available for feeding the world. There is no doubt this line of attack needs to be furthered.

The elders in Food Science and Technology should support the students, advise them, mentor them, and involve them in their activities. This is an indispensable and integral part of ensuring a better future.

Editor’s note: Shadrack Oiye, recipient of a Student Fellowship to Congress 12, is a Post Graduate Student at the University of Nairobi and Secretary, IUFoST Adhering Body in Kenya, KUFoST. q

The International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST), a statutory component of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) is proud to announce the fourth class of outstanding food scientists elected to the Academy. These 20 new Fellows were inducted at the 12th World Congress of Food Science and Technology in Chicago, USA, July 2003. The new Fellows are:

Jose Aguilera, Chile

Gustavo Barbosa-Canovas , Uruguay

Werner Bauer, Switzerland

Geoffrey Campbell-Platt, UK

John Christian, Australia

Charles Daly, Ireland

Dietrich Knorr, Austria

Cherl-Ho Lee, Korea

Tung-Ching Lee, USA

Peter Lillford, UK

Kaj Martensson, Sweden

Philip Nelson, USA

Micha Peleg, USA

Joon Shick Rhee, Korea

Terence Roberts, UK

Delia Rodriguez-Amaya, Brazil

Zdzislaw Sikorski, Poland

Leif Skibsted, Denmark

Pieter Van Twisk, South Africa

Aman Wirakartakusumah, Indonesia

The purposes of the Academy are 1) to identify and recognise individuals distinguished by their scientific and professional contributions to food science and technology, 2) to foster international cooperation and exchange of information, 3) to promote food science and technology and other sciences of importance for this area, and 4) to stimulate international education and training in food science and technology.

The Academy, as a learned society composed of elected Fellows from all parts of the world, serves to promote high standards of ethics and scientific endeavours among food scientists and technologists. It is a source of scientific personnel and information to support international activities related to food science and technology. The Academy acts in an advisory capacity to IUFoST and its Adhering Bodies.

Academy activities are administered by an elected Executive Council which, for the term 2003-2006, is composed of Malcolm Bourne, USA (President), Ralph Blanchfield, UK (President-elect), Ken Buckle, Australia (Past President), Daryl Lund, USA (Councillor) and V. Prakash, India (Councillor). q

Introduction

IUFoST is shortly to launch a major project on adequate food availability for the hungry world. It will consist of a joint IUFoST/FAO database of food science and technology research projects in or for developing and "transitional countries. All Adhering Bodies will receive details and asked to help as indicated below, as soon as the scheme is ready to "go live".

Background

• 840 million people were undernourished in 1998-2000 (FAO Report, 2002). The fact that large numbers of our fellow human beings go hungry, especially in developing countries, is of concern to all, and particularly to food scientists and technologists.

• Although food science societies and their members are actuated by humanitarian motives, the societies themselves should resist the natural temptation to be too ambitious, and should restrict their contribution to what they can do, and uniquely do, within their scope and expertise.

• IUFoST has three Task Forces that should have longer-term benefits to food security (on distance education in sub-Saharan Africa, on rural agro-industries, and on minimising post-harvest losses).

• What shorter-term practical steps can be taken by IUFoST and by its adhering food science societies to contribute effectively and on an ongoing basis to the alleviation of a global problem that requires a complex of immediate (i.e. food aid), short-term and longer-term measures, and involving very much more than the role of science?

• Some food scientists and technologists in many developed countries are working on projects for/within developing countries, either directly or supporting their former students who have returned there. Some in developing countries are working on projects within their own countries.

• Many such projects can be of direct value in helping to improve the supply of food and clean water in the relatively short-term. However, such projects exist in a piecemeal and uncoordinated way, and need to be collated and co-ordinated to deliver the benefits indicated below.

• Such co-ordination needs to be done on a world scale by IUFoST, but only the individual adhering food science societies have the direct access and means to solicit their own members to input information about what relevant projects they are doing, into the proposed IUFoST database.

The envisaged database

A joint IUFoST/FAO database is being constructed as a module of the FAO on-line mega-database, Information Network on Post Harvest Operations (INPhO). Inputs to the database, which would be publicly accessible and searchable, would involve the following fields:

• Reference number (automatically generated)

• Name of project

• Brief description

• Pre-defined key words (one or more chosen from each of a commodities menu, a technologies menu, an operations menu and a spoilage prevention menu)

• Project leader

• Contact details

• Institution where project is being carried out

• For which country (ies)

• Source of funding

• Start date

• Expected finish date

• Intended outcome

To deal with the obvious problem of anybody being able to input anything into a publicly accessible database, there will be provision that the input information goes to a non-visible part of the database website, accessible by password, by someone who accepts or rejects – acceptance transfers the data to the visible, publicly accessible database. In the case of the food science and technology projects that we envisage being input, the purpose is not to carry out an evaluation of the merits of each project — that would require an army of experts and is anyway not the purpose of the exercise — but to provide an elementary quality control "filter" to ensure that the project is a bona fide project and that adequate information for all the fields has been provided. Since the nature of this "editorial" function has no country specificity, it could advantageously be done by a small team of volunteers on behalf of IUFoST (see Task Force, below)

For the IUFoST adhering bodies, their role, using/adapting a model "invitation to contribute" drafted by IUFoST, would now simply be that of soliciting their members (and relevant institutions in their countries - see below) who are engaged in relevant projects, to make direct inputs to the expanded INPhO database. Thus the adhering bodies would be freed from directly handling inputs and forwarding them to a central IUFoST database as previously envisaged, the logistics which have caused some concerns in both IFT CoGI and IFST Council, where the earlier ideas had been aired.

However, not all adhering bodies have individual members but are either national committees composed of representatives of several bodies, or national academies of science. The former will need to approach their constituent bodies to solicit their members.

"Relevant institutions"

In addition to national bodies soliciting their members, they will need to approach research institutions, aid agencies, university departments (not only food science but nutrition departments) and major industry research centres, in their respective countries. International aid agencies should be approached directly by IUFoST.

Cost implications for adhering bodies

The soliciting of adhering bodies’ members could be done by appeals in or through a combination of their normal communication channels. Thus the added cost would be small, only involving the cost of communicating with relevant institutions, etc.

Benefits

For the first time, there would be organized worldwide knowledge of what scientists and technologists have been or are doing in relation to this crucially-important subject, and whereabouts in/for which developing countries.

An appropriate IUFoST Task Force is being assembled to monitor inputs and

• to see where the gaps are and draw attention to them;

• to put individuals, who are unknowingly working on similar projects in different developing countries, in touch with each other;

• possibly to "broker" the application of projects that have been/are being successful, to other developing countries where they could also be relevant.

Many members of the various national food science and technology professional bodies, who have been frustrated at the apparent inability of those bodies to find a distinctive contributory role vis-à-vis the problem, will be encouraged and perhaps enthused by the fact that we are at last doing something practical to harness in an organized way the potential of food science and technology to contribute in this respect. It could also enthuse and encourage potential new entrants to food science and technology courses to embark on the path to a profession that is seen to be taking such a stance. q

Proteins are the most important constituents of our nutrition. They are the building blocks of active body mass, e.g. muscles including heart, ligaments, joints, protein component of blood, blood cells, hormones, and many other compounds within the human body, including antibodies securing resistance to infections as well as malignant processes. With regard to the growing numbers of people on the planet, being described as population explosion, increasing shortage of proteins may be expected.

Foresighted efforts of scientific teams to obtain proteins from alternative sources (e.g. yeast grown on crude oil) have so far yielded no significant results. That in turn increases the value of natural proteins and new forms of their utilisation. That is the reason why our food market may be pleased to welcome and appraise a new product of nutrition – protein slice.

The slice is made of pure egg white, that is albumin, which is a source of the most valuable proteins, necessary in metabolism of organs of living organisms. New modern technology of processing of the hen egg white has been developed in the Czech Republic and patented. This technology turns the white into a porous material further processed in pressurised steam chamber. That produces a compact belt of thin layer of material, composed of microscopic fibres. The belt is then rolled into the shape of cylinder, cut into smaller pieces. These are then pressed into the final form of 100-gram slices. Finished slices are vacuum packaged in plastic bags. As final treatment, each bag is re-sterilised in special equipment.

It would not cross the minds of most of us that a boiled egg white could be anything other than what we see when looking at a boiled egg. Yet, it is not so. The new technological procedure turns the white into a material resembling boiled chicken meat in texture, look and taste. Further processing in preparation of meals causes no significant loss of weight. A very precious quality of the technology is complete avoidance of all chemical agents and preservatives in reaching the final microbiological stability.

From the first idea and first testing experiments, there is usually a long way to the final realisation. One of the most difficult parts was construction of prototype production equipment. It must be pointed out that we are dealing with a brand new and at the same time demanding food production technology. Construction of such a piece of equipment requires extensive professional knowledge and experience. The Food Research Institute in Prague, Czech Republic (http://www.vupp.cz), had assumed this part of the task. A branch of the Institute, Research Base of Food Production Technology, capable of designing and manufacturing of food processing machinery had carried out manufacture of the equipment and its assembly at the site of the producer.

The nutritional value of the protein slice to be found in shops under the trade name "Smakoun" is quite high. A slice of 100 grams contains 13.1 grams of protein, 0.2 grams of fat, and 0.5 grams of carbohydrates. Energetic content of the slice is 60 kcal (240 kJ). The preceding data makes it apparent that the food is suitable for reduction diets or diabetic diets. It is sought-after by increasing numbers of athletes, body-builders; it is also a suitable supplementary food for hard-working people. Today, when medical institutions seek to reduce the occurrence of cardio-vascular illnesses, a product of this kind is doubly welcome. According to the producer, demand for the product is steadily increasing in cafeterias, school diners, hospitals, senior asylums as well as for example prisons, which is good. Having a protein slice for lunch at least once a week does not harm one’s health, it does just the contrary. Several surveys conducted by the manufacturer before commencement of production reveal interesting and surprising data. After tasting the prepared slice 68 per cent of respondents considered the slice tasty and would certainly include it in their meals list, 18% were undecided, while 14% rejected the meal. The reason for rejection has often been cholesterol content in eggs. Yes, there is cholesterol in eggs, yet it is bound to fats in the yolk. The protein slice is manufactured from the white only, which has no cholesterol content.

It is apparent that Smakoun provides a wide variety of uses in the kitchen. It comes packaged in plastic bags containing five slices, in total weight of 0.5 kg. The product significantly saves energy in preparation, being already heat processed it requires mere regeneration. Another pleasant surprise is the low price - well below the chicken meat slices price. Despite avoiding any chemical preservatives the product is remarkable for its shelf life. When stored in unbroken packaging and under cold conditions up to 5°C the shelf life is 12 weeks. It is not recommended to freeze the product since it would destroy the fibrous structure of the product and make the slices seem dried out after farther processing. When deep-frying use lower temperatures of oil as when frying cheese. Be careful when using the microwave oven, the product requires mere heating not baking.

To conclude it is fitting to say that there has been an achievement made. Moreover, it is an achievement of a Czech producer (having applied ISO 9001 standard and HACCP system) of the Czech Republic, the small country in the hearth of Europe. The product is a result of honest and painstaking work. We can but trust that the product will be met with wide range of usage in public domain as well as in households while at the same time contributing to the decrease in occurrence of malicious illnesses troubling our population.

The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) filed for 122 Indian patents in 2002-03. It is 22 more than the number of patents filed by the CFTRI last year. The number is also the highest for any R&D institution in India. The CFTRI has also filed for 105 patents in abroad, 75 per cent more than it filed in 2001-2002.

During the period CFTRI was granted two US patents, High Protein Hydrolysate (No. 6420133) and Flavidin as Antioxidant (No. 6503552), which adds up to a patent portfolio of over 450. The patents filed this year cover broad areas of food processing such as convenience foods, fruits and vegetables processing, plantation products and spices, equipment designs, biotech products (enzymes), meat, fish and poultry-based products, bakery products to protect IPR rights. The patents will help minimize infringement of traditional knowledge.

EFFoST aims are to enhance Food Science and Technology competencies in Europe and to improve public understanding of Food Science and Technology. One action to meet this aim is to increase society’s awareness of the importance of the contributions of Food Science and Technology professionals to the health and wellbeing of European food consumers. Beginning this year EFFoST is presenting awards to European professionals for outstanding achievements in Food Science and Technology. There are three different awards aimed at giving recognition to:

• Young research scientists whose work is of high scientific merit and promise in terms of its contribution to European competencies in Food Science and Technology;

• Active researchers for significant contributions to new understanding and enhanced European competencies in the area of Food Science and Technology;

• Individuals whose lifetime work has contributed significantly to enhancing European competencies in Food Science and Technology.

The first EFFoST young scientist award was presented to Dr Ann van Loey of the Department of Food and Microbial Technology at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. The motivation for the award read: She has demonstrated excellence in research with a very impressive range of high impact publications. In her research she has effectively utilised applied biochemistry to study the safety and quality parameters in thermal and non-thermal food processes and in a novel way linked molecular mechanisms and macro scale effects of the processes. The Award was presented to Dr van Loey in Copenhagen in April 2003 at the EFFoST conference on ‘New Functional Ingredients and Foods’.

EFFoST is now inviting the European Food Science and Technology community to nominate candidates for an active "height of career" researcher award and for the award of "lifetime achievement" in Food Science and Technology.

The purpose of the awards is to provide more positive media focus on Food Science and Technology and therefore it would be advantageous to provide the award recipients with a financial award as additional recognition. There is nothing like money to attract attention! EFFoST is now looking into the possibility of finding sponsorship from, amongst others, the major European food companies. European Food Science and Technology deserves to have the public recognition that high profile awards can provide.

The EFFoST conference on ‘New Functional Ingredients and Foods’ attracted nearly 400 delegates from close to 50 countries throughout the world. The conference covered many different aspects of new functional ingredients and foods with a particular emphasis on the health aspects of functional foods. The results of the questionnaire showed that the delegates rated the conference highly. One of the important contributions of the conference was that it provided excellent opportunities to hear the viewpoints of many different stakeholders on the issues of functional foods, from the perspective of consumer acceptance, legislation and labelling.

EFFoST plans to arrange conferences that provide more than conventional scientific conferences to the participants. The purpose is to arrange and design programmes that will take a lead on priority issues that need to be addressed by the food science and technology community. The next major EFFoST conference will be held in Eastern Europe in the autumn of 2004, with the tentative focus on ‘Integrated Food Chains and Traceability’. For more information on this conference and others that EFFoST is co-sponsoring, please visit the EFFoST website (www.effost.org).

The WHO invitation to IUFoST was accepted early May 2003. On request I received the 4th draft of the document. At the beginning of the meeting a hard copy (4th draft) was handed out to all participants with some additional minor amendments. A project team had drafted the document. Distributed was the 4th Draft Executive Summary containing over 60 pages! The full report is >300 pages.

Participants

The meeting was attended by about 30 participants: 4 NGOs, 3 research institutions, 1 industry, 6 UN/IGOs, 6 regulators, 1 independent, 6 project team; few not on the participants list.

Meeting Procedure

Jorgen Schlundt, Director, Food Safety Department, WHO Geneva, gave a short introduction on the project and the reasons; WHO is particularly responsible for food safety related matters (to GMOs). Thereafter the meeting was continued in groups in parallel sessions on the following subects:

• Research/Safety (chair: James Maryanski, FDA, USA; rapporteur: A. Haslberger, University Vienna, Austria)

• Development (chair: Clive James, ISAAA, Cayman Islands; rapporteur: Kele Lekoape, WHO, Geneva)

• Social/Ethical (chair: Ezzeddine Boutrif, FAO, Rome; rapporteur: Frans van Dam, Consumer and Biotechnology Foundation, Netherlands)

The chairs/rapporteurs remained while the groups rotated. The intention was to give all participants the possibility to express their opinion on the mentioned subjects and discuss them in the group while the chairs/rapporteurs could either discuss some points with several groups or topics not brought by an other group. The aim was to consider if the draft report needs improvement both as regards content and missing topics. The draft document itself should not be evaluated page-by-page. The task of the chairs/rapporteurs was to summarise issues needing further consideration and present them at the end of each sessions (end morning 05/06/03, end afternoon 05/06/03, end morning 06/06/03). Thereafter the chairs/rapporteurs met to summarise the major points for discussion in plenary in the afternoon of 06/06/03. At this plenary several misunderstandings on the language (e.g. WHO "slang"), interpretations, evidence versus speculation etc. were discussed at some length. The discussion in our group was intense and a number of critical matters were raised. Other groups mentioned similar topics, but not necessarily in the same connection, and others. Selection of few points:

• use common language with other UN agencies (e.g. Codex Alimentarius);

• concentrate on WHO mandate which should be clarified in the report (food safety); other UN agencies may be involved in the subject too (e.g. FAO, WTO) which WHO could coordinate;

• the document needs to give balanced views (pros – cons of modern biotechnology for food);

• check the title: is it an "Evidence-based" study ?, several future possibilities of GM foods;

• social/ethical considerations can hardly be evaluated at the global level;

• member countries should be free in their decision on the use or not use of modern biotechnology/GM foods;

• general language matters for clearness, intentions; problem of interpretation; subtitles shall be in line with the text.

Next steps

The time before the meeting was short and not all participants could bring up all important points for their organisation. Therefore, written comments were welcome before the end of this week (13/06/03). Thereafter, the Executive Summary will be revised taking into account the comments of the meeting and the written suggestions. By September 2003 the full report shall be revised (and be shared with the meeting participants) and thereafter a short summary will be prepared for the WHO Executive Committee meeting in January which will evaluate if WHO should start new work in this field or not (decision by WHA needed).

Comment

The acceptance of the invitation by IUFoST was appreciated; future similar invitations should be accepted too. I actively participated in the discussion in the sessions of the group, but abstained from comments during discussion of the general outcome of the stakeholder meeting (06/06/03 afternoon). The topic concerned mainly an agricultural subject (GM crops) and their health related effects (risk vs. safety). Still a lot needs to be done, the meeting obviously was arranged in the middle of the development process.

The International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) has over 50,000 members working in food science, food technology and food quality and safety in academia, government and industry in virtually all countries in the world. IUFoST related research and its application to foods is an essential element in overall efforts to assure adequate access to good quality and safe foods in all countries. IUFoST values its relationship and cooperation with FAO since the FAO programmes in crop science, animal science, and food quality and safety provide information and assistance to FAO member countries so that food needs can be met.

Over the past 10 years FAO has made it clear through the International Conference on Nutrition, the World Food Summit and the five year follow-up to the Summit, that greater efforts are needed to assure that every child and adult has access every day to adequate amounts of good quality and safe foods, and has also made it clear that over 800 million people in the world do not have this access at present. In addition more than two billion people are affected by micronutrient deficiency problems. Hunger and malnutrition related to this lack of access to good quality and safe food is responsible for high rates of infant mortality, failure of children to grow to their full genetic potential, learning disabilities, inability to lead fully productive lives, and increased rates of early death among the malnourished.

While FAO policy approaches may need further development, IUFoST appreciates the ongoing and proposed FAO programmes for food quality and safety throughout the food chain, including the work of, and the need for further strengthening the Codex Alimentarius Commission. These FAO science-based activities are crucial to all FAO member countries, both developing and developed. These FAO activities also include the provision of authoritative and science-based advice on topics such as fats and oils and carbohydrates in human nutrition, and the production of food-based dietary guidelines in all member countries, and IUFoST has been impressed by the FAO reports on these topics developed in cooperation with WHO since the December 1992 International Conference on Nutrition

In preparing for participation in the COAG meeting, IUFoST has also reviewed the information document on a recent FAO/WHO report on Diet Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases, and also reviewed the FAO/WHO report. Both of these documents can have a direct impact on food availability, food quality, safety and nutrition, and on FAO work on these topics. The latest FAO/WHO report is generally concerned about increasing obesity in many countries, and related problems with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some cancers, and dental caries. However, rather than pointing out that obesity is caused by eating more than is necessary to meet daily needs, and by lack of exercise, the report tends to attack food groups such as meat, fats, some vegetable oils, salt and refined carbohydrates. While the FAO/WHO report is not always clear, it appears among the latter group that wheat flour, bread, rice, potatoes and sugars are among the foods or food products that should be reduced or avoided. The majority of the scientific data used to arrive at conclusions about these food groups was either incomplete, or very old, and the recommendations do not represent a consensus view of food scientists about better nutrition. One thing that is not pointed out in the FAO/WHO report is that eating more than is needed is usually viewed as pleasurable, while hunger and malnutrition are not pleasurable.

There are many different diets in all countries that are nutritious and meet daily needs, and IUFoST strongly believes that all commonly available foods of adequate levels of quality and safety can be used in good and nutritious diets that meet nutritional needs. IUFoST is also aware that food and agriculture is the main employer of people in most countries of the world, and that agricultural development is the mainstay of national development in many developing countries. Recommendations about food groups that are not based on sound science but that can severely affect production and prices of foods are not in the interest of most countries, and also are not based in the realities that farmers face every day. Meeting ICN and WFS goals to feed the world and its growing population is essential to all countries. IUFoST hopes that this latest FAO/WHO report does not represent the official policy of FAO since it is not science based, and can have a negative and unnecessary impact on farmers and food providers in all countries.

First I must answer the question that I am repeatedly asked, "Why is the UK professional body, the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), not the representative UK adhering body to IUFoST?" IUFoST is a "United Nations" type country member organization. Membership of IUFoST is limited to one ‘adhering body’ to represent each country. In the UK, apart from IFST which is wholly concerned with food in all its aspects and scientific disciplines, there is a number of interested societies; some wholly concerned with a particular food sector, or with a particular discipline applied to food; and some having non-food as well as food interests. Where in a country there are two or more societies with direct or overlapping interests in food science and technology, they are expected to form a national inter-society committee to be that country’s adhering body to IUFoST. For this and other reasons, the national inter-society committee now named the UK Federation for Food Science & Technology (UKFFoST) was formed to be, in association with the Royal Society, the UK adhering body to IUFoST. Thus, IFST is not itself directly an adhering body, but played a major part in bringing UKFFoST into being, has played a very active leading part in its progress and activities, provides its secretariat and has in those ways made, and continues to make, substantial contributions to the work of IUFoST. This is because, like other nationally-based food science and technology bodies, IFST, a proud and independent professional body based in the UK but with some 15% of its members around the world, has considered itself a wide community but has recognized from the outset that it is part of the even wider community, IUFoST.

At present there are 10 societies in membership of UKFFoST, which represents them with IUFoST, and with IUFoST’s European regional grouping, the European Federation of Food Science & Technology (EFFoST).

What kinds of bodies does it admit to membership?

UKFFoST admits to membership professional bodies and learned societies whose aims and objectives are consistent with those of UKFFoST.

Such bodies include:

• those concerned with the whole of food science & technology;

• those concerned with individual related subjects, such as chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, food hygiene and engineering;

• those concerned with different sectors of the food field, such as food manufacture, food retailing and catering

• In addition to the above, other bodies, such as Government Departments or Agencies, and food-related Research Associations, are represented by observers.

How is UKFFoST run?

By an Executive Committee, which meets two or three times a year, consisting of representatives nominated by each of the member organisations, and by Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer), elected by the Executive Committee from among their number at an AGM.

How is UKFFoST funded?

By modest annual subscriptions (currently £200 sterling) paid by the member bodies.

How are the funds used?

Principally to meet our share of the UK subscription to IUFoST, and to support young food scientists. In common with UK representation on many international science unions, the Royal Society of London shares half of the UK subscription to IUFoST. There is currently no additional subscription payable to EFFoST, the European regional grouping of IUFoST.

Administration expenses are minimised by the kind provision of secretarial service and of meeting rooms gratis by IFST, and the voluntary and unpaid input of Officers and Executive Committee members.

This leaves the major part of UKFFoST funds available for financially assisting young food scientists to attend the biennial IUFoST World Congresses, and to fund the John Hawthorn Memorial Award to the assisted person submitting the best subsequent report on how his/her attendance has benefited food science & technology and him/herself.

UKFFoST’s role

Internationally UKFFoST sends three delegates to the IUFoST General Assemblies (and two delegates to EFFoST General Assembles) and contributes to the ongoing work of IUFoST, for example on the Governing Council, on the Constitution Advisory Committee and in Service Delivery Centre 3.

Within the UK, UKFFoST is careful to avoid competing with, or usurping the role of, any of its constituent societies, which retain complete independence to pursue their respective policies and activities. This self-imposed limitation means that, apart from representing the UK in IUFoST & EFFoST, UKFFoST’s activities are limited to keeping member bodies informed of current and forthcoming matters relating to its involvement in IUFoST & EFFoST, via newsletters and Executive Committee Minutes. However, it also aims to provide a means of presenting considered recommendations and advice on food science and technology matters of UK national concern that are more effectively done jointly than separately.

Thirteen students were awarded student fellowships to attend the 12th World Congress. Grants were given based on technical papers accepted for the program, recommendations from their adhering bodies, letters and resumes from the students. The following students were welcomed.

The 2003 World Food Prize Laureate was announced during the opening ceremonies of the 12th World Congress. The recipient of this year’s award is Catherine Bertini, chosen for her leadership in ‘saving millions from famine and starvation’ while serving as the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme.

IUFoST expresses its appreciation to IFT for all their efforts in organising the 12th World Congress in Chicago. The organisation of the scientific programme, student mentoring, Adhering Body tabletop presentations and many other innovations enhanced the congress experience for everyone.

Prof. Joseph H. Hulse, one of IUFoST’s Founders and Past President, is generously donating to IUFoST all proceeds from his book "Science, Agriculture and Food Security" a publication of the National Research Council of Canada.

Information on ordering the book, available in English and French, is available on the IUFoST website, (www.iufost.org) under Publications.

"-With the world’s population likely to reach in excess of 8 billion people in the next 30 years, the topic addressed by Dr. Hulse is timely and important. The treatment of the subject is comprehensive and pointed. Those who know Joe Hulse know that he says what he means precisely, with conviction and with passion. This book has these characteristics which make it challenging and readable".

Alexander F. McCalla,Director, Agriculture and Natural Resources DepartmentThe World Bank, Washington, D.C.

President Alan Mortimer, Australia

President-Elect David R. Lineback, USA

Past President Walter E.L. Spiess, Germany

Secretary-General, Treasurer Judith Meech, Canada

Scientific Council Chair Ken Buckle, Australia

Council Member Gustavo Barbosa-Cánovas, Uruguay

Council Member J. Ralph Blanchfield, UK

Council Member Kwan-Hwa Park, Korea

Council Member Aubrey Parsons, South Africa

We would like to hear from you. If you are a member of an IUFoST Adhering Body, make sure your organisation has a voice in Newsline. Submit articles for consideration to J. Meech, Newsline Editor. Our e-mail address is iufost@ca.inter. net or fax to + 1 905 815 1574. The deadline for the next issue is November 1, 2003.