A recent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) examined new strategies to bolster nutrition among the world’s poor. The meeting, held between the IAEA and HarvestPlus, a global group of scientists and institutions, centred on a process called biofortification – a practice being used to confront nutritional deficiencies in diets. “HarvestPlus works on various staple crops by using plant breeding to improve nutritional quality, and the IAEA uses nuclear techniques to evaluate bioavailability and efficacy in humans,” said Dr. Lena Davidsson, Head of IAEA’s Nutritional & Health-related Environmental Studies Section.

Biofortification is a relatively new approach to addressing nutritional deficiencies among the world’s poor by using conventional plant breeding techniques. While nutrients have traditionally been added to foods in processing stages, biofortification seeks to pack nutrients into staple foods while they are growing. This is an improvement in that staple crop varieties that are nutrient-rich may reach those populations that do not have access to centrally processed fortified foods, and would lead to a more economic approach to bolstering foods with much-needed nutrients.

“Biofortification is all about bringing agricultural science as an intervention to improve micronutrient nutrition,” said Mr. Howarth Bouis, Director of HarvestPlus. “With our biofortification strategy, we try to put more vitamins and minerals into the foods staples that the poor are already eating in large amounts.” HarvestPlus has teamed up with the IAEA on a 4-year coordinated research project (CRP) involving research laboratories in Asia and Latin America. HarvestPlus takes the lead by developing biofortified foods, and the IAEA supports the project by scientifically gauging the ability of the body to use the nutrient-rich food.

One such project in Bangladesh is studying biofortified orange sweet potatoes. A selected group of young women are changing their diet by replacing the typical white-coloured sweet potato with an orange-fleshed version, which is rich in beta-carotene, a pro-vitamin A component. Over a period, the Bangladeshi women’s vitamin A body pools are evaluated using a sophisticated stable isotope technique. The joint project, when completed, will provide new information about the usefulness of biofortified sweet potatoes to combat vitamin A deficiency.

Source: www.iaea.org

Global prices for skimmed milk and whole milk powder are forecast to decline 16 per cent this year on increased supply, especially from New Zealand. Prices for skimmed milk powder are expected to average US$3,500 a tonne, while for whole milk powder it could average at US$3,825, according to Abare, Australia’s independent economic research agency. World import demand for milk powders continues to grow, particularly in parts of Asia and West Asia, Abare said.

Products	Price (In US$/tonne)
	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09 forecast	Per cent change
Butter Cheese Skim milk powder Whole milk powder	2,023 3,004 3,188 3,046	4,027 5,073 4,204 4,562	3,650 4,650 3,500 3,825	-9.4 -8.3 -16.7 -16.2

In the short term, moderate growth in traded milk powder supplies is expected. Proportionately more milk will be used in the manufacture of high-value products such as cheese, particularly in the European Union. A growth in demand for cheese is likely to be made up by excess supply. This is likely to result in cheese prices falling by 8 per cent to average US$4,650 a tonne. Butter prices are forecast to decline by 9 per cent to average US$3,650 a tonne. Increased exports from such countries as the United States, New Zealand and Australia are tipped to be the main drivers of lower prices.

On growth in milk production, Abare said continued growth in global demand for dairy products and relatively high prices would be met with mixed rates of growth in output in main dairy exporting regions in 2008-09 (September-August). “Some major exporting countries are continuing to face production constraints,” it said. Milk production in the European Union is forecast to increase by 1 per cent despite relatively high domestic prices for milk and a 2.5 per cent increase in milk production quotas under the Common Agricultural Policy. Higher feed costs and continued presence of blue tongue disease could reduce milk yields.

Source: www.thehindubusinessline.com

In India, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for setting up 10 mega food parks in the first phase of a scheme that aims to establish 30 such parks under the 11th Five Year Plan. The grant-in-aid assistance will be 50 per cent of the project cost in general areas and 75 per cent for the North-East region and difficult areas. The total grant-in-aid is limited to Rs 5 billion (US$104 million), with a ceiling of Rs 500 million (US$10.4 million) for common infrastructure and backward/forward linkage facilities and Rs 250 million (US$5.2 million) as project management fees.

The Scheme of infrastructure development aims to raise the level of processing, value addition and reduction of the wastage of perishables – such as horticultural produce, and livestock, marine and dairy products – during the 11th Plan period and to meet the targets of the Vision 2015 of the Ministry of Food Processing.

Source : www.pib.nic.in

The sales volume of China’s food industry is expected to hit 4 trillion yuan (US$585.1 billion) this year, according to Mr. Wang Wenzhe, Chairman of China National Food Industry Association. He said the sales volume totalled 2.28 trillion yuan (US$333.3 billion) in the first seven months, an increase of 34.6 per cent over the same period last year.

Statistics showed 98.4 per cent of the country’s food as passing quality inspection and tests in the first half of the year. The pass rate was 4 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year, and 9 percentage points higher than in 2006. The result was based on a survey covering 3,813 kinds of food produced by 3,288 enterprises. Mr. Wang, however, acknowledged that current quality of food was far from satisfying consumer expectations. Excessive pesticide residue and food additives were included among the problems.

Source: www. news.xinhuanet.com

The Republic of Korea plans to take a package of sweeping consumer protection measures in the wake of a Chinese milk scandal, government officials said recently. The package will include a class action lawsuit system for victims and tougher screening of imports. The Korea Food and Drug Administration has decided toll ban food imports by Haitai Confectionary, Nestle Korea, Mars Korea and Lotte Confectionary – the companies that were found to have imported from China products tainted with melamine. But the companies will continue to manufacture and sell food products, since they didn’t violate the law as food producers and sellers.

Representative Mr. Ahn Hong-joon, the Grand National Party’s Screening Committee Head, said the ruling party and the government agreed to introduce consumer protection measures that will impose unlimited responsibility on importers for their products consumed in the country. Consumers will be able to collectively sue local food manufacturers of tainted foods. Importers will have to mark the place of origin of their processed food on a front label, and the place-of-origin tab will be at least half the size of the brand name.

When tainted food items are recalled, the retrieval should be promptly made public through television subtitles, and the government will issue a consumer alert when information on alleged contamination is acquired. Manufacturers will have their licenses suspended when violations related to food safety are spotted twice and, will have to pay fines of up to 10 times more than their proceeds from the tainted food. The policy will also raise the minimum number of close examinations that imported food must undergo from the current 20 per cent to 30 per cent of all items. Countries that have a track record of food contamination will be subject to tougher screening.

Sources: www.koreatimes.co.kr & english.kbs.co.kr

Viet Nam’s seafood exports in September this year reached US$450 million, lifting total seafood exports in the first nine months of the year to US$3.32 billion. This is a 21.9 per cent increase over last year, according to the General Statistics Office. Growing at 24.6 per cent in the first nine months of the year, seafood processing has had the highest growth rate of all processing industries.

In the first nine months, frozen shrimp remained the industry’s biggest earner at US$1.16 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7 per cent, said Mr. Nguyen Thai Phuong from the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors. However, despite topping the list, the proportion of shrimp in the country’s total seafood exports decreased by 4.7 per cent over the same period last year due to fierce competition from Thai and Indian shrimp exports. Catfish exports followed shrimp with US$1.1 billion, accounting for 32.3 per cent of the country’s total exported seafood, up by 5.7 per cent.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) attributed the achievements to the increased exports to other markets including the European Union. The exporters succeeded in making catfish a key staple in the European market. Given that the export results gained in the first nine months and the pattern that the seafood industry typically sees record export levels in October, MARD Deputy Minister, Mr. Luong Le Phuong, predicted that seafood exports would exceed the annual target of US$4.2-4.3 billion.


Source: www.vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

In the Philippines, Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) Director Ms. Leticia Gutierrez has asked food manufacturing companies that use ingredients from China to submit a complete list of their raw materials to the Bureau. “For now, we are focusing on the milk and milk products. We are focusing first on the ban; but gradually, the number of products will increase as we widen our scope,” said Ms. Joyce Carunay, Chief of BFAD’s Product Safety Division.

House committees on agriculture and food, and on health had held a joint hearing to help congressmen draft bills that would strengthen laws on imported food products and food safety. At the hearing, BFAD officials said they would inform the manufacturing companies about the new procedure of BFAD on full disclosure of raw materials used in food products. In the same hearing, Ms. Jane Bacayo, National Meat Inspection Service Executive Director, announced that luncheon meat from China being sold in the market would be tested for melamine.

Source : www.abs-cbnnews.com

India plans to subsidize the cost of processing more coffee domestically to increase the country’s roasting capacity, said Mr. G.V. Krishna Rau, Chairman of the state-owned Coffee Board. The government will “pay 25 per cent of the cost of equipment, including transportation and duties, to build roasting capacities,” he said.

India produced 4.85 million bags of coffee in 2007, or about 4 per cent of global output, according to the International Coffee Organization. About one-third of the output was now roasted in India, mainly for domestic consumption, Mr. Rau said. “We have to reduce the length of the chain,” he added.

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