Food Processing Secy Subrata Gupta calls for collective action to tackle food adulteration

New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) Food Processing Secretary Subrata Gupta has expressed concern over food adulteration in processed products and large-scale food wastage, and stressed on the need to tackle these issues.

Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), in collaboration with the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM-Kundli), organized a one-day workshop titled SWASTH (Stakeholders Workshop on Actionable Strategies for Tackling HFSS and UPF), an official statement said on Tuesday.

In his speech, Gupta mentioned that in today's fast-paced world, health and diet have become more important than ever.

He noted a growing public consciousness around wellness, as evident from the increasing use of smart-watches to track daily physical activity.

However, he pointed out a critical oversight: “While we keep track of how many steps we walk each day, we often fail to monitor how much energy or how many calories we consume every day," Gupta said.

To address this gap, he asked NIFTEM-Kundli to lead the development of a smart watch-like device capable of measuring an individual's daily calorie or energy intake.

Referring to global health trends, he cited WHO and MCI data, which indicate that two-thirds of global deaths are caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The secretary talked about "pressing concerns such as food adulteration in processed products and large-scale food wastage, and called for collective innovation and action to tackle these issues". PTI MJH DRR