Food Science, Nutrition and Technology

Track 1: Food & Eating Disorders:

Irregularity in diet results in eating disorders. Commonly, there are two types of such disorders – anorexia & bulimia. While anorexia involves eating too little, bulimia is caused due to overeating. These disorders are effected upon by mental health, with fear of gaining weight resulting in anorexia. Bulimia, on the other hand, occurs to people who binge eat, mostly junk food. This too has mental implications as the affected individual has no control over themself to prevent overeating. Eating disorder results in poor health due to discrepancies in the diet. Anorexic people are severely under-weight while overeating causes obesity. Apart from eating disorders, unbalanced components in the diet also lead to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. A person taking in high volumes of carbohydrates in the form of sugars in their diet can suffer from Diabetes. Excess cholesterol is deposited in the blood vessels, increasing the risk of vascular or cardiovascular diseases, which might even lead to heart attacks!

Track 2: Food Biotechnology:

This track deals with the use of biotechnology in food production and processing industry. Biotechnology has a long history of use in the food industry. For centuries, microbes have been used to manufacture bread, dairy products and alcohol through fermentation. The food biotechnology industry received a major boost with the advancements in the field of genetic engineering. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are now widely used around the world. Through genetic engineering techniques, the genetic makeup of the food composites can be modified to obtain desirable traits. However, it has been met by resistance from several sections of the society and questions are being asked about their viability and effects on human health. The Global Summit on Food and Nutrition invites researchers to present their findings and discuss the various applications of biotechnology in the food industry.

Track 3: Foodborne and Nutritional Disorders:

Nutritious food is the basic necessity of life for human beings. If we fail to obtain sufficient micronutrients (vitamins, minerals) our health will deteriorate. While we already know that malnutrition and hunger are the main problems in the developing world, proper nutritious food can solve the problem of under-nutrition.

Food can also become a source of foodborne illness which can result from eating contaminated food, spoiled food or food with toxic substances.

Climate change also plays a major role in the nutritional quality, security and quality of food.

Main causes include:

• Increase in the usage of agricultural chemicals due to increase in pests
• Maintenance of food supply during extreme weather conditions
• Climate change due to increase in floods and drought

Track 4: Food Flavors:

Food flavouring (or food flavouring) refers to the blending of essences, liquid extracts and flavors that are added to the product to enhance the taste and aroma.

Essential oils from fruits and vegetables, synthetic organic chemicals, food coloring are the basic flavorings that are used.

Although the food flavoring industry mainly used to focus on natural flavoring substances, today we see a lot of organic chemical components such as alcohol, hydrocarbons and phenol ethers used.

Classification of food Flavors:

• Natural Flavors like herbs, fruits, spices and aromatic seeds like cumin
• Processed Flavors like fermented, roasted, baked and toasted
• Added Flavors like essential oils and extracts
• Synthetic Flavors (like true fruit Flavors)

Track 5: Food and Nutritional Toxicology:

Food toxicology is a field that studies the impact of chemicals in food, particularly if they have the potential to produce adverse health effects. Nutritional toxicology includes the study of the human health impacts of additives and Flavors.

Food and nutrition toxicology involves investigation of Flavors, additives packaging materials and food contaminants.

Food Contaminants

• Food Intolerance
• Food Safety Assessment
• Food Allergy
• Genetically Modified Food

Track 6: Food Preservation:

Food preservation refers to the process used to preserve food for longer time. It includes different methods like drying, irradiation, pasteurization and adding of additives.

Food preservation is extremely important in the food industry as the majority of the food products need to be preserved. Major causes that are responsible for spoilage of food are an attack on pathogens and oxidation of food.

Some methods of food preservation are

• Smoking
• Fermenting.
• Canning
• Drying
• Refrigeration and freezing
• Irradiation
• Salting and pickling
• Dehydration
• Oxidation

Track 7: Probiotics:

Probiotics are live bacteria that are beneficial to the human body. Probiotics are usually found in the foods we intake but as the food habits have drastically changed, various probiotic supplements that serve the purpose.

Track 8: Dietary Supplements:

A dietary supplement is used as a supplimet to the diet. It is generally consumed as a tablet or tonic, which contains nutrients, vitamins or any other essential substance that is useful to our body, oftentimes to simply increase the consumption of the same. Probiotics are among the most common dietary supplements. These are made of live bacteria and they improve digestion. Dietary supplements are gaining more popularity of late since they are rich in nutritive value and are often recommended by doctors to recovering patients.

Track 9: Nutrition and Physiology:

Nutrients are broadly classified into two types – Macronutrients and Micronutrients. Macronutrients are those which are required by our body in large amounts (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids) while micronutrients are required in small amounts (vitamins and minerals). Macronutrients are responsible for structural development and energy requirement. Nutrition physiology is the study of the effect of the nutrients on the body’s metabolism and how it functions.

Sports Nutrition: Nutritional requirements of sportspersons, especially the quantity of food and fluids consumed by athletes to optimize their activity.

This track will also discuss the metabolism of the various nutrients and their nutritive value.

Track 10: Food and Quality Control:

The food and processing industries deal with sensitive products. So the industry needs to maintain a certain quality of food standards to meet the requirements of the people.

Most of the customers tend to buy a product of the same brand which we think is of good quality and matches our expectations, but even the slightest mistakes where the quality of a product is damaged or compromised could destroy the image of the brand and the company could face a huge loss.

To prevent this from happening, severe quality control measures are taken by the food industries.

One way to reduce these types of incidents is to eliminate the source of a problem through inspection and quality management to ensure customers’ requirements are met.

Track 11: Paediatric Nutrition:

Paediatric Nutrition deals with the dietary requirements of children. The required nutrients which are essential for healthy growth are provided. If the diet lacks essential minerals and micronutrient content, it is considered inadequate. Breast milk provides the best nutrition for the first few months of birth. This track also deals with the nutritional requirements of a mother if she breastfeeds the infant to provide maximum nutrition which will promote good health and to reduce the risk of anemia and obesity.

Track 12: Nutrition and Pregnancy:

The track nutrition and pregnancy deals with dietary planning needed before, during and after pregnancy. Nutrition of the fetus begins at conception. The nutrition of the mother plays an important role in the growth and health of the fetus before birth and it plays an important role in providing adequate nutrition through breastfeeding after birth.

Track 13: Food Irradiation:

A very recent development, food irradiation involves the use of ionizing radiations as treatment. It is said to be one of the most potent modes of ensuring food safety and additionally increases the shelf-life of food. The most important advantage of irradiation is that it kills all micro-organisms that would otherwise cause foodborne illnesses in humans, which is responsible for 5000 deaths globally each year, despite the high standards we have reached concerning food safety. At Food Summit 2020, this special track aims to discuss the latest developments in this field.

Track 14: Clinical Nutrition:

Clinical Nutrition is a branch of nutrition which deals with patients in health care. It refers to the management of patients, including outpatients and inpatients at clinics and hospitals. It primarily incorporates the scientific fields of nutrition and dietetics. It aims to keep a healthy energy balance in patients, as well as providing sufficient amounts of other nutrients such as protein, vitamins and minerals.

Track 15: Nutrigenomics:

A comparatively new branch, nutritional genomics or Mutrigenomics amalgamate the concepts of nutrition and genomics to study their inter-relationships, particularly concerning the disease. It encompasses the response of our body to food at a molecular level. Nutrigenomics also finds application in studying the inheritance of nutrition and diet-related disorders. 

Track 16: Case Studies:

Case Studies act as informative examples to people who might also face similar problems. Generally, case studies should detail a particular medical case, reporting the background of the patient. They should discuss about the investigations undertaken which are used to determine a diagnosis and differentiate between possible diagnoses techniques, and suggest the type of treatment the patient had undergone. In one piece we can conclude that case studies are a useful and informative part of every doctor or physician's medical education, which actually encourage us to include this track in the Global Summit on Food and Nutrition which is going to be held at Prague, Czech Republic.

Track 17: Food Allergies:

An abnormal reaction by the human body's immune system to some particular food or food components is called a food allergy. Common symptoms of food allergies include itching, reddening, rashes, vomiting or even diarrhoea. Although any food can set off an allergic reaction, milk, eggs and nuts are the most common sources. People  who are allergic to the particular food must make sure that they include alternative food in their diet.

Track 18: Nutrition and Healthcare:

Nutrition education is any blend of instructional courses, in the midst of natural backings, intended to encourage voluntary reception of food choices and various nutrient and food related practices contributing to good health. This track calls for professionals in the healthcare sector to talk about the importance of nutrition in their sector and the importance of education about diet among their staff.

Track 19: Food Consumption and Health Mapping Devices:

With advancements in technology, several devices have come up that monitor our health. These devices are capable of tracking the daily movement of the body along with the daily intake of nutrients to provide us a detailed report on the missing nutrients or health related issues. Health mapping devices help individuals to track their own nutrient intake and health.

At the Food and nutrition 2020 conference, we encourage and invite those who are involved in this field of medical devices to come and share their research.