Nutraceutical industry can boost preventive healthcare, says FSSAI chief GKV Rao

Team L&M

The nutraceutical industry encompasses three main segments which include functional foods, dietary supplements, and herbal/natural products. This was stated by G Kamala Vardhana Rao, IAS, Chief Executive Officer, FSSAI, Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, at the 8th Nutraceuticals Symposium & Awards Quality, Standardization, Regularization organised by ASSOCHAM.

“This is for the first time ever that the issue of nutritional security figured in the Union Budget,” said Rao adding that India as a nation is naturally abundant with food grains – it produces tremendous amount of food grains. An amount of 335 million tonnes was recorded last year, Nutrition goals and health are the important subject matters around the globe and government has formulated policies around health and nutrition. The hidden hunger is the growing concern not getting enough dietary levels of vitamins, nutrients.

Most of the packaged food items are sold in rural areas, but general awareness is lacking. EAT RIGHT MOMENT started with FSSAI to promote healthy and nutritious diet and India’s Millet campaign is creating a buzz for nutritional and fitness awareness in the country.

In his welcome speech, Padma Shri Dr DS Rana, Chairman of the ASSOCHAM National Wellness Council and Chairman of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, stated that the trend of consuming nutraceutical is a global phenomenon. Regulators should be in place for this sector to keep raise product standards and quality.

Suresh Garg, CMD, Zeon Lifesciences Ltd shared his insights on how nutraceuticals play an important role in health and wellness, and there is a need to spread awareness about it in India as this sector is yet unexplored. “The government is taking lot of initiatives and providing a learning to the young players and innovative ideas by startups,” he said. “There are more than 1700 medicinal plants that are available in the country and commercialization is still yet to be done. There is a need of timely approval so that the product is commercialized, and procedure is simplified,” he added.

According to Nutrify Co-Founder Anand Swaroop it is clear from human history that people are at the top of the food chain. Plants have been identified by humans, and the wealth of knowledge is transforming traditional understanding. This sector has a lot of potential and uses technology to deliver improved outcomes. Upskilling is necessary, and regularisation requires research. He further continued; pandemic accelerated the momentum manifold in getting consumers to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Dr. Nikhil Kelkar, Jt. Managing Director, Hexagon Nutrition Ltd gave industry insights on nutraceuticals and food fortification. Integrated health and digitalization of e-commerce platforms. There is a paradigm shift, he said focusing on the awareness of people in protein intake, immunity, fitness, refined diets. Rise in e-commerce accelerated the adoption curve in the market. People are now choosing sustainable and preventive health options with nutraceuticals.

Shedding a light on enhancing the quality management of nutraceuticals, Dr Lal Hingorani, Chairman SHEFEXIL & Director Pharmanza Herbal Pvt Ltd focused on reliability and exploring dietary and nutritional supplements.