Aiming at nutrition and health to do more "grounded" food research

Reporter Gu Yufei

The core of the high-quality development of the food industry lies in scientific and technological innovation
.
In order to promote the effective landing of scientific research achievements in the food field and the in-depth integration of government, industry, academia and research, the 12th Beijing Food Science and Technology Forum and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Food Industry Collaborative Development Forum hosted by the Beijing Food Society were recently held
online.
The participating experts analyzed the policies, regulations, and R&D hotspots in the food field from multiple dimensions, and jointly discussed the new technologies, new models and new patterns
of industrial development.

Fully promote the transformation of scientific research achievements

"At present, China's food industry is in a critical period of transformation and upgrading, and the transformation and upgrading of the food industry must rely on scientific and technological innovation
.
" Luo Yunbo, chairman of the Beijing Food Society and professor of the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University, said that the development of the food industry must adhere to science and technology as the primary productive force and innovation as the primary driving force, deeply implement the innovation-driven development strategy, open up new fields and new tracks for development, and constantly shape new kinetic energy and new advantages
for development.

Guo Lugang, vice chairman of Beijing Association for Science and Technology, said that the development of the food industry should adhere to joint construction and sharing, strengthen the deep integration of industry, education and research led by enterprises, strengthen goal orientation, and improve the transformation and industrialization level of scientific and technological achievements in the food field; Promote the strong alliance of various innovation subjects such as colleges and universities and food-related enterprises, build a one-stop industry-university-research innovation platform from scientific research and development, achievement transformation to product marketing, and promote the high-quality development of
the food industry through industrial innovation, format innovation and theoretical innovation.

"At present, there are many awards for scientific research achievements in the food field, but few can truly solve the problem of 'stuck neck' in industrial development, realize landing transformation and industrialization
.
" Lu Fuping, president of Tianjin University of Science and Technology, said frankly that the reason for this situation may be that the topic of scientific research is incorrect, or that some good scientific research results have not been truly transformed
.

In this regard, Lu Fuping proposed that, on the one hand, it is necessary to do "grounded" food scientific research
.
Scientific and technological innovation in the food field should adhere to the goal-oriented and problem-oriented, focus on the real problems that need to be solved urgently in the process of industrial development, carry out real research, achieve real results, and achieve expectations and do not follow the trend
.
On the other hand, it is necessary to wake up the "sleeping patent"
.
The first is to broaden the supply channels of patented technology and stimulate the vitality
of patent transformation in colleges and universities.
Guide colleges and universities to deepen the distribution mechanism of intellectual property rights and interests, screen "sleeping patents" that have not been implemented by universities and institutes through big data analysis, and discover potential license targets; Encourage state-owned enterprises to share patented technology, guide large state-owned enterprises to increase the licensing of patented technology, and lower the threshold
for small and medium-sized enterprises to obtain patented technology by using it first and paying license fees later.
The second is to promote the docking
of supply and demand of patented technologies.
Build a platform for the promotion and application of patented technologies, give full play to the role of the "Internet +" model, and help small and medium-sized enterprises to connect the supply and demand of patented technologies; Establish an effective docking mechanism, go deep into small and medium-sized enterprises to carry out patent technology docking activities, guide the transfer and transformation of agriculture-related patented technology to counties and agricultural parks, and help the development of rural industries; Innovate the mode of patent transfer and application, use patent navigation to explore target patents and cooperative R&D objects, actively carry out activities such as patent pool construction, transfer and licensing, and do a good job in guiding the implementation and secondary development
of patented technologies.

Develop in the direction of full nutrition high-tech

"Food has a historical mission
to improve the health of the whole population and the whole life cycle.
" Ren Fazheng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and vice president of the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology, said that the food industry should be guided by market demand, optimize the industrial structure, rationalize the industrial layout, develop in the direction of total nutrition and high technology, and better meet people's nutritional and health needs
.

For the future development of the food industry, Ren Fazheng suggested: First, in response to the national nutritional and health needs and the demands of prevention and control of chronic diseases, carry out key technology integration and industrialization demonstration work such as food nutrition and health theory, functional food manufacturing, traditional food functionalization, and the development of new food raw materials, especially the development of new food functional bases; The second is to develop nutritional functional foods with clear efficacy and clear mechanism, achieve precise nutrition supply, and lead and support the development of China's food industry in the direction of nutrition and health; The third is to form a group of nutritional and healthy food enterprises with strong independent innovation ability, ensuring safety, nutrition and health, strong international competitiveness and national characteristics, and leading the trend
of industrial development.

Ding Gangqiang, director of the Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, summarized the history of human diet development into four stages of evolution from primary pursuit to advanced pursuit: full stomach type - delicious enjoyment type - nutrition and health type - food therapy and health type
.
"Nowadays, there is a broad consensus in the international community to improve health through reasonable nutrition, and people's demand for nutritious and healthy food is increasingly strong
.
" Ding Gangqiang said that the construction of a healthy China will enter a new stage, and the next step is to do a good job in nutrition and health from two aspects
.

On the one hand, it is necessary to promote the nutrition and health of the food industry
.
The food industry should adhere to demand-oriented, segment consumer types, and meet the nutritional and health needs of different consumer groups such as the general population, the elderly and the young, the key groups of pregnant women and lactating mothers, high-risk groups and patients with chronic diseases; It is necessary to adhere to scientific development, increase investment in scientific research, give full play to the leading role of science and technology, strengthen the research and development and application of appropriate industrial technologies, further carry out academic research on distinctive nutritional foods, and all kinds of innovative subjects should launch more new products and services
that are more in line with the nutritional and health needs of Chinese residents for nutritional problems and food resources in different regions and fields.

On the other hand, advocate the formulation of policies and goals
conducive to improving the nutritional health of the whole people.
For example, implementing healthy public food procurement and service policies to ensure that food sold or served by schools, hospitals and other public institutions contributes to healthy diets; improving trade standards, making better use of trade, improving availability and affordability of healthy diets, etc
.

In the future, food should be "open source and throttling"

In recent years, future food has become a hot topic and research hotspot in the field of agricultural science and food science, and through the keyword "future food" search in the Web of Science database, the number of articles discussing future food from 2017 to 2021 increased by more than
3 times compared with 2002-2006.

"The future of food has far-reaching connotations and broad extensions, not only covering the theory and technology of food production, harvesting, storage, processing, packaging and other links, but also inseparable
from agricultural systems, ecological resources, animal welfare, etc.
" Liao Xiaojun, dean of the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University, said that at present, practical problems such as insufficient food supply, serious loss and waste, and urgent human nutrition and health needs are driving future food technology innovation and industrial transformation and upgrading, and the production and manufacturing of future food needs to be "open source and throttling" to meet the diversified needs
of human beings for food on the basis of reducing the pressure on resources and the environment.

"Open source means exploring new production methods and new resources
.
" Liao Xiaojun explained that in terms of production methods, future food production should minimize dependence on the environment, climate and natural resources, while improving production efficiency, increasing food output, ensuring food safety, and achieving sustainable food supply
.
In addition to new production methods, tapping into nature's untapped new resources is also an effective way
to obtain more food.
The mining and utilization of new food resources such as insects and edible flowers will improve the diversification and sustainability of food raw materials from the source and ensure food supply
.
Throttling refers to reducing food loss
through food supply chain impairment.
The causes of food loss and waste in the supply chain include improper post-harvest treatment, lack of storage technology and facilities, backward processing technology, improper packaging and transportation methods, etc.
, the future food will build a complete and accurate controllable cold chain system, adopt reasonable processing methods for different raw materials, adopt green and efficient processing technology and intelligent packaging technology, etc.
, to minimize food loss and improve the sustainability of the food supply chain
.

"Human beings will ensure food supply while ensuring food supply through agricultural production mode change, food new resource mining, processing technology innovation, supply chain upgrading, product diversification and innovation, etc.
, so that future food can meet human needs
for food nutrition, safety, deliciousness, convenience, personalization and other aspects.
" The integration of gene editing, big data, Internet of Things, blockchain, industrial robots, smart sensors, virtual reality and other technologies with food science will make the future food industry present a green, efficient, intelligent, accurate and diversified new format
.
Liao Xiaojun said
.

China Food News(December 08, 2022, Version 04)

(Responsible editor: Gao Jiaodi).