Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was planning to change its image from the regulator and action taking body to a facilitator, according to Dr Harshdeep Kamble, commissioner, FDA, Maharashtra. He was inaugurating the three-day 10th edition of Fi & Hi India (food ingredient & health ingredient) show in Mumbai.
He also announced a plan to set up ‘Institute of Training and Research for Food Safety’ has been submitted to the union government and its approval was expected soon. In the proposed institute daily workshops would be organized for licensed FBOs, hotels and restaurant operators. This would serve as good platform for connecting regulator and FBOs for more exchange of ideas and joint decisions.
Referring to Indian food processing sector’s meager 6 to 7% share in global market, Dr Kamble said the current business and industrial environment in the country was conducive to increase this share substantially due to government’s initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and overall development of technology and innovation.
Dr Ajit Singh, president, HADSA, said in his opening remarks that it was encouraging that 15 countries were participating in the show. India has a rich tradition of herbs, spices and other food ingredients and Indian companies should leverage these traditions as well as the participation of companies from other counties to develop food processing sector in India, eh added.
Yogesh Mudras, acting managing director, UBM India Pvt. Ltd, pointed out that the event was growing at 20% each year. About 160 exhibitors participated this year and the number is expected to double the next year. He added that there was increased awareness regarding the quality and standards of food products, which naturally was making companies to focus on superior quality ingredients used in food products.
Along with the exhibition, seminar and workshops have been organized. There is two-day workshop on bakery modernization – Putting the Icing on your bakery bBusiness. is being organised by UBM India. It is being conducted by Assocom Institute of Bakery Technology & Management (AIBTM), a training and research centre for baking technology.