Novel foods and food ingredients: what is the mission of scientists and technologists?

Abstract

The situation concerning world food production is changing dramatically. On the one hand, the world population is expected to grow still further, reaching about 8 billion peo- ple in the middle of the 21st century. Novel phenomena, such as ageing of the human population and excess weight in developing countries pose new nutrition problems. Food scares, which were enhanced by recent BSE and tox- icological outbreaks, hinder the applicability of some solu- tions. Under these conditions, scientists and technologists should participate actively in the tasks of informing the population as well as finding new ways to provide people with the optimal amount of nutritious food.