Grand challenges in sustainable food processing

Abstract

[Excerpt] Sustainability is, unquestionably, a main driver for social, technological, and economic development toward the creation of a circular economy. This is even more important in the food industry as this issue of sustainability also demands that we are able to provide consumers with, not only high quality food, but, above all with food that complies with safety and security. WHO estimates that, every year, more than 600 million people—this means 1 out of 10 people—get ill by ingestion of contaminated food and that the number of casualties is estimated as 420,0001. Moreover FAO estimates that one-third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year (FAO, 2011). This inevitably also means that huge amounts of the resources used in food production are used in vain, and that the greenhouse gas emissions caused by production of food that gets lost or wasted are also emissions in vain. It is also interesting to note that, on a per-capita basis, much more food is wasted in the industrialized world than in developing countries. Having said this, it is clear that sustainability (Ehrenfeld and Hoffman, 2013) is a key driver for the food industry. However, a successful food industry sector, cannot be supported by safety and security considerations, only. Consumers are more and more demanding and, in particular in developed countries, are also linking food with health, thus demanding food industry and food technologists to provide foods that, in complement to their nutritional and organoleptic properties, can also contribute to a healthier life. [...]