Minister asks CFTRI to 'reach Gen Z', boost digital outreach of food innovation

Union Minister of State of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Vice President of CSIR Dr Jitendra Singh called on the officials and scientists of CSIR-CFTRI to further step out from the confines of the lab to reach more dining tables.

He urged them to enhance their outreach by using digital platform, social media to reach out their technologies to more people, especially Gen Z.

He was speaking during the culmination ceremony of platinum jubilee celebrations of CSIR-CFTRI, in Mysuru, on Friday. 

Minister Jitendra lauded CFTRI's healthy food technologies, which provide modern solutions to enhance shelf life of traditional ethnic foods and even millet-based products. He lauded their innovations on catering to all segments of the population, including specialised functional foods for astronauts under CSIR Technology Transfer Compendium-2030.

Asking them to enhance their reach and sell better, he suggested to come up with 'Carry home ready food' kit to help working women. He told them to provide kits for pregnant women as CFTRI products gives both assurance of safety and nutrition.

He suggested to seek the support of department of women and child development in this regard. He asked them to collaborate with MSMEs to sell value-added products better.

As CFTRI has under taken R&D projects to create advanced performance-focused products with safe and efficient nutrition technologies for India's sports and fitness community, Minister asked them to integrate with sports department to reach out the community effectively.

Even as CFTRI has served as the nodal lab for the CSIR Millet Mission, developing more than 50 millet-based technologies, Jitendra asked them to come up with digital form of their book 'Siridhanya kalpa'- a collection of traditional millet recipes, released on Friday.

CFTRI Director Dr Giridhar Parvatam, said "Our current focus encompasses nutraceuticals, personalised nutrition, sustainable, processing technologies, and advanced food safety research driving innovation to deliver healthier, safer food for all. Besides expanding into sports nutrition, they are exploring AI enabled food processing technologies to create smarter data-driven food systems."

"CFTRI was established on October 21, 1950, with a mission to tackle challenges in food processing, preservation, nutrition and security. It continues to lead transformative research that strengthens food systems in India and the world. Its innovations, partnerships with food industry giants in designing traditional and indigenous food machinery, capacity building and outreach, entrepreneurship, translational support, food safety and nutrition standards, public health, education and human resource development are the key contributions," he said.

MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, who participated in the event virtually, recalled the efforts of Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and G Rajagopalachari in establishing CSIR-CFTRI in Mysuru, including the donation of land and Cheluvamba mansion. "The institute is not just the pride to Mysuru but entire Country," he said. 

DG CSIR and Secretary DSIR N Kalaiselvi was present. 

In order to commemorate the 75th anniversary,  a postal cover and a picture postcard was released. 'Glimpses of CFTRI'-coffee table book; books depicting 75 years of photo journey of CSIR-CFTRI; 75 years of R&D achievements of CSIR-CFTRI were released on the occasion.