Global nutrition problems and novel foods

The world's demand for food is becoming greater than ever. The current world population of 6 billion will exceed 8 billion in 2025 and new innovations are needed to meet the growing challenges of the poor and hungry world. Novel foods produced through biotechnology may help alleviate the problems of poverty and food insecurity, but only if steered by continual policy development and actions at the regional, national and international levels. The great progress made with iodized salt in combatting iodine deficiency disorders, through global partnership, provides inspiration for future applications of nutritional science and food technology to public health problems in the developing world. The attributes of biotechnology‐produced novel foods are complex. As outlined in the present paper, they may also provide the diets of people in developing countries with more energy, protein and micronutrients. This could thereby reduce the extent of suffering associated with public health problems such as vitamin A deficiency and iron deficiency and anaemia, which affect millions. However, more research and resources need to be focused on the problems and opportunities that face small farmers and poor consumers in developing countries. In particular, attention should be focused on the foods that feature most predominately in their diets such as bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, rice, maize, wheat, millet and yams, and unless this exciting science is given a chance to prove itself in the developing world we will never know if it is in fact the so‐called ‘biosolution’. Paradoxically, overnutrition, obesity, and related diseases characteristic of the developed world, are becoming serious public health problems in countries with widespread food insecurity. Children suffering from undernutrition today could well be afflicted with chronic diseases of development as adults. The economic development that has led to improved food security and better health in some countries needs to be harnessed, while at the same time incentives to avert the adverse health effects of the nutrition transition need to be taken. The potential of novel foods to alleviate undernutrition is becoming more apparent. But they are unlikely to have a role in the prevention of diseases associated with overnutrition in developing countries, who use growing incomes to replace their traditional diets high in complex carbohydrates and fibre, with diets that include a greater proportion of fats (especially saturated) and sugars. More aggressive public health policies are needed to steer populations in nutrition transition towards a healthy lifestyle and diet rather than investing in particular novel foods. In developed countries the wide variety of macronutrient‐modified foods available to consumers has enabled people to eat a more healthy diet, along the lines of the recommendations issued by many governments, and so reduce the risk of diseases such as obesity, cardiovas­cular disease and cancer. Novel foods containing macronutrient substitutes can be a useful adjunct to consumers if they are used to supplement an overall effort to reduce fat and calories as part of a balanced diet. On a population basis it is difficult to ascertain the impact of such foods on the prevention of obesity, not least because of the confusion surrounding the role of individual macronutrient components in its aetiology. Efforts to encourage individuals, especially children, to eat healthy diets and have an active lifestyle are more likely to help prevent the growth of this already epidemic problem. The discovery that the intake of certain foods and their associated components can exert profound physiological effects has been accompanied by research into the potential health‐promoting effects of functional foods. Many of these foods and beverages are already consumed by large population groups worldwide, and have been for centuries. It is unlikely that such foods or drinks are going to result in any untoward effects in these population groups. But for many functional foods, more research needs to be conducted in humans to judge whether or not they provide a true health‐promoting edge, as well as ensuring that they conform to rigorous safety requirements. The present paper points to a future in which specific foods help protect against diseases to which we are genetically susceptible. There is no doubt that important applications of all aspects of nutritional science, coupled with advances in genetics and the optimization of dietary intake, are on the horizon. But only a meticulous scientific approach eliciting highly significant results will ensure the success and acceptability of this new discipline. Nutrigenomics will lead to development of diets targeted to individuals, and as new information on diet−gene interactions becomes available and genotypic analyses are used to enhance the quality of medical care, there are enormous ethical, legal and psychosocial issues that will need to be addressed. Safety evaluation is vital for all novel, functional or formulated foods, whatever their disease‐preventing potential. It is equally important that they are considered as and eaten as part of a healthy balanced diet, not in isolation. This will help to dispel the notion that there are good and bad foods, and instead promote the significance of good and bad diets. Only then are these foods likely to be an important part of the global agenda for combating malnutrition.