2nd International Conference on Food Chemistry & Nutrition July 24-26, 2017 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Nutrition is the science that interprets the interaction of nutrients and other substances in food (e.g. phytonutrients, anthocyanins, tannins, etc.) in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism. It includes food intake, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion. The diet of an organism is what it eats, which is largely determined by the availability, processing and palatability of foods. A healthy diet includes preparation of food and storage methods that preserve nutrients from oxidation, heat or leaching, and that reduce risk of food-borne illnesses. A poor diet may have an injurious impact on health, causing deficiency diseases such as blindness, anaemia, scurvy, preterm birth, stillbirth and cretinism; health-threatening conditions like obesity and metabolic syndrome; and such common chronic systemic diseases as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.

Human nutrition is a progressive, multi-disciplinary science requiring knowledge ranging from nutrient supply and metabolic processing by the body to psychosocial and behavioural factors influencing diet. 

Food security is defined as the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. Stages of food insecurity range from food secure situations to full-scale famine.

The study of nutrition processes, as well as the components of food, their actions, interaction, and balance in relation to health and disease in animals. 

Food safety is about handling, storing and preparing food to prevent infection and help to make sure that our food keeps enough nutrients for us to have a healthy diet. 

Food science draws from many disciplines such as biology, chemical engineering, and biochemistry in an attempt to better understand food processes and ultimately improve food products for the general public. As the stewards of the field, food scientists study the physical, microbiological, and chemical makeup of food. By applying their findings, they are responsible for developing the safe, nutritious foods and innovative packaging that line supermarket shelves everywhere.

The food you consume on a daily basis is the result of extensive food research, a systematic investigation into a variety of foods’ properties and compositions. After the initial stages of research and development comes the mass production of food products using principles of food technology. All of these interrelated fields contribute to the food industry – the largest manufacturing industry in the United States.

Hydrocolloids or gums are a diverse group of long chain polymers characterized by their property of forming viscous dispersions and/or gels when dispersed in water. They produce a dispersion, which is intermediate between a true solution and a suspension, and exhibits the properties of a colloid. Considering these properties, they are appropriately termed as ‘hydrophilic colloids’ or ‘hydrocolloids’. Hydrocolloids have a wide array of functional properties in foods including thickening, gelling, emulsifying, stabilization, coating and etc.. The primary reason behind the ample use of hydrocolloids in foods is their ability to modify the rheology of food systems. This includes two basic properties of food systems that is, flow behaviour (viscosity) and mechanical solid property (texture). The modification of texture and/or viscosity of food systems help modify its sensory properties, therefore hydrocolloids are used as significant food additives to perform specific purposes.

Food preservation usually involves preventing the growth of bacteria, fungi (such as yeasts), or other micro-organisms (although some methods work by introducing bacteria or fungi to the food), as well as retarding the oxidation of fats that cause rancidity. Food preservation may also include processes that inhibit visual deterioration, many processes designed to preserve food involves a number of food preservation methods. Some traditional methods of preserving food have been shown to have a lower energy input and carbon footprint, when compared to modern methods Maintaining or creating nutritional value, texture and flavor is an important aspect of food preservation, although, historically, some methods drastically altered the character of the food being preserved. In many cases these changes have come to be seen as desirable qualities

Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption.

Every year, the average person produces nearly 475 pounds of food waste. That adds up to a whopping 70+ million tons, making it the third largest component by weight in our landfills. Not only does this waste attract vermin, it emits odors and liquids that are toxic to the environment. The methane gas generated from food waste is 20 to 25 times more potent than CO2. This waste must be picked up and hauled to the landfill, yielding a high carbon footprint and increasing traffic congestion and gas consumption.

There is a continuing and expanding international demand for herbs, spices and essential oils. Social changes, including food diversification, the desire for new flavours, increasing Importance of “ethnic” food and the increased importance of processed food, which requires condiments and aromatic herbs for its preparation, are driving an increase in this demand. Developing countries have a significant opportunity to benefit from this increasing demand. Many of the products can be sold in a dried form or as extracts (e.g. essential oils), which gives them a high value per unit weight. These products could be a profitable source of diversification for small farmers in developing countries.

As the economies of many countries are increasing, the consumers have started using processed food more than the staples. As a matter of fact global food processing and packaging business has reached to multi trillion dollars. It was reported that approximately, 16 million people work in the food industry. Recent advances in food processing and packaging is not just to meet the productivity demands but to adopt sophisticated automation, control and monitoring methods and techniques. There are many significant amounts of processing and packaging research and developments which involve study of automation, control and monitoring

Nutrition is an important support of human life, health and development across the entire life span. Good health is important to living a productive life, meeting basic needs and contributing to community life, Nutrition leads to a Healthy life style promotion. Health and nutrition is an increasingly important preference for populations around the world. Nutrition is increasingly concerned with metabolic paths and metabolism, the sequence of biochemical steps through which substances among living organisms change from one form to another. Nutritional well-being depends upon four main factors: food, care, healthiness, and atmosphere.