Q. Use of Operational approach in development process?

It has been defined as the application of scientific methods, technology and tools to operation of system with optimum solution to the problem. It is based on identification of objectives, constraints or bottlenecks, controllable and uncontrollable factors and the role of authority entrusted with power of decision making.

The future trends emphasize on nutrition, freshness and convenience and thus these need to be addressed in the design of innovative products. This change in scenario for product development has moved organizations and companies involved in formulating foods for health benefits into new areas of understanding like health risk, risk, benefits analysis, evaluation of efficiency and toxicity and health regulation.

A number of different terms have been used to describe the many natural products currently being developed for health benefits. These include nutraceuticals, functional foods, pharma foods, designer foods, vita foods, phytochemicals etc. What are functional foods?

Functional foods are similar in appearance to conventional foods and are consumed as a part of the usual diet but have demonstrated physiological benefits and thus reduce the risk of chronic diseases beyond basic nutritional function. A nutraceutical is a product produced from foods but sold in the form of pills, powders and other medicinal forms and has demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic diseases.