LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

Biotechnology In recent years, the food industry has begun to experience the vast potential biotechnology offers for improving our food and food production processes through precise engineering. For the first time in our history, the potential to create true designer foods is now a reality. Few would disagree that food biotechnology will be the fastest growing and most visible sector of the food industry over the next several years. Like all high-impact technologies throughout history (such as pasteurization, canning, and air travel), there is a natural initial reluctance to embrace food biotechnology. We are currently witnessing this, and the primary reason for this reluctance in the majority of consumers is the fear of “unknown consequences” from the use of a new technology, currently understood only by trained individuals. History has shown that the remedy for such fears is time, knowledge, and, most important, significant tangible benefits to the consumer. In the coming years, consumers will realize that genetically modified foods have been part of human diets for many years without negative consequences. We will see a more educated consumer on the realities of genetic engineering. More significantly, we will see products of food biotechnology with unquestionable tangible benefits to the consumer. These will include such designer foods as healthful cooking oils, nonallergenic peanuts and soy, increased cancer-fighting antioxidants in everyday foods, tasty fat-free foods, long-shelf-life natural foods, and anti-aging foods. Other tangible benefits of biotechnology will be increased safety of foods due to more sensitive and rapid detection of microbial and chemical hazards, and the availability of natural, nonmutagenic, effective biopreservatives. A Look into the Future of Food Science & Technology