Under the 11th Five Year Plan, the Central government has directed the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) to develop ‘nutritious food for the needy and children’. According to the direction, food like biscuits and cookies can supplement the nutritional requirement of the economically backward sections of the society, when the prices of wheat and rice rise.

“We are currently working on two projects initiated by the Union government. One of these is the nutrition project, which aims to develop food processing technology that will help to provide nutrition to the poor,” said Dr V Prakash, director, CFTRI.

Speaking on the sidelines of an interactive session organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Prakash said the food being developed by the CRFTI would be region-specific. It will take into consideration the food habits and availability of raw materials in different states.

According to Dr Prakash, the biscuits prepared by the institute will be 12 per cent richer in protein than other biscuits available at the same price.

For marketing, the technological innovation by the CFTRI might be given to village anganwadis, or other government establishments. It may also be given to private companies, provided they do not change the price prescribed by the government.

The second project undertaken by the CFTRI is to make small energy-saving kitchen gadgets. This project is also initiated by the Central government.

The institute will file design patents of the products created under these two projects. The initial investment in research and development in both the projects is slated to be close to Rs 50 lakh.