American Association of Food Scientists for the Indian Sub Continent (AAFSIS) meets in New Orleans (Draft).

The annual meetings of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), held at the Morial Convention center in New Orleans from June 30 to July 1 was marked by a growing interest in the Indian subcontinent demonstrated by food science professionals across the globe. Under the IFT umbrella, the “American Association of Food Scientists for the Indian Sub-continent” (AAFSIS), a professional organization of Food Scientists for Indian Subcontinent with a commitment to engage and assist with causes relevant to food and agro-processing in South Asia, held its seventh annual meeting and banquet on June 30 at Embassy Suites, New Orleans. Dr Syed Rizvi, Professor of Food Science at Cornell University and currently a Jefferson Science Fellow at the Department of State, was named the Person of the Year for his significant contributions in the field of food science both in the Indian subcontinent and globally, and for dedicated service to AAFSIS as its first president.

The banquet was attended by members and guests from IFT, as well as a delegation from India including Padmashri Dr. V. Prakash, Director, CFTRI, the premier Food Research Institute in South Asia; Mr. Balachandran, IAS, Chief Executive, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, and Mr. K. Vijayaraghavan, Chairman, Sathguru Management Consultants, Hyderabad. After the dinner, Mr. Balachandran spoke on the new initiatives by the Government of India for improving food safety and standards in India. Mr. Vijayaraghavan spoke on the current potential for the growth of food processing in India stressing the need for generating skilled professionals to augment the rapidly growing food processing sector in the country. He explained how the new initiative, to set up a National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management under the aegis of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries would accomplish this need.

The members also elected the new AAFSIS committee for 2008-2009, with Neera Tulshian as President. Mr. K. Vijayaraghavan was nominated as India Liaison for AAFSIS.

On July 1, AAFSIS organized a Panel Discussion on “Capacity Building and Public-Private Partnership for Food and Agro-processing Development in South Asia”. This discussion included presentations by Dr. V. Prakash, Mr. G. Balachandran, Dr. John Floros, (President of IFT); Mr. Vijayaraghavan, Dr. Vijay Sood, (Vice-President, General Mills, MN); and Mr. Robert Nooter, (Director, International Development, Land O'Lakes, Inc. MN). The discussion centered around the immense potential for growth in the food processing sector in India, regulatory landscape for food entrepreneurship, growing opportunities, and management challenges faced by food producers in the changing global scenario.

Contact Neera Tulshian in the USA at neera@iaminternationalinc.com or Mr. K Vijayaraghavan in India at vijay@sathguru.com. To learn more about AAFSIS, visit www.aafsis.org. For more information on Sathguru Management Consultant, visit www.sathguru.com.