DoST urges food firms to adopt innovations

THE Department of Science and Technology (DoST) is encouraging food companies to adopt the innovations it has developed to also help farmers address overproduction of certain crops.

“We urge entrepreneurs who are involved in food processing to help our local farmers in addressing oversupply by using DoSTdeveloped technologies,” Science Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said.

For example, in Luzon, tomatoes can be processed into “chicha matis” (tomato crisp) or tomato juice using the appropriate technologies. Other processed farm products popular in Luzon include “pinindot-to-go” or ready-to-eat bilo-bilo, colored sweet potato flour and powdered instant soy milk tea.

Meanwhile, in Mindanao, food innovations include tuna congee, mixed fruit chips and chevon sausage.

A number of state colleges and universities have also developed innovative food products. For example, Bicol University introduced smoked coconut milk powder; Cebu Institute of Technology developed ginger puree; University of Science and Technology of the Southern Philippines is known for its soy milk with corn grits, wombok powder and tomato-pineapple powder; and Zamboanga State College of Marine Science and Technology introduced pickled seaweed, crab sauce powder and calamansi-lagundi powder.

These innovations were developed in partnership with the Industrial Technology Development Institute and the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development, both of which are under the DoST.

The United Nations Environment Program said there is an estimated 11.2 billion tons of solid waste collected globally and part of it is around 931 million tons of food waste.

To help address this issue, in 2022, Senate President Pro Tempore Lorna Regina “Loren” Legarda has filed Senate Bill 240, or the “Zero Food Waste Act of 2022,” for the country to adopt a system to promote food waste reduction through redistribution and recycling.

It also seeks to task specific government agencies to develop and undertake the National Zero Food Waste Campaign, food-related business waste reduction strategy, and household and local government unit waste reduction strategy.