Traditional And Non Traditional Foods

Traditional and indigenous food systems have existed for centuries and were in balance with local food supplies, globally. However, between the mid 20th and early 21st century the green revolution dramatically altered food production, which in turn affected the inclusivity of traditional production systems within food systems and subsequently, traditional dietary intakes. This change was accompanied by lifestyle changes and spurred a global nutrition transition. Today the world faces a global syndemic of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change. A new call to action to create food systems that nourish people and sustain the planet is needed. Traditional and indigenous food systems have long been recognized as systems that can both support good human nutrition as well as maintain a balance with nature. There is an underutilized knowledge base around traditional and indigenous food systems. This includes the knowledge of nutritious species, traditional culinary preparations, and cultural practices. Greater agricultural production of underutilized species can result in more sustainable agricultural and food systems which can also help improve livelihoods and food security. Traditional and indigenous cultural practices with respect to both land and water management, as well as culinary practices, contribute to both sustainable food production and consumption. These practices require a greater evidence base in order to be incorporated into public health nutrition initiatives related to improving dietary quality, such as food-based dietary guidelines for example. An increased focus on the importance of local, traditional, and indigenous food systems and nutrition could therefore help countries to improve human nutrition and, ideally, help mitigate the global syndemic of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change. This Research Topic will focus on documenting diverse local food systems and promoting elements within them that can help improve nutrition and health – both human and planetary - in various ways including the livelihood development of knowledge holders.

This work provides comprehensive coverage of the preparation, processing, marketing, safety and nutritional aspects of traditional foods across the globe. Individual chapters focus on the traditional foods of different cultures, with further chapters discussing the consumer acceptability of traditional foods as well as the laws and regulations and the sensorial factors driving the success of these foods. In addition, the integration of traditional food into tourism development plans is discussed at length. As the first publication to focus on a wide scale variety of traditional foods, including their histories and unique preparatory aspects, this is an important book for any researcher looking for a single reference work covering all of the important processing information for each major traditional food category. From traditional Arab foods to traditional Indian, European, African, Australian and Native American foods, Traditional Foods: History, Preparation, Processing and Safety covers the full spectrum of cultural foods, dedicating extensive information to each traditional food type. A full overview of current trends in traditional foods is included, as is a comprehensive history of each type of traditional food. Specific regulations are discussed, as are marketing factors and issues with consumer acceptability. With the recent trends in consumer interest for traditional foods which can not only bring great sensory satisfaction but also fulfill dimensions of culture and tradition, this is a well-timed and singular work that fulfills a great current need for researchers and promises to be an important source for years to come.

Novel food regulation is already in force in the European Community, Australia/New Zealand and in Canada. These regulations distinguish between traditional plant foods and novel plant foods, as the novel plant foods need to go through a premarket assessment procedure. This report focus on developing a proposal for definitions and criteria for determining if a plant food is traditional or novel and a proposal for an approach for the safety assessment of such plant foods with no or limited documented history of safe consumption. The report recommend to introduce a 2-step management procedure, first to establish the novelty and secondly to define and commit resources for the safety assessment, and recommend to generate and use a worldwide net of global, regional, local and ethnobotanical positive lists for food plants to guide both the decision on novelty and the safety assessment. The report recommends using the "history of use"--Concept and if the data submitted can support the claim that a product has a history of safe use, the approval can be straightforward. In Europe around 300 food plants deliver near 100% of human daily intake of plant food calories while nearly 7,000 other food plant species are used in other parts of the world. This report focuses on the situation when novel food items from these 7,000 plants are to enter the European or other regional market.

Biotechnology in the food processing sector targets the selection and improvement of microorganisms with the objectives of improving process control, yields and efficiency as well as the quality, safety and consistency of bioprocessed products. Biotechnology is a broad term associated with many complex processes involving organisms and technology. They are basically related to food and agriculture. Biotechnology finds use in improvement of nutrition value of various kinds of foods to enhance the quality of human life. The application of recombinant DNA techniques to biological organisms, systems, and processes constitutes an exciting new biology that is being used to increase agricultural productivity and to improve the health of humans and animals. These advances coupled with those resulting from more traditional genetic and chemical approaches are having and will continue to have an enormous impact on the production of food throughout the world. Biotechnology is the use of livelihood systems and organisms to expand or make useful products, or any technical applications that uses organic systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or transform products or processes for specific use. Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the fields of bioengineering and biomedical engineering. A number of the applications were identified in this paper to include biotechnology in food fermentation to enhance properties such as the taste, aroma, shelf-life, texture and nutritional worth of food. Biotechnology in the production of enzymes to bring regarding desirable changes in food, biotechnology in the production of food ingredients; flavours, fragrances, food additives and a range of other towering valued-added products, genetically modified starter cultures, genetically modified foods, the use of all these modern technologies in diagnostics for food testing, the role of biotechnology in food production by increasing food production, improved harvesting, storage and nutritional value, better raw materials, better flavour and the production of food containing vaccines, the safety of food produced with biotechnology as well as the risks and benefits of biotechnology in food production. This book focuses on the application of biotechnology to the processing of food. It discusses biotechnological tools and options that are applicable to the study and improvement of the quality, safety and consistency of foods. The contents of the book will be immensely helpful to students and researchers of biotechnology and food science.

Due to its centrality in human activities, food is a meaningful object that necessarily participates in any cultural, social and ideological construction and its qualification as 'traditional' is a politically laden value. This book demonstrates that traditionality as attributed to foods goes beyond the notions of heritage and authenticity under which it is commonly formulated. Through a series of case studies from a global range of cultural and geographical areas, the book explores a variety of contexts to reveal the complexity behind the attribution of the term 'traditional' to food. In particular, the volume demonstrates that the definitions put forward by programmes such as TRUEFOOD and EuroFIR (and subsequently adopted by organisations including FAO), which have analysed the perception of traditional foods by individuals, do not adequately reflect this complexity. The concept of tradition being deeply ingrained culturally, socially, politically and ideologically, traditional foods resist any single definition. Chapters analyse the processes of valorisation, instrumentalisation and reinvention at stake in the construction and representation of a food as traditional. Overall the book offers fresh perspectives on topics including definition and regulation, nationalism and identity, and health and nutrition, and will be of interest to students and researchers of many disciplines including anthropology, sociology, politics and cultural studies.

Innovations in Traditional Foods addresses the most relevant topics of traditional foods while placing emphasis on the introduction of innovations and consumer preferences. Certain food categories, such as fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes, vegetables, mushrooms, roots and tubers, table olives and olive oil, wine, fermented foods and beverages, fish, meat, milk and dairy products are addressed. Intended for food scientists, technologists, engineers and chemists working in food science, product developers, SMEs, researchers, academics and professionals, this book provides a reference supporting technological advances, product development improvements and potential positioning in the traditional food market.

Tender Grassfed Meat shows you how to prepare grassfed meat so it comes out tender and delicious every time. Beef, bison, and lamb are at their healthy best when they have been fed only the food they were designed to eat- grass. This is the meat that humankind has thrived on for thousands of years. Now, people are rediscovering the health benefits and wonderful taste of these traditional meats. Tender Grassfed Meat adapts traditional ways of cooking grassfed meat for modern kitchens. The results have to be tasted to be believed. Grassfed meat is leaner, denser, less watery, and far more flavorful than other meat. It must be cooked differently. All the recipes in this book have been specifically created and designed for grassfed meat, using only the best natural ingredients. The step-by-step recipes are detailed and easy to use.