3M Microbiology part of 3M Health Care, a division of 3M India, a diversified technology driven company known for its innovative products and solutions organized a speaker programme on “Role of microorganism in safety, quality and shelf life of food” in Delhi on Saturday. As India is scheduled to implement Food safety and standards act, this seminar is designed to share knowledge about microbiological issues involved in food safety, quality monitoring and compliance with standards & specification to help industry comply with the new regulations and improve public health. In addition to this objective, the seminar has provided a platform for starting a dialogue between the industry, academia, regulators and consumers regarding food safety and quality.
“India is the world’s second largest food producer only next to China, and has the potential of becoming the leader agro-processing sector. It is currently poised at an interesting and challenging stage right, now having opened up and getting exposure to global food trends. Concepts such as organic foods & pre-prepared foods are gaining prominence now in the country. We are stepping into an era where food adequacy for all must be a universal goal and processing of food is a strong step in ensuring that people have safe, healthy, nutritious and good quality food.” says Mr. Gautam Khanna, Vice President and Head of the 3M Healthcare, (a division of 3M Ltd.)
Monitoring microbiological aspects of food is critical in assuring quality of foods particularly perishable foods. The goal of 3M Microbiology, a trusted global leader of food & beverage safety & quality monitoring solutions is to raise awareness and provide microbiological testing solutions for food industry regardless of the size of processing companies.
“In today’s global food industry, microbiological quality is essential for quality, shelf life and safety” said the key note speaker, Professor Purnendu Vasavada. He also emphasized role of environmental hygiene monitoring in complying with the good manufacturing process requirements “it is desirable to monitor microbial contamination in the environmental niches before the contaminations appear in the finished products.” Said Prof Vasavada, who is a professor of Food Science at the university of Wisconsin, USA and food safety and microbiology specialist with the university of Wisconsin cooperative extension service, USA.
The seminar on Process Food Safety was convened by Dr.Sushil Kumar erstwhile director and Vice Chancellor of National Dairy Research Institute , Karnal, a deemed university. He highlighted the importance and relevance of microbial quality of food and dairy products from food safety and public health stand point. This endeavor will help to harness existing food resources for higher profitability and sustainability for producers, processors and at the same time ensure safer and wholesome food supply to the consumers.
The seminar was attended by representatives of food regulatory agencies, food processing companies and representatives of research and development institutions from across the country.
About 3M Health Care
3M Health Care, the healthcare arm of 3M, is committed to providing the healthcare community with innovative solutions, based on 3M’s diversified technologies, which help improve the quality of life. 3M Health Care, one of 3M’s six major business segments, provides world-class innovative products and services to help health care professionals improve the practice, delivery and outcome of patient care in medical, oral care, drug delivery and health information markets. The Healthcare business of 3M Worldwide was more than USD 4 Billion.
3M India Limited is the Indian arm of 3M and has been in the country for the last 20 years and markets about 2000 products in India with leading positions in health care; industrial markets; display and graphics; consumer and office; safety, security and protection services; electronics and communications; and transportation. 3M, USA is a $24.5 billion diversified technology driven company known for its innovation across the world with leading positions in a broad range of important markets.
The 3M Company was founded in 1902 in Minnesota, USA and is today a 24.5 Billion USD company. 3M has a global presence in more than 200 countries with a product portfolio comprising approximately 50,000 products spread across seven distinct business area.