Workshop on “Food – Nutritional value and Safety Issues”
Department of Botany, St. Teresa’s College organized a one workshop as apart of Faculty Enrichment Programme on “Food – Nutritional Value and Safety Issues” on 29 December 2015 from 9:30 AM to 4.30 PM in the department of Botany. Thirty two teachers from various departments of neighboring colleges and the parent institution attended the workshop. The workshop started with a prayer song. Dr. Romilly Margaret Mendez introduced the persons on the dais. In the welcome speech by Dr. Lizzy Mathew, Head of Botany department, she mentioned about the role of Botanist in the field of food and nutrition and the relevance of the workshop for the teaching community and research scholars. It was followed by presidential address by our Principal Dr. Sajimol Augustine M. She made the gathering to recollect the famous quote “A healthy mind resides in an healthy body”. Dr. Sr. Vinitha motivated the gathering to live a healthy life and consume food cautiously, in her felicitation.
The first talk was on “Techniques to determine food nutritional value and contamination” by Dr. Sanu Jacob, Associate Professor, Department of Food and Science technology, KUFOS, Panangad, Ernakulam. He gave the definition and origin of the word Food and Nutrition and briefed about the interdisciplinary nature and immense scope of Food science. With his models and exercises, he explained about the subjective and objective evaluation for the quality of food. He also mentioned about the sources of contamination and gave examples like use of Calcium carbide to artificially ripen the mangoes. There was a demonstration class by him on the detection of microorganisms that caused contamination of preserved and chilled foods and beverages. A display of fruits and vegetables at various stages from harvest to sale as a part of post harvest technology was also presented.
The second lecture was by Sri. Vikas Menon, Food Safety Expert, Food Safety and Quality Solutions Inc., Ernakulam. He was an excellent speaker. He imbibed an interest in students to adopt a career in food science industry. He shared his 15 years of experience in the field of food industry. He started his talk with a brief history of food industry and ended by giving his own definition for Food safety as “character”. He displayed models and photographs of common unhygienic practices followed by hotels and street vendors and demonstrated healthy practices of food handling and sanitation.
The afternoon session of the workshop was on “Nutritional Assessments and Standards : Healthy Diet Practices” by Smt. Deepa. R., Clinical Nutritionist, Sunrise Hospital, Kakkanad, Ernakulam. She gave an idea about the daily diet requirement, deficiency diseases and methods of nutritional assessment, especially of the youngsters. She demonstrated healthy dietary practices for adolescent girls and presented case studies of unhealthy diets. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Romilly Margaret Mendez, Associate Professor, Dept of Botany, St. Teresa’s College.
