UGM hosts international food conference

YOGYAKARTA: Some 200 academics, researchers, government officials and representatives from food companies are attending a two-day international conference on functional and health foods, which began on Tuesday.

The forum is being held on the campus of Gadjah Mada University.

Chairman of the conference organizing committee Sri Raharjo said the forum would give an opportunity for researchers, food companies, ingredient suppliers and policy makers to share ideas for the advancement of functional food industry that has a positive impact on economic growth and the utilization of agricultural products.

He said that research on functional food, food that has been fortified with added vitamins and minerals, has been widely conducted in both developed and developing countries. However, he said, surveys in developing countries were still facing difficulties in term of support and infrastructure to make them useful for the food industry.

The participants included representatives from Belgium, Japan and the Netherlands. Indonesian delegates include researchers from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the Technology Assessment and Application Agency (BPPT). --JP