A Functional Food is similar in appearance to conventional foods,is consumed as a part of a normal diet and has demonstratedphysiological benefits and/or reduces the risk of chronicdisease beyond basic nutritional function. Traditionally, India iswell known for eating healthy food. The surge inindustrialization, per capita income, corporate culture, littleknowledge of consumers about the right choices of healthy foodand easy access to fast-junk food has led to the adoption ofWestern food habits by the youth of the country thereby,making them susceptible towards chronic diseases at an earlyage. The risk of CVD, cancer, diabetes, kidney failure, liverailments and poor gut health is increasing year-after-year. Inthe year 2020, the prevalence of high diabetes risk in youngadults (<35 years) has been reported to be about 10 per cent.The easy way-out to address the food related disease issues isby deliberating them in some scientific forum and subsequentlyeducating the people about the healthy food choices. Thedepartment of Food Science and Technology at Dr YS ParmarUniversity of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, HimachalPradesh, India has therefore, taken an initiative to create anassociation to be known as “Functional Food Association ofIndia” (FFAI) to address the food related issues.

Governing body

Message from the President

I am privileged by theopportunity to serve as the founderPresident of the FFAI, anticipated togrow as one of the largest foodassociations of the world. In 1980,Japan was the 1st country to realize theill effects of junk food, therebyintroducing the idea of functional food, based on the2500 years old concept of “Let food be the medicine andmedicine be the food” leading to delayed onset of foodrelated chronic diseases with ultimate increase in lifespan.To address the chronic health concerns of millionsin India, a huge investment is required for the creation ofmedical infrastructure by the central and/or stategoverment(s) which seems to be a challenging task. Theeasy way-out to address these issues is by educating thepeople about the healthy food choices. The departmentof Food Science and Technology, Solan is one of theoldest departments in the country and with the R&Defforts of the scientists, a large number of plant-basedhealth foods have been developed. Recently, manyuniversities/Institutes in the country have establishedthe department of Food Science, Food Technology,Nutrition, Food Science and Nutrition, PostharvestTechnology, Food Biotechnology etc where most of thescientists have given special emphasis on thedevelopment of healthy foods and their safety concerns.Consequently, the need to have some scientific forum todeliberate on the issues pertaining to systematic R&Dand delivery of the functional food technologies amongstthe stakeholders/ consumers was being felt for quitesome time.

After thorough discussion with the colleagues working in the disciplines of Food, Nutrition,Biotechnology and Postharvest Technology across thecountry, an initiative has been taken by the scientists ofthe department of FST at Dr YSP UHF, Solan forcreation of an association known as “Functional FoodAssociation of India” (FFAI). It is expected that theFFAI would be instrumental to expand the horizons ofR&D, education and dissemination of the knowledge offunctional foods in India and abroad. I wish andencourage all the members to be actively involved in theactivities of the association including research scholars.

With best wishes

KD Sharma

President (FFAI)

Objectives

• To promote research, education, development and dissemination of functional foods in India and abroad.
• To promote co-operation between R&D institution(s) and food industry.
• To recognize excellence of the scientific person(s) working in the field of functional foods.
• To publish the finding of R&D work through journal and/ or Newsletter as decided by the Association.
• To disseminate knowledge on various aspects of functional foods by organizing seminars, symposia, conferences, workshops etc.
• To arrange funds and grants for the promotion of functional foods.
• To undertake other activities relevant to accomplish the above objectives.

Download Constitution of FFAI

Download FFAI Registration Certificate

Membership

Individuals interested in promotion of Functional Food shall be eligible for membership of the Association. There shall be a fee of Rs. 2000/- for life membership of the Association. The membership form (MS word or pdf format) can be downloaded from the given link.

Download Life Membership form (MS Word format)

Download Life Membership form (PDF format)

Inaugural News Letter