Unsung heroes of food innovation

Script of the TED talk presented at the FoodDrinkEurope Ideas Fest / Annual event on 16 June 2022. Full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8rH8bgNgXE

Good afternoon, my name is Jonas Lazaro, senior manager of food policy, science, and R&D at FoodDrinkEurope. I would like to discuss with you three things today: 1. how the solutions of the past might become the problems of today, 2. how innovation is perceived in food processing, and 3. how a systemic thinking can help to find solutions all together, yes, all the ones in this room today.

But let me first start with a question. What do you think is the greatest invention of humanity? Is it the computer? Is it democracy? Is it beer? Anyone? Any idea?

Well, it is a philosophical question, but many would agree that the invention of fire is one of the greatest inventions of humankind. Well Darwin said it, do not blame me. The controlled use of fire happened around 250.000 years ago, and many argue that its use in cooking changed the dietary evolution of humans. We, as homo sapiens species are not prepared to chew neither raw meat or grass, our intestines have evolved to digest cooked food, which in return eliminates antinutrients, toxins, and provides a higher availability of key nutrients such as amino-acids and free sugars. Well, if you do not believe me, try to eat a raw potato or a raw steak, it might become rather challenging. Some even argue that this discovery allowed us to develop our brains to higher levels of intelligence. And to digest naturally processed contaminants.?

But, let’s leave that discussion for another day. I would like to focus on the discoveries that humans have made in food processing. How many inventors in the history of food processing do you know? If I say Einstein or Faraday, oh well, they are well known for the development of the theory of relativity, or electromagnetism, respectively. Yes, more or less we all know the great inventors and thinkers in the realm of physics, even if we do not understand well their theories. But do you know about Clarence Birdseye, who is known for the invention of flash-freezing by observing fish catching techniques of the Inuit Canadian tribes at the early XX century? Or what about Percy Spencer, who during the World War II, found a melted chocolate bar in his pocket while working with magnetrons for radar appliances? He invented the microwave. What about the fermentation processes? Extrusion processes for pasta making? The great work of many doctors and universities in the discovery of vitamins? Or what about all these unknown inventors that we owe our cooking recipes?. Certainly, food literacy should be a must.

Many would say that the history of industrialised food processing started with Nicolas Appert, who invented the first preservation technique through sterilisation, aka canning. Did you know that it was Napoleon, the emperor, who offered an award of 12.000 francs – a good amount of money at the time - to anyone who could provide a system to preserve foods for long periods of time? Nicolas Appert won the contest in 1809, he developed a method of food preservation in glass jars using thermal treatment. Could it be the first start-up prize in the history of food processing?

There must be something about being French, an emperor, and being called Napoleon. Because Napoleon the third also had a contest to find a cheaper and more stable substitute for butter and offered a big prize to anyone who could come with a good solution. In this case it was Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès in 1869 who came with the first prototype of margarine. A cheaper and vegetable substitute for butter based in a water-in-oil emulsion. This concept evolved further during the XX century to use hydrogenation in the process, which lead to trans-fat fatty acids. And it was in the 80s and 90s that it was discovered the effect of this trans-fatty acids had in our health, which was not good. In fact, trans-fatty acids have been defined as one of the nutritional demons of the modern times. Nowadays eradicated from our products on the supermarket shelf. And I have to say that at the end of the story, low fat spreads are today a healthy substitute for solid fats. But I will not follow this discussion on solid fats to the end, it’s a very interesting topic indeed, but it could take me a full lecture in the topic.

Where I want to go is to the point of problem solving and the perception of the food industry. The greatest inventions in the food sector have a single theme in mind, solving a problem. Tastier, healthier, more convenient, longer shelf life, better for the environment. Without the innovations I listed earlier, we would not have grown as the societies we are today. As the philosopher Karl Popper said, “all life is problem solving”. Or coming back to other quotes: “The solutions of the past are the problems of today”, meaning that it was not an easy job to anticipate the issues that the future will face based on today’s decisions. Innovation finds its way, always with an open mind, trying to find solutions to current problems. Although innovation has many angles, today we are in the nutrition and health space. So just in this area, if you go into the supermarket today, where will you find food processing at work to improve your health? Well – everywhere. We have fortified cereals, low fat alternatives, sugar free products, vitamin and mineral balanced products, baby milk, electrolyte sports drinks, – and you name it…?

However, it is true that we have to be clever in the way we approach problems and the way we invest in innovation. More and more we have to use systemic thinking; we need to think of all the interconnections that exist when we provide solutions. Nowadays in a globalised world, we have to think of the environmental consequences, the consequences to health, the economic sustainability, the jobs, the economy, the scalability, the affordability, all this is a complex equation. And within sectors, the food sector is dependent on the raw materials produced all around the globe, not just food but also machinery, packaging, energy and so on. And to not forget the main relevance of distribution, retail, and consumers, as the main drivers of consumption.

We call this the food systems. And we have to use our prism of food systems to all the innovations that we create. But to our businesses and legislation decisions as well. And to do this, the industry cannot do it alone, it requires partnerships, it requires political help, it requires trust from the consumers. Because the food industry is the main supplier of solutions, not the problem as some might like to see it, but the real economical drive that allows every single person in the world to enjoy quantity and quality food.

Coming back to Einstein, he said, “you can’t solve today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions”. It means that it is too late to stop the train and go back. New solutions must have their eye on the future. And that is why food processing innovation requires a food systems approach.

I hope you enjoyed some of the historical quotes and examples and thank you so much for listening!