Instant meals for disasters developed

MANILA, Philippines - Nutritionists and other scientists from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) have come up with a no-cook, highly nutritious “compressed food bar” recommended to be served at evacuation centers in times of disasters.

Food scientists and technologists from the DOST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) yesterday said the compressed cereal-legume food mix can be prepared without cooking.

The scientists noted the lack of electricity and kitchen utensils to cook food during calamities.

The scientists have also come up with a technology for the mass production of the food concoction.

The cereal-legume is said to be highly nutritious because of the mixture of milk, vegetable fat, and sugar that is added in its preparation.

The DOST-FNRI has already pilot-tested the preparation of the compressed food concoction with help from the DOST’s Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC) which created a machine for the food’s mass production.

The machine can make as much as 600,000 packets of compressed food with four pieces in one packet.

The DOST-FNRI also came up with three kinds of water-repellant packaging for the packet to ensure protection of the four pieces of compressed food bar.

The DOST said the food technology is now open for adoption by entrepreneurs who want to start a business.

The department urged local entrepreneurs to look at the potential of the compressed food business, noting that the country is usually visited by a minimum of 20 typhoons every year.

The DOST said inquiries on the compressed food technology could be made at FNRI’s contact numbers 837-2934, 827-3164 and 837-2071 local 2296, or through  email at [email protected] and [email protected].

Interested parties may also visit the DOST-FNRI website www. fnri.dost.gov.ph.

Disaster management summits

In a related development, regional disaster management summits will be held in July to brief newly elected local officials about measures to mitigate the impact of calamities.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin yesterday said the summits would be held to ensure continuity in the implementation of disaster contingency plans.

“We will have regional summits in July. Some of the politicians involved in the national summit held previously lost and usually, disaster officers are coterminous with them,” Gazmin, also the chairman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), told reporters.

“If they are coterminous, they will likely be replaced. We need to hold the summit so there will be continuity,” he added.

Gazmin said they have been preparing for the rainy season, which can bring landslides, floods and other natural calamities.

The NDRRMC held the first-ever national summit on disaster risk reduction and management last March 20. About 1,000 local officials from all over the country attended the summit.

 â€“ With Alexis Romero