Look in the bins and fridges. The bandaid we use after taking booster shots could come from the spiky shell of our favourite fruit. Meanwhile, the stems of our pasta herbs could become a gentler sanitizer.
Because food sustains all life forms, there is a fundamental but under-appreciated overlap between medicine and food science.
Apart from the widely accepted concept of “food is medicine”, or “yaoshitongyuan”, in traditional Chinese medicine, there are many other uses of food science technology that can be used in clinical testing and treatment.
If the materials are derived directly from the food we eat each day, it would make sense that they would be compatible with our bodies in other ways.
Side-streams are by-products from food production and could be re-injected into medical industries. These include the leftover sugarcane pulp and soya bean pulp, herbs in our spice cabinet, coffee grounds and brewers’ spent grain – the leftover material for making beer or Milo powder.
These useful and nutritious items can be up-cycled and used to make face masks or sanitisers. This would prevent them from going to landfills. It would also give them a second or even third lease of life.
Food tech for medical and clinical purposes was born at the perfect time. Two aspects of medical supplies have been exposed by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic: the increased use of medical supply (gloves), and the improved functionality (masks) of protective materials (masks).
This is largely due to the fact that current medical materials (gloves, masks) are made from petrol-chemical products. They are not biodegradable and would only exacerbate the global waste problem.
Another source of environmental pollution, though seemingly unrelated, is the food processing sector. The global food processing industry is valued at US$11 trillion (S$14.8 Trillion) in 2019. It produces large quantities of plant pulp and other waste with high reuse value.
Some examples include soya beans residues from bean curd production and barley spent grain from Milo, or beer making. These can be disposed of as waste.
Singapore alone has produced 23,000 tonnes annually. The carbon footprint of food waste treatment and processing through incinerator or landfill results in a higher level of carbon emissions.
Food tech innovations are used to extract nutrients and transform solid residues into usable materials in order to reduce food waste and carbon footprint. These innovations have unexpectedly linked the two main sources of pollution: medical materials and food processing side-streams.
Here’s an example.
All households in Singapore received reusable antibacterial face masks during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
