Socio-economic dynamics and innovative technologies affecting health-related lipid content in diets: Implications on global food and nutrition security

CARLOS W. T. NANTAPO; VOSTER MUNCHENJE; THOBELA T. NKUKWANA; ARNOLD HUGO; ADRIANA DESCALZO; GRIGIONI, GABRIELA MARÍA; LOUWRENS C. HOFFMAN

FOOD RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2015 vol. 76 p. 896 - 905

0963-9969

The recent increase in human population coupledwith rural-to-urban migration has led to challenges in managinga balanced diet in both food ?secure? and food ?insecure? regions. As a result of this geographic phenomenon,the human population continues to suffer fromcaloric-related conditions and diseases, including obesity and coronaryheart diseases. In addition, fat and fatty acid composition of the diet has come under severe attack fromthemedia and different human nutrition corridors in the past as they have been implicated in aiding the increase incases of coronary heart diseases despite their important roles in cellular functions. In this view, fat and fatty acidsis of great significance to the modern society, which aims at balancing their dietary proportions for efficient functionalityof the human body systems. To improve food and nutrition, understanding the physiological function ofthe body and biochemical function of the fatty acids and polar lipids and getting a clearer view of the socioeconomicaspects surrounding food consumption is also important. However, to further enhance the utilisationof fats accessed from diets, it is important to highlight significant current innovative technologies used to improvefood fatty acid profiles and the influence of media on dietary and food consumption patterns. This reviewdiscusses the significance of health-related fatty acids, socio-economic aspects governing their presence in foodand consumption, and howall these factors have a bearing on achieving the goal of human health, well-being andfood and nutrition security.