Functional food is a growing market in the world, the food industry is following this trend and this could also be a great opportunity for cooperation between the industry, science and other economic sectors, a conference at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) was told earlier this week.
The conference was organised in cooperation with the Croatian Association of Food Technologists, Biotechnologists and Nutritionists, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Croatian Food Agency.
According to a statement by the HGK, the Croatian Food Agency carried out the first national survey of eating habits in Croatia, which showed that water and coffee are the most frequently consumed beverages and that the average intake of carbohydrates by both men and women is higher than recommended.
The situation with fat and protein intake is much better because the average intake is only several percentages higher than recommended. However, what is concerning is that their source is most often pork.
Croatia ranks second in the EU, behind the Czech Republic, in terms of water consumption and is at the bottom of the ranking on meat consumption.
“Although Croatians are thought to be great meat consumers, they are at the bottom of the EU ranking in that regard. Western countries Austria, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy consume less meat than us, while the ranking is topped by eastern countries Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic,” Croatian Food Agency director Darija Sokolovic said at the conference.
She noted low fish consumption in Croatia, which puts the country at the bottom of the EU ranking, ahead of only Hungary and the Netherlands.
“We have our own sea and only 16 percent of Croatian citizens consume sea fish, while freshwater fish is consumed by less than 5%. Sea fish is consumed the most in Lika, and mostly tinned fish at that, followed by Istria and Dalmatia, while it is consumed the least in Slavonia. Freshwater fish is also consumed the most in Lika, while it is consumed the least in Istria,” the statement said.
The most frequent choice of the main meal of the day is pork or chicken, baked potatoes or pasta, chicken soup, mixed salad, white or plain bread, an apple and a glass of mineral water or beer.
Also discussed at the conference were challenges faced by the food industry.
HGK vice-president for agriculture Dragan Kovacevic said that the global functional food market was growing almost by 10 percent annually, adding that the Croatian food industry would have to follow this trend by increasing innovation and investment.
