The story so far: Society’s relationship with food and nutrition is constantly evolving. The next transformation involves functional foods and smart proteins.
What are functional foods?
Functional foods are enriched foods that promote health or prevent disease, such as vitamin-enriched rice or omega-3-fortified milk. Functional foods leverage several technologies such as nutrigenomics (the study of how nutrition interacts with genes), bio-fortification, 3D food printing, and bioprocessing.
Smart proteins refer to proteins sourced using biotechnology that aim to reduce reliance on conventional production. These include plant-based proteins (restructured extracts from legumes, cereals, or oilseeds to mimic animal meat and dairy); fermentation-derived proteins (produced by microbial systems); and cultivated meat (animal cells grown in bioreactors without slaughter).
Why does India need them?
India’s nutritional landscape remains highly uneven. More than one-third of Indian children are stunted, and although adult protein intake has improved, an urban-rural divide remains. As the economy grows and household incomes increase, societal expectations from food will change from being simply filling to being genuinely nourishing. This shift demands a reorientation of India’s policy from ensuring food security to nutritional security, providing food rich in proteins, antioxidants, and vitamins to meet health and developmental goals.
The challenge lies in achieving this nutritional transformation while balancing sustainability. India must scale food production systems without worsening environmental degradation or deepening climate change impacts. Building a resilient, nutrient-rich, and climate-conscious food system will therefore be one of the country’s most critical policy imperatives in the years ahead. Functional foods and smart proteins are one of many approaches that offer a pragmatic and scalable solution: they improve the nutritional value of foods already consumed daily through supplementing natural foods or reimagining their production process.
Where does India stand today?
Functional foods and smart proteins are a thematic area recognised under India’s Biotechnology for Economy, Environment, and Employment (BioE3) policy. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and its public-sector partner Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) have initiated funding programmes in these areas.
On the functional food front, scientists are developing bio-fortified crops such as zinc-enriched rice (developed at IIRR, Hyderabad) and iron-rich pearl millet (from ICRISAT). Several private players — Tata Consumer Products, ITC, and Marico — are investing in fortified staples and health-focused food lines. The smart protein ecosystem is also growing. In 2023, there were an estimated 377 products (meat, eggs, or dairy) sold by over 70 smart protein brands across India. Startups such as GoodDot, Blue Tribe Foods, and Evo Foods are pioneering plant-based meat and egg alternatives. In 2024, Zydus LifeSciences bought a 50% stake in Sterling Biotech, marking an entry into the fermentation-based protein segment. The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology has received a substantial ₹4.5 crore grant from the DBT for research on cultivated meat.
While both segments are developing in India, there are several gaps, most notably in regulatory clarity. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is yet to issue definitive guidance on novel foods such as cultivated meat or precision-fermented proteins. Infrastructure for large-scale fermentation, quality certification, and consumer testing remains limited.
How are other countries faring?
In the 1980s, Japan was the first country to put forth the concept of functional foods and devise a framework for its regulation. Smart proteins on the other hand, are a more novel category of food. Singapore became the first country to approve the commercial sale of cultivated chicken in 2020. China has prioritised alternative proteins as part of its food-security and innovation agenda. The European Union is investing heavily in sustainable protein production through its “Farm to Fork” strategy.
What should be the way forward?
On the health front, functional foods and smart proteins will be vital contributors to India’s nutritional security. On the economic front, the global plant-based foods market is estimated to be anywhere between $85 billion (as per UBS) and $240 billion (as per Credit Suisse) by 2030. India, with its strong agricultural base and expanding biotech industry, could play a major supplier. If that happens, these industries could generate thousands of agriculture, manufacturing, and logistics jobs within India. Environmentally, shifting to bio-based protein production could dramatically reduce emissions, land degradation, and water stress.
However, India risks either lagging in innovation or facing a flood of unverified, mislabelled products. The transition to biomanufacturing will demand major workforce upskilling to enable employment of agricultural workforce, and poor implementation could concentrate market power among a few large corporations. Public perception poses another challenge, and scepticism of “lab-made” food can only be overcome through transparent communication and public trust.
Therefore, a national regulatory framework for novel foods under FSSAI should provide clarity on definitions, safety evaluation, and labelling for functional and alternative protein products. Inter-ministerial coordination is also needed to ensure coherent policy support. Public-private partnerships can help scale biomanufacturing infrastructure and indigenise critical technologies such as precision fermentation. And finally, public education and inclusion of farmers in new value chains will be essential to ensure that biotechnology’s benefits extend across society.
Shambhavi Naik is chairperson, Takshashila Institution’s Health & Life Sciences Policy, and CEO at CloudKrate.
Published – November 10, 2025 08:30 am IST
Leave a Reply