Raw food is no raw deal for nutrition

With the New Year upon us and the seasonal health-kick coming up, I have found myself wondering about the nutritional value of uncooked or raw foods.

Raw foodism, as it is so called, is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of uncooked, unprocessed foods. People who believe in it feel that the greater the percentage of raw food in the diet, the greater the health benefits.

It is often dismissed as a faddy diet. But in reality, the nutritional value of food often deteriorates during processing. Cooking and blanching, for example, destroys many heat-labile vitamins such as C and certain B vitamins.

So I don't tend to think of it as a diet as such, but more as a holistic approach to improving personal health and well-being though the diet; the latter being an industry trend that is set for strong continued growth.

In the future, to optimise the nutritional content of foods, it is thought that, within a decade, consumers will be able to harvest their fresh produce straight from the tree or plant since they will be grown in hydroponic pods on the supermarket shelves all serving to maximise the freshness and improve plot-to-plate timescales.

But it is important to realise that raw food isn't all carrot batons and lettuce wraps! At acclaimed restaurants I've dined at I've eaten variations on the classic steak tartare using raw mackerel and a delicious carpaccio of octopus. In addition, Sashimi and ceviche can leave us salivating in anticipation of raw food.

Opportunities abound; raw food isn't about compromise, it can serve to broaden our palettes while at the same time retains those all important nutrients for achieving optimum health.

The Japanese and the Vietnamese are leagues ahead of us in this field but why be left out in the cold? So the challenge in the UK food industry is on!

Angela Mitton is creative product developer at NPD consultancy Beetroot & Orange​
www.beetrootandorange.com​​