Health and Nutrition
In 2007, Dow identified four key megatrends that today are the focus of our market-driven strategy: Health and Nutrition, Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation, and Consumerism. These are the global and social megatrends that are shaping the greatest needs – and the greatest business opportunities. By aligning our businesses and our R&D investments around these four megatrends, we are delivering practical solutions that impact households, businesses and our communities worldwide. In the next few issues of DowFriends, we will feature stories on each of these megatrends. In this issue, we take a closer look at Health and Nutrition.
Trends Around the World
The world is facing a number of challenges, including an increasing demand for food, an increasing human population, a decreasing farm labor pool, unhealthy diets and a dependence on limited resources.
- Fact: Heart disease and stroke kill 17 million people per year (almost one third of deaths globally)
– Key contributor is diet - Prediction: By 2020, heart disease and stroke will become the leading cause of both death and disability worldwide, with the number of
fatalities increasing to 20 million per year (more than 24 million in 2030) - Fact: More than one billion people go hungry every day (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2009)
- Prediction: The world population will exceed nine billion by 2050
– Caloric demand will increase by 50 percent (CropLife International)
– Food production will need to increase by 70 percent - Fact: Agriculture represents only approximately five percent of the workforce in Europe and North America
- Prediction: The number of agricultural workers in Africa and Asia will decrease from nearly 70 percent of the population in the 1980s to
barely 50 percent by 2050.
How to Meet the Demand
The increase in demand will require increased agricultural productivity and technology – both the innovative use of technologies currently in place and more rapid development of innovations currently in the pipeline.
Solutions from Dow
Dow AgroSciences is focused on creating chemical and biological solutions that manage pests and increase agricultural activity. Dow believes that the greatest problems that the world will face in the coming decades are problems that can and will be solved at the intersection of the sciences that Dow has mastered – the sciences of chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology.
Key innovations addressing needs in Health and Nutrition include:
- Omega-9 Canola and Sunflower Oils – the “next generation” in healthier oils, with zero trans fat, the lowest saturated fats and high heart-healthy monounsaturated fats (Omega-9)
- SmartStax® – the broadest spectrum of insect control available
- SmartFreshSM Quality System – a globally recognized tool for enhancing fruit quality management practices
- Enlist® Weed Control System – a new herbicide tolerant trait system that offers unsurpassed flexibility, convenience and value
To learn more about these innovative Dow products and technologies, visit www.dowagro.com and www.agrofresh.com.
Omega-9
Omega-9 canola and Sunflower Oils are key solutions in developing healthier food that taste great. They have zero trans fat, the lowest level of saturated fats and high heart-healthy monounsaturated fats (Omega-9).
Healthier
- Eliminating trans fat can reduce the risk of heart disease by 23 percent (New England Journal of Medicine)
- Replacing traditional pH oil with unhydrogenated vegetable oil could prevent approximately 228,000 coronary incidents in the U. S. each year (Harvard School of Public Health)
Great Taste
“The food has to taste great,” Dave Dzisiak, commercial leader, Oils, Dow AgroSciences. “Omega-9 Oils have a light, clean taste that lets the flavor of the food come through. So, consumers can still enjoy all types of foods from microwave popcorn to crispy French fries – but without the trans fat and extra saturated fat.”
SmartStax®
SmartStax® technology is a combined insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant technology that provides the broadest spectrum of insect control available along with higher whole-farm yield potential. It is helping farmers increase their productivity to meet the rising demand for food, feed, fiber and fuel.
“Dow is one of the few companies that have the capabilities to develop new technologies to assist in improving farmer productivity to meet the demands for more and higher quality food within the limits of a fixed amount of productive land,” Tom Wiltrout, global Seeds, Traits & oils strategy leader, Dow AgroSciences. “SmartStax is taking corn yield performance to a new level, combing the broadest spectrum of insect control available with higher whole-farm yield potential.”
SmartFreshSM
The SmartFreshSM Quality System enhances fruit quality management practices by controlling naturally occurring ethylene – which triggers ripening and spoilage in most fruits and vegetables – during storage and transport.
SmartFresh:
- Delays the natural ripening process
Reduces fruit waste and energy costs - Maintains texture, firmness, taste and appearance of fruits
“A lot of spoilage and waste occurs in general during the storage, transport and display of fresh fruits, due to natural decay, breaks in the cold chain, mismanagement during long distant transports or over-exposure to warm temperatures on supermarket shelves and at home,” said José Pina, global general manager, AgroFresh. “SmartFresh contributes measurably to reduce quality incidences and losses by maintaining the freshly harvested quality of fruit throughout the whole value chain.”
Enlist™
The Enlist™ Weed Control System is a new herbicide tolerant trait system that will provide robust tolerance to a new 2,4-D product. Enlist builds on existing glyphosatetolerant technology to meet growing weed-control needs.
- Will offer unsurpassed flexibility, convenience and value
- Will enable a complementary mode of action, and broader-spectrum control
- Will include Colex-D™ technology with ultra low volatility, minimized potential for physical drift, decreased odor and improved handling characteristics
“Farmers are asking for additional weed management tools to help them meet the current and increasing challenges,” said Wiltrout. “We are very excited about the Enlist Weed Control System. It will incorporate a combination of herbicides, traits in elite genetics and stewardship programs that will help farmers continue to advance modern farming. It will give them the clean fields they must have to deliver top yields, and do so in a way that fits their farming practices.”
™Colex-D and Enlist are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Components of the Enlist™ Weed Control System are pending regulatory approval. The information provided here is not an offer for sale. ©2011 Dow AgroSciences LLC SMService Mark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow ®SmartStax is a registered trademark of Monsanto Technology LLC