The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) is an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n defense laboratory of the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO). Located in Mysore, Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

, it conducts research and development of technologies and products in the area of Food Science and Technology to cater the varied food challenges for the Indian Armed Forces

Indian Armed Forces

The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. They consist of the Army, Navy and Air Force, supported by three paramilitary forces and various inter-service institutions such as the Strategic Forces Command.The President of India is...

. DFRL is organized under the Life Sciences Directorate of DRDO. The present director of DFRL is Dr. A.S. Bawa.

History

The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) came into being on 28th December 1961 under the aegis of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, Government of India, at Mysore especially to cater to the varied food challenges of Indian Army, Navy, Airforce and other paramilitary forces. Our troops often operate in far-flung inhospitable treacherous terrains under inclement and hostile weather conditions. In such operational situations, not only are they deprived of the fresh produce needed to sustain life processes, even normal regime of cooking becomes extremely cumbersome and difficult for them. The R & D efforts at DFRL are aimed at designing and engineering lightweight, convenience pack rations for Army, Navy, Air Force and other paramilitary forces. These pack rations do not require any elaborate cooking or preparation at the consumer�s end and remain shelf-stable under varying climatic conditions for periods ranging from 6 months to 1 year when packed properly. This is the only Laboratory, which is exclusively engaged in Research and Development in the field of Food Science and Technology for Defence Forces. Prior to the inception of DFRL, the laboratory functioned as a Food Group within the precincts of Defence Science Laboratory, Delhi.

DFRL, through the dedicated efforts of its scientists and technologists, over the last four decades, has been able to conserve, preserve, stabilize, design, fabricate and engineer a vast array of food products of Indian dietary which are not only shelf stable under all weather conditions but also deliver adequate nutrition and energy to keep the morale of our Service personnel high at all times. Many of the DFRL foods, born out of innovative state-of-the-art technologies, lend themselves eminently suitable to industrial scale commercial exploitation by enterprising entrepreneurs of different genre.

Areas of work

• R&D in Food Science and Technology .
• Studies in the development of convenience foods, preservation of foods, food safety, food packaging, and studies in the spoilage of foods and safety of processed foods .
• Production and supply of processed foods on a limited scale to the Armed Forces and other bodies for national missions.
• Toxicological, nutritional and biochemical studies.
• Development of pack rations, their quality assurance methods.
• Preservation and packaging methods for long distance transportation of perishable products.
• Evaluation of nutritional requirements of troops deployed under different climatic conditions .

Technologies for Civilian use

Many of the DFRL foods, born out of innovative state-of-the-art technologies, lend themselves eminently suitable to industrial scale commercial exploitation by enterprising entrepreneurs of different genre. Some of the technologies that have been transferred to entrepreneurs are:

• Retort processing in flexible pouches.
• Mini Compo Pack Ration
• Freeze Dried Foods
• Preservation of Tender Coconut Water
• Preserved and Flavoured Chapaties
• Instant/Quick Cooking Foods
• Puff and Serve Chapaties
• Short Term Preserved Chapaties
• Scrambled Egg Mix
• Compo Pack Ration
• Supplementary Compo Pack Ration
• Cold Stock Drying Technology
• Instant Choley Mix Technology
• Minimally Processed Pre-Cut Vegetables
• Ethylene Absorbed Pad/Scrubber Development
• IM/HT Fruits