'Microbiome' expands to food industry following cosmetics

The old adults used to say that 'rice is a medicine'. Unfortunately, due to the rapid westernization of diet, fast food, frequent eating out, flour, and stimulating menus have become rampant.

Things that are unhealthy are addictive in the changed dietary pattern why they are so delicious. In particular, COVID-19 has brought about various changes in the way food is consumed, cooked, and eaten.

As the COVID-19 pandemic increased the time to stay at home, the demand for delivery foods such as take-out and simple meals increased. As the number of easy delivery foods at home increases, processed foods have occupied the home diet, which may be a natural result of increasing calorie intake and lowering nutrient balance.

After the pandemic, people's interest in food, including delivery food, began to change as they had new experiences with the virus. Beyond delicious food that is easy to eat, interest in healthy and safe foods such as 'vegan', 'organic', and 'traditional food' arose.

The central part of health in the era of Corona is undoubtedly 'immunity'. Concerns over other pandemics are further accelerating demand for products focused on immune health.

As foods good for immunity become an issue, the 'microbiome' is a representative topic. The microbiome refers to the total number of microorganisms that exist in a specific environment. In the dictionary, it is a compound word of Microbe and Biome.

The microbiome, considered as the next-generation technology worldwide, has already gone beyond the health field and is now becoming an indispensable trend in the food field following cosmetics and daily necessities.

Due to the atmosphere in which immunity is emphasized due to the corona virus, the sales of the health functional food sector are rising at a high speed. In addition, at a time when the use is increasing in various fields such as food, it is spreading throughout the food industry by creating a new food market by combining it with manufactured foods.

A representative example of this is the 'microbiome Juk. Juk is the representative food that we usually eat when we have indigestion, when we have no appetite, and after hospital treatment.

Jukstory has succeeded in developing a healthy menu recipe that can "digest well," "suppress harmful bacteria," and "activate beneficial bacteria" incorporating microbiome technology over the past year in collaboration with Megalab, a research firm. Juk, which uses fresh ingredients without MSG, has been developed to maximize its effectiveness by adding microbiome that boosts immunity and digestion.

Microbiome Juk is expected to accelerate the revitalization of the Juk market and accelerate R&D on the microbiome in the food industry. In the future, Jukstory plans to target differentiated markets through premiumization of Juk through the development of premium menu of ‘Healthy Porridge’, expansion of market positioning as a health care food, and development of care food.

As such, in the food industry, the market is expanding to include chicken, pizza, and bread. Starting with Juk, various winds of change between the microbiome and the food industry are expected in the future.

Song Myung, medical reporter emmy21@nvp.co.kr