TN health drink Neera to be showcased in global food expo

Chennai:

Neera, a health drink prepared from the sap of Coconut palm, is likely to be showcased in the World Food India 2017 platform in New Delhi, according to Tamil Nadu agriculture minister R Doraikannu and agriculture secretary Gagandeep Singh.

This comes after the government permitted the sales and marketing of the Neera, considered to be a health drink for persons suffering from diabetes as it has low glycemic index (GI).

The GI is a measure of how quickly and how high a particular food item raises the blood sugar level by releasing glucose into the blood stream.

Addressing a World Food India 2017 roadshow, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry, Gangandeep Singh said that the state is planing to market the drink globally and plans are on to set up Neera processing units with help from Coconut Development Board,

Singh said that government will allow only coconut growers associations, cooperative societies and coconut growers federations to extract neera using ‘anti-fermentation liquid’ (AFL).

Interestingly, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal had said that World Food India Summit, to be held in New Delhi from November 3 to 5, will have a special section where in such natural health drinks like Neera and other products will be popularised globally