DOST Partners with Silliman on NegOr Training in Emergency Food Preparation

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) office in Negros Oriental recently tied up with Silliman to train key people in the production of Emergency Food Reserve (EFR) to better prepare for disasters.

Faculty from the College of Education’s Nutrition and Dietetics Department were tapped as resource persons: Dr. Michele Naranjo, Mr. Alvyn Klein Mana-ay and Ms. Ruth Ann Entea. The three, who underwent a DOST training in 2016 on how EFR is produced, talked about disaster preparedness, food safety, and the relevance and implication of the production of EFR.

Also known as Sagip Nutri-Flour, EFR is a blend of powders made from nutritious and indigenous crops, such as cassava, sweet potato, malunggay, squash, and munggo. This flour can be transformed into various food products, such as noodles, cake, pastries, bread, drink powder, soup, and native delicacies.

After the talks, the 25 participants were taken into a step-by-step process on how Sagip Nutri-Flour is made, as well as its byproducts, such as chocolate bars, polvoron, and dried noodles. The 25 participants came from several government, academic, and private entities, including food manufacturing enterprises.

Meanwhile, Silliman also played host to the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Awareness Seminar recently.

Thirty entrepreneurs from micro, small, and medium businesses attended the event.

“Food safety refers to the elimination of hazards that may make food injurious to the health of the consumers. From farm to plate, let us make our food safe,” said Asst. Prof. Evalyn Fajardo of Institute of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, who was a resource speaker in the seminar.