Defence Food Research Laboratory

The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) is an Indian defense laboratory of the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO). Located in Mysore, Karnataka, 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. DFRL is organized under the Life Sciences Directorate of DRDO. The present director of DFRL is 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."

Areas of work

 * Research and development 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 combo 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
 * Combo 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