The scientific criteria, that differentiate between more and less healthy products, are the cornerstone of the Choices way of working. The International Scientific Committee is the custodian of these criteria and is responsible for the regular revision, every four years, to cater for new developments in consumer habits, food science and product reformulation.
The International Scientific Committee is formed by a group of leading independent scientists in nutrition, food science and consumer behaviour. The committee is independent and autonomous.
Lauren Lissner is a Professor in Epidemiology at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She has a Master's degree in Public Health from the University of California and a Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from Cornell University.
Prof. Lissner has been living in Sweden since 1989. During this time, she has been Director of the EpiLife Research Center at the University of Gothenburg, has served as Chair of the Public Health and Prevention Task Force of the European Association for the Study of Obesity, and has been President of the Swedish Association for the Study of Obesity. She joined the International Scientific Committee of Choices in 2016 and has chaired this group since 2018. Prof. Lissner has published around 400 scientific publications.
Prof. Yang Yuexin is a professor of nutrition and the Director of the department of food and nutrition assessment at the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, China Center for Disease Control. Her research interests cover food composition, new ingredients, dietary fiber, and glycemic index.
She is the President of the Chinese Nutrition Society, the Chairperson of the Committee on Nutritional and Functional Foods In China, and the vice president of China's National Dairy Standardization Technical Committee. She is a member of the National Food Safety Standardization Committee, and the National Food Label Standard Committee in China. Since 2002, she has been the coordinator of NEASIAFOODS on FAO/WHO/UNU.
Prof.Yang Yuexin has published more than 200 research articles and reviews in both international and national journals. She has edited 12 scientific books and textbooks on nutrition. She has received numerous awards for her research work in China.
Dr. Krishna Pillay Madhavan Nair is the Vice-President of Nutrition Society of India and a Fellow of both the National Academy of Medical Sciences and the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He is a member of a large number of National and International expert committees on Public Health Nutrition.
Dr. Nair was formerly the Head of Micronutrient Research at the National Institute of Nutrition (Indian Council of Medical Research) and has worked there for more than 35 years. He has completed post-doctoral training in methodologies in iron metabolism at the International Center for Control of Nutritional Anemia (ICCNA) and received the Public Health Service International Research Fellowship award of the Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in Health Sciences (USA).
Dr. Nair's expertise includes basic, applied, and population-based intervention programs for the management of micronutrient deficiencies. He has made significant contributions to understanding iron-induced free radical damage, bioavailability, and food fortification and food-based strategies to control micronutrient deficiencies. He coordinated the Expert Group of the Indian Council of Medical Research to revise the Nutrient Requirements and RDA for Indians and in developing the National standards for staple food fortification. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and supervised several Ph.D. students.
Rokiah Don is trained in Biochemistry/Physiology from the University of Westminster, London and in Community Nutrition from the University of Queensland, Australia. She is currently the Co-chair of the International Scientific Committee, Choices International.
She was formerly with the Nutrition and Dietetics Department, International Medical University (IMU), Kuala Lumpur. Prior to this, she was the Director of Nutrition Division in the Ministry of Health Malaysia and had served the Ministry of Health Malaysia for 35 years. As Director and Head of the nutrition profession in Malaysia, she has a vast experience working inter-sectorally with various ministries, professional bodies, NGOs and food & beverage industries and collaboratively designed, developed, implemented, monitored and evaluated nutrition policies, strategies and activities to address nutrition and health-related issues in the country especially double burden malnutrition. She chaired and participated in many technical committees for nutrition and health-related program development and the formulation of Policies/Curriculum/Guidelines/Standard Operating Procedures for nutrition/health.
She was a Council Member and is a Fellow of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia. She has been a Temporary Advisor to and worked with WHO and UNICEF, especially in the field of infant and young child nutrition. She has, for several years, led the Malaysian Delegation for participation at the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) Meeting at the international level. Due to her tremendous contributions to the development of nutrition, locally and globally, she has been honoured with several excellent service awards from the government of Malaysia.
Professor Ngozi Nnam is a Professor in Community and Public Health Nutrition affiliated to the Department of Home Science, Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
Her area of specialization is Community and Public Health Nutrition, with a special interest in nutrition of women and children, particularly about how to tackle malnutrition. Her expertise includes the use of locally available food crops, the improvement of the nutritional qualities of plant foods to increase utilization and production. She is also an expert in the development, documentation as well as chemical and biological evaluation of locally-available food products, especially complementary foods.
After completing a Ph.D. program in Human Nutrition, Prof. Nnam joined the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, where she later became Professor in Community and Public Health Nutrition. She has served as Head of the Department of Home Science, Nutrition and Dietetics for five years. In 2007 she was awarded the title of outstanding Head of Department in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Prof. Nnam is currently the President Federation of African Nutrition Societies. She is also a Trustee of the African Nutrition Society and the e-Nutrition Academy and Nutrition Society of Nigeria. Prof. Nnam has served as Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, as President of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria, and as Chair of the Civil Society Platform of the Scaling Up Nutrition movement in Nigeria.
Annet JC Roodenburg (PhD Nutrition) has been Associate Professor Nutrition and Health at HAS University of Applied Sciences, in Den Bosch/Venlo, The Netherlands since 2010.
She worked for 16 years in the food industry as a nutrition scientist on the scientific approach towards healthier foods and responsible communication in order to help consumers to make healthier choices.
Current research focus: foods, consumers, and food producers on topics such as nutrient profiling and food labelling, reformulation and food data, product development for specific target groups (elderly), tools for chefs in food service.
Bruce Hamaker is Distinguished Professor of Food Science at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. He also holds the Roy L. Whistler Chair and is Director of the Whistler Center of Carbohydrate Research. He has an M.S. in Human Nutrition and PhD in Food Science from Purdue University, and post-doctoral study through Johns Hopkins University at the Instituto de Investigación Nutricionál in Lima, Peru.
Prof. Hamaker's research is in the area of food carbohydrates and proteins with applications related to topics of processing, nutrition, health and wellness. He has been and continues to be active in international research collaborations in Africa, Asia and Latin America; and particularly in development-oriented research and applied programs in West and East Africa. He has over 265 refereed publications in food science, human nutrition, biochemistry and microbiome research. He has advised about 70 M.S and PhD students and over 25 post-doctoral scientists. He joined the International Scientific Committee in 2020.