The four countries in East Asia that have implemented a national positive logo (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei) and the three that are developing one (China, Indonesia, Vietnam) all have presented their progress at the Choices Symposium of the Asian Congress on Nutrition, in August in Bali. It became clear that the existing logo programs show substantial growth, both in the number of logo bearing products as well as in consumer awareness and confidence. These programs certainly are more than just implementing a logo. They also stimulate food product reformulation by the industry and show coherence with other governmental nutrition policies such as consumer education and taxation.
During the same event, Choices has organized a Round Table to bring these seven countries together to discuss further steps. In this Round Table the participants concluded that, while the logo programs and Choices rest on the same principles, more works should be done to create a higher level of coherence in the logo criteria. In addition, scientific collaboration and joint monitoring studies should be encouraged. These items will be discussed in the next Round Table in 2020. You can find the presentations below:
Choices International Foundation, The Netherlands (Rutger Schilpzand)
Chinese Nutrition Society, China (Prof. Yang Yuexin)
Health Promotion Board, Singapore (Annie Ling PhD)
Ministry of Health Malaysia (Zalma Abdul Razak)
Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Thailand (Assoc. Prof. Wantanee Kriengsinyos)
Health Promotion Council, Brunei (Dr. Norhayati Kassim MB ChB, MMed PH, MSc HPHE)
National Institute of Nutrition, Vietnam (Do Thi Phuong Ha, MD, MSc, PhD)