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Welcome
to the July edition of AFICNews.
AFICNews is a free
monthly e-bulletin, providing updates on current food safety, health and
nutrition news trends around the Asia Pacific region. If you are not
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can do the rest.
DATES
FOR YOUR DIARY
NEW
FROM AFIC
Food Facts Asia Issue 21, July 2004, is
now launched and distributed to subscribers. The text versions
(English, Chinese and Thai) and full PDF version are also available on
AFIC. The topics included in this issue are:
·
How Safe is Our Food?
English,
Chinese or
Thai
·
Eating Out the Healthier
Way –
English,
Chinese or
Thai
·
Healthy Weight Advice –
One Size Doesn’t Fit All -
English,
Chinese or
Thai
For more
information or journalist enquiries, email
info@afic.org.
Most
Frequently Reported Food Safety and Nutrition Topics in Daily Press and
Newswires Around the Asia Region
Note: These figures are
based on simple counting method of topic headings and do not allow for
differences in length or depth of feature articles.
COMMENTS
ON MOST POPULAR TOPICS
Comments on
Regional Daily Media Coverage of Food Safety and Nutrition Topics.
Food
Biotechnology (9%)
Resurgence of media interest and trend towards more balanced reporting
continues. New traceability requirements in EU and continued policy
debate of European Union have acted as drivers of renewed interest.
Also February meeting and subsequent declaration from the Conference of
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP7) in Malaysia
generated a modest flurry of media reports.
To view AFIC’s
just released 2003 Consumer Perception of Food Biotechnology Survey,
click
here
BSE
(7%)
Much of the reports
tracked during this period focused on trade issues, rather than human
health. Majority of the stories tracked were balanced, but the sheer
volume of press coverage is sufficient to trigger anxiety amongst public
who have some awareness but little grasp of the technical context.
AFIC has recently updated its Short
Briefing on BSE and Food Safety and this is available in
English,
Chinese
and
Thai.
Food
Safety – microbial (25%)
Avian flu was the
dominant issue under this heading. Much of the reportage described and
commented on containment strategies has been and very little information
from WHO and national authorities on sensible food hygiene measures
regarding safe handling, cooking and consumption of chicken, duck and
egg products. There appears to have been a great deal of public
confusion on the question of consumption of chicken and eggs and safety.
Nevertheless, consumption of these products is recovering. Other stories
have primarily
dealt with mass food poisoning incidents ,
especially in China.
For information on safe handling and preparation of chicken and eggs,
click on AFIC
Short Briefing on Avian Influenza and Food Safety ,
Children’s
Diets and Health (9%)
The intense interest of
US, European and Australasian media in childhood overweight and obesity
is now beginning to impact more heavily on Asian media, and the press
has moved from quoting US/European or global statistics to local
data. Sub-topics fuelling this interest include growing prevalence of
Type 2 diabetes in children, discussions in western countries on
advertising restrictions, school food and beverage sales policies,
and proposals to tax high calorie, high fat, high sugar foods. At the
same time, there has been a rise in Asian media reporting of
nutritional deficiencies experienced by children in Asia (i.e. iron,
vitamin A
and iodine, protein), and national intervention strategies such as
fortification, education and supplementation to address these.
Recent articles in
AFIC’s Food Facts Asia have addressed weight management in children and
fortification of foods.
Raising Healthy Kids – Some Tips for Parents
and
Fortifying against the Hidden Hunger
Healthy
Lifestyles (7%)
This
is a topic of sustained interest for mass media in Asia, and currently
interest is particularly strong. Statistics for heart disease and
metabolic syndrome in many countries in the region are being quoted
regularly, and the health and economic consequences of rapidly rising
number of cases is providing strong stimulus for news reporting of the
topics. The WHO Global Strategy on Diet and the Prevention of Chronic
Disease
has also stimulated interest. ‘Westernisation of Asian diets’ and the
dietary composition of western fast foods are common themes. Media
demonstrate little understanding of real dietary change that are
occurring in Asia, for example increased dietary fat content of daily
diet both from Asian and western food products. Concurrently
disproportionate volume of coverage is being devoted to emerging
scientific evidence for the role of micronutrients and other trace
substances in food in determining onset and severity of chronic
degenerative disease, e.g. trans fats, folic acid.
Two recent articles
from AFIC, which provide more information on this topic are –
Metabolic Syndrome – A Lifestyle Issue
and
Beating Cardiovascular Disease and
Enjoying Life
Overweight
(11%)
Media reporting of this
topic is becoming more balanced, but also increasingly intense. Media is
demonstrating much stronger awareness of the role of physical activity,
and the relevance of increasingly sedentary lifestyles, but public
awareness and responses to this is responding somewhat slowly. Pick up
and commentary on the recommendations of the expert consultation group
on Asian BMI cut-offs has become apparent. Also, expert statements on
the rapidly rising prevalence of obesity globally and in Asia are
regularly being reported. Theme for this year’s World Heart Day and
World Diabetes Day both include obesity – and are therefore likely to
act as additional drivers of this issue. Low carbohydrate diets have
become topic of some interest to media all over the world, despite
limited market presence and consumer adoption in Asia currently.
The July Issue of Food Facts Asia
includes an article on current perspectives on classification of
overweight and obesity amongst Asian populations, this may be accessed
in
English,
Chinese
and
Thai.
The
Asian Food information Centre is a not-for profit Singapore-registered
organization Its
mission is to effectively communicate sound science based information on
food safety, health and nutrition to the
media and other key audiences in Asia
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