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t_Articles
t_Articles
W elcome
to the May
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
already subscribed, but would like your own monthly copy, please send a blank
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DATES
FOR YOUR DIARY
N EW
FROM AFIC
The
“Guidelines for Communicating the Emerging Science of Dietary Components for
Health”, developed by the International Food Information Council and
disseminated in Asia by AFIC, is now available on
website both in
text and
PDF versions.
For more
information or journalist enquiries, email
info@afic.org.
Most Frequently
Reported Food Safety and Nutrition News in Indonesia Magazines
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.
C OMMENTS
ON MOST POPULAR
NUTRITION AND FOOD SAFETY ISSUES
Functional
Foods
(47%)
Functional foods was the most popular topic by far, and
there appears to be a significant increase in media interest in this topic
(rising from 15% of coverage in 2004 to 47% coverage in 2005). A variety of
fruits and vegetables were highlighted, as were the importance of vitamins and
minerals. Food items covered included avocado, banana, carrot, radish, celery,
chocolate, chamomile, olive oil, oysters, garlic, red fruit and soybean.
The Guidelines for Communicating the Emerging Science of
Dietary Components for Health is an excellent
guide that you can use to place the information you receive on functional foods
in context.
Healthy
Lifestyle (11%)
-
Always a popular topic (13% of coverage in March 2004, 11%
coverage in 2005), healthy lifestyles was the second most frequent topic in the
2005 magazine survey. The benefit of a healthy diet in reducing risks of heart
disease and cancer was a common theme. Comparisons were also made between
‘traditional’ foods and fast food, with the recommendation that fresh and
non-processed foods, coupled with lots of fruits and vegetables should be the
preferred choice for Indonesians. An article on the ‘food for the wise’,
emphasised that good health comes from healthy foods, and an active lifestyle.
For more information on healthy eating principles, click
here.
Overweight
& Obesity (11%)
Level of media interest in weight control during the
survey period in 2005 were very similar to survey results in 2004, accounting
for 11% of the coverage in the 2005.survey Water rich foods, such a grapes and
hot cereal were advised as alternatives to more energy-dense choices such as
raisins and bagels, based on assertion that water can help individuals to feel
fuller on fewer calories. There was also description of the ‘best’ and ‘worst’
dieting trends, and some discussion on general dieting practices. For more ideas
on weight management please click
here.
Meat/Vegetarianism
(8%)
Significant rise
in coverage, from 0% in the 2004 survey to 8% in 2005. Media coverage included
an article suggesting that vegetarian lifestyle is gaining popularity in
Indonesia, apparently buoyed by consumer avoidance of foods originating from
animals because of concerns about zoonotic diseases such as avian flu and BSE;
reporting of experts opinion that vegetarian lifestyle can lead to nutrient
deficiency with suggestion that one solution to low levels of micronutrients in
some ‘traditional’ vegetarian diets, was ‘flexitarianism’ (flexitarians were
described as part time vegetarian consuming animal meat once per week and egg or
milk everyday); commentary on potential risks of excessive red meat
consumption, which may lead to elevated risks of colorectal cancer.
For
more information on the role of meat in meeting micronutrient goals, click on
“Lacking concentration? Maybe it’s a lack of iron”.
For more
information on how to prepare and consumer chicken and beef safely, please click
on
Short Briefing on
Avian
Flu
or
Short Briefing on BSE
Calcium/Dairy
Product (5%)
Articles on dairy
products focused on whether powdered or liquid milk were better for the
children, with tendency to conclude that liquid milk was preferable.
Osteoporosis prevention was also discussed, mainly focusing on the role of
calcium. Coverage in this area is up from the 2% in the 2004 survey to 5% in the
2005 survey.
For more information about the benefits of calcium, please
click
here.
Diabetes
and Diet
(5%)
Media coverage of the topic rose slightly from the 4% recorded in March 2004 to
5% in 2005. Articles scanned in the survey, noted that Indonesia has the sixth
biggest diabetic population in the world after India, China, Russia, Japan and
Brazil; and that in 2005 there are approximately 12 million diabetics in
Indonesia. To maintain healthy blood glucose level, diabetics were recommended
to adhere to 3 Ds: diet, daily activity, and drugs, and the need for Type 2
diabetics to maintain healthy diet and exercise regularly to avoid the health
complications of diabetes also featured as theme. To read “Tackling Diabesity
with a Lifestyle Change” please click
here
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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