Zoom Webinar, Singapore
08/12/2021 – 09/12/2021
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Zoom Webinar
Nutrition Labeling and Claims
Since 2001, ILSI SEA Region has facilitated a series of seminars and workshops for regulators, researchers and scientists, and relevant food industry personnel from the region to discuss issues on nutrition labeling and claims. The meetings serve to provide updates and regional developments in nutrition labeling, nutrition and health claims and related issues in Southeast Asia (SEA), to provide learning opportunities, and to explore areas for harmonization.
This webinar aims to provide updates on regional developments and changes in nutrition labeling, nutrition and health claims, front-of-pack labeling and related issues in SEA, update on harmonization efforts of nutrition labeling in SEA, CCFL developments for front-of-pack labeling guidelines, and to discuss consumers’ understanding of nutrition labeling and claims.
Program
- Welcome address and Introduction
- Mrs. Boon Yee Yeong, ILSI SEA Region, Singapore
- Mr. Mohd. Salim bin Dulatti, Food Safety and Quality Division (FSQD), Malaysia
- Updates on Codex Committee on Food Labeling (CCFL)
- Dr. E-Siong Tee, Nutrition Society of Malaysia, Malaysia
Session chair: Dr. E-Siong Tee, NSM, Malaysia
- Updates on Nutrition Labeling and Claims Regulations:
- Brunei Darussalam
- Pg Nur Halimatussaadiah Binti Pg Mohd Alias, Brunei Darussalam Food Authority, Brunei Darussalam
- Malaysia
- Ms. Norlida binti Zulkafly, FSQD, Malaysia
- Indonesia
- Ms. Yusra Egayanti (tbc), Indonesian Food and Drug Authority, Indonesia
- Philippines
- Ms. Givinia Tuason, Centre for Food Regulation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Philippines
- Brunei Darussalam
- Harmonization of Nutrition Labeling in ASEAN
- Ms. Ruhana binti Abdul Latif, FSQD, Malaysia.
- Panel Discussion on Scientific Substantiation of Health Claims in SEA Countries
- Welcome address
- Dr. E-Siong Tee, ILSI SEA Region Malaysia Country Committee
Session Chair: Ms. Pauline Chan, ILSI SEA Region, Singapore
- Updates on Nutrition Labeling and Claims Regulations:
- Singapore: Regulation on Nutri-Grading Beverages
- Ms. Giovanni Jacob, Health Promotion Board, Singapore
- Thailand
- Ms. Jiraratana Thesasilpa, Food and Drug Administration, Thailand
- Ms. Mayuree Dimetharoj, Food and Drug Administration, Thailand
- Vietnam
- Ms. Tran Thi Trang, Legislation Department, MOH, Vietnam
- Singapore: Regulation on Nutri-Grading Beverages
- Consumers’ Understanding on Nutrition Labeling and Claims:
- Malaysia
- Ms. Fatimah Sulong, Nutrition Division, Malaysia
- Thailand
- Assoc. Prof. Wantanee Kriengsinyos, Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University
- Philippines
- Assoc. Prof. Joanne R. Bantang, Home Economics, University of The Philippines Diliman, Philippines
- Malaysia
- Panel Discussion on Communication and Consumer Understanding on Nutrition Labeling and Claims in SEA Countries
Speakers
Mr. Mohd. Salim bin Dulatti is the Senior Director of the Food Safety and Quality Division (FSQD), Ministry of Health, Malaysia. He joins the government service since 1990 and has been working extensively in food safety for the past 29 years. Mr. Salim has vast experience in planning and strategizing the operational implementation of food safety and quality activities to protect public against foodborne hazards and frauds, aligned with the objective and vision of FSQD. He also spearheaded various food safety works in Malaysia, one of which is the development of the food safety certification system in Malaysia that includes among others Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Good Manufacturing Certification (GMP). In his current capacity as Senior Director, he is responsible for administering and regulating food safety in Malaysia. Mr. Salim holds a degree in Food Science and Technology from University Pertanian Malaysia (now known as University Putra Malaysia) and Master in Food Science from the University Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Mrs. Boon Yee Yeong is the Executive Director of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Southeast Asia Region (ILSI SEA Region) based in Singapore. ILSI SEA Region was established as a regional branch of the world-wide scientific-foundation ILSI in 1993, covering ASEAN and Australasia. Mrs. Yeong overseas the Branch’s operation, scientific programs and partnership activities, working closely with stakeholders from private sectors, leading academic institutions, international organizations and key government and health agencies throughout the vast geographical region. ILSI SEA Region facilitates programs that address pertinent nutrition, food safety and sustainability topics as well as issues for the improvement scientific decision for public health benefits.
Mrs. Yeong obtained her BSc and Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics from Kings College (previously Queen Elizabeth College) University of London, and has over the past decades actively served to build scientific capacity and nutrition improvement for the target population in the region.
Dr. E Siong Tee has been a Member of the Board of Directors of ILSI SEA Region since 1996 and Scientific Coordinator of ILSI Malaysia Country Committee since 2005. He is currently a Nutrition Consultant for TES NutriHealth Strategic Consultancy. Dr. Tee was Head of the Cardiovascular, Diabetes and Nutrition Research Centre of the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, until his retirement in February 2002, after serving for 30 years. He was Nutrition Advisor to the Food Safety and Quality Division of the Ministry of Health Malaysia from 2002-2011. In that capacity, Dr. Tee was Chairperson or member of several technical committees related to food regulations and Codex Alimentarius. He is still a member of the National Advisory Committee on Food Regulations and several Codex sub-committees. Dr. Tee is also President of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) since 1996. In this capacity, he has led the implementation of various community nutrition promotion programs. He represents NSM in several Technical Working Groups in the Ministry of Health Malaysia, including the National Coordinating Committee for Food and Nutrition (NCCFN) and the Technical Working Group for Nutritional Guidelines. He initiated the formation of the Southeast Asia Public Health Nutrition (SEA-PHN) Network and is the current Chairman of the Network. He is also co-chair of the Southeast Asia Probiotics Scientific and Regulatory Experts Network.
Pg. Nur Halimatussaadiah Pg. Hj. Mohd. Alias is a Public Health Officer currently working in the Brunei Darussalam Food Authority (BDFA) under the Standard Development Section where her work includes overseeing the Organizations food safety-related programmes such as the Food Handlers Basic Health Education Programme and the Food Premise Grading Programme, food legislation development and other food safety-related policies. Previously, she was the Officer-in-charge of the Policy & Development Unit in the Food Safety & Quality Control Division (FSQCD) under the Department of Environmental Health Services, Ministry of Health for 4 years and before that, was in the Food Quality Division as one of the officers tasked with ensuring compliance of food imported into Brunei via the Food Import Registration and Health Endorsement processes. Pg. Nur Halimatussaadiah has been working in FSQCD for 10 years and prior to that, has some experience from being a Scientific Officer under the Halal Science Centre in the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (now defunct with functions transferred to the Halal Food Control Division, Ministry of Religious Affairs) in 2011. She obtained her M.Sc. in Food Science (Quality Assurance) from the University of Leeds in 2010 and her B.Sc. (Hons) in Nutrition & Food Science from the University of Nottingham in 2009.
Ms. Norlida Zulkafly is a Nutritionist, serving as the Section Head of the Special Food Group Section at Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health (MOH). She began her career as a nutritionist in pharmaceutical and health industry for three years before joining MOH in 2005. Ms. Norlida is also a member of several expert committees, namely Expert Committee on Nutrition, Health Claims & Advertisement and Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU). Her field of interest includes nutrition labeling and food standards development. She obtained her degree in Food Science and Nutrition from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2002.
Mrs. Yusra Egayanti is the Deputy Director of Certain Food Standardization, Directorate of Processed Food Standardization, Indonesian Food and Drug Authority. She is in charge of preparing food standards and regulations, in particular food safety standards, functional food, food for special dietary uses, as well as the assessment of new claims and functional ingredients.
Mrs. Yusra also involved in food safety assessment in Indonesia FDA. She came from a background of pharmacy and food technology. Mrs. Yusra has attended various trainings, workshop in the field of food safety, nutrition, risk analysis and food regulation/ standardization. In her current capacity, she also responsible for preparing Indonesia positions for Codex Alimentarius and ASEAN harmonization standard as well as participation in Codex Alimentarius and ASEAN regional meetings.
Ms. Givinia Tuason is the Senior Evaluator holding the position of Food-Drug Regulation Officer II at the Licensing and Registration Division, Centre for Food Regulation and Research, Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ms. Tuason has been with the Philippine FDA for 7 years. She is responsible for quality assurance of evaluation of applications for product registration to secure Certificate of Product Registration, a market authorization document required prior to importation, distribution, sale of processed pre-packaged food products in the Philippines. In addition, Ms. Tuason is also a technical expert in the evaluation of product registration requirements and procedures including labeling requirements of processed pre-packaged food products.
In the past, she worked as an Administrative Dietitian in a reputable hospital and served as a Nutritionist –Dietitian under the Urban Health and Nutrition Project of the Department of Health. Ms. Tuason also joined the Updating National Survey on the Nutritional Status of Filipinos under the Food and Nutrition Research Institute – Department of Science and Technology. She graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
Ms. Ruhana Abdul Latif serves as the Section Head for Commodity and Labelling Section and the Food Additive and Packaging Section in FSQD, overseeing the activities under both sections. She began her career in Food Safety and Quality Division (FSQD), Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia since 2004. Ms. Ruhana started her role as a food technologist at FSQD headquarter by serving the Codex Section in which is later merged into Codex and Standards Branch of the FSQD in 2009. She has been involved with several expert committees which give advice on Malaysia Food Regulations 1985 and national Codex mirror committee namely the food additives and contaminants, fats and oils, commodity, labeling and packaging committees. Ms. Ruhana is also the former Secretariat of the National Committee on Food Container and Packaging and was involved in the development of some regulations on packaging under Malaysia Food Regulations 1985. She completed her Master’s Degree in food safety and Quality Assurance and Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science and Technology at University Putra Malaysia.
Ms. Pauline Chan is the Director of Scientific Programs for the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Southeast Asia Region, a global scientific organization that seeks to improve public health through the advancement of science in the areas of nutrition and food safety. ILSI SEA Region is headquartered in Singapore and covers the 10 ASEAN countries, Australia and New Zealand. Pauline has extensive experience in developing scientific programs and facilitating dialogue between scientists, government regulators, and industry to address regional and international issues in nutrition, food safety, sustainability and health. A frequent invited resource speaker at conferences, seminars, Pauline is a registered dietitian (RD) with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Pauline received her M.Sc. in Nutrition and Dietetics from New York University, USA, and her B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Ms. Giovanni Jacob is a Senior Manager (Policy & Strategy/ Research & Development) at Health Promotion Board, a Singapore government agency that seeks to empower the Singapore public with knowledge and skills to take ownership of their health. A nutritionist by training, she is part of the team that develops regulations to improve local dietary quality, as well as tech-enabled population health studies. Ms. Jacob has contributed to the development of the new labeling requirements for Nutri-Grade Beverages sold in Singapore, which will require such beverages that are graded “C” or “D” to be labeled with a Nutri-Grade mark.
Ms. Jiraratana Thesasilpa is Food and Drug Technical Officer, Senior Professional Level at the Thailand Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She joins FDA since 1992 and working at the Food Standard Section which responsible for setting up or revising Notifications of Ministry of Public Health for Food Safety Control under Food Act B.E. 2522. Ms. Jiraratana involves in several standard setting including Labeling, Nutrition, Food Additive, Food Packaging, Contaminant, and also joining the international/ regional standard setting such as Codex and ASEAN. She received her B.Sc. for Food and Nutrition from Kasetsart University and M.Sc. for Tropical Medicine from Mahidol University.
Ms. Mayuree Ditmetharoj is the Food and Drug Officer, Senior Professional Level for the Food Division at Thailand Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In her current role, she is responsible for system development section at Thai FDA. Ms. Mayuree also has experience working in Pre-Marketing Section and Food Regulations and Standards Development Section at Thai FDA before her current role. She obtained her B.Sc. in Agricultural Industry from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology in 1996 and M.Sc. in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Leeds in 2021.
Ms. Fatimah Sulong is a Senior Principal Assistant Director at Nutrition Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia. She is currently leading the Industry Collaboration Sector in the Nutrition Division. Her responsibilities include planning, managing, monitoring and evaluating nutrition programmes related to healthier products initiatives, food services and code of ethics for the marketing of infant products. She was previously the Senior Principal Assistant Director at Negeri Sembilan State Health Department, Ministry of Health, Malaysia from 2014 to 2016 and the Senior Assistant Director from 2006 to 2010. In addition, Ms. Fatimah also worked at the Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia from 2010 to 2014 and 2001 to 2006 where she was directly involved in formulating and reviewing policies for special purpose foods, nutrition labeling, and claims regulations and advertisements. She is also the Secretariat for the National Codex Sub Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU). Ms. Fatimah holds an M.Sc. in Nutrition and B.Sc. in Food Science and Nutrition from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2009 and 1997 respectively.
Dr. Wantanee Kriengsinyos is Associate Professor at Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University. She has 20 years of professional experience in clinical nutrition and dietetics. Her current research involves metabolic studies of food products in the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs); body composition and energy expenditure; diet and behavior modification for patients with diet-related chronic diseases; and protein quality and amino-acid metabolism. Over the past 5 years, Dr. Kriengsinyos has also developed experience in nutrition policy and was a part of the team that successfully worked to ban partially-hydrogenated oils in Thailand. She currently leads a promotion project on implementation of healthier food logos to combat NCDs through reduction of sugar, fat, and sodium consumption in the Thai population. Currently, Dr. Kriengsinyos is chair of the Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics program at the Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University. She received a doctorate in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto, Canada, and holds a Registered Dietitian credential from the United States.
Dr. Joanne R. Bantang is an Associate Professor from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, College of Home Economics (UPD-CHE). Her research interests range from home economics education, family and consumer studies to research methods and instrumentation. She is a research adviser to several consumer education-related studies that include food consumption. Currently, Dr. Bantang is the Curriculum Committee Cluster Chair that approves curricular proposals under the Science and Technology Cluster. She had ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance Tier 1 training on Program Assessment and Internal-External Quality Assurance. With these qualifications, she became a member of UPD’s Quality Assurance Committee that evaluates programs for internal/external quality assessment. Dr. Bantang had training from the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board and the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development to be an accredited member of the CHE Research Ethics Committee. In this capacity, she evaluates research protocols in terms of compliance to research ethics.
For her extension service and professional linkage, Dr. Bantang is a Board Member and Associate Editor of the peer-reviewed journal of the Philippine Association for Technology in Home Economics in State Colleges and Universities. She is also an active member of the Asian Regional Association for Home Economics and the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies. Dr. Bantang is also a trained counselor and advocate for Responsible-Parenthood and Natural Family Planning.
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