12th Seminar on Nutrition Labeling and Claims

Ms Ts. Zailina Abdul Majid, a Food Technologist since 2000 in Ministry of Health, by qualification, holds a Bachelor Degree in Industrial Technology (Food Technology), University of Science Malaysia (1995) and a Master of Science (Food Science), National University of Malaysia (2013).
At present, she is the Director for the Policy, Strategic Planning and Codex Standard Division, Food Safety and Quality Programme under the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Her main responsibilities are on the formulating national policies on food safety, promulgation of national legislation, overseeing the management of food analysis, risk assessment, and communication and consumerism activities. She is also responsible in managing international issues of Codex, WTO, SPS and TBT, regional issues pertaining to ASEAN, APEC, etc, including bilateral, multilateral agreements as well as FTAs. She also attends Codex, ASEAN and other international meetings to ensure Malaysia’s positions are upheld.
She is also the Secretary for Malaysian Food Analyst Council, the Lead Secretariat for Codex Committee of Fats and Oils host country secretariat and at the ASEAN level, she is the Vice Chair for the Task Force for ASEAN Food Safety Regulatory Framework Agreement (TF AFSRF).

Mrs. Boon Yee Yeong  is the Executive Director of 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 oversees 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). 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. Dr Tee is also Adjunct Professor of the International Medical University, Malaysia.

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). 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. Dr Tee is also Adjunct Professor of the International Medical University, Malaysia.

Ms. Noor ul-Aziha Muhammad is a Senior Assistant Director at the Food Safety and Quality Division (FSQD), Ministry of Health Malaysia. She has been working in the Ministry of Health Malaysia for the past 15 years and is currently the Secretariat for the National Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses. One of her responsibilities is to ensure the harmonization of the international guidelines and standards set in the Codex with the Malaysian Food Regulations, specifically on nutrition labelling and claims as well as the special purpose food standard. She is also Secretariat for the Expert Committee on Nutrition, Health Claims and Advertisement, a member of the National Codex Committee on Food Labelling and a member of the Expert Committee on Food Labelling. In her role, she is also giving technical and professional advice on the Malaysian Food Regulations to industries and consumers.

Ms. Meliza Suhartatik, STP, MKM is a Food Product Regulator Officer from Indonesian FDA with more than ten years of experience working in Directorate for Food Product Standardization. She graduated from Indonesia University in 2020 with master’s degree in public health nutrition and a bachelor’s degree in 2004 in Bogor Agriculture Institute Meliza is also in charge of providing information to the public about processed food regulations, particularly regulations regarding nutritional labeling. In 2022, she worked in a team to develop an application to create nutrition information tables that comply with Indonesian regulations (Aplikasi Cetak Informasi Nilai Gizi Mandiri). With this application, Food producers, especially SMEs, can easily create their own nutritional information for their products.

Ms. Maricel Rosaroso Naniong is Registered Nutritionist-Dietitian and a Licensed Professional Teacher. She is a senior food evaluator of the Licensing and Registration Division of the Center for Food Regulation and Research of FDA Philippines. She is one of the contributors to the modified electronic portal version 2 which is being used for product registration application.

Maricel worked as a Home Economics and Livelihood Education teacher for a year and as Assistant Restaurant Manager of Jollibee, a Filipino chain of fast food restaurants for three years prior to entering the Food and Drug Administration.

Ms. Seah Peik Ching is the Deputy Director for Regulatory Standard & Veterinary Office of the Singapore Food Agency. She holds an honours degree in Nutrition and is involves in setting policies on food labeling and claims.  Peik Ching is also part of the Singapore National Codex Office which oversees the strategies and Singapore’s participation in Codex.

Prior to this, she was involved in nutrition and health promotion and was involved in formulating national nutrition policies and strategizing programmes to create a conducive environment for healthy eating. She was instrumental in key strategies such as the Healthier Choice Symbol, Healthier Hawkers Programme and Healthier Dining Programme. Peik Ching was also a WHO Technical Advisor in Obesity Prevention to share her experience in promotion of healthy eating.

Ms. Jiraratana Thesasilpa is a Food and Drug Technical Officer, Senior Professional Level, at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. She is currently responsible for the standard establishing such as food additives, contaminant and others food standards, and also participates in the international meeting concerning food standards. She received her M.sc. in Tropical Nutrition and Food Science from Mahidol University, Thailand.

Dr. Tran Khanh Van is Head of the Micronutrient Department at the National Institute of Nutrition. Dr. Van served as a focal point for food fortification programs and the SBN network (Scaling Up Nutrition Business network). During her professional career of more than 25 years, she has been involved in numerous research and community educational projects focusing on nutrition communication and education, micronutrient deficiency, food fortification, and nutrition labelling emphasizing information on overweight and obesity control. She is also a member of the core group to develop important nutritional policies such as National Strategies for Nutrition and the National Plan of Action for Nutrition, nutrition labelling, Nutrition reference intakes. Dr. Van received her M.D. in Hanoi Medical School and completed her M.S. in Public Health at the University of Massachusetts, USA. She achieved her PhD in nutrition at both University of Massachusetts, USA and the National Institute of Nutrition, in Vietnam.

Ms. Norlida Zulkafly is a Nutritionist and currently appointed as the Section Head, for Special Food Group Section in the Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health. She obtained her degree in Food Science and Nutrition from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2002. She began her career as nutritionist in a pharmaceutical and health industry for three years before joining Ministry of Health as Nutritionist in 2005.

Ms. Norlida has been involved with 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 labelling and food standards development.

Ms. Pauline Chan is the Director of Scientific Programs for 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 frequently invited resource speaker at conferences and seminars, Ms. Chan is a registered dietitian (RD) with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Ms. Chan 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.

Mr. Wilfred Feng joined Dentons Shanghai Office as Senior Counsel in 2019. His practice focuses on international regulatory laws concerning life science, health, environment and data security, advising clients in the sectors of food, packaging materials, drug, medical device, tobacco products, cosmetics, agricultural products, chemicals, biomanufacturing and artificial intelligence.
By bridging law and science, he works with the regulatory authorities in China, the U.S., EU, Japan, and other jurisdictions, such as Chinese National Health Commission (NHC), State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), European Medicines Agency (EMA), etc. His work includes compliance review for products and businesses, obtaining pre-market clearance, defending clients’ products in the administrative or legal procedures, and other routine legal service.
Before joining Dentons, Mr. Feng spent 14 years at Keller and Heckman, an international regulatory law firm.  As the first Chinese member joining its Shanghai Office, Mr. Feng has made significant contribution to its establishment and growth. Before working at law firms, Mr. Feng gained extensive experience in regulatory affairs, government affairs, business administration and R&D at DuPont.
Mr. Feng earned B.Sc. (biology) from Fudan University, and master degrees in agriculture and law, from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and East China University of Law and Political Sciences. He is qualified to practice law in China.

Dr. Eunice Pang is the Deputy Director of Policy and Strategy Development at Health Promotion Board in Singapore.
Her expertise includes upstream supply chain strategies tackling nutrition-related issues at the population level. She is a pioneer in helping to grow the Healthier Choice and has a wealth of experience working with industry colleagues on R&D solutions.
Prior to joining HPB, Eunice was a post-doctoral associate at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging-USDA in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Ms. Fatimah Sulong is a Senior Principal Assistant Director at Nutrition Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya.  She is currently leading the Industry Collaboration Sector in 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 from 2014-2016 and the Senior Assistant Director from 2006-2010. In addition, Ms Fatimah also worked at the Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia from 2010-2014 and 2001-2006 where she was directly involved in formulating and reviewing policies for special purpose foods, nutrition labelling and claims regulations and advertisements. She was also the Secretariat for the National Codex Sub Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (NFSDU).
Ms Fatimah holds M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Nutrition from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2009 and 1997 respectively.

Ms. Meliza Suhartatik, STP, MKM is a Food Product Regulator Officer from Indonesian FDA with more than ten years of experience working in Directorate for Food Product Standardization. She graduated from Indonesia University in 2020 with master’s degree in public health nutrition and a bachelor’s degree in 2004 in Bogor Agriculture Institute Meliza is also in charge of providing information to the public about processed food regulations, particularly regulations regarding nutritional labeling. In 2022, she worked in a team to develop an application to create nutrition information tables that comply with Indonesian regulations (Aplikasi Cetak Informasi Nilai Gizi Mandiri). With this application, Food producers, especially SMEs, can easily create their own nutritional information for their products.

Mr. Araya Rojjanawanicharkorn hold a Master of Science in Food and Nutrition for Development from Mahidol University. In 2011, he graduated from the Thammasart University, Faculty of Economic with a Master of Business Economy. He has been work for Thai Food and Drug Administration for 12 years as a researcher. In his current roles, Mr.Araya became a politician and is one of the key person driven Food and Nutrition policy in Thailand. Moreover, he is also a member of National Food Committee and Thai Health Fund. More importantly, Mr.Araya plays important role in driving “Front-of-Pack policy” since 2015 and now appointed to Spokesman for Deputy Minister of Public Health and also worked as the President of Policy driving working group for Thailand’s Healthier Choice Logo.

Dr. Eunice Pang is the Deputy Director of Policy and Strategy Development at Health Promotion Board in Singapore.
Her expertise includes upstream supply chain strategies tackling nutrition-related issues at the population level. She is a pioneer in helping to grow the Healthier Choice and has a wealth of experience working with industry colleagues on R&D solutions.
Prior to joining HPB, Eunice was a post-doctoral associate at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging-USDA in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Mr. Araya Rojjanawanicharkorn hold a Master of Science in Food and Nutrition for Development from Mahidol University. In 2011, he graduated from the Thammasart University, Faculty of Economic with a Master of Business Economy. He has been work for Thai Food and Drug Administration for 12 years as a researcher. In his current roles, Mr.Araya became a politician and is one of the key person driven Food and Nutrition policy in Thailand. Moreover, he is also a member of National Food Committee and Thai Health Fund. More importantly, Mr.Araya plays important role in driving “Front-of-Pack policy” since 2015 and now appointed to Spokesman for Deputy Minister of Public Health and also worked as the President of Policy driving working group for Thailand’s Healthier Choice Logo.

Assoc Prof Dr Chin Yit Siew is the Associate Professor, Community Nutrition Unit, Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Her field of specialisation in community nutrition has prompted research interests that include i) child and adolescent nutrition and body composition, ii) early nutrition and allergic diseases, and iii) nutrigenetics and metabolic syndrome. She is one of main researchers of the Research Centre of Excellence Nutrition and Non-Communicable Chronic Disease (RCOE-NNCD), in UPM.  She serves on the Editorial Boards of BMC Public Health and Malaysian Journal of Nutrition (Mal J Nutr).  She is also Hon. Secretary of Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) and Vice President of Malaysian Society of Body Composition (MSBC). She also serves as a member of several Technical Working Groups (TWGs) under Ministry of Health of Malaysia.
As a community nutritionist, she has been actively organising various nutrition and health promotion programmes in various community settings. Currently, she is a member of Nutrition Month Malaysia National Steering Committee, and expert committee of both Healthy Kids Programme, and ‘Good Nutrition – Key to Healthy Children’ (GNKHC) Programme and ‘Malaysia School Nutrition Promotion Programme’ (MySNPP). She also leads several research-driven community programmes, such as Program Cara Hidup Sihat, ‘Eat Right, Be Positive About Your Body and Live Actively’ (EPaL) intervention programme, School Nutrition Programme (SNP), and ‘PUTRA Community Nutrition Ambassador’ Programme.

Dr. Kittiporn (Kit) Phanvijhitsiri has been leading the R&D Life Sciences at PepsiCo Services Asia based in Bangkok for 7 years.He joined PepsiCo after 10+ years with global food companies, including Thai Union, Ingredion, Unilever,  Mead Johnson and Ajinomoto.
He also served on the expert panel subcommittees for the Thai FDA to work on Dietary Guidelines for the Thai 2016 and Nutrient Profiling (Thailand Healthier Logo) 2013-2020. Currently, he also works as nutrition science advisor to the FTI (Food Industry) on subject related to health and nutrition.
A former lecturer at the Institute of Nutrition (Mahidol University - Thailand), Kit holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Metabolism and Nutrition from the University of Chicago. He completed his Masters at Vanderbilt following his undergraduate years at Kasetsart University with publications in the internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals. He is a strong supporter of new scientific research on functional foods and ingredient at both the local and international level.

Ms. Norlida Zulkafly is a Nutritionist and currently appointed as the Section Head, for Special Food Group Section in the Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health. She obtained her degree in Food Science and Nutrition from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2002. She began her career as nutritionist in a pharmaceutical and health industry for three years before joining Ministry of Health as Nutritionist in 2005.
Ms. Norlida has been involved with 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 labelling and food standards development.

Ms. Seah Peik Ching is the Deputy Director for Regulatory Standard & Veterinary Office of the Singapore Food Agency. She holds an honours degree in Nutrition and is involves in setting policies on food labeling and claims.  Peik Ching is also part of the Singapore National Codex Office which oversees the strategies and Singapore’s participation in Codex.
Prior to this, she was involved in nutrition and health promotion and was involved in formulating national nutrition policies and strategizing programmes to create a conducive environment for healthy eating. She was instrumental in key strategies such as the Healthier Choice Symbol, Healthier Hawkers Programme and Healthier Dining Programme. Peik Ching was also a WHO Technical Advisor in Obesity Prevention to share her experience in promotion of healthy eating.