Bringing you the latest science, events, publications and news from ILSI SEA Region.
NEWS FROM AROUND ILSI
ILSI Federation Sustainable Nutrition Newsletter
In March 2023, the ILSI Federation released its Sustainable Nutrition Newsletter. It aims to provide updates on upcoming, current and recent activities on sustainable nutrition that tackles on culturally relevant dietary habits, education, new technologies, next generation of foods and personalized nutrition across ILSI Federation entities.
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RECENT EVENTS
Future Foods and Food Processing
In 2022, ILSI SEA Region conducted a series of webinars on the topic of innovations for future foods, as well as food processing. Invited experts presented on a range of issues related to the topic, from the perspectives of food safety and sustainability, as well as nutrition and health.
August 31 & November 15, 2022
Webinar Series on Foods for the Future
Two webinars organized by ILSI SEA Region Philippines Country Committee brought together six esteemed speakers who discussed innovations for plant-based foods; nutrition’s role in mood, cognition and sleep; microbiome’s role beyond digestive health; role of protein on sarcopenia during aging; and food innovations for sustainable nutrition.
October 11, 2022
From Science to Consumer - Food & Food Processing for a Healthy and Sustainable Diet Webinar
A webinar organized by the ILSI SEA Region Thailand Country Committee, in collaboration with the Thai Dietetic Association and the Food Science and Technology Association of Thailand (FoSTAT). The meeting provided updates on dietary trends and shifts in Thailand; discussed the importance of food processing and its impact on nutrition, food safety, food security and sustainability; and shared emerging technologies and innovations.
A recording of this meeting is available here.
Dietary Shift and Food Innovations
In recent years, there has been a considerable shift towards plant-based diets, driven by concerns over the environmental impact of animal agriculture, as well as health and ethical considerations. With the growing interest in food innovations catering this dietary shift, such as alternative protein sources, ILSI SEA Region supported and organized 2 Science sessions during the 21st IUFoST World Congress held in Singapore in 2022. A follow-up seminar was organized to further discuss protein science, requirements, and consumption in Southeast Asia, as well as innovations, opportunities, and challenges.
October 31, 2022 Singapore
Future of Protein: Science, Innovation and Dietary Shifts (21st IUFoST World Congress)
The 21st IUFOST World Congress of Food Science and Technology a 4-day event held in Singapore, focusing on the theme of Future of Food: Innovation, Sustainability & Health. ILSI SEA Region collaborated with ILSI Global and Australia’s CSIRO to co-organize three science sessions at the Congress. The science session on Future of Protein discussed opportunities and innovations relating to complimentary proteins; protein requirements and current gaps; as well as innovations and technological challenges in cultured meat development.
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November 2, 2022 Singapore
Food-omics: Rethinking Food Analytical Tools for Food Components and their Health Impact (21st IUFoST World Congress )
The science session on Food-omics addressed proteomics and its role and application to food safety concerns, lipidomics in pregnancy and early life, as well as metabolomics.
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February 21-22, 2023 Singapore
ReThink Protein Needs and Dietary Shifts in Southeast Asia
Continuing the important discussion on protein science, ILSI SEA Region organized a symposium on innovations, research gaps and collaborative opportunities to address protein and nutrition security challenges amidst dietary shift and food system transformations in Southeast Asia and globally.
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Sustainable Production and Food Systems
Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important consideration in the food industry, as climate change impacts food production and distribution, leading to potential food shortages and increased food insecurity.
ILSI SEA Region recently organized three science activities, focusing on food packaging, food and agricultural sustainability, and the impact of climate change on nutrition and health.
November 3, 2022 Singapore
Food Packaging: Safety and Sustainability in the Food System (21st IUFoST World Congress)
The third of ILSI’s science sessions at the 21st IUFOST World Congress of Food Science and Technology discussed food packaging and its safety and sustainability aspects.
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November 23, 2022
The Journey to Sustainability: Managing a Transition for Food and Agriculture Sectors Webinar
This webinar organized by ILSI SEA Region’s Australasia Country Committee brought together national and international speakers to discuss the challenges of building sustainability into the agriculture and food sectors. These included the transition to sustainable food systems, creating ethical and sustainable foodscapes, supporting food production through biodiversity, agri-genomics and soil re-carbonization.
December 6, 2022
Tokyo, Japan
Seminar on Climate Change, Nutrition and Health
In conjunction with the 22nd IUNS-ICN International Congress of Nutrition held in Tokyo, Japan from December 6 – 11, 2022, ILSI SEA Region collaborated with ILSI Global and ILSI Japan to organize a pre-ICN satellite seminar held on December 6, 2022. The meeting addressed a wide range of topics, including the impact of heat stress; current gaps and future directions for dietary guidance; implications on nutrition and mitigation strategies; as well as challenges and opportunities for the development of agri-food technologies in Asia.
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Food Safety
As more countries in Southeast Asia adopt risk-based food control systems, increased knowledge and understanding of, and availability of data for risk assessment is important. In recent months, ILSI SEA Region has organized several activities relating to food safety in the region.
November 11, 2022
Malaysia
Roundtable Discussion on Asia Codex Initiative
ILSI SEA Region, in collaboration with Global Food Regulatory Science Society (GFoRSS), organized a Roundtable Discussion among 9 Southeast Asia countries to exchange views and information regarding the Asia Codex Initiative, which is aimed at enhancing coordination among the Codex Committees of Asia member countries for more effective participation in the meetings of various Codex Committees.
Read more about the Asia Codex Initiative here
November 29-30, 2022
Workshop on Microbiology Analysis for Food
This online workshop was organized by ILSI SEA Region and the ASEAN Risk Assessment Centre (ARAC), and supported by ASEAN Health Cluster 4. The workshop aimed to provide training and support capacity building in microbiological risk assessment among risk managers and risk assessors from ASEAN countries, as well as members of the Scientific Committee of ARAC. Topics covered included fundamental knowledge on food safety risk analysis; latest updates on microbiological risk analysis; strategies to strengthen interactions and communication between risk managers and risk assessors; as well as the preparation of Risk Assessment Request. This workshop served as the kick-start program of the capacity-building initiative between ILSI SEA Region and ARAC focusing on microbiological testing in food.
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS
April 2022
A Systematic Review of Physical Activity Intervention Programs in ASEAN Countries: Efficacy and Future Directions
This 2nd publication of a series of publications on Physical Activity shared the results of a systematic review on the effectiveness of intervention programs to improve physical activity as a primary or secondary outcome. This paper was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095357
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April 2022
Maternal Diet, Nutritional Status and Infant Birth Weight in Malaysia: A Scoping Review
This paper examined the adequacy of dietary micronutrient intake among pregnant women, and the association of nutritional factors on offspring birth weight defined in terms of macrosomia and low birth weight (LBW). It also examined the association of co-morbidities of maternal plasma glucose and blood pressure during pregnancy on offspring birth weight. This article was published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2022) 22:294 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-022-04616-z
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December 2022
Regulatory status of bioactive non-nutritional food components in Southeast Asian countries
This publication reviewed the regulatory status of bioactive non-nutritional food components in foods and beverages in eight Southeast Asian countries, with regards to the use of bioactive non-nutritional food component, as well as permitted health claims related to bioactive non-nutritional food components. The Southeast Asian countries included in the review were Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. This paper was published in the Malaysian Journal of Nutrition (Mal J Nutr 28(3): 461-505, 2022)
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UPCOMING EVENTS
April 27 – 28, 2023
ILSI SEA Region 30th Annual Meeting
ILSI SEA Region is holding our 2023 Annual Meeting in Singapore on April 27 and 28. It will be a milestone event as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary this year with a commemorative program including special lectures by leading scientists, as well as a Science Symposium.
April 27, 2023
ReThink Nutrient Recommendations for Optimizing Health and Harmonizing Approaches
In conjunction with ILSI SEA Region’s 30th Anniversary and Annual Meeting 2023, ILSI SEA Region is organizing a symposium on "ReThink Nutrient Recommendations for Optimizing Health and Harmonizing Approaches" on April 27th 2023 in Singapore. This symposium will review and deliberate on various aspects of recommended intake values for nutrients and bioactives, understand usage of Upper Limit (UL) in optimizing the benefits of nutrients safely and its related challenges, and address the gaps and challenges of recommended intake values in SEA region and in sectors, such as public health, food safety and food regulation.
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June 9, 2023
SIFBI-CNRC-ILSI Symposium: The Integration of Food Science and Nutrition to Improve Global Health
ILSI Southeast Asia Region will celebrate more than a decade of collaboration and partnership with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), through its research institutes the Clinical Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) and the Singapore Institute for Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI). This Symposium will be held on June 9th 2023, focusing on the integration of food science and nutrition with the goal of improving global health and wellbeing.
More information on this event will be shared.
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