As one of the world's fastest growing regions, Asia faces increasingly complex and urgent challenges in nutrition, health and food safety.
Urbanization and economic progress have transformed Asian lifestyles and attitudes about well-being and nutrition. Modern consumers in the region are increasingly aware of the role diet plays in good health.
At the same time, disparities between developed and developing Asia are widening. While malnutrition persists in many rural areas, there has been an alarming increase in adult obesity rates, with more than 30 million people now living with obesity in the region.
This highlights the urgency of supporting and accelerating a shift to healthier food choices to reduce the risks of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other health problems associated with obesity. Food safety also remains a pressing concern as Asia grapples with challenges like contamination, improper food handling and inconsistent regulatory standards across different markets.
Food reformulation, which can involve processes such as boosting nutritional content, reducing the presence of ingredients like sugar, salt and unhealthy fat or enhancing other qualities such as shelf life, can be a key strategy for addressing these health challenges.
Asia's food industry has been a trailblazer in this area, not only in adapting to changing tastes but in contributing to improved consumer health. A recent survey by Food Industry Asia showed that 96% of the region's food and drink companies have embarked on or plan to engage in food reformulation.
Yet despite its widespread adoption, reformulation faces hurdles in terms of consumer acceptance and regulations that do not fully account for the complexity and benefits of these techniques.
Reformulation remains misunderstood by Asian consumers. In recent years, there have been movements against the use of certain additives and alternative ingredients, but this has often involved considerable misinformation.
For instance, to reduce sugar content, food manufacturers often turn to low-calorie or no-calorie sweeteners. While these substitutes can significantly cut caloric intake and help in managing diabetes or weight, their use has frequently been met with skepticism over their long-term health impacts and potential side effects.
Yet low- and no-calorie sweeteners have been used in food and drink for decades and include some of the most well-studied ingredients in the world.
Sweeteners permitted for use in food and drinks on the market have undergone rigorous testing and safety assessments by numerous highly regarded international health and regulatory agencies such as the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the World Health Organization and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
Reducing saturated fat intake in favor of healthier, unsaturated fats, like omega-3 fatty acids, can lower cardiovascular risks. But consumers can be reluctant to choose products with healthier fats due to misconceptions and a lack of familiarity with their benefits.
Some consumers continue to associate any type of fat with weight gain and health problems. This can lead to a general reluctance to incorporate beneficial fats into people's diets. Conflicting information about fats, with some sources touting the benefits of omega-3 and monounsaturated fats, and others questioning their health impact, can be confusing.
Regulations intended to foster healthier diets can sometimes have unintended consequences that complicate the availability of healthier options.
For instance, Japan's Specifications and Standards for Food Additives regulates the use of food additives and is highly stringent. In fact, few additives have gotten through the lengthy approval processes and only at great cost.
While aimed at ensuring food safety and protecting consumer health, such regulations can pose a significant challenge for the food industry by stifling innovation and delaying consumer access to healthier, reformulated food options.
The interpretation and implementation of overly complex and extensive regulations can require specialized knowledge and expertise. This can deter manufacturers from incorporating innovative, healthier ingredients due to the complexity and costs of regulatory compliance.
Such rules can disproportionately impact small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and artisanal food producers, which may lack the resources to adapt quickly to new regulations or invest in the development of new product lines.
Conversely, programs like Singapore's Healthier Ingredient Development Scheme (HIDS) and Australia's Partnership Reformulation Program (PRP) highlight how thoughtful policy design can support reformulation efforts.
HIDS, for example, offers up to 500,000 Singapore dollars ($370,000) in support for the development and marketing of healthier ingredients. This not only aids in commercialization, but also encourages SMEs to participate in the movement towards health-focused food production.
The PRP, meanwhile, is focused on collaborations between the public health sector and food and drink companies to gradually reduce sugar, sodium and saturated fats in manufactured food.
Without such supportive measures, companies can struggle to meet the costs associated with reformulating products, ultimately limiting consumer access to healthier choices.
Yet food reformulation is not something that consumers necessarily understand or are even aware of when it happens. The lack of awareness of reformulation and its benefits is largely because, when executed well, it is an unseen art.
Food scientists, technologists and nutritionists go to great lengths to ensure that when ingredients are changed, products still have the taste and texture consumers are familiar with and enjoy.
Raising awareness of reformulation is key to demystifying the process and gaining greater acceptance of its benefits.
Effective communication strategies, such as the "healthier choice" labeling system adopted by a number of Southeast Asian countries, can be instrumental in guiding consumers toward healthier options and should be expanded.
Asian governments have a pivotal role to play in advancing public health and should continue to or start setting clear nutritional goals and prioritizing policies that safeguard the well-being of their citizens. As a trusted source of critical information, they have a huge opportunity to dispel potentially harmful misinformation that stands in the way of improved health outcomes for individuals and communities.
At the same time, companies must uphold high standards in reformulation, set realistic targets and employ a systematic, science-based approach to enhance product quality. By fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing, particularly between small and large businesses, we can improve the availability and diversity of healthier food options.
As reformulation increasingly takes center stage in the creation of healthier food and drink products, the collective effort of all stakeholders will be more important than ever.
This article was first published in Nikkei Asia, 25 June 2024: Asia needs more collaboration to make food and drinks healthier