Available and affordable –

Is the rapid rise of packaged foods in

Asia driving malnutrition?

Presentation for
Food Vision Asia
29 April 2016, Singapore

Presenter
Regina Moench-Pfanner, PhD
ibn360 Pte Ltd, Singapore
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 CORE MESSAGES

 Despite improvements in food security, nutrition and health

statistics in Asia still need improvement

 A holistic understanding of how people get and consume food

and nutrients in the present environment must inform solutions
to improve nutrition and health

 Collaboration needed to lowering the barriers for lowest income

populations to obtain a nutritionally complete diet
 ASIA’S TWO FACES

“Asia and the Pacific’s

drive for food security
has focused too narrowly
on quantity, with a surge
in obesity and still high
levels of malnutrition in
some countries
highlighting the need for
a new approach”

Asian Development Bank,

Food Security in Asia and the
Pacific, Asian Development
Bank, Manila, 2013

Source: Asian Development Bank (2013). Food Security in Asia and the Pacific
ASIA HEALTH NUTRITION STATISTICS

Asia (East & South Asia): home to almost 4 billion people

34% of children under 5 years stunted (too short for their age)

18% of babies are born with low birth weight

27% of under 5’s weigh too little for their age (underweight)

13% of under 5’s are wasted (i.e. rapid weight loss due to illness/lack of food)

The New Norm of Malnutrition:

Obesity and NCDs are on the rise alongside
undernutrition
DOUBLE BURDEN OF MALNUTRITION -
PREVALENCE OF WASTING AND OVERWEIGHT
IN CHILDREN UNDER FIVE IN ASEAN

Source: ASEAN/UNICEF/WHO (2016). Regional Report on Nutrition Security in ASEAN,

Volume 2. Bangkok; UNICEF
CHANGE IN OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY
PREVALENCE IN SOME ASIAN COUNTRIES
PERCENTAGE OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY
AMONG ADULTS AGED 20+ IN SOME ASIAN
COUNTRIES

Women
54
48.6
39.7 38.4 38.2 37.4
32.5 30.9 30.6
27.2
20.7
17.6

Men
44.3 43.8
36.9
33.8 33 32.1
28.9 28.3 27.9 26.8
21.4 19.5

Source: The Lancet. Global Burden of Disease, “Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013”
 PREVALENCE OF DIABETES AT A GLANCE

SEA SEA:
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Sri
Lanka

Source: International Diabetes Federation, IDF Diabetes Atlas. http://www.idf.org/sites/default/files/Atlas-poster-2014_EN.pdf

MICRONUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES
 DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS 1950 - 2050

10

Total population - world

Population (billion)

6 Total population - more developed

regions
Total population - less developed
regions
4 Rural population - less developed
regions
Urban population - less developed
regions
2

0
1950 1970 2011 2030 2050

Source: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects, The 2011 Revision

http://esa.un.org/unup/pdf/WUP2011_Highlights.pdf
A holistic understanding of how people get and consume
food and nutrients in the present environment must
inform solutions to improve nutrition and health
 SHARES IN TOTAL FOOD EXPENDITURE,
BY RURAL/URBAN & COUNTRY

RURAL URBAN
Own Production Unprocessed Own Production Unprocessed
Low Processed High Processed Low Processed High Processed

13% 18% 18%

23%
34% 32%

46%
41% 47% 52%
38%
54%

22% 7%
17%
16%
26%
28%
19% 19% 10%
12%
4% 4%
BANGLADESH INDONESIA VIETNAM BANGLADESH INDONESIA VIETNAM

Source: Reardon et al., 2014, Urbanization, Diet Change, and Transformation of Food Supply Chains in Asia
 CRITERIA USED TO DEFINE LEVELS OF
FOOD PROCESSING

Number of ingredients Degree of processing Packaging

Consumed unprocessed (e.g.

Unprocessed One ingredient fruit, vegetables, eggs, fluid
milk)

One ingredient (e.g.

Alteration of the form (e.g. Paper, plastic bag
Processed low husked and polished
paddy milled into rice) or wrap
rice)

Additional processing steps

Multiple ingredients (e.g. cooking, extruding,
Processed high Bottle or can
(e.g. cookies) freezing, added chemicals,
flavours)

• Any item with 2-3 of the above variables meeting the high processed category is categorized as
“Processed high”
• Any item with 0-1 of the variables meeting high processed category is categorized as
“Processed low”.

Source: Reardon et al., 2014, Urbanization, Diet Change, and Transformation of Food Supply Chains in Asia
POTATO – UNPROCESSED
POTATO PROCESSED AT HOME
HIGH PROCESSED FOOD –
FRENCH FRIES, POTATO CHIPS,
INSTANT MASHED POTATOES
HIGH PROCESSED FOODS –
SAUSAGES OR INSTANT NOODLES
FROM LOW TO ULTRA-PROCESSED FOOD
PROCESSED FOODS – BRIEF HISTORY

• Industrialization:
 efficient formulation
 mass manufacture
 distribution and sale of processed
foods

• Declines in food insecurity and nutrient

deficiencies of public health concern in
early 20th century

• Cheap surplus grain + food

science/technology advances →
processed products made from cheap
ingredients and additives

• Rapid increases in NCDs at first in

high-income countries, then globally
DEFNITION OF
ULTRA-PROCESSED PRODUCTS

• “Ultra-processed products are made

from processed substances extracted
or refined from whole foods – e.g. oils,
hydrogenated oils and fats, flours and
starches, variants of sugar, and cheap
parts or remnants of animal foods –
with little or no whole foods.“

• “[They] are typically energy dense;

have a high glycaemic load; are low in
dietary fibre, micronutrients, and
phytochemicals; and are high in
unhealthy types of dietary fat, free
sugars, and sodium.”
 BASE OF THE PYRAMID MARKET POTENTIAL

1 Billion
>$60/day

Purchasing Fairly urban, extremely

2 Billion competitive, well-served
Power:
$10-60/day
$12.5 Trillion

Changing
3 Billion food
$1-10/day consumption,
under-served, Base of
$5 Trillion
informal Pyramid
economy, (BoP)
inefficient and
1 Billion little
<$1/day competition
Humanitarian
 BOP SPENDS US$ 2.3 TRILLION A YEAR ON
FOOD & BEVERAGES

Source: Time Magazine, February 28, 2011

TIME TO COLLABORATE

‘promoting a healthy, affordable nutritious diet for all’

+
healthy lifestyle
TIME TO COLLABORATE

Can innovations and advances in food science and food

technology shift the negative nutrient profile of cheap
processed foods to a positive one that can help reduce
malnutrition?
TIME TO COLLABORATE -
THE USE OF PROCESSED FOODS IN PUBLIC
HEALTH

Food Fortification
Addressing wide-spread deficiencies in vitamins and minerals
by enriching commonly consumed and accessible staple foods
in a cost efficient way

Over 80 countries have mandatory law in place to fortify wheat

flour; most countries have universal salt iodization
 TIME TO COLLABORATE –
THE USE OF ULTRA – PROCESSED FOODS IN
HUMANITARIAN FOOD AID

Targeted Food Fortification

Preferred approach when fortified foods are used for
specific population groups with specific nutritional needs

Ready to Use Foods (RUFs)

High Energy Biscuits (HEBs)
Micronutrient Powders or “Sprinkles”

https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/special-nutritional-products
 CIRCLE OF KEY PLAYERS AND TASKS IN
NUTRITION IMPROVEMENT VALUE CHAIN

 Innovation
 Labelling  Social marketing
 Enforcement  Financial
 Regulations sustainability
 Incentives
 Education

Consensus
to provide
nutritious
 Holding
industry & foods
government
accountable

 Education
 Nutrition awareness
 Participation
 Research
 Knowledge
 Advocacy
MULTISECTORAL COLLABORATIONS BEYOND
NUTRITION ARE NEEDED TO FIX NUTRITION

► Nutrition-specific interventions, if scaled up to 90%

coverage, could reduce stunting by 20.3%; the remaining
efforts need to come from nutrition-sensitive
interventions
Source: Lancet Maternal and Child Nutrition Series, 2013
 CORE MESSAGE FOR ACTION

► Given the scale of private sector’s influence on dietary intake, the

private sector needs to be co-opted into creating solutions for
reducing double burden of malnutrition

► Expand the circles of (existing) collaborations to be inclusive of all

relevant actors and sectors across the nutrition improvement
value chain
 CORE MESSAGE FOR ACTION

Let’s harness existing and future innovation in food science, technology

and delivery systems to…
expand access to a nutritionally optimal diet by…
► Improving the nutrient profiles of processed foods
► Maintaining low cost for the consumer and profitability for the
manufacturer/producer
► Reducing food waste/loss post-harvest
► Anchoring these in food policies and regulations
Q&A
Information & correspondence:
Regina Moench-Pfanner, PhD
Chief Executive Officer, Ibn 360 Pte Ltd
3 Pickering Street, #02-36 Nankin Row,
China Square Central, Singapore 048660
m +65 8387 2535 • t +65 6327 8824 • f +65 6223 7314
regina@ibn-360.com • www.ibn-360.com •
@Moenchpfanner

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