In this issue

Do you belong to a company against obesity?
THE World Health Organisation says “obesity nearly tripledbetween 1975 and 2016” worldwide, and we know this to be a result of unhealthy eating habits or poor choices in food, coupled with inadequate physical exercise.
Much has changed since 1975, obviously, and now it’s easier to gain weight. Back then, home-cooking was the norm; today, its convenience. We’re practically surrounded by restaurants, markets, 24-hour convenience stores, and vending machines. But it doesn’t necessarily mean we are surrounded by healthy food. It takes effort to seek, purchase, prepare and then stick to a nutrientdense, low-calorie diet. Isn’t it faster to grab a packaged product and go back to our computers?
But then again with the growing health concerns associated with bad diets, surveys show consumers are realising the need to go back to the discipline of healthy eating. Innova Market Insights coined it “mindful choices.” In fact most trends in 2018 point to consumption of simpler and more natural foods and products.
In its website, the UN agency also recommends the food industry to help promote heathier diets by: reducing the fat, sugar and salt content of processed foods; ensuring that healthy and nutritious choices are available and affordable to all consumers; restricting marketing of foods high in sugars, salt and fats, especially those foods aimed at children and teenagers; and by ensuring the availability of healthy food choices and supporting regular physical activity practice in the workplace.
How far has the industry gone to meet these recommendations?

Food Manufacturing Journal - Middle East & Africa Magazine Description:

Food Manufacturing Journal - Middle East & Africa is published 6x a year in English with highlights in Arabic. The magazine provides the region's food & beverage processing industry with the latest information and technologies on ingredients, processing and packaging, food safety and regulatory issues. It offers practical solutions to improve productivity, reduce cost, and turn innovations into real competitive advantages as well as the latest market information, trade show reviews and videos, and people and company profiles, written by industry experts and correspondents across the region. Also included are exclusive content and articles from industry professionals throughout the Middle East and Africa and from Ringier's family of food industry magazines covering Greater China region, South East Asia and other parts of the world, inclduing International Food & Beverage Ingredients News for China, China Food Manufacturing Journal, FoodPacific Manufacturing Journal, and Modern Food Processing (India). The interactive content allows readers to make direct and immediate contact with advertisers/suppliers and featured companies in the editorial by clicking on the web site and email addresses in each issue, access online content in Ringier’s food website (food.industrysourcing.com), and avail of video content through iTunes and Google Play.