March 2023

FoodNavigator-Asia

The Singapore food authority has introduced a new voluntary scheme for baby cereal imports in a bid to encourage manufacturers to update their food safety processes.

VietnamNet

Salangane nest exporters in Vietnam can earn $200-300 million a year. China has signed a protocol on full-tax export of the expensive salangane nests to its market.

Daily Tribune

URC’s Chill, the refreshing alcoholic beverage brand, and creative BBDO Guerrero hatched an idea: help passers-by vent out all their frustrations surrounding Valentine’s Day on a “venting machine” in one of Manila’s prime shopping streets last month.The machine is a 16-foot-tall booth in the shape of a Chill can. Inside the venting machine were three activities, screaming, punching, and a slicing game.

Business Insider

Food currently considered “healthy” stands to lose that designation under a draft FDA rule change. White bread and sugary cereal would lose the claim, while salmon and avocados would gain it. Groups representing big food companies are fighting the change.

BusinessWorld

Imports of key agricultural commodities may help tame prices in the short term, but the government should address supply-side constraints to ensure inflation eases from recent 14-year highs, analysts said. This as the Philippine government recently approved imports of onions and sugar to address supply shortages that have pushed prices higher.

Bangkokpost.com

Thai people love their street food and “pa thong ko” (fried dough) and “cha Thai” iced tea are two favourites. But too much of a good thing can be bad for you, says the Health Department.

BusinessWorld

While our morals and stomach can certainly appreciate plant-based “meat,” our tongues and our memories want to taste something familiar. Unfortunately, many of the meat analogues available in the market are made for Western tastes, or else are completely flavorless so that it could become a blank canvas for whatever we cook with them.

TheFishSite

The European Union has approved Malaysia as a third-party importer of insect-based ingredients, allowing insect protein manufacturer Nutrition Technologies to use its insect meal as a feed ingredient for aquafeed, livestock and pet food.

Vietnam Briefing

As a key food manufacturer in Southeast Asia and sharing a maritime border with Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim nation, Vietnam is uniquely placed to benefit from rising demand for halal foods. Here’s how.