WINA Food Safety Conference 2014

Dates:November, 24 (Mon)–25 (Tue), 2014

Venue : Singapore

  • Outline
  • Speech Contents
  • Photo
    Collection

Outline

Dates

November, 24 (Mon)–25 (Tue), 2014

Venue

Shangri-La Hotel Singapore

WINA Food Safety Conference was held in Singapore from November 24–25. The conference was attended by a total of 98 top executives and persons in charge of quality assurance at WINA member-companies from 16 different countries/regions to discuss food safety issues.

Program

Day 1

Board of Governors Meeting

Opening Ceremony

Keynote Speech

"Global Trends Impacting Food"
Dr. David Acheson, CEO of Acheson Group and former Associate Commissioner of the U.S. FDA

Session 1

"Image up. Make the Pie Bigger"
Mr. Richard Chen, CTO of Master Kong

Session 2

"Leading Edge of Research for Food Safety"
Dr. Toshihiro Yamada, Chief Quality Officer of Nissin Foods Holdings

Session 3

"The Direction of Sodium Reduction"
Dr. Visith Chavasit, Independent Director of Thai President Foods

"Sodium Reduction Efforts by the Korean Instant Noodle Industry"
Mr. Yong-Jae Lee, Senior VP of Nongshim

Day 2

Session 4

"Nutrition & Health with Instant Noodles"
Mr. Parminder Singh Joshi, Group Manager –Culinary of Nestlé R&D Centre India

Session 5

"Food Defense as a Brand Owner"
Mr. Yasuhiro Yamada, Chief Production Officer of Nissin Foods Holdings

Chairman's Summary

Event Report

Board of Governors Meeting

At the Board of Governors Meeting held in the morning of Day One, WINA Chairman proposed to hold concurrently two different lines of gathering for the future WINA events; namely a biennial conference on the topics of members' concerns such as food safety and ESG*1 issues, and an irregular-base public-relations oriented Summit*2 hosted by a Governor. Also, the donations to the WINA Disaster Relief Fund (US$100,000 from Tingyi and US$50,000 from Bixiang) were reported. As for the WINA Food Safety Research Fund, the need for more effective use was pointed.

*1 Environmental, Social, Governance
*2 Upon the approval of the board

Plenary Session

WINA Chairman Koki Ando's opening address was followed by a keynote speech by Dr. David Acheson, former Associate Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and then the food safety sessions commenced. Each session started with a short presentation by a WINA member-company on a food safety issue the instant noodles industry is confronted with, such as the latest study on hazardous substances and sodium reduction. Those presentations, then, were followed by discussions by the attendees. Chairman Ando pointed that a quality problem in one company could damage the entire industry, and initial response is critically important. He then wrapped up the conference saying "food safety is a non-competitive issue and the industry as a whole needs to collaborate to establish guideline on food safety, sodium reduction and nutrition."

※The title is that of the time.

Speech Contents

Keynote Speech

Global Trends Impacting Food

Dr. David Acheson

CEO of Acheson Group and former Associate Commissioner of the U.S. FDA

With the progress of food preservation technology in modern days, the implication of "food safety" has gradually changed. Consumers today take food safety for granted, and they come to seek nutritionally balanced and healthy foods. In such circumstances, Dr. Acheson emphasized that food manufacturers must prepare themselves for the possible risk and acquire the skills to minimize such risk.

Session 1

Image up. Make the Pie Bigger.

Mr. Richard Chen

CTO, Master Kong

In recent years Chinese instant noodle manufacturers are pressured to respond to the increased variation of food products, tighter regulations, and groundless harmful rumors. Mr. Chen calls for the industry's continuous innovation, positive communication activities, and social contributions to generate a positive image of instant noodles as a value food.

Session 2

Leading Edge of Research for Food Safety

Dr. Toshihiro Yamada

Chief Quality Officer, Nissin Foods Holdings

Dr. Yamada listed up the potentially hazardous substances for human consumption. He pointed that it is imperative to make scientific risk assessments to such materials. Such objective evaluation, he argued, is the key to preventive measures to minimize the risk.

Session 3

The Direction of Sodium Reduction

Dr. Visith Chavasit

Independent Director, Thai President Foods

Salt intake is high in Thailand, and a correspondingly high proportion of people are affected by hyper tension. Dr Chavasit elaborated the nation-wide sodium reduction campaign including activities to raise people's awareness of diseases related to excessive salt intake and to regulate package labeling associated with salt.

Sodium Reduction Efforts
by the Korean Instant Noodle Industry

Mr. Yong-Jae Lee

Senior VP, Nongshim

In Korea, where per-capita consumption of instant noodles is highest, a lot of foods traditionally contained large amount of salt, and in recent years the government-led sodium reduction movement has been accelerated. Responding to the call for nutritional balance and safety in instant noodles, Nongshim has engaged in sodium reduction. Mr. Lee explained the special features of sodium reduction in Korea, Nonshim's achievement in and the direction of sodium reduction.

Session 4

Nutrition & Health with Instant Noodles

Mr. Joshi Parminder Singh

Group Manager-Culinary, Nestlé R&D Centre India

With the consumers' mounting desire for health conscious diet, Nestlé has endeavored to reduce salt and fat from their instant noodles. In addition to such product improvement, Mr. Joshi suggests, instant noodles manufacturers attend to social issues such as water shortage and sustainable growth of rural areas. Behind this sense of value lies the Nestlé's commitment to comply with national laws and international standards as well as the company's own code of conduct.

Session 5

Food Defense as a Brand Owner

Mr. Yasuhiro Yamada

Chief Production Officer, Nissin Foods Holdings

Mr. Yamada discussed recent cases of deliberate food tampering, with an analysis of the causes. He gave detailed explanation as to how Nissin Foods Group enhanced surveillance of is food processing plants to ensure safety.

Chairman's Summary

WINA Chairman Ando warned that a quality problem in one company could damage the entire industry. It is imperative that WINA- members proactively share information to prevent such incidents from ever occurring. Chairman Ando wrapped up the conference saying "food safety is a non-competitive issue and the industry as a whole needs to collaborate to establish guidelines on food safety, sodium reduction and nutrition."

※The title is that of the time.