REFORMING EATING HABITS IN TAIWAN, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR U.S.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001523

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SUBJECT: REFORMING EATING HABITS IN TAIWAN, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR U.S.
FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES



1. Summary. A growing concern for Taiwan health authorities is to
ensure its population's increasingly poor eating habits do not
spiral out of control. Despite popular perception to the contrary,
actual consumption of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables
remains relatively low. Recent health surveys have shown that 70%
of the Taiwan population eats less than 3 servings of fruits and
vegetables a day, while Department of Health (DOH) guidelines
encourage five-a-day consumption. The concept of eating healthy is
almost a lost message among the vociferous promotion of less healthy
and fast food in Taiwan. U.S. agriculture interests have an
advantageous opportunity to work with local Taiwan health
authorities to promote U.S. fruits and vegetables in a market that
is short on healthy eating messages. End summary.


2. Taiwan authorities at central, county, and local levels of
government have been placing significant emphasis on improving the
diet of its population. Behind this policy is a noticeable trend of
a growing segment of consumers in Taiwan eating an unbalanced diet.
Street-side and fast food restaurants are very popular, catering to
the increasing number of consumers that have little time to eat and
who function in high-stress work environments. Taiwan families are
dining out more often on food that is quick on delivery but short on
greens and generous with fat, oils, and starches.


3. Poor eating habits start with Taiwan's youngest consumers. A
survey of 742 kindergartens across Taiwan revealed that snacks high
in sugar, salt and oil content were distributed to children in five
out of ten school snack times during the course of the week. A
significant number of Taiwan consumers are putting minimal thought
on actively consuming fruits and vegetables. A recent study by the
Formosa Cancer Foundation concluded that 70% of the Taiwan
population consumes less than 3 servings of fruits and vegetables a
day. The United States is only slightly better, where 65 percent of
the population consume less than three servings a day. However,
government, public, and private sector partnerships in the U.S.
address the need for healthier eating with a 5-a-Day campaign from
the national to the local levels to promote fruits and vegetable
consumption.


4. Through the efforts of the Formosa Cancer Foundation, Taiwan has
been exposed to a similar 5-a-Day program since 1999. The
Foundation focuses on the cancer risk-reducing benefits from
consuming fruits and vegetables. DOH has also supported
dissemination of this message because of the campaign's consistency
with general DOH mandates. Taiwan school nutritionists attend
DOH-funded training conferences organized by the Cancer Foundation
that teach techniques to promote 5-a-Day message to school children.
The method to convey the message, however, is slow to influence
national eating habits.


5. The concern of Taiwan authorities over the current downward
trend in healthy eating habits is also fueled by concern over the
burden an unhealthy population will put on the National Institute of
Health (NIH),the nationally-funded system under the DOH that is
obligated to provide affordable healthcare to the entire population.
The DOH is accountable for promoting health and wants to reduce the
healthcare burden by encouraging consumers to follow national health
guidelines. While the DOH Bureau of Food Safety establishes
wide-ranging health guidelines at the national level, health
messages at the consumer level are coordinated and distributed by
multiple health foundations using DOH funding. Leaving DOH's broad
consumer guidelines for many private health foundations to decipher
and convey to the public results in health messages that seem weak
compared to temptations from less healthy alternatives.

DOH eight-point health guidelines include:
-- Keep an ideal weight
-- Vary foods to maintain a balanced diet*
-- Eat 5 different grains during the 3 daily meals
-- Consume high-fiber foods*
-- Eat less salt, grease, and sugar
-- Consume high-calcium foods
-- Drink more water
-- Reduce liquor consumption

* Includes brief reference to eating fruit and vegetables


6. The population's worrisome eating trend coupled with the DOH's
inefficient consumer health promotion program presents a unique
opportunity for U.S. agriculture interests to help strengthen
Taiwan's weak health promotion program and raise awareness and

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demand for U.S. fruits and vegetables. By positioning U.S. fruits
and vegetables as a healthy, preferred, and high-quality product,
U.S. agriculture interests can offer a mutually-beneficial program
designed to promote healthy eating in Taiwan. Taiwan officials and
private groups sponsoring a healthy eating message for Taiwan
consumers have told AIT that they welcome the involvement of U.S.
associations.


7. An active health message featuring U.S. products would provide
major benefits to U.S. interests by addressing two issues arising
from Taiwan's entrance to the WTO. Committing to a mutually
beneficial program with Taiwan DOH will provide a constructive base
from which to negotiate future, possibly adversarial, issues AIT is
likely to face in ongoing market access and trade policy
negotiations. In addition, since its entrance into the WTO, the
Taiwan market is increasingly saturated with price-competitive food
imports from non-U.S. suppliers, causing U.S. agriculture products
to lose market share. An opportunity to increase overall
consumption of fruits and vegetables in addition to conveying the
value-added message of U.S.-produced products as a healthy and
preferred product can positively affect future trade volumes.


8. Currently the AIT Agriculture Section is supporting a proposal
requesting USDA funds for a 5-a-Day campaign in Taiwan. This
proposal aims to create joint-efforts between the Agriculture Trade
Office, Taiwan private health foundations, and Taiwan health
authorities in order to promote U.S. fruits and vegetables through a
5-a-Day program. Funding is still pending approval from USDA
Foreign Agriculture Service. END COMMENT.

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