Health officials yesterday announced new dietary guidelines that puts emphasis on eating more fruits and vegetables, as well as a plan to introduce a color code on food packaging to show its sugar and salt content.
The new Daily Dietary Guidelines, which would be implemented next month at the earliest, focuses on the consumption of whole foods, recommending that people increase their daily vegetable consumption from the previous three to five servings, to three to eight servings, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said on Tuesday.
One serving is equivalent to about half a rice bowl or covering about 15cm of a plate.
Photo: Lin Yen-tung, Taipei Times
It also recommend eating more fruits, raising daily consumption from two to four servings, to two to six servings.
The guidelines formally included a “water section” for the first time, the HPA said, adding that water is indispensable in maintaining health, body functions and regular metabolism.
The daily intake of milk and dairy products was adjusted from two servings per day to one serving, HPA Director-General Shen Ching-fen (沈靜芬) said.
The new guidelines also advise choosing more high-calcium food, Shen added.
The aim is to encourage people to eat a balanced diet with sufficient daily calcium intake through diverse food sources — such as tofu, black sesame, dried small fish and deep green vegetables — and enough vitamin D to enable higher absorption, she said.
The new version is expected to take effect next month, Shen said, adding that the HPA would ask for the public’s and other sectors’ input and suggestions, and nutrition experts would convene meetings to evaluate the guidelines.
It would also include updated “dietary reference intakes,” increasing the recommendation from 2,700kcal per day to 3,500kcal, after taking into account the dietary patterns of Taiwanese and the varying energy needs of different groups.
The revision is in line with latest international data and national nutrition health survey results, and establishes recommended energy needs and water intake levels for all age groups, Shen said.
The guidelines recommend a daily water intake of 2,400ml for men aged 19 and older, and 2,000ml for women, to maintain good health.
HPA officials said the actual daily liquid requirements should be adjusted based on the person’s body type, activity level, daily weather conditions and health status.
The adjustment on milk and dairy products consumption does not aim to encourage the public to reduce consuming such items, HPA officials said.
As Taiwanese typically consume about 0.5 cups of dairy product daily, and taking into consideration the fact that greenhouse gases produced by dairy production are higher than those from plant-based foods, the new version modified consumption to one serving per day, they added.
The recommended servings for legumes, beans, fish, eggs and meat have also been increased from three to eight servings, to three to 13 servings, the HPA said, adding that those for nuts and seeds were also increased from one serving, to one to two servings.
These changes are based on the energy requirements of different age groups, officials said, adding that they were flexible and do not intend to encourage excessive intake.
The HPA said they would continue to use visual guides and educational tools to help the public make correct choices and choose combinations based on their personal needs.
The new guidelines reference international dietary recommendations, but are still primarily based on Taiwan’s National Nutrition and Health Survey data, as well as local study results, it said.
A mechanism for regular review and revision every five years has been established since 2021, the HPA added.
The HPA said it also plans to introduce a “color code” — green, yellow and red — for food packages, to indicate items’ sugar and salt content.
It aims to help consumers make healthy choices, it said, adding that the initiative has received endorsement at meetings of nutrition and health experts.
As some people find it difficult to check salt and sugar content, color codes would be placed on the front of food packaging, in which items with high sugar and salt would be marked red, and low sugar and salt foods would have the color green, the HPA said.
As experts have reached a preliminary consensus on this plan, the Food and Drug Administration would follow up on communication and feedback with food companies, it added.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS