Food manufacturers in Malaysia, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, have responded to the upcoming 2019 introduction of sugar taxes on drinks and juice ‘with concern’, saying that this is ‘not an effective policy response’ to combat obesity and chronic disease.
We take a look at the latest findings in food science, including the effects of sugar tax, underutilised foods, ultraprocessed foods consumption and more.
Scientists in Malaysia are looking to replace the world's Big Four crops with under-utilised options to help solve global food security issues, especially in Asia.
Malaysia will impose an excise sugar tax on sugar-sweetened beverages starting April 1 2019, in an effort to combat rising overweight and obesity levels in the country - but experts are less than optimistic about its efficacy.
Nestle (Malaysia) Berhad will be investing over RM100mn (US$24mn) to establish the world’s largest Milo Manufacturing Centre of Excellence, but it will also lead to Milo production at one existing site halting.
Upwards of 40 people died last month in Malaysia from methanol poisoning. Why has this happened - and what can be done? It's time for some answers, says food and beverage journalist Richard Whitehead in this guest article.
Malaysia is expecting an increase of 10% in halal exports and a significant increase in demand for halal certifications by foreign countries this year.
Malaysia’s Sime Darby Plantation (SDP) and China’s COFCO Group Co. Ltd. (COFCO) are joining forces to collaborate over palm oil related ventures and boost trade between the two nations.
Malaysian PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has acknowledged the government is contemplating introducing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, after highlighting concerns about the nation's diabetes rates.
Market expansion services provider DKSH has partnered with Nabati Food Malaysia Sdn Bhd to market its snack wafers and roll sticks in the Malaysian market.
Malaysia has secured a new export deal with China for frozen durians, further paving the way for the rapidly growing market of food products containing durian.
A new case study analysis of advertisements on YouTube videos that are targeted at children in Malaysia has revealed that food and beverage ads appeared the most frequently, with more than half of them promoting non-core or unhealthy foods.
What’s in a letter? A great deal, if Malaysia is anything to go on, as the newly elected Pakatan Harapan (PH) government rolls back the hated GST sales tax system to replace it with an SST — a move which few people really understand, but everyone seems...
Food and beverages from Malaysia have taken centre stage on Alibaba’s Tmall site, with Chinese consumers being urged to enjoy ‘must-see’, ‘must-eat’ and ‘must-experience’ products.
Food seasoning and salt producer Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd is in the process of acquiring land in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, to expand its manufacturing operations.
Global palm oil production is expected to grow by 6m tonnes this year, after output was hit hard in 2016 due to the strong effects of the lingering El Niño weather system from the previous year.
Cambodia has called on Malaysia to help develop its halal industry in a bid to boost exports, drive tourism and attract investment from the Middle East.
In conversation with an Uber driver in Kuala Lumpur, it will never be long before he mentions hot dogs. They are a subject on everyone’s lips now, after Malaysian religious authorities denied halal certification to an American fast-food chain partly because,...
The Malaysian government has launched its own sustainable palm oil certification standard – but will this add to or detract from sustainability and transparency efforts in the sector?
The last year’s dramatic oil plunge, and with it expectations that crude prices will stay low, will continue to have a wide-reaching affect on the global food supply chain, not least in the world’s two biggest palm oil-producing countries, Indonesia and...
It was meant to be Malaysia’s Beef Valley, but now it’s not even Beef Alley, according to an online new investigation into the National Feedlot Corporation’s 2,000ha farm in Negri Sembilan.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) have partnered to raise awareness on sustainable palm oil and strengthen frameworks like that for complaints on compliance.
“The IEA does not accept state money, and all of our research is independent of corporate funding.”
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has said categorically it does not accept state money, following accusations by a Malaysian media outlet that the UK think tank is in bed with the Malaysian Palm Oil Council and the country’s government.
Evolva Holding will collaborate with Universiti Malaysia Pahang to establish a scientific centre of excellence for natural products from Malaysia in Pahang state’s Flavour and Fragrance Cluster.
UAE retailer Lulu Group is planning to expand eastward with a US$200m investment to open Halal-only hypermarkets in Malaysia, with other south-east Asian markets to follow.
The Malaysian government has agreed to form a special committee to study the economic impact on trade and investment with China following the disappearance of Flight MH370 last month.
Analysts have been predicting price rises and a slowing of economic growth in Southeast Asia as the drought that has gripped the region since the start of the year continues to disrupt water supplies, and Indonesian fires rage.
US cereal major Kellogg is building a new, RM425m (US$130m) halal snacks manufacturing facility in Malaysia, having chosen the Southeast Asian nation site as part of a recently announced four-year efficiency and effectiveness programme.
Interview: Prof Suhaila Mohamed, Universiti Putra Malaysia
Government financing and promotion of herbal ingredients research has helped Malaysia to become one of the world leaders in the field, according to one of the country’s pre-eminent researchers.
Nestlé Malaysia has broken ground on a new plant on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that it expects will double its local ready-to-drink production capacity by the time it opens in May next year.
Australia’s director of animal and plant quarantine is expected to approve the import of fresh decrowned pineapple fruit from Malaysia. The decision based on consideration of a final risk analysis report for the import of the fruit from Malaysia.
The chief executive of Danish chocolate and extruded whipping cake emulsifiers major Palsgaard has outlined the reasons behind the company's recent significant investment in the Asia-Pacific region.
With obesity and diabetes on the rise in Malaysia, the country has been working to bring together domestic scientists with their international counterparts and institutions in the hope of mitigating the problem.
Authorities in the Malaysian state of Sarawak have said that they will increase the monitoring of halal canned food products imported from China in the light of a recent scare.
Malaysia and Indonesia are renowned as strong production players in the certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) market but Thailand is emerging as the new frontier in Asia Pacific, according to the secretary general of RSPO.
Malaysia has sounded an alert for glow-in-the dark lollipops after complaints that these products contained toxic chemicals that could cause cancer, were reported in the local media.
Changing consumer eating patterns and greater western influence has seen an upward trend in the bakery industry in Malaysia, but trade group urges education drive to enhance the sector’s growth potential.
The palm oil labelling bill in Australia is entering its next phase, with the House of Representatives set to vote on whether it becomes law – and the current government saying it intends to oppose it.
The National Association of Smallholders, Malaysia (NASH), which represents 240,000 Malaysian small farmers, has in an open letter strongly protested the Australian palm oil bill.
Barry Callebaut, in a bid to meet its strategic need to diversify its cocoa origin and boost the viability of cocoa production in Malaysia, has announced a new research programme.
