OCOP products contribute to ensuring nutrition in difficult areas

“Traditional Vietnamese meals are ideal, almost guaranteed to be full of nutrition and minerals. According to our research, just by increasing diversity as well as hygiene and food safety, Vietnamese meals are not inferior in quality to the Japanese Okinawan diet," Associate Professor Dr. Truong Tuyet Mai, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, said.

According to this nutrition expert, Vietnam has exported many food products, such as rice, corn, potatoes, cassava, meat, fish, eggs, milk, vegetables, fruits, etc. However, people in many regions across the country cannot access and be assured of an adequate food supply at their residences.

From a nutritional perspective, food security and ensuring nutrition are not just about "eating enough", according to Mrs. Mai. Instead, all levels, sectors, and localities need to organize nutritional surveys on diets, with the output being the nutritional status of the people.

The 2020 census shows that the dietary energy of the Vietnamese people meets the average energy level per capita compared to the recommended nutritional needs. But in some regions, the average nutritional level is not enough. In some other regions, it exceeds the need.

Another issue emphasized by Mrs. Mai is the balance between the food groups provided. In particular, protein, fat and starch are still imbalanced, although better balanced than in the previous period.

In particular, the group of meat—milk, seafood, eggs, fish, etc.—increased a lot compared to the previous period; the meat consumption group increased very strongly. Currently, urban areas are the most alarming, exceeding the average threshold of about 150g/person.

At the Conference on Deployment of the National Action Plan to Transform the Food System Towards Transparency, Responsibility, and Sustainability on November 10, Associate Professor Dr. Truong Tuyet Mai said that to build a healthy diet, sustainability for Vietnamese people need to impact all generations. For example, women must be aware that they must exclusively breastfeed their children for the first 6 months, or children need to eat a variety of foods, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, eat enough fat, and eat less sugar and salt.

The National Institute of Nutrition is implementing and building a nutritional pyramid by age, divided into 10 years. This is the basis for providing complete information to the people.

Besides, the institute's leaders requested that all levels, sectors, and management agencies have plans to put specific and detailed information about nutritional content on food labels. This will help consumers determine how many kcal, grams of salt, sugar, etc., a product contains to strictly control the energy provided in each meal, helping to meet the correct and sufficient recommendations of the National Institute of Nutrition.

In a country where access to food is uneven, especially in mountainous, remote, and island areas, Ms. Truong Tuyet Mai acknowledged that ensuring nutrition plays an indispensable role in the agricultural industry.

The Associate Professor explained: "From nutritional advice, the agricultural sector will decide which products the production should focus on, what quality they should be, and which areas to supply most suitably with the physical condition".

Mrs. Mai also expressed her impression of the OCOP product group. In addition to being a tangible product, with all the characteristics of the National Target Program to build new rural areas, OCOP products are also "precious" in that they ensure nutrition and food safety, make good use of local food sources, are suitable for tastes, and help people increase accessibility.

OCOP products include tourism goods and services of local origin, characterized by cultural values and local advantages; especially regional specialty products, craft village products, and tourism services based on the strengths and benefits of natural conditions, raw material sources, knowledge, and indigenous culture.

"Nutrition policy always goes hand in hand with the agricultural industry. Instead of looking for high-end foods with Omega 3, we can take advantage of soybeans, walnuts, nuts, seaweed, etc.,", Mrs. Mai confided.

Sharing more with Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper about the importance of nutrition, Associate Professor Dr. Truong Tuyet Mai, for example: If a child escapes the risk of malnutrition, the opportunity to increase income as an adult increases by up to 50%. If a country reduces the rate of malnutrition by 1%, the average annual GDP can increase by 3 - 5%.