VZCZCXRO1754
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #1523/01 1230605
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030605Z MAY 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9989
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 2538
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5147
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6351
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0104
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 9292
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5198
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1238

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001523 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ETRD ECON TW CH
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 
 
TAIPEI 00001523  002 OF 002 
 
 
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. 
 
YOUNG