Global Nutrition Database for Packaged Food
Malaysia
National Policy Response
Food reformulation policies
Sodium
Voluntary targets set for 2025 for 16 categories
Fat
No targets
Sugar
No targets
Other relevant packaged food policies
Front-of-Package Labeling Regulations
Voluntary Guideline on Healthier Choice Logo passed in 2017 and a GDA-style ‘Front of Pack Labelling for Energy Icon’ passed in 2012.
Marketing Restrictions
Trans Fatty Acid Regulations
None
Fiscal Policies
Excise duty of RM 0.40 per liter of certain categories of sugar-sweetened beverages; Amendment Order 2022 added excise duty of RM0.47 per 100g to specific food categories including food preparations containing cocoa and other products containing coffee, tea or maté.
Packaged Food Sampling
2021
| Nutrient types | Sodium |
| Products sampled | 1,976 |
Methods
Data was collected between 2017-2021 by the members of the research team from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Malaya in supermarkets in Klang Valley, central of Malaysia and the corresponding brand’s official websites. These supermarkets were selected due to frequent visits by consumers of different socioeconomic statuses.
The data was collected using the nutrition labels found in the processed food products. A picture of the nutrition information panel on the package was taken using a camera handphone. For each product, the manufacturer, brand, product name, and amount of sodium per 100 g of sample (mg) was entered.
Products were categorized into 10 main groups and further into 41 sub-categories corresponding to those established by national law and to regional food categories. Mean, median, standard deviation, interquartile range, minimum and maximum values and of sodium content (mg per 100 g of product) were calculated.
For more information on the study methodology, please see the data source below.
Data source
Not available
Citation:
- Shahar S, You YX, Zainuddin NS, Michael V, Ambak R, Haron H, He FJ, MacGregor GA. Sodium content in sauces-a major contributor of sodium intake in Malaysia: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open. 2019 May 27;9(5):e025068. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025068.
- Tan CH, Chow ZY, Ching SM, Devaraj NK, He FJ, MacGregor GA, Chia YC. Salt content of instant noodles in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2019 May 1;9(4):e024702. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024702.
- Haron H, Hiew I, Shahar S, Michael V, Ambak R. A Survey on Salt Content Labeling of the Processed Food Available in Malaysia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Apr 4;17(7):2469. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17072469.
- Chow JY, Shahar S Haron H, Ong YQ. Market survey of the food additive–Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in savoury processed foods in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study. 2024 (submitted to Nutrition Journal)
- WASH International Bread Survey 2017 (unpublished data)
Contact
Professor Dr. Suzana Shahar
Researcher, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
[email protected]
Institution leading data collection
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia