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SPECIAL FOCUS
SPECIAL FOCUS

The innovation may create new
trends in healthy and functional
food, while due to globally increasing รูปที่ 2 ตราสัญลักษณ์ “Smile-Care Food”
aging population including Thailand Figure 2 Smile-Care Food Logo
1
and Japan as good examples, the *คำ�อธิบ�ย
market requirement of silver food เครื่องหมายสีน�้าเงิน: อาหารส�าหรับคนที่ไม่มีปัญหาทางการเคี้ยว/กลืนแต่ต้องการสารอาหาร
and care food must be expanding. เครื่องหมายสีเหลือง: อาหารส�าหรับคนที่มีปัญหาทางการเคี้ยว
เครื่องหมายสีแดง: อาหารส�าหรับคนที่มีปัญหาทางการกลืน
When it comes to tell functions of food, the *Description
nutrition is always paid attention to maintain the Blue mark: Food for people without chewing/swallowing problems but the nutrition to maintain
healthy life, but we shall consider that eating is their healthy body
one of the most pleasure time in the life. We all Yellow mark: Food for people who having chewing problem
accept that troubles of eating will be occurred Red mark: Food for people who having swallowing problem
not only by aging, but also sometime by illness/
accidents, however, we would like to enjoy daily These actions on food are still relatively new in Thailand, but the study has already
meals as our unchanged naturally abilities. The started for standardization, classification and label indication on the packaging. To refer
decline of eating abilities might not be one way the case in Japan, it is quite important to work by the partnership between the public and
occurred, rehabilitation and training may restore the private sectors. Further, international cooperation can be helpful to save time. Japanese
such abilities. Thus, proper selection on care government as the experienced to tackle the aging society has reportedly offered to help
food is crucial to give a way of restoring. Thailand make standardization of silver food.
Japan is seriously facing to the matter of As mentioned, food is not only for the nutrition, but also food might give anyone a
aging society more than Thailand. And they are pleasure, so that our challenge must be with food developed looked like natural both in
advancing to have made standards and taste and appearance as much as possible, and its function may assist people on
developed food for those who are in trouble of developing their eating abilities.
eating. Therefore, as a sample, Japanese
standard in silver food and care food would be
hereinafter shortly introduced, then later, the
current situation of care food in Thailand along
with the initiative actions will be introduced.
In Japan, firstly, a private sector, Japan Care
Food Conference has established the standard
in 2003 called as ‘Universal Design Foods’
which classifies into 4 classes (figure 1), based
on texture and viscosity, for wider purposes from
usual-daily meal to care food. Since then, the
other organizations also introduced the
standards they made. However, according to
the survey in 2012, even though almost 70% of
Japanese had known about the care food, only
about 30% had ever used them. This matter
was taken into consideration, and the Council
of Smile Care Food was set up in 2013 by
Japanese government, and created the
standard named as “Smile-Care Food” (figure
2) in 2014, as integrating the private sectors’
standards into this “Smile Care Food”.
In Thailand, the words of ‘silver food’ and
‘care food’ have not become well-known in
public yet. One of the initiative actions was
published in nutrition flag as a dietary guideline
created by the Bureau of Nutrition. Furthermore,
groups of public organizations, e.g. National
Science and Technology Development Agency,
and the Thailand Research Fund also took this
matter into consideration with the situation that
Thailand is completely moving from aging
society to aged society in next 3-5 years , thus,
2,3
the care food network has been established last
year to serve the increase of silver age
population as the key drive in research and
development, and pushing of food innovation
to be commercialized .
3
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