Hong Kong

INFORMAS in Hong Kong is led by Dr Jimmy Louie of the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong.

Dr Louie currently works on 4 INFORMAS modules: Food Composition, Food Labelling, and Food Promotion, and Food Retail.

In collaboration with The George Institute for Global Health, Australia, Dr Louie localized the successful FoodSwitch program for use in Hong Kong in 2017. Through the FoodSwitch project, nutrition information for pre-packaged foods sold in Hong Kong has been collected and recorded annually since 2017 to create a longitudinal dataset which would allow the monitoring of the Hong Kong pre-packaged food supply. The first results on sodium level of pre-packaged foods have been published. 

Dr Louie’s group has completed pilot studies to examine the extent of food and beverage promotion on free-to-air television and in Mass Transit Railway stations in Hong Kong, using the standard INFORMAS protocol. Both studies are now published.

Dr. Jimmy Louie

Assistant Professor in Food and Nutritional Sciences

School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong.

Email: Dr. Jimmy Louie

Module Status (as of July 2024) Outputs
Food Composition
  • 4 original research papers published
 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Food Labelling
  • 2 original research papers published
 1, 2
Food Promotion
  • 2 original research papers published
 1,2

Publications

Food Composition

  1. SHY Yen, E Barrett, DH Coyle, JHY Wu, #JCY Louie. The distribution and co-occurrence of food additives in pre-packaged foods in Hong Kong. Food Control. 2024; 158: 110210. doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2023.110210
  2. CKW Ho, *Tjhin A, E Barrett, DH Coyle, JHY Wu, #JCY Louie. The nutritional quality of gluten-free vs. non-gluten-free pre-packaged foods and beverages sold in Hong Kong. Ann Nutr Metab. 2023; 79(3): 301–12. doi: 10.1159/000530857
  3. BYS O, D Coyle, EK Dunford, JHY Wu, #JCY Louie. The use of non-nutritive and low-calorie sweeteners in 19,915 local and imported pre-packaged foods in Hong Kong. Nutrients 2021; 13(6): 1861. doi: 10.3390/nu13061861
  4. LY Chan, D Coyle, J Wu, #JCY Louie. Total and free sugars level and the main types of sugars used in 18,784 local and imported pre-packaged foods and beverages sold in Hong Kong. Nutrients. 2021; 13(10): 3404. doi: 10.3390/nu13103404
  5. Cheung CTH, Rangan AM, Tse IMY, Louie JCY. Iron content and fortification status of a sample of local and imported pre-packaged baby foods available in Hong Kong. Nutr Diet. 2021 Sep;78(4):424-433. doi: 10.1111/1747-0080.12643. Epub 2020 Oct 7. PMID: 33029853.
  6. ASC Wong, DH Coyle, J Wu, JCY Louie. Sodium concentration in a sample of pre-packaged foods sold in Hong Kong. Public Health Nutr. 2020; 23(15):2804-10. doi: 10.1017/S1368980020002360

Food Labelling

  1. CCW Cheng, J Wu, #JCY Louie. Trans-fat labelling and content in pre-packaged foods in Hong Kong. Public Health Nutr. 2023; 26(2): 315-22. doi: 10.1017/S1368980022002464
  2. AI Chio, T Davies, J Wu, #JCY Louie. Prevalence of missing nutrition labels and ingredients information on e-shops of major chain supermarkets in Hong Kong. Nutr Bull. 2021; 46(4): 468-75. doi: 10.1111/nbu.12530

Food Promotion

  1. VHI Cheung, JCY Louie. Non-core food product advertising on free-to-air television in Hong Kong. Public Health Nutr. 2020; 23(14):2457-66. doi: 10.1017/S1368980020000907
  2. SKH Lo, BYS O, JCY Louie. Food and beverage advertising in Mass Transit Railway stations in Hong Kong. Public Health Nutr. 2020; 23(14):2563-70. doi: 10.1017/S136898002000083X
 

The George Institute for Global Health, Australia