Food economics will decide war on diabetes

AMID rising concerns that dietary habits are leading to a global pandemic of obesity, the debate has until now largely ignored a critical question - how can manufacturers of bread and processed foods remain profitable while making the products healthier?

Singapore - Asia's second most obese nation after Malaysia, according to a 2014 report published by British Medical Journal The Lancet - recently declared war on diabetes with the government urging the city state of 5.5 million people to eat healthier food and to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Singapore has estimated that the cost of fighting diabetes is S$1 billion a year, rising to S$2.5 billion in 2050. It is probably the first country in Asia - if not the world - to directly quantify the cost of this pandemic.