AMID controversy surrounding “mukbang” videos, the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday urged vloggers to consider featuring the “Pinggang Pinoy” of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) instead.
Pinggang Pinoy is a food plate model that shows the right food group proportions on a per-meal basis to meet the body’s energy and nutrient needs. It contains the “go,” “grow,” and “glow” foods.
Go foods are energy foods, such as rice and bread. Grow foods are those that help build the body, like milk, eggs, meat, fish, and chicken. Glow foods include fruits and green leafy vegetables that help protect the body from disease.
DOH Assistant Secretary and spokesman Albert Domingo said the department is urging “mukbang” vloggers to shift to the promotion of healthier diet in their vlogs, especially since July is the National Nutrition Month.
“Mukbang” videos feature a person or host consuming large quantities of food.
Last month, a mukbang vlogger suffered a stroke after eating fried chicken.
“They should talk more about Pinggang Pinoy or the ‘Go, Grow, Glow’ food because chicken and meat are all protein. Also the plate must be of correct size, not as big as a basin,” Domingo said in a TV interview.
“What they should eat and showcase is not high in salt, fat, and sugar. It can actually be the Filipino version or the Pinggang Pinoy,” he added.
Domingo said the Pinggang Pinoy must be limited to one regular plate only.
“It can be smaller depending on our activity level or body size. For children, it can be fewer. For adults that are active, it can be more,” he said.
As to content, he said there must be a balance of fruits and vegetables at 1/4, protein at 1/4, and carbohydrate at 1/2 of the plate.
“In mukbang, it is typically one type of food, and is being eaten in large portions,” he said.
Herbosa has raised concerns over the adverse health effects of doing mukbang. The vlogger’s death has prompted him to consider regulating of mukbang activities of Filipinos.
“If there is a high risk of death, the state should regulate such. This cannot be about freedom of expression when someone dies, but clearly about health and safety,” he said on his X account.
“The act of overeating and documenting it on video has a high risk of death. That’s the public health threat,” he added.
Domingo said the DOH is carefully studying the possibility of regulating mukbang activities “so that we won’t be challenged before the courts in case we implement it.”
