OREANDA-NEWS. Ajinomoto Co., Inc. signed an agreement with Mahidol University of Thailand and Ajinomoto Co., (Thailand) Ltd. on September 5, 2013 to establish the Research and Education Unit on Sensory Science and Better Nutrition at the Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University. The agreement is part of an initiative to contribute to nutritional education in the ASEAN region. A course on "Sensory Science and Better Nutrition" for academic credit in the postgraduate program at Mahidol University Faculty of Graduate Studies will start in January 2014.

Southeast Asia has been generating high economic growth by attracting investment with its abundant, low-cost labor force and geographical advantages. Thailand in particular has built up its industrial base by improving its industrial infrastructure with the establishment of industrial parks and providing investment incentives to develop its economy as a key country in the ASEAN region. However, the rising affluence accompanying economic growth has given rise to the new health issue of an increase in lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes, and solutions are urgently needed.

The establishment of the Research and Education Unit on Sensory Science and Better Nutrition at the Institute of Nutrition of Mahidol University, Thailand's oldest and most prestigious medical university, will enable the provision of reliable health-related information. Starting in January 2014 through the activities of the Unit, lectures are planned in fields that have been the subject of extensive research in Japan, including the physiology of taste, taste measurement techniques, and application of nutritional science in school lunches and hospital diets, as part of a course for credit toward a Master's degree. Instructors for these lectures are scheduled to be sent from Ajinomoto Co., the Japan Dietetic Association, the Japanese Society of Oral Diagnosis/Oral Medicine and the Japanese Association for the Study of Taste and Smell. In addition, Ajinomoto Co. plans to subsidize a fund for research on Sensory Science and Better Nutrition to help foster research in the field in Thailand.

In cooperation with its Group companies, Ajinomoto Co. is working to contribute to the health of people in the ASEAN region. In 2009, Ajinomoto Co. started joint research with Vietnam's National Institute of Nutrition with the aim of establishing a dietitian system in Vietnam, and in 2012 it set up an endowment to establish an instructor training course at Hanoi Medical University to nurture dietitians. As a result of initiatives such as these, Vietnam's first four-year college program for the study of nutritional science was established at Hanoi Medical University, and courses will begin in October 2013. The current initiative in Thailand follows on from these activities.

The Ajinomoto Group will continue to contribute to healthy lives under its slogan, "Eat Well, Live Well." with the aim of becoming a genuine global company that makes contributions worldwide.