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A greater variety of tasty and healthy dishes is recommended to the public in the first cooking competition jointly organised by the Department of Health (DH) and the Chinese Cuisine Training Institute (CCTI), with support from local restaurants.
Contestants from 16 restaurants went through an on-site cooking competition held in CCTI this morning (November 4). A judging panel comprising food critics and celebrities tasted the finalists' dishes and picked the best ones out of the four competition categories, namely Fruit and Vegatable, Seafood, Poultry, and Meat.
Local restaurants were invited to join the "EatSmart Cooking Competition 2010" and provide ˇ§More Fruit and Vegetables" and "Three Less" (i.e. less oil, salt and sugar) dishes to correct misconceptions about healthy food being not tasty.
The competition was well received with over 80 entries of healthy dish recipes. Twenty recipes were selected in the first round of selection held in July to enter the final competition.
Officiating at the prize presentation ceremony were the Director of Health, Dr Lam Ping-yan, the Acting Director of CCTI, Mr Stanley Chui and the Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Ms Christine Fang.
Dr Lam shared his views on cooking methods, using less frying and more steaming. He said that high fat consumption would lead to high cholesterol levels and an increased risk of chronic diseases.
"Healthy eating starts from daily living. Members of the public should adopt healthy cooking methods so as to eat both happily and healthily," he said.
To allow for more public involvement, over 20 EatSmart Customers were also invited to taste the dishes and vote for the "My Favourite EatSmart Dish".
The results of the competition will be uploaded to the "EatSmart @ restaurant. hk Campaign" website at: restaurant.eatsmart.gov.hk .
Launched in 2008, the "EatSmart @ restaurant. hk Campaign" is aimed at promoting healthy eating in restaurants as part of a community effort to address the problem of chronic diseases related to peopleˇ¦s unhealthy eating behaviour.
Up until October, 2010, more than 600 restaurants had joined the campaign in a community effort to promote healthy lifestyle by providing EatSmart Dishes.
For more information, members of the public can browse the campaign's website: restaurant.eatsmart.gov.hk/ .
Ends/Thursday, November 4, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:03
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