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The purpose of this paper is to examine Kikkoman’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication with public schools associated with a new food education law in Japan. It describes how an internationally recognized soy sauce maker, Kikkoman, effectively entered a previously untapped market, public schools in Japan, and improved its corporate image using the vehicle of CSR activity.

Three traditional qualitative data sources were utilized: documents, interviews, and observations.

Social, political, economic, and environmental factors pushed Kikkoman to create a soy sauce lesson as a new CSR activity, which created challenges in corporate communication. The company, with the help of government, overcame the difficulties and was able to effectively communicate its CSR and improve its corporate image while promoting its signature product to children. This case presents a successful public relations strategy using a stakeholder approach as a framework.

It is difficult to generalize the findings to CSR communication in Japan because this is a single case study with interviews with one company representative and observations at two schools.

First, collaboration between business people and public schools teachers is on the rise. This may open new opportunities for socially responsible corporations to engage in effective public relations activity through CSR in Japan. Second, human resource development in CSR activities is strategic and employees can play a pivotal role in Japanese CSR.

This paper examines the unique activities of a Japanese food industry leader from multiple data sources including observations of actual corporate behaviors in schools.

Here the authors investigate the effects of a visual color cue (brown color) on saltiness expectations, emotional responses and purchase intention of commercial soy sauce products.

The study enrolled 100 participates, and three sauce colors (light brown, medium brown and dark brown) were used as treatments in this experimental design research. The data analysis was done by a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach with repeated measures.

The findings indicated that, for the medium and dark brown sauces, the final model revealed a positive effect of sauce color intensity on saltiness expectation, a positive impact of saltiness expectation on emotion and a positive impact of emotion on purchase intention with statistically indifferent factor loadings. Hence, both the medium and dark brown colors soy sauces were the preferred choices for consumers. However, for the light brown color, the test result was unsatisfactory.

Several empirical studies have identified visual cues as useful for sodium reduction. However, from a marketing perspective, a causal relationship between the color intensity and a customer's purchase intention has not been explored in soy sauce products using an experimental design concept and SEM.

This qualitative research aims to examine through their voices, why Japanese teachers who invited corporate lessons into their classrooms first became involved with business people and how their perceptions towards business may have changed.

Out of 275 food companies in Japan, three leading companies were selected as cases. Their corporate websites were examined to identify the participating public schools and the teachers who had been recruited to evaluate their experiences with corporate programs.

Teachers learned about corporate programs through governmental sources and direct mailings from the companies. They were motivated to use corporate lessons because of food education, creative experience-based activity, and a newly created school subject termed “integrated study”, which became a great receptor for corporate programs. This study suggested that corporate lessons positively changed the perceptions of teachers toward the business community.

Because this is a case study, the findings may not be generalized to other situations or other countries. Schools that may have corporate programs but refused to be included on company websites were not counted because this research relied on corporate websites to identify participating schools.

More companies should consider public schools for effective CSR communication channels, and more strategic CSR is imperative to capture the battleground of the “integrated study” market.

No previous study has examined food education as social responsibility activity as meeting the emerging educational needs of the society with a focus on “integrated study” as a receptor for corporate food education lessons in Japan.

Salt (sodium chloride) is used in a variety of processed foods. It not only confers its own specific flavour on products, it is also used to enhance and modify the flavour of other ingredients. The reasons for using salt can be divided into three broad categories: processing reasons, sensory (taste) reasons, and preservative reasons. In some cases it performs all three of these functions, and in many situations the distinction between them is not clear‐cut.

Food additives are a group of substances added deliberately to foods to improve their organoleptic properties and stability, extend their shelf life and retain their nutritional value. The purpose of this paper is to identify the most frequently used classes of food additives and the food categories which contain the highest number of classes of additives.

A market survey was carried out in hypermarkets and shops where the original labels of 629 food products (195 local and 434 imported) were examined for presence of food additives. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore the association between food category and classes of additives, and a χ² test was performed to establish any association between product origin and the number of classes of food additives.

In sum, 75 per cent of food samples surveyed contained at least one class of food additive. The food categories which contained the highest number of classes of food additives across the group were: snacks (12 classes), biscuits and cakes (11 classes), fish products (11 classes) and soft drinks (10 classes). The most common classes of additive used were acidity regulator, colour and preservative. χ² test revealed a significant association (χ² = 8.28, p < 0.05) between the origin and number of classes of food additives, and the PCA showed that biscuits were associated with raising agent, candies and snacks with colour, fruit drinks and soft drinks with acidity regulator, mayonnaise with thickener and meat products with preservative.

The food products were sourced only from retailers selling labelled food products.

This novel study provides a basis for determining compliance of food products to the National Food Regulations.

People often look to the opinions and actions of others to guide their food choices, especially when they are uncertain or unfamiliar with a particular food. This influence can be positive or negative depending on the context and can have an impact on food consumption and health outcomes.

The paper analysed data from 500 young adult consumers in China and employed a multi-study design to examine various aspects of social proof and herd behaviour in food choices. Experiment 1 examined the influence of testimonials from an influential person on buying decisions and eating behaviour. Experiment 2 explored whether herd behaviour drives food options. Experiment 3 assessed the influence of social proof on food choices. Chi-square tests of independence were conducted to examine the relationship between social proof and food choice, as well as herd behaviour and food decision-making. Several logit regression analyses were performed to identify the factors that drive consumers' susceptibility to social proof and herding.

The results indicated that the source of feedback, whether from an influential person or a family member, did not have a statistically significant effect on the likelihood of following the food guide recommendations. The preference for a healthier food option was stronger than following the herd. In contrast, social proof in the form of reviews and ratings influenced participants' choices. The paper highlights the usefulness for stakeholders and policymakers seeking to promote healthier eating habits.

The originality lies in its comprehensive approach, combining multiple experiments and analytical methods.

In mid-2013, the Lee family, which owned the Hong Kong based food and health product giant Lee Kum Kee (LKK), struggled with how best to increase involvement of the fifth generation (G5), the children of the company's current fourth-generation (G4) senior executives and governance leaders. Only two of the fourteen G5 members had joined the company, and few had expressed interest in further involvement, including in the multiple learning and development programs the business offered, such as a mentoring program. Many of the G5 cousins had expressed little interest in business careers in general, and none of them currently was serving as an LKK intern. G4 members observed that their children were busy with family obligations, hobbies, and emerging careers outside the business. G5's lack of interest in business and governance roles was part of a growing pattern of low family engagement in general, exhibited by the cancellation of recent family retreats (once an annual tradition) because of apathy and some underlying conflict. A history of splits among past generations of the Lee family regarding business leadership made the engagement issue even more meaningful and critical.

Students will consider the challenge from the point of view of G4 family members David Lee, chairman of the family's Family Office, and his sister, Elizabeth Mok, who ran the Family Learning and Development Center. They and their three siblings saw engaging the next generation as a top priority, one related to key concepts including family-business continuity, generational engagement and empowerment, succession, emotional ownership, and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation.

Complexity in various contexts in the current global scene is studied in terms of its feedbacks and feedforwards, revealing how our understanding of it and our implementation of that understanding may be fruitfully simplified.

Literature has shown that phenolic acids and flavonoids are bearing with hypoglycemic and anti-adipogenic properties. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the possibility of phenolic-rich soya bean husk powder extract (SHPE) in combating diabetes and obesity using in vitro models.

The hypoglycemic properties were evaluated by determining the ability of SHPE (25-100 µg/mL) in inhibiting a-amylase and a-glucosidase enzymes and in triggering insulin secretion in BRIN-BD11 cells. Murine 3T3-L1 adipocytes were used for evaluating the anti-adipogenic properties of SHPE through the determination of relative lipid accumulation, triglyceride content and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity.

The hypoglycemic properties of SHPE was in the dose-dependent manner, where 100 µg SHPE/mL exhibited a significant higher (p < 0.05) a-amylase inhibitory activity (56.8 ± 0.11 per cent) and insulin secretion activity (0.73 ± 0.02 µg/l) against other concentrations. In contrast to the aforementioned findings, a significant lower a-glucosidase inhibitory activity (52.0 ± 0.44 per cent) was also observed in 100 µg SHPE/mL. Nevertheless, findings revealed that all the SHPE were able to inhibit the activity of a-amylase and a-glucosidase and stimulated the insulin secretion in BRIN-BD11 cells. On the other hand, the anti-adipogenic properties of SHPE were in the reverse dose-dependent manner, where 100 µg SHPE/mL demonstrated a significant lower (p < 0.05) relative lipid accumulation (48.5 ± 0.03 per cent), intracellular triglyceride content (5.7 ± 0.07 mg/dL) and GPDH activity (1.0 ± 0.01 mU/mL). These findings reflected that 100 µg SHPE/mL was a potent anti-adipogenic agent when compared with other concentrations. In conclusion, soya husk could emerge as a potential hypoglycemic and anti-adipogenic agents in in vitro models.

This was the first study to explore the effectiveness of phytochemicals derived from soya bean husk in ameliorating hyperglycemia and adipogenesis. Promising findings that derived from the present study could enable the scientists to re-evaluate the potential use of agricultural wastes, especially in the formulation of nutraceuticals.

Evaluations of food aid products such as corn soy blend (CSB) suggest that higher nutrient-dense weaning foods are needed. CSB at 20 per cent solids was suggested, but it is too thick for weaning use. The purpose of this paper is to examine if high or low pressure extrusion or a change from corn to sorghum could reduce viscosity without major sensory changes compared to CSB, a widely used fortified blended food (FBF).

A 2×2 factorial design of grain (corn or sorghum) and extrusion pressure (low or high) was used to produce fortified extruded CSB and sorghum soy blend (SSB) that match new nutritional recommendations at 20 per cent solids. A control CSB sample was also produced. Porridge was made and a descriptive panel measured sensory properties and a Bostwick Consistometer determined viscosity.

Control CSB was thicker, lumpier, and stickier than the extruded samples. Sorghum samples had more sorghum flavour and corn samples had more corn flavour, but generally other flavour characteristics differed only slightly from the control product. None of the samples were as thin as recommended for infant swallowing, but the extruded sorghum samples were less viscous than other samples.

Nutrient-dense FBFs at high solids content have been recommended but not yet well tested. This paper provides a sensory examination of high solids FBFs with the potential for use as supplementary foods for infants and children.