On October 11, the final of the First Medicinal Cuisine Competition of Hunan Province opened at Changsha Commerce and Tourism College. Xiao Bailing, vice chairwoman of the CPPCC Hunan Provincial Committee, attended and declared the competition open.
 
Medicinal cuisine combines wellness and health care, disease prevention and treatment, and rehabilitation assistance. Themed "Huxiang Medicinal Cuisine Inherits Ancient Traditions, Herbal Nourishment Brings Health and Well-being," and guided by the principle of "Syndrome Differentiation-based Diet, Safety First," the competition highlighted healthy diet with "reducing oil and salt." It featured three major parts—a theoretical knowledge examination, a practical skills assessment, and an on-site presentation. Since its launch this  July, the competition has attracted many outstanding teams from across the province, including medical institutions at all levels, universities of traditional Chinese medicine, research institutes, time-honored catering businesses, as well as food and drug enterprises.
 
Hunan boasts the richest traditional Chinese medicine resources in central China, with the output of geo-authentic TCM herbs such as Huangjing (polygonatum cyrtonema Hua) and Yuzhu (Polygonatum odoratum) accounting for more than 60 percent of the national total, and the output value of the entire industrial chain exceeding 150 billion CNY. In recent years, Hunan has continued to build the "Hunan Medicinal Cuisine" brand, promote Hunan medicinal cuisine products, and cultivate high-level skilled talent, constantly enhancing the reputation of the "Hunan Medicinal Cuisine" brand.
 
Going forward, Hunan will leverage this competition as an opportunity to integrate medicinal cuisine into the implementation of the Healthy Diet Campaign, the "Three Reductions and Three Healthy Conditions (three reductions in salt, oil and sugar intake and three conditions regarding oral health, as well as healthy weight and bones)," chronic disease prevention and control, and elderly health management. It will open up the chain linking scientific research achievements, product development, and market application, and push high-quality medicinal cuisine from the competition arena to the market, to achieve cross-sector integration between Hunan cuisine discipline clusters and traditional Chinese medicine wellness, continuously expanding new "TCM Plus" consumption models and scenarios.
 
This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn. 

Translator: Pang Yuehui 

Chinese source: Hunan Daily