Otsuka Pharmaceutical Certified as 'Excellent Corporation for Dietary Education Practice 2026' by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo, President and Representative Director: Makoto Inoue, hereinafter "Otsuka Pharmaceutical") has been certified as an "Excellent Corporation for Dietary Education Practice 2026," newly established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The company was evaluated for its initiatives in dietary education and health promotion targeting employees, utilizing its own knowledge and the nutrition monitoring service "Vivoo*".

In recent years, as the deterioration of adults' dietary habits has become apparent, there is a growing need to promote "adult dietary education," particularly among the younger generation who will lead the future society. To realize a healthy diet, it is important to promote dietary education in the workplace. For this reason, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries launched the "Excellent Corporation for Dietary Education Practice Recognition System" to improve vitality within corporations and horizontally deploy excellent initiatives. Corporations that implement initiatives contributing to the improvement of employees' dietary habits are certified as "Excellent Corporations for Dietary Education Practice."

Based on the belief that it is important for every employee to work energetically in good health, our company conducts various activities, such as providing health seminars and exercise programs, so that employees themselves can understand their health and actively engage in disease prevention, health maintenance, and promotion. Recently, the following initiatives related to "health promotion through food" were evaluated, and we were certified as an "Excellent Corporation for Dietary Education Practice 2026."

■ Improvement of dietary habits starting from visualization

Our company had previously implemented initiatives to improve employees' dietary habits through nutrition seminars by experts, but there was an issue that behavior change was unlikely to occur just by disseminating information. Therefore, we created a dietary habit improvement program utilizing our nutrition monitoring service "Vivoo". By confirming measurement results at the start and end, and providing nutrition seminars, dietary improvement advice, and health information during the implementation period, it led to behavioral changes and increased awareness regarding dietary habits.

■ "Employee Health", "DE&I", and "Regional Contribution" supported by food

In our employee cafeteria, employees working as registered dietitians devise healthy menus and display calories and nutritional components. In addition, through food, we are linking it to the improvement of employees' health awareness and the active participation of diverse employees, such as donations to developing countries through TABLE FOR TWO targeted menus, and the use of local ingredients and tomatoes grown by employees of the special subsidiary "Heartful Sendai".