DOH to vloggers: Use ‘Pinggang Pinoy’ in ‘mukbang’ videos

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday urged vloggers to use the “Pinggang Pinoy” program as a guide in making mukbang videos to help encourage people to eat healthy.

The DOH made the appeal as it is considering banning mukbang videos after a 37-year-old food content creator reportedly died of a heart attack on June 14.

Health Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said it is important to promote a balanced diet.

Pinggang Pinoy was developed by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute in collaboration with the DOH, National Nutrition Council and the World Health Organization.

Composed of go, grow and glow foods, Pinggang Pinoy serves as a visual tool to help Filipinos adopt healthy eating habits.

“Normally, in mukbang videos, only one type of food is consumed,” Domingo said.

The DOH marks July as National Nutrition Month.

Food vlogger Dongz Apatan reportedly died a day after he posted video reels of himself cooking and then eating several pieces of fried chicken and white rice.

The Iligan City vlogger, who has a following of 460,000 on Facebook, reportedly suffered a heart attack and lapsed into a coma before he died of hemorrhagic stroke.