The Board of the Choices International Foundation is composed of distinguished members from diverse professional backgrounds and regions around the world. Whilst the Board is ultimately responsible for the governance of the foundation, the International Scientific Committee operates independently and is responsible for the development and maintenance of the Choices criteria. The Chair of the International Scientific Committee serves as an advisor to the Board, ensuring a strong connection between science and governance.
Rokiah Don (Chair)
Rokiah Don is trained in Biochemistry/Physiology from the University of Westminster, London and in Community Nutrition from the University of Queensland, Australia.
She was formerly with the Nutrition and Dietetics Department at International Medical University (IMU), Kuala Lumpur. Prior to this, she was the Director of Nutrition Division in the Ministry of Health Malaysia and had served the Ministry of Health Malaysia for 35 years. As Director and Head of the nutrition profession in Malaysia, she has vast experience working inter-sectorally with various ministries, professional bodies, NGOs and food & beverage industries and collaboratively designed, developed, implemented, monitored and evaluated nutrition policies, strategies and activities to address nutrition and health-related issues in the country, especially double burden malnutrition. She chaired and participated in many technical committees for nutrition and health-related program development and the formulation of Policies/Curriculum/Guidelines/Standard Operating Procedures for nutrition/health.
She was a Council Member and is a Fellow of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia. She has been a Temporary Advisor to and worked with WHO and UNICEF, especially in the field of infant and young child nutrition. She has, for several years, led the Malaysian Delegation for participation at the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) Meeting at the international level. Due to her tremendous contributions to the development of nutrition, locally and globally, she has been honoured with several excellent service awards from the government of Malaysia.
Prof. Dr Olugbenga Ben Ogunmoyela (Secretary)
Ben Ogunmoyela holds a BSc (Hons) in Agricultural Biochemistry and Nutrition from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and MSc and PhD degrees in Food Technology from the University of Reading, UK. He also attended the Lagos Business School (AMP-7, 1997) and several leadership programs.
He began his career at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria before moving into academia as a Foundation Senior Lecturer and Head of Food Science and Technology at the University of Lagos (Abeokuta Campus) and later the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, where he became Associate Professor. He then spent 15 years in industry, including senior roles at Cadbury Nigeria and as Director of Quality Assurance at Honeywell Flour Mills, leading Nigeria’s first voluntary fortification project for a chocolate beverage and helping secure the first ISO certification for a Nigerian flour mill. In 2006, he returned to academia as pioneer Professor at Bells University of Technology, Ota, serving as Dean, Acting Vice Chancellor, and inaugural lecturer. He retired in 2022 after over 45 years in research, academia, industry, and development, and now leads the Consumer Advocacy for Food Safety and Nutrition Initiative (CAFSANI), founded in 2019.
Professor Ogunmoyela has served on numerous national and international food and nutrition committees, including Codex meetings, and has advised organizations such as GAIN and TechnoServe. He is a Fellow and past Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, former Editor-in-Chief of the Nigerian Food Journal, Emeritus Member of the Institute of Food Technologists (USA), and currently chairs several national professional and regulatory bodies, including NAFDAC’s Food Safety Expert Advisory Committee. He has received multiple awards, authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications, and recently published his memoir, Memoirs of A Cow Without A Tail, alongside the CAFSANI Consumer Pocket Guide on Food Safety and Nutrition.
Prof. Dr Hans Verhagen (Treasurer)
Prof. Dr Hans Verhagen has 40 years of experience in food safety and nutrition. He is a certified toxicologist and nutritionist. He worked at Universities (Nijmegen, Maastricht, Ulster, Copenhagen), in contract research (TNO), in industry (Unilever), for the national government (RIVM), and EFSA from 2015-2020. From 2006-2015 he was a member of the EFSA-NDA panel, working on health claims and novel foods. He is a professor at the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) and at the Technical University Denmark (DTU, Denmark). Since 2020, he is owner and consultant of Food Safety & Nutrition Consultancy in the Netherlands (https://www.fsnconsultancy.nl/).
Dr Annet JC Roodenburg (PhD Nutrition) (Advisor)
Annet Roodenburg (PhD Nutrition) has been Associate Professor Nutrition and Health at HAS University of Applied Sciences, in Den Bosch/Venlo, The Netherlands since 2010. She worked for 16 years in the food industry as a nutrition scientist on the scientific approach towards healthier foods and responsible communication in order to help consumers to make healthier choices. Current research focus: foods, consumers, and food producers on topics such as nutrient profiling and food labelling, reformulation and food data, product development for specific target groups (elderly), tools for chefs in food service.