EDITORIAL: ‘Yes’ to nutritional warnings on food products

THE Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) has urged support for a proposal by the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), to put front-of-package nutritional warnings on food products, which have been shown to help people make healthier dietary choices.

It has been noted that the labelling allows consumers to correctly, quickly, and easily identify foods that are excessive in fats, sugar, and salt – all of which are linked to non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Thus, the CROSQ proposal, which is under review by CARICOM Member States, suggests adopting front-of-package labelling that meets PAHO thresholds for excessive fats, sugars, and sodium.

“People living in the Caribbean still do not have access to simple and easily understood information about whether food products contain excessive and potentially harmful amounts of sugars, sodium or fats,” said Anselm Hennis, Director of PAHO’s Department of Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health.

“The need to know about these food products is even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, as persons with NCDs are at greater risk of becoming severely ill or dying from COVID-19. In the Caribbean, about one third of the population is at such a risk. They must be extra careful to avoid products excessive in sugars, sodium, saturated fats, trans fats or total fats,” he further pointed out.

Hennis stressed that supermarkets are crowded with thousands of packaged items and shoppers spend only a few seconds selecting an item. This is too little time to find out whether the product is good for their health or contributes to high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels and overweight/obesity.

PAHO goes on to state that front-of-package nutritional warnings are simple, easily understood labels that indicate if products are high in sugar, sodium, fats, saturated fats, and trans fats. The nutritional warnings found in the proposal under review by the Member States of CARICOM, have undergone rigorous scientific evaluation and are recognised as the best performing system to correctly, quickly, and easily identify products that contain excessive amounts of fats, sugars, and sodium.

It was back in October 2020 that officials noted that they were expected to decide on long-awaited standards for front nutrition labels on locally and regionally manufactured food and drink products. According to reports, Deryck Omar, Chief Executive Officer of the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), said the time was quickly approaching for the organisation to receive the draft document from the technical team. However, he said a final decision would come only after careful review. Information suggested that the front-of-package label proposal was made several years ago, which led to a revision of the 2010 CARICOM Regional Standard for Specification for labelling of pre-packaged foods. A draft policy was later developed with the input of CARICOM member states, after the matter was placed on the agenda of the Heads of Government meeting in 2018. Once a final draft is submitted, it will then become a document of CROSQ.

For now, we will await the outcome, but it should be noted that such a process is not only welcomed, but needed for the benefit of the population here in Barbados and across the region.