Students propose new guidelines on food labelling

by Carol Aloysius

Schoolchildren who participated in a project on Food Labelling conducted by the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) have proposed several useful and valuable guidelines which the Authority would consider when introducing new laws regarding food labelling in the future.

“We launched this project in 2012 with 26 schools from Colombo. We asked the students in the GCE/(O/L) and A/L classes to do some case studies on food labelling after visiting retail outlets and noting their observations in the form of a booklet.

We have now evaluated their work and selected three schools as winners. The prizes and certificates will be awarded to them on December 5”, Director Information, Consumer Affairs Authority, Mrs Chandrika Thilekerathne told the Sunday Observer.

The proposals included pictorial labelling of both the product, what it contains,manufacturers’ address and nutrients, special labelling using Braille characters which could be read by the visually impaired; increasing the font size of all food labels so that they could be read easily and devising a form of permanent labelling to replace the present labels which get smudged when kept in the refrigerator.

The project known as Nana vadumata athvalak which means, “To improve knowledge about consumer products” was aimed at raising more awareness on consumer products among schoolchildren.

“We selected children because they are our future citizens and should be knowledgeable about making rational and informed choices especially when it comes to food”, she said.

The CAA which recently held a consumer awareness program for selected women leaders in Colombo, plans to hold a similar program in the Gampaha district.”