Sunday Observer Online
 

Home

Sunday, 15 March 2015

Untitled-1

observer
 ONLINE


OTHER PUBLICATIONS


OTHER LINKS

Marriage Proposals
Classified
Government Gazette

Today is World Consumer Rights Day:

Towards healthier diets: The role of nutrition labelling

In this article to mark World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) 2015 under the theme 'Healthy Diets', Raveen Ekanayake and Chayanka Wickramasinghe take a look at the importance of nutrition labelling to promote healthy diets.

Unhealthy diets are linked to four of the biggest causes of deaths worldwide: overweight and obesity, high blood pressure, high blood glucose and high cholesterol. In 2010, it is estimated that over 11million deaths globally resulted from Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) linked to unhealthy diets.

The impact of poor diets on health now exceeds that of smoking. The effect of obesity (US$ 2 trillion per year) on global GDP is equivalent to the cost of war, gun violence and terrorism. Increased productions of processed food, rapid urbanisation and changing lifestyles have led to a shift in dietary patterns.

Increasingly, people around the world are preparing less food from raw ingredients and buying more processed, pre-packaged food. Over the past decade or so, global sales of pre-packaged foods have increased by 92 percent, reaching US $ 2.2 trillion by 2012.

This increase in production, promotion,and consumption of processed foods that are unhealthy - energy dense, nutrient poor and high in fat, salt or sugar - has become a global driver of unhealthy diets in high, middle and low-income countries.

The growing incidence of NCDs linked to unhealthy diets has gradually led to more consumers becoming conscious of the inputs that go into the production of the food items they consume.

Mandatory nutrition labelling

Labelling, nutrition labelling in particular, has been widely recognised as a powerful tool in allowing consumers to quickly and easily interpret the nutritional value of packaged foods and inform and help them decide on their diet.

This article takes a cursory look at the importance of nutrition labelling, the regulatory environment concerning labelling and issues pertaining to the effective implementation of such regulations.

Consumers around the world are increasingly becoming conscious of what goes into the food they eat. Moreover, a large number of health conscious consumers look for key information presented on the 'Nutritional Facts' given on product labels.

For example, the amount of carbohydrates, calories, vitamins, minerals, cholesterol, sodium are some nutritional facts at the forefront on the minds of consumers. In some cases, consumer behavioural patterns can be observed as a result of such labelling.

For instance, the inclusion of unhealthy ingredients on the labels would encourage or motivate consumers to switch to alternative products which they deem to be healthier. However, if the nutrition content of the products is not labelled, the consumer cannot make an informed decision. As a result, labelling offers a certain degree of minimal protection for consumers.

Coherence in information

The current set of regulations governing food labelling in Sri Lanka, mandates that in addition to the date of manufacture and expiry, product labelling must clearly disclose all ingredients and permitted additives used in the product.

However, there is no mandatory need on the disclosure of nutrition related information. With growing health concerns due to the consumption of unhealthy foods, from a consumers view point, it is important that regulatory authorities implement the mandatory nutrition label on processed and prepackaged foods for sale.

In addition, regulatory agencies must seek to ensure coherence in the information provided in these labels. The flavour enhancer mono-sodium glutamate commonly referred to as MSG is one such example. The consumption of MSG is commonly linked to symptoms such as diarrhoea, headaches and insomnia.

However, when it comes to labelling, there is no mention of MSG. Rather it is substituted by a range of associated terms such as yeast extract, glutamate and glutamic acid. Hence there is a tendency for consumers to be misled by the information provided.

Due to the absence of specific mandatory guidelines governing the type of nutrition related information included on a label, firms have the opportunity to pick and choose nutrition related information that best suits the marketing needs of its product and leave out essential information that are key for consumers in making an informed decision.

Regulatory authorities must develop a set of guidelines and make it mandatory to include key nutrition facts on the labels of food products to ensure uniformity of information. This will also guarantee that the consumers are not misled by the information.

Likewise, an ingredient naming convention must be set up.

For instance, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stipulates that firms must always list the commonly used names of ingredients unless there is a regulation that provides a different term, for example, using the term 'sugar' instead of its scientific name 'sucrose'.

Improving nutrition knowledge

While nutritional labelling is a useful tool to highlight essential information about the nutritional value and composition of products, the effectiveness of such regulations in promoting healthy diets, rests largely on how well consumers take notice of nutrition labels.

Understanding nutrition labelling is closely linked to the nutrition knowledge of a consumer. For nutrition labelling to be effective, it is important for consumers to have a basic understanding of nutrition, which will aid them in choosing prepackaged food.

Studies suggest that the level of knowledge and use of food labelling information increases with age, level of education and family income. It is, therefore, pivotal that targeted consumer awareness programs be implemented to boost the public's knowledge on nutrition.

In India, a number of initiatives have been organised at the grassroots level with the involvement of the regulatory agencies, business, local and multinationals and the NGO sector in improving consumer knowledge on basic nutrition facts. In Sri Lanka too a leading apparel manufacturer and a leading public school has teamed up with a local NGO to raise awareness on nutrition knowledge among its constituents. Encouraging such initiatives in the country will help improve consumer knowledge on nutritional values of the food they consume.

What can be done?

The growing incidence of NCDs associated with unhealthy diets poses a serious public health challenge for governments across the world including Sri Lanka. Nutrition labelling has been recognised as a key tool in the government's arsenal in tackling the problem. Many Governments in the developed world have recognised this and mandated compulsory nutrition labelling on prepackaged products.

For effective implementation of such regulations, it is necessary to set up a specific set of labelling guidelines to ensure consistency and transparency so that consumers are not misinformed or misled by the information given in the labels.

The regulatory authorities must work with the private sector and NGOs to raise nutrition knowledge and awareness to promote healthy diets in society.

Raveen Ekanayake is a Research Officer at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) and Chayanka Wickramasinghe is a Project Intern at the IPS.

 | EMAIL |   PRINTABLE VIEW | FEEDBACK

LANKAPUVATH - National News Agency of Sri Lank
www.batsman.com
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL)
www.army.lk
www.news.lk
www.defence.lk
Donate Now | defence.lk
www.apiwenuwenapi.co.uk
 

| News | Editorial | Finance | Features | Political | Security | Sports | Spectrum | Montage | Impact | World | Obituaries | Junior | Youth |

 
 

Produced by Lake House Copyright © 2015 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.

Comments and suggestions to : Web Editor