New draft legislation for warning labels on food is awaiting Parliamentary action in South Africa.
Packaged food can be high in sugar, salt and saturated fat – all of which have been directly linked to life-threatening conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Better labelling has been shown to increase the amount of healthier choices consumers make. Advocates in South Africa are calling for bold front-of-package labels with a new campaign group leading the way.
Makoma Bopape, a senior lecturer at the University of Limpopo’s Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, is part of a team that completed a study on the efficacy of front-of-package labels in parental food purchasing. She says: “Increasing childhood obesity and poor eating habits have resulted in children as young as 12 being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.”
Front-of-package label regulations have already been implemented in at least 10 countries, including Argentina, Mexico and Chile. Evidence of the effect on purchasing choices by consumers has been published by the European Commission (see link below).
Advocacy Action: Are there labelling regulations in your country? Are they bold front of the package? https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news/evidence-food-information-empowering-consumers-make-healthy-and-sustainable-choices-2022-09-09_en