Action To Address Misleading Food Labels

Inaccurate or misleading food-labelling information that hinders consumers’ ability to make proper nutritional choices is an issue the Government is seeking to address, by informing and educating key stakeholders in the food industry.

This is against the background of the results of the ‘Assessment of Fats in the Jamaica Food System’ study, which reveals that the labels on some packaged foods contain incorrect nutritional information or provide no information on certain ingredients, including unhealthy fats.

The study, which sought to determine the concentrations of trans-fatty acids in commonly consumed Jamaican foods, was unveiled during a virtual launch on Thursday (July 15).

Speaking at the launch, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, said that the findings from the study will be used to formulate a plan of action. which will be discussed with the relevant stakeholders and eventually brought to Cabinet for its approval.

“I think it is incumbent on us to use this data to put in place a plan that will initially begin to educate and inform… all the stakeholders – the manufacturers, the consumers, the policymakers, the advocates, and the non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” the Minister said.

“I want the next phase to be a plan of action that is rolled out that takes this information [and] says, ‘this is what we need to address right now, in a year’s time, in two years’ time’, ultimately leading to a more informed consumer and leading to better and accurate particulars on labels,” he added.

Given the increased risks for serious health concerns and illnesses stemming from unhealthy nutritional choices, Dr. Tufton stressed the importance of Jamaicans having accurate information about the foods they consume.

“We have a duty to correct that wrong and I think we are going to have to spend time to use data of this kind to highlight the deficiencies in the system and to advocate for greater action to correct those deficiencies,” he said.

He stressed, however, that this effort to address incorrect labelling must start from “a basis of bringing everybody to the table and giving everybody the benefit of the doubt”.

“So, if there is misleading advertising out there, I am prepared in the first instance to say it’s not because somebody wants to mislead; it’s probably because they don’t know or they don’t take the trouble to validate or verify, particularly where it is an import and a high import-content raw material,” he said.

In the meantime, lead researcher on the study, Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the University of Technology, Fitzroy Henry, said that consumers “have the right to know the right information” in terms of the nutrients in packaged foods.

“We may have to look at regulation which involves labelling to some extent and also we have to keep monitoring, because this wouldn’t be the end of the story. I don’t know how often, maybe every two years we could go back and see where we are as we move towards… global targets and our own targets,” he said.

He further informed that the study has revealed that Jamaicans are consuming too much unhealthy fats, such as trans fats, noting that overall, about two times or more than the required amount of fat is consumed in Jamaica from local production and imports.

The findings from the study, which examined 296 packaged products in Jamaica, will set the foundation for action to be taken for the country to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal of eliminating trans fats by 2023 and implementation of the Pan American Health Organization’s Plan of Action to eliminate industrially produced trans fats by 2025.

The elimination of industrially produced trans fats is part of the Government’s comprehensive policy package to prevent diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and comprises mandatory food labelling, ingredients list, nutrition panel declaring trans fats, interpretive front-of-package labelling based on nutrient profiles, restrictions on food marketing, aimed at children and adolescents; mandatory standards for healthy foods served in schools and limits on sugar content.

These policy measures are supported by awareness campaigns to educate consumers on healthy eating.

The WHO estimates that high trans-fat intake increases the risk of death from any cause by 34 per cent, death due to coronary heart disease by 28 per cent and that approximately 540,000 deaths per year can be attributable to industrially produced trans-fatty acids.

The ‘Assessment of Fats in the Jamaica Food System’ study was conducted by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, in collaboration with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Food and Nutrition (FaN) Project, the global public health initiative ‘Resolve to Save Lives’ and the University of Technology.