Half of all South Africans are overweight or obese. Warning labels on unhealthy foods help change that
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Thursday, July 20, 2023
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South Africa’s national health department recently invited public comment on regulations for warning labels on food packaging.
Key Points:
- South Africa’s national health department recently invited public comment on regulations for warning labels on food packaging.
- Broadly speaking, “front-of-pack” labels provide information about the overall nutritional quality of foods and beverages.
- Local evidence has supported international evidence and found that South African consumers have a positive attitude towards warning labels on ultra-processed foods and drinks.
- When asked if they would be open to having warning labels on food, study participants said that warning labels were easy to understand and would assist them in quickly identifying unhealthy products.
The content of the regulations
- In addition to the warning labels, the regulations also introduce marketing restrictions.
- It prohibits the use of celebrities and cartoon characters, competitions, gifts, collectable items and other items that may appeal to children.
- In my opinion as a public health law and policy researcher, some aspects of the regulations deserve commendation.
- This removes a potential barrier to South Africa’s informal food economy and small and micro food businesses.
What’s missing
- To give effect to the purpose of the marketing restrictions, the regulations should define advertising or advertisements.
- We, at the SAMRC/Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science, propose looking at the law in Chile.
- The section that restricts the use of competitions, tokens, gifts or collectable items which appeal to children is a great addition.