Advertising of Pre-Packaged Foods in India: A Qualitative Analysis

Objective: We examined the ‘nutrients of concern’ in pre-packaged food products that are commonly advertised, as per WHO standards and Nova Classification. Methods: This was a qualitative study, using a convenience sampling method, to identify advertisements of prepackaged food products. We also analyzed their content from information on the packets, and their compliance with applicable Indian laws. Results: We found that all the advertisements of the food products in this study did not provide important information about the amount of nutrients of concern i.e., total fat, sodium, and total sugars. These advertisements mostly targeted children, made health claims, and used endorsements of celebrities. All the food products were also found to be ultra-processed in nature and high in one or more nutrients of concern. Conclusion: Most of the advertisements are misleading, needing effective monitoring. Health warnings on the front-of- pack label and restrictions on marketing of such food products may go a long way in reducing non-communicable diseases.

The Escalating Health Threats from Ultra-processed and High Fat, Salt, and Sugar Foods: Urgent Need for Tailoring Policy

With its colonial past, and a glaring problem of poverty and hunger, India oft fails to acknowledge a new, rapidly growing problem of overnutrition. With the economic boost and entry of various foreign players from the food industry, Indian citizens have been increasingly exposed to ultra-processed, high in sugar, salt and fat foods (HFSS foods). The last decade or so has seen an exponential rise in the consumption of such foods, leading to increasing prevalence of overweight- and obesity-related illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, etc. In this scenario, examining the efficacy of policy-related measures in reducing consumption of these harmful foods and preventing the associated health issues is paramount. Across the globe, several countries have explored options from taxation on HFSS foods to restricting marketing to children, as well as different practices for front of the pack labeling. In the context of India and its increasing burden of preventable, diet-related illnesses, the urgent need of instituting these preventive policies at national scale cannot be neglected.

Objective understanding of five front-of-pack labels among consumers in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa

Objective: This study aimed to assess the objective understanding of five front-of-pack label formats, namely the Reference Intake, Multiple Traffic Light label, Nutri-Score, health endorsement logo and warning label, among consumers in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa. Design: This was a cross-sectional, exploratory study. Setting: Interviewer-administered surveys were conducted at 12 randomly selected food retail outlets in an urban setting.Subjects: A total of 359 adult participants were included in this study. Outcome measures: Objective understanding was measured by asking participants to rank food products according to their nutritional quality, using the displayed front-of-pack label. Results: The type of front-of-pack label significantly influenced ranking ability (p < 0.00001). All the evaluative front-of-pack labels significantly improved the participants' ability to identify healthier food products compared with the no-label control. The reductive Reference Intake, however, showed no significant impact on consumer understanding. Conclusion: Evaluative front-of-pack labels significantly improved the participants' ability to identify healthier food products, when compared with the Reference Intake and no-label control. Future research should test the objective understanding of culturally diverse groups in South Africa, particularly among rural populations.

Sistema de etiquetado frontal de alimentos y bebidas para México: una estrategia para la toma de decisiones saludables / A front-of-pack labelling system for food and beverages for Mexico: a strategy of healthy decision-making

Resumen La Secretaría de Salud solicitó al Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública la conformación de un grupo de expertos académicos en etiquetado de alimentos y bebidas, independientes y libres de conflictos de interés, que tuvieran la encomienda de emitir una postura para contribuir al desarrollo de un sistema de etiquetado frontal para productos industrializados que proporcione información útil para facilitar la decisión de compra. La postura utiliza la mejor evidencia científica disponible y recomendaciones de expertos convocados por organismos internacionales. Así, la propuesta de etiquetado frontal se centra en el contenido de energía, nutrimentos, ingredientes y componentes cuyo exceso en la dieta puede ser perjudicial para la salud, como azúcares añadidos, sodio, grasas totales, grasas saturadas y energía. El grupo recomienda implementar un etiquetado frontal que, de forma sencilla, permita evaluar de manera rápida la calidad de un producto al momento de realizar una compra; por ello, es indispensable que éste proporcione información directa, sencilla, visible y fácil de entender.

Abstract The Mexican Ministry of Health requested the National Institute of Public Health to constitute a group of independent, free of conflict-of-interest academic experts on front-of-pack labelling (FOP). This group was instructed to created a positioning paper to contribute to the development of a FOP system for industrialized products that offers useful information for purchase decision making. This position paper uses the best available scientific evidence, and recommendations from experts of international organizations. The FOP proposal focuses on the contents of energy, nutrients, ingredients and components that if consumed in excess on the diet, can be harmful to people's health, such as added sugars, sodium, total fat, saturated fat and energy. The academic expert group recommends the implementation of a FOP that provides an easy way to quickly assess the quality of a product. It is essential that this FOP provides direct, simple, visible and easily understandable information.

A Simple Visual Model to Compare Existing Front-of-pack Nutrient Profiling Schemes.

Nutrient profiling is an important tool for governments, non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) and for the food industry, to help consumers make healthier food choices. Multiple nutrient profiling systems (NPS) have been introduced worldwide. There is, however, no agreement on the use of a single NPS in leading regions like the USA and Europe. In 2008, the Arrow Model of Verhagen and van den Berg was created to illustrate and compare characteristics of existing NPS. Recent developments in nutrient profiling give rise to the need for an updated Model. The present study aims to develop a comprehensive model, which can be used to explain and compare various front-of-pack nutrient profiling systems (FOP-NPSs). An extensive literature research was conducted to obtain an overview of existing FOP-NPS worldwide. Only FOP-NPS that are currently in use, focus on health-related product aspects and target the general population (adults and children) were included. The Funnel Model was developed based on the analysis of 40 existing FOP-NPSs and expert interviews. This Model illustrates different FOP-NPS and allows comparison among them. The Funnel Model includes several new characteristics compared to the Arrow Model. Numerous ingredients and four new characteristics were added to the Funnel Model: directivity, type of institution initiating the system, purpose and utilization. Several other characteristics were expanded with new elements. The Funnel Model also has a new visual presentation which is useful to clearly explain and compare FOP-NPS.

A study on the consumer's perception of front-of-pack nutrition labeling

The goal of this research is to investigate the present situation for front of pack labeling in Korea and the perception of consumers for the new system of labeling, front of pack labeling, based on the consumer survey. We investigated the number of processed foods with front of pack labeling in one retailer in Youngin-si. And we also surveyed 1,019 participants nationwide whose ages were from 20 to 49; the knowledge of nutrition labeling, the knowledge of 'front of pack labeling', and the opinion about the labeling system. The data were analyzed using SAS statistics program. The results were as follows: 13.4% of processed foods had front of pack labeling, and 16.8% of the consumers always checked the nutrition labeling, while 32.7% of the consumers seldom checked it. In addition, 44.3% of the consumers think that 'front of pack labeling' is necessary, and 58.3% of the consumers think it is important to show the percentage of daily value as a way of 'front of pack labeling'. However, 32% of the consumer think the possibility of 'front of pack labeling' is slim. Meanwhile, 58.3% of the consumers think that it is important to have the color difference according to contents. The number of favorite nutrients in the front of pack was four or five. It seems that the recognition of current nutrition labeling has the influence on the willingness of using the future 'front of pack labeling'. Along with our study, the policy for 'front of pack labeling' has to be updated and improved constantly since 'front of pack labeling' helps consumer understand nutrition facts.