The draft regulations were gazetted in January and consumers had until 21 July to comment. These regulations, among other things, propose the mandatory use of new and bolder warning labels on unhealthy food which include items high in salt, sugar, saturated fats and items containing artificial sweeteners.
CMT’s co-director Lucilla Blankenberg said the warning labels had been tested with audiences and researchers. If you’re a diabetic shopping for food and there was a clear warning label saying, ‘high in sugar’, the consumer won’t have to spend time trying to work it out because the message is simple. ‘We won’t see the results immediately, but it will happen over time, especially for the children. With warning labels, it will be easier for parents to avoid buying certain food,’ said Blankenberg.
‘We started the campaign in May and went to eight provinces, mainly to educate and inform communities about the importance of front of pack warning labels and the food they were eating,’ said Zimela. She said they found that many consumers agreed that they did not understand the nutritional information on food packaging.
Zimela said HEALA will be monitoring the responses to the regulations. ‘Should the regulations be implemented, we need to make sure that they are not watered down or seen as useless.’The South African Sugar Association told GroundUp it had also submitted comments on the draft regulations, and that the front of pack warning labelling system was of particular concern to the industry.
He said the warning labels should not be done in a sensationalist or alarmist manner ‘which seeks to demonise sugar’ because that would have ‘a significant adverse impact on the sugar industry’.
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