How Chile's strong front-of-pack labeling is reshaping the consumption pattern

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📑 See aninteresting take from Lindsey Smith Taillie, PhD on the positive impact of the recent change in Chilean labeling system here.

Up to 47% decrease of black octagon products purchase

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🇨🇱 The 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 and advertising now requires packaged foods and beverages containing added sugar, sodium, or saturated fat and exceeding set thresholds for these nutrients or for overall calorie content to carry front-of-package warning labels—black octagon(s).

🏷️ This simple labeling format has enabled consumers to easily detect foods "high in", and led to a decrease in the consumption of such foods and beverages carrying labels, 𝗯𝘆 𝟴% 𝘁𝗼 𝟰𝟳% depending on food types. Moreover, if a 6-year old can detect and react to this type of labeling, it is a sign that the message comes across and we building awareness for generations to come.

While it is recognised that reducing a food item to its nutrient parts does not account for all its (postive or negative) impacts on health... it is also clear that the excessive consumption of "high in" type foods plays a role, and reducing them should be part of the solution.This is all the more relevant as the Chilean labeling system has impacted not only consumer choices, but has also prompted the food industry to adjust and reformulate, especially for the easy swaps (low hanging fruit to avoid a big fat scary label on your product). See more in this here.

It's no magic wand, as for example replacing sugar by sweeteners does not fully solve the problem (see the latest WHO guidelines on the topic) but no one said we were going to (or needed to) get 10/10 in one go? So, as the 6-year old said "𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩 ⚠️ 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤?"

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📖 Full article here.

💬 Feel free to comment, agree, disagree, provide further details on these topics here.

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