The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to introduce a traffic light labeling system for packaged foods, allowing consumers to more easily understand if products contain low, medium or high saturated fat, sugar and salt.
Citing the WHO having listed “unhealthy diet” as a leading risk factor for noncommunicable diseases, which cause roughly 75 percent of global deaths, the FDA said that, in a joint effort with the Health Promotion Administration (HPA), the traffic light labeling — to be introduced in the second half of this year — is aimed at allowing people to more intuitively identify food content and choose healthier food.
The HPA’s Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan showed that 63 percent of adults exceed the recommended daily limit of salt, and 17.3 percent of adults consume more than the recommended amount of sugar (less than 10 percent of total daily energy intake).
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
“International studies show that using interpretive nutrition labels on the front of food packaging allows consumers to grasp nutritional facts more easily and encourages them to make healthier selections,” the FDA said.
FDA Food Safety Division head Hsu Chao-kai (許朝凱) said the idea of introducing the traffic light labelling was brought up by former Taiwan Dietitian Association president Kuo Su-e (郭素娥) at a Healthy Taiwan National Forum in April last year, and it was supported by President William Lai (賴清德) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰).
Hsu said current food product labeling can be difficult for some consumers to immediately understand, so the FDA and HPA have gathered local and international empirical data and referenced policies in other countries to improve the issue.
After convening several specialist meetings with experts of medicine, nutrition, food science and other relevant fields, a consensus on the design of the new traffic light labeling has been reached, he said.
The draft guideline shows that the front-of-pack nutrition labeling would be based on a standard of per 100g for solids or per 100ml for liquids, and feature a “red-yellow-green” traffic light-color grading system specifically for three nutrients — sugar, sodium and saturated fat.
Food products might be labeled as “green” when their sugar, sodium and saturated fat content falls below the following thresholds: 5g of sugar, 120mg of sodium and 1.5g of saturated fat for solid foods (per 100g); 2.5g of sugar, 120mg of sodium and 0.75g of saturated fat for liquid foods (per 100ml).
They might be labeled as “red” if their content is above the following thresholds: 15g of sugar, 500mg of sodium and 4.5g of saturated fat for solid foods; and 7.5g of sugar, 250mg of sodium and 2.25g of saturated fat for liquid foods.
If the food products’ sugar, sodium and saturated fat are between the two thresholds, they can be labeled as “yellow.”
Hsu said food manufacturers can voluntarily follow the drafted guidelines to print the traffic light labeling on their products, adding that, after a period of policy guidance, the system is scheduled to be formally adopted in the second half of the year.
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