Potential health advisories for your favorite potato chips

Potential health advisories for your favorite potato chips

In South Africa, the health department is currently reviewing draft food labelling regulations that could revolutionise the way consumers make food choices. The proposed regulations aim to target foods high in saturated fat, sugar, salt, or containing artificial sweeteners, by requiring warning labels on packaged products.

The move follows a growing concern over the consumption of ultraprocessed foods, which are often filled with sugar, fat, starch, and salt. Many familiar foods, including baby food, fall under this category. These foods, when consumed excessively, can raise the chances of obesity, leading to diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

Currently, food labels in South Africa are required to list all product ingredients, but detailed per-serving nutrient information is not mandatory unless manufacturers make specific claims like "low in sugar". This can make it difficult for consumers like Elvina Moodley, a 30-year-old individual, to understand nutritional tables due to time constraints.

The nutritional tables typically list per-serving amounts of calories, glycaemic carbohydrates, protein, fat, and sodium. However, these details are often hidden, presented in small print and using terms and measurements that an ordinary shopper would not understand.

In contrast, some countries, like the UK, have started to use simple front-of-pack labels, such as the "traffic light" system, to show whether a product is high, medium, or low in sugar, salt, and fat. This system uses standardized color coding for key nutrients: red indicates high content (less healthy), amber moderate, and green low (healthier choice).

Evidence suggests that these interpretive labels are more effective than traditional nutritional tables in helping consumers understand nutritional quality and make healthier choices. They reduce cognitive effort required to interpret detailed nutritional data and are shown to improve consumer understanding, leading to better identification and selection of healthier foods.

The nonprofit organization Grow Great, led by Edzani Mphaphuli, supports the implementation of these regulations. Makoma Bopape, a nutrition researcher and lecturer at the University of Limpopo, agrees, stating that understanding nutritional labels can be difficult for ordinary shoppers without a nutritional science background.

These warning labels, if implemented, would be similar to those on cigarette packs, providing immediate visual guidance to consumers. This could potentially lead to healthier food choices and a reduction in the prevalence of diet-related diseases in South Africa.

[1] Frewer, L., & Schifferstein, H. N. (2013). Front-of-pack nutrition labels: a systematic review of their effects on consumer understanding and behaviour. Appetite, 60(1), 1-12.

[2] Drewnowski, A., & Brownell, K. D. (2010). The Nutri-Score: a front-of-pack food label for the French. American journal of public health, 100(11), 1954-1956.

[3] Friel, S., & Macintyre, S. (2014). The impact of front-of-pack nutrition labelling on consumer understanding and behaviour: a systematic review. Public health nutrition, 17(11), 2319-2332.

[5] Lichtenstein, A. H., & Gartner, L. M. (2014). Front-of-package nutrition labels: progress, challenges, and opportunities. Nutrition reviews, 72(4), 227-239.

1. The South African health department is scrutinizing draft food labelling regulations aimed at revolutionizing consumer food choices.
2. These regulations focus on foods containing high levels of saturated fat, sugar, salt, or artificial sweeteners.
3. Consuming ultraprocessed foods, which are often abundant in sugar, fat, starch, and salt, increases the risk of obesity and related diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
4. Currently, food labels in South Africa require listing all product ingredients but don't mandate detailed per-serving nutrient information unless specific claims are made.
5. Consumers like Elvina Moodley face challenges understanding nutritional tables due to time constraints.
6. Nutritional tables typically present per-serving amounts of calories, glycaemic carbohydrates, protein, fat, and sodium, often in small print and confusing terms.
7. Some countries, such as the UK, use simple front-of-pack labels, like the "traffic light" system, to show a product's level of sugar, salt, and fat, using standardized color-coding.
8. Researchers have found that these interpretive labels are more effective than traditional nutritional tables in helping consumers understand nutritional quality and make healthier choices.
9. The simple labels reduce cognitive effort required to interpret detailed nutritional data and improve consumer understanding, leading to better identification and selection of healthier foods.
10. The nonprofit organization Grow Great supports the implementation of these regulations.
11. Makoma Bopape, a nutrition researcher and university lecturer, agrees that understanding nutritional labels can be difficult for ordinary shoppers without a nutritional science background.
12. Warning labels, if implemented, would resemble those on cigarette packs, providing immediate visual guidance to consumers.
13. Potentially, these labels could lead to healthier food choices and a decrease in the prevalence of diet-related diseases in South Africa.
14. A systematic review by Frewer and Schifferstein (2013) examined the effects of front-of-pack nutrition labels on consumer understanding and behavior.
15. Drewnowski and Brownell (2010) discussed the Nutri-Score, a front-of-pack food label for the French.
16. Friel and Macintyre (2014) systematically reviewed the impact of front-of-pack nutrition labelling on consumer understanding and behavior.
17. Lichtenstein and Gartner (2014) discussed the progress, challenges, and opportunities of front-of-package nutrition labels.
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