Bid for better food labels

HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE underscored the importance of proper food labelling to help combat obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Dr Anselm Hennis of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) told a news conference that labelling on sugar, fat and salt content would help people to make wiser food choices, as regulatory mechanisms were not strong in the Caribbean.

Minister of Health John Boyce said the ministries of health and trade were working toward the development of stronger labelling standards.

Hennis, PAHO’s Barbadian director for NCDs and mental health, said an oversaturation of the North American market with junk food and sugar-sweetened beverages had led to a clear effort by food industries to market those items in the Caribbean and Latin America area, which now has the highest premature mortality from NCDs in the Americas. (LK)

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