A policy study on front-of-pack nutrition labeling in the Americas: emerging developments and outcomes

Abstract

Poor nutrition is one of the leading causes of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially in the WHO Region of the Americas (AMRO). In response, international organisations recommend front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) systems that present nutrition information clearly to help consumers make healthier choices. In AMRO, all 35 countries have discussed FOPNL, 30 countries have formally introduced FOPNL, eleven have adopted FOPNL, and seven countries (Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) have implemented FOPNL. FOPNL has gradually spread and evolved to better protect health by increasingly adopting larger warning labels, contrasting background devices for better salience, using "excess" instead of "high in" to improve efficacy, and adopting the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) Nutrient Profile Model to better define nutrient thresholds. Early evidence illustrates successful compliance, decreased purchases and product reformulation. Governments still discussing and waiting to implement FOPNL should follow these best practices to help reduce poor nutrition related NCDs. Translated versions of this manuscript are available in Spanish and Portuguese in the supplementary material.

Keywords: Americas; Front-of-pack nutrition labeling; Non-communicable diseases; Nutrition.

Fig. 1

Example of PAHO FOPNL benchmark design features, which include octagonal (shape) textual warning labels (type), with black colour background, white colour capital fonts (colour) and white borders, placed within a white fringe box (contrast), occupying at least 30% of the surface of the main display panel of the package for the most harmful products (size), located on the upper margin of the main panel of exhibition of the package (location).

Fig. 2

AMRO countries that had adopted a FOPNL system (as of August 2022).