Nii Martey M. Botchway
Accra, March 1, GNA – SEND Ghana and the Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics are advocating the mandatory publication of clear and concise information about nutritional contents of food products to guide consumers in their purchasing decisions.
They are, therefore, asking for the urgent implementation of the Front of Pack Warning Labels (FOPWL) on packaged food products to protect consumer health.
The FOPWL is an intervention tool that informs the public about products that can harm health and guide their purchasing decisions.
The two organisations say the move, which aims at promoting healthier eating habits, also seeks to reduce the burden of diet-related diseases in Ghana.
Despite the proven health benefits it came with in curbing unhealthy food consumption and reducing health risks, Ghana is yet to implement the FOPWL, a comprehensive regulatory measure.
At a two-day workshop for some selected journalists at Abokobi in Accra, Professor Kingsley Pereko, a Nutritionist and Senior Lecturer, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, said the mandatory implementation of the warning labels would provide consumers with a clear and concise information on food products to avoid being misled.
He said most of those products were the underlying causes of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and that the current labelling system, which was often confusing and misleading, made it difficult for consumers to know exactly what they were getting.
“Front-of-pack warning labels will help to cut through the confusion and provide a clear warning about unhealthy ingredients,” Prof Pereko said.
The mandatory implementation of the FOPWL would also provide an opportunity to improve Ghana’s food environment for healthier and improved food behaviour and choices.
Mr Joseph Danquah, a Nutritionist, and General Secretary, Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, said the records from countries implementing the FOPWL were impressive, and that Ghana could achieve similar success in improved health of its citizens if the implementation was mandatory.
He emphasised the Academy’s commitment to seeing to its mandatory implementation as its absence left consumers vulnerable and uninformed.
“We remain committed to this advocacy to improve the food environment to address the growing burden of NCDs,” he said.
Ms Baaba Sam, a Field Officer with SEND Ghana, said the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Ghana was a pressing and urgent public health challenge, hence the need for government to fast –track the FOPWL.
The proposed labelling system, when made mandatory would require food manufacturers to display clear warnings on products that exceed certain thresholds for unhealthy ingredients such as sugar, salt, and saturated fats.
GNA