Abstract
The provision of simplified nutrition information, in a prominent place on the front of food packages, is recommended as an important element of comprehensive strategies to tackle the burden of death and disease caused by unhealthy diets. There is growing evidence that front-of-pack nutrition labels are preferred by consumers, are more likely to be looked at or noticed than nutrition labelling on the back or side of packages and can help consumers to better identify healthier and less healthy products. This review summarizes current implementation of front-of-pack nutrition labelling policies in the countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Implementation of front-of-pack nutrition labelling in the Eastern Mediterranean Region remains limited, but three types of scheme were identified as having been implemented or at an advanced stage of development by governments in six countries. Through a review of reviews of existing research and evidence from country implementation, the authors suggest some pointers for implementation for other countries in the Region deciding to implement front-of-pack nutrition labelling policies.
Highlights
In the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region half the Region’s adult women (50.1%) and more than two in five men (43.8%) are overweight or obese and more than 2.2 million lives are lost each year to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) [1]
This paper summarizes the current status of implementation of front-of-pack nutrition labelling in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and explores how lessons from international experience could guide further implementation in the Region
In order to build a picture of the state of implementation of front-of-pack nutrition labelling in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and to inform its future implementation, a literature review was conducted for development of a background document for discussion at a WHO Technical
Summary
In the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region half the Region’s adult women (50.1%) and more than two in five men (43.8%) are overweight or obese and more than 2.2 million lives are lost each year to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) [1]. Unhealthy diets are a major contributor to this burden, estimated to be responsible for over 20% of adult deaths in the Region [2]. WHO has recommended countries use food labelling to tackle malnutrition in all its forms and to help meet the global targets on nutrition and NCDs [3,4,5,6]. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the Regional Framework for Obesity Prevention, adopted by WHO Member States in 2018, recommends implementation of front-of-pack nutrition labelling for all prepackaged foods [7]
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