Public policies to combat obesity in Chile: Law 20.606 on the nutritional composition of foods and their advertising

Authors: Carmén Castillo

August 2017 – Presentation on the implementation of Law 20.606 on the nutritional composition of food and its advertising; an evaluation one year after the law has been implemented.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mva17yzz7se27qa/AABDRpCLa2WQPhHo5RQzQiBia/Etiquetado%20nutricional%20y%20frontal/Encuentro%20FAO%20Chile%20sept%202017?dl=0&file_subpath=%2F21+agosto%2FConferencias%2FMinistra+de+Salud%2C+Chile.pdf&preview=Encuentro+internacional.rar&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

The effects of the Chilean food package policy on aggregate employment and real wages

Authors: Guillermo Paraje / Arantxa Colchero / Juan Marcos Wlasiuk / Antonio Martner Sota / Barry M. Popkin

January 2021 – In 2016 the Chilean government instituted the world’s most aggressive food policy package to prevent obesity and nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases. The package included comprehensive integrated policies on child marketing, school-related controls, and front-of-package warning labels for foods and beverages high in saturated fats, sugars, calories, and/or salt. This study assesses the impact of these policies on labor market outcomes (real wages and aggregate employment) after 18 months. Our results show that aggregate employment and average real wages were not affected by these regulations when compared to sectors unlikely to be affected by the policies. The study finds that sectors in which products are subject to labeling may have seen a decline in production but show no reduction in employment on aggregate. These results are consistent with evidence from research on the influence of other types of regulations (for example, how taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages affect employment) in other countries and cast doubts on the concerns that firms commonly raise about the negative impact of such regulations on labor market outcomes.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919220302220?via%3Dihub

Technical Proposal for Nutrition Labeling

September 2016 – Powerpoint technical proposal on Nutritional Food Labeling based on overweight individuals in El Salvador (in Spanish).

https://interamericanheart.org/Repository/26-09-16_propuesta_tecnica_etiqueda_nutricional_tania_tobar.pdf

The Label can be Better

Author: Instituto Brasileiro de Defensa do Consumidor

September / October 2016 – Scientific research identifies difficulties for consumers to understand nutritional information and obtains their opinion on what may change. The good news is that it is possible to generate a more understandable label and Brazil is on that path. (in Portuguese)

https://idec.org.br/em-acao/revista/rotulo-mais-facil/materia/o-rotulo-pode-ser-melhor

Front-of-package labeling as a policy tool for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases in the Americas

Authors: Pan America Health Organization

September 2020 – High blood pressure, high fasting blood sugar levels, and overweight/obesity are the top three risk factors for mortality in the Americas. Unhealthy eating is closely linked to these top three risk factors in the Americas. The regulatory objective of a FOPL system should aim at allowing consumers to correctly, quickly, and easily identify products that contain excessive amount of sugars, total fats, saturated fats, trans fats, and sodium.

https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/52740

Building momentum: lessons on implementing a robust front-of-pack food label

A series of reports aiming to help policymakers overcome common barriers to implementing evidence-informed nutrition policy

Building momentum: lessons on implementing a robust front-of-pack food label

Restrictions on Marketing to Children

Powerpoint with different promotional images of product packaging showing the octagonal black warning label.

https://interamericanheart.org/Repository/fotossellos.pptx

Building momentum: lessons on implementing a robust front-of-pack food label

Authors: WCRFInternational (World Cancer Research Fund International)

2019 – Provides advice to policymakers about designing and implementing a front-of-pack food label in the face of various challenges caused by lack of political will and industry interference. It seeks to equip policymakers with overarching guidance on how to design a robust front-of-pack food label that will help overcome issues of lack of political as well as defend their label against legal and non-legal challenges, including common tactics used by industry. Case studies are included throughout the report from countries who are in the process of, or who have already implemented a front-of-pack label.

https://www.wcrf.org/sites/default/files/PPA-Building-Momentum-2-WEB.pdf

Responses to the Chilean law of food labeling and advertising: exploring knowledge, perceptions and behaviors of mothers of young children

Authors: Teresa Correa; Camila Fierro; Marcela Reyes; Francesca R. Dillman Carpentier; Lindsey Smith Taillie; Camila Corvalan

2019 –

In line with calls for action from international health organizations, Chile implemented in June 2016 a set of regulations to tackle the obesity epidemic. The new regulation includes the mandatory use of front-of-package warning labels on packaged foods/beverages high in energy, sugars, saturated fats and sodium. Additionally, such foods cannot be sold nor offered in daycare/schools and cannot be promoted to children under 14yo. The law is targeted to children; thus, this study examined mothers’ understanding, perceptions, and behaviors associated with the regulation one year after its implementation, using a qualitative approach.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-019-0781-x

Preliminary Report on Regulatory Impact Analysis on Nutrition Labeling

Authors: ANVISA – Agencia Nacional de Vigilancia Sanitária / Gerencia Geral de Alimentos

May 2018 – Brazil was one of the first countries to adopt mandatory nutrition labeling as part of the public health strategy to promote adequate and healthy food and to combat overweight, through regulatory actions conducted by Anvisa.

https://pesquisa.anvisa.gov.br/upload/surveys/981335/files/An%C3%A1lise%20de%20Impacto%20Regulat%C3%B3rio%20sobre%20Rotulagem%20Nutricional.pdf