World Health Organization
Background
The global burden of unhealthy diets constitutes a major public health and development challenge worldwide. Urgent action is required to address malnutrition in all its forms, including undernutrition, micronutrient-related malnutrition, overweight, obesity, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). To accelerate progress, particularly against diet-related NCDs, a comprehensive policy approach is required to create enabling and supportive food environments.
As part of these efforts and in response to Member State requests, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a draft guideline on nutrition labelling policies. This guideline will aim to support countries in developing and implementing new, or strengthening existing, nutrition labelling policies.
Nutrition labelling has the power to modify the production and consumption of food, including prepackaged food. Given shifts in the global food system and transitions in diet towards prepackaged food, labelling is now not only a primary communication tool, but also a valuable marketing asset used to influence decision-making. A government-led, evidence-based, and transparent approach to nutrition labelling policies is therefore required.
The recommendations in the draft guideline were formulated based on evidence from a systematic review on the impacts of the in-scope nutrition labelling policies including list of ingredients, nutrient declarations, front-of-pack labelling and nutrition and health claims, as well as evidence from a review of relevant contextual factors (e.g. resource implications, equity and human rights, acceptability and feasibility).
Objective
The next step to finalize this guideline is to launch a public consultation to gather feedback from diverse stakeholders. Comments are invited in particular on overall clarity, considerations, and implications for adaptation and implementation of the guideline, context and setting-specific issues that may not have yet been captured, and any errors of fact or missing data.
General guidance on providing comments
The public consultation will be open from 9 September (12.30 CEST) to 11 October (23.59 CEST) 2024. Download the draft guidance and access the online feedback form here. (Link will be activated at the start of the public consultation on 9 September 2024).
Comments on the draft guideline will be accepted via the online form only. Individuals or organizations wishing to comment must submit a completed and signed Declaration of Interest (DOI) form. An expert peer-review process will occur simultaneously. After the peer-review and public consultation period concludes, all comments will be reviewed and considered in finalizing the draft guideline before final clearance by the WHO’s Guidelines Review Committee.
Additional notes
WHO has produced evidence-informed guidelines to support Member States in establishing food environments that promote healthy diets and improve nutrition, including:
- Fiscal policies to promote healthy diets: WHO guideline
- Policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing: WHO guideline
References to systematic and contextual factor reviews that informed the recommendations contained in the draft guideline:
- The Potential Effectiveness of Nutrient Declarations and Nutrition and Health Claims for Improving Population Diets
- The Potential Effectiveness of Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling for Improving Population Diets
- WHO (2021) Implementing nutrition labelling policies: a review of contextual factors
Contact
Please direct questions regarding the consultation to NFS@who.int with the subject “nutrition labelling guidelines”. Any media queries can be sent to mediainquiries@who.int.
