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OPEN LETTER

to the National Standards Bodies of CARICOM

in reference to the

CARICOM Member State Voting on the Final Draft CARICOM Regional Standard for Specification for labeling of pre-packaged foods (FDCRS 5)

4 October, 2023

Dear CARICOM National Standards Bodies,

We are writing as leaders in health and nutrition across the Caribbean to urge your stakeholders representing diverse sectors of society and senior policymakers in Ministries of Trade, Commerce, Business, Finance, and Agriculture, to support the approval of the Final Draft CARICOM Regional Standard for Specification for labeling of pre-packaged foods (FDCRS 5), which includes the octagonal front-of-package warning label and the PAHO Nutrient Profile Model.

Caribbean people deserve the best nutritional labelling system to reduce malnutrition in all its forms—including undernutrition and overnutrition—and improve their health.

Among various nutritional labelling systems, scientific evidence, including from the Caribbean region, underscores the superior effectiveness of the octagonal warning label, which empowers consumers to quickly, correctly, and easily identify products with unhealthy nutritional profiles.

Caribbean countries have some of the world’s most alarming rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and obesity. These conditions not only place immense strain on our healthcare systems, but also pose a significant threat to our economic stability, and, as underscored in the recent Bridgetown Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health, they jeopardize our regional development objectives and the attainment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

At the heart of these diet-related health challenges lies the overconsumption of foods high in sodium/salt, sugar, and fats – a situation which is in part due to the lack of awareness of the content of many foods. Current nutrition labels are difficult to read and understand and are often misleading.

Caribbean people deserve access to a labelling system that has proven its effectiveness in helping consumers make informed food choices.

Studies conducted globally, as well as regionally in Jamaica and in Barbados, show that the octagonal warning label outperforms all other labels in allowing consumers to quickly, easily, and correctly identify foods high in sodium/salt, sugar, and fats.[1] In Barbados, the introduction of octagonal warning labels has the potential to reduce NCD deaths by 16%, while saving the government in excess of 700 million US dollars in mortality costs annually.[2]

The impact of the octagonal warning labeling system extends far beyond the supermarket aisle. It has the capacity to easily identify those food products which should be regulated in various settings, including schools, and be subjected to taxation (unhealthy products) and subsidies (healthy products). The HCC and partners’ newly launched campaign, ‘Octagonal Warning Labels help consumers #ActOnFacts’ speaks to this and the other co-benefits of implementing this labelling standard.

The time to act is now.

The time to act is now, as we echo the commitment made by Caribbean Heads of State and Government in the 2007 Declaration of Port of Spain to address the “epidemic of chronic NCDs” by prioritising the prevention of NCDs through strong policies. Approval of this Final Draft CARICOM Regional Standard and the octagonal warning label not only honours this historic commitment, but also represents a significant step towards safeguarding the nutrition and health of our citizens, particularly those living with obesity and NCDs. The rising levels of childhood obesity in the region and the associated increased risk of NCDs, heighten the imperative for action; Caribbean people have a right to simple and easily understood information about the food they consume; right now, they do not.

Our collective voices build on the signatures of support from over 400 Caribbean public health professionals, academics, and ordinary citizens, and over 40 regional organisations.

We implore your stakeholders to consider the urgency of this matter and the profound impact that your decision will have on the immediate and future nutrition, health, and well-being of Caribbean people, and, by extension, national and regional development.

By approving the Final Draft CARICOM Regional Standard for Specification for labelling of pre-packaged foods and the octagonal warning label, through a fair and balanced vote including all key stakeholders, you will send a clear message of commitment to improve the lives of citizens across CARICOM and securing a healthier future for the region.

SIGNED

REGIONAL PARTNERS

Sir Trevor Hassell, President, Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC)

Mr. Dean Chambliss, Subregional Program Director for the Caribbean, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

Dr. Joy St. John, Executive Director, Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)

Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General, OECS Commission

Mr. Pieter Bult, Representative EC, UNICEF Eastern Caribbean

Mrs. Nicole Foster, Law Lecturer & Head, Law and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus.

Professor Simon Anderson, Director of the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre (GA-CDRC)

HCC PATRON

Sir George Alleyne, Director Emeritus, PAHO

NCD COMMISSION CHAIRS

Mr. Suleiman Bulbulia, Chair, Barbados National NCD Commission

Dr. Trevor Ferguson, Chair, Jamaica National NCD Commission

Dr. Jane Noel, Chair, Grenada National NCD Commission

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATION PARTNERS

Dr. Vanessa White-Barrow, President, Caribbean Association of Nutritionist and Dieticians

Ms. Debbie Chen, Executive Director, Heart Foundation of Jamaica

Ms. Abi Begho, Founder and Programme Director, Lake Health and Wellbeing

Dr. Karen Sealey, Founder and Chair, Trinidad and Tobago NCD Alliance

Dr. Sonia Nixon, Chair, Grenada Cancer Society

Ms. Laura Tucker-Longsworth, Founder and Chair of the Belize Cancer Society, Former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Belize

Shannique Bowden, Executive Director, Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network

Ms. Janice Olliver-Creese, President, St Vincent and the Grenadines Diabetes & Hypertension Ass Inc

Ms. Juanita James, President, Antigua and Barbuda Diabetes Association

Dr. Nancy Charles Larco, Executive Director, Fondation Haïtienne de Diabète et de Maladies Cardiovasculaires, Haiti

Dr. Tamara Remy, President, St. Lucia Cancer Society

View/download the open letter here

[1] https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/4/e065620

[2] https://iris.paho.org/bitstream/handle/10665.2/57989/PAHONMHRF230040_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

The post Open Letter to the National Standards Bodies of CARICOM appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

Octagonal warning labels help consumers #ActOnFacts and presenting science-based evidence in support of the octagonal warning label (OWL) contained within the Final Draft of the CARICOM Regional Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods (FDCRS 5).

Read the press release for the webinar here.

The webinar was attended by over 200 participants from across the region.

Webinar Goal and Objectives

The goal of the webinar was to provide an update on the status of the Final Draft of the CARICOM Regional Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods (FDCRS 5) which contains the octagonal front of package warning label and share evidence in support of octagonal warning labels as a key measure to catalyse the reshaping of food environments in the Caribbean.

The objectives of the webinar were:

1. To promote the campaign “Octagonal Warning Labels help consumers #ACTONFACTS ” in support of the Final Draft of the CARICOM Regional Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods (FDCRS 5) which contains the OWL as defined by the PAHO nutrient profile model.
2. To increase public awareness of the detrimental impact of ultra-processed products high in sugars, fats and sodium and the role of the ‘high-in’ octagonal front of package warning labels (OWL) in promoting healthier food choices.
3. To provide policymakers and policy influencers with a comprehensive understanding of FOPWL, specifically OWL, and to present robust scientific evidence underpinning the use of OWL and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) to guide OWL thresholds.
4. To provide science-based evidence to correct misinformation about OWL including the false narrative that OWL negatively impacts trade and the economy.
5. To encourage both the public and policymakers support for OWL and the FDCRS-5.

Overall Moderator

Ms. Maisha Hutton
Executive Director
HCC

Partners

Sir Trevor Hassell
President
HCC

Dr. Anselm Hennis
Director, Department of NCDs
and Mental Health
PAHO

Dr. Lisa Indar
Director, Surveillance, Disease
Prevention and Control Division
CARPHA

Dr. Didacus Jules
Director General
OECS Commission

Mr. Pieter Bult
UNICEF
Representative to the
Eastern Caribbean Area

Panellists

Ms. Tamie Marie
Communication Consultant
HCC

Ms. Samantha Moitt
Chief Nutrition Officer,
Nutrition Unit
Ministry of Health,Wellness
and the Environment
Antigua and Barbuda

Mr. Luis Galicia
PAHO International Consultant
Sodium Reduction

Dr. Fabio da Silva Gomes
Advisor Nutrition and Physical
Activity
PAHO

Ms. Nicole Foster
Lecturer, Faculty of Law
and Head of Law
and Health Research Unit

Ms. Isabel Barbosa
Senior Associate
Adjunct Professor of Law
O’Neill Institute for National
and Global Health Law
Georgetown University
Law Center

Ms. Xarriah Nicholls
Youth Advocate
Person living with an NCD
Healthy Caribbean Youth

The post What Is Happening With Food Labels in CARICOM? appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

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Although some industry players propose alternative labelling options, with our people’s health on the line, we need the label that is backed by sound, scientific research; and the Octagonal Warning Label (OWL) is 9 TIMES more effective at helping us quickly, correctly and easily identify products that are high in sugars, sodium and fats than other labeling system.

THE OCTAGONAL WARNING LABEL IS AT THE CENTRE OF A WIDER STRATEGY!

The Octagonal Warning Label enables other healthy food policies because it clearly and effectively identifies products that are high in sugars, sodium and fats and, therefore, harmful to health of our families and children.

This means it makes it easier to design, implement and enforce healthy policies like:

• Regulating the sale and marketing of these unhealthy food products in and around schools, and school settings like youth sporting events
• Regulating the marketing of these foods to children
• Taxing unhealthy food products and subsidising healthy foods

So, the Octagonal Warning Label is a crucial launchpad for these policies that can protect our children and families, and also make it easier and more affordable for citizens to make healthy food choices.

THIS VOTE AND THESE POLICIES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER!

Modern diets lack fresh, minimally processed food and are inundated with ultra- processed food products high in sugar, fats and salt which lead to our region’s biggest killers: obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure and even some cancers.

With these ultra-processed food products being made easily accessible, attractively marketed, cheap and convenient, it’s more important than ever to have clear facts about the food we buy and consume.

That clarity can go a long way toward helping us make healthier food choices and protect our families and children from the harmful results of unhealthy options.

It is a step toward rebuilding the health of our population one family, one meal, one choice at a time!

PEOPLE LIVING WITH DIET-RELATED DISEASES NEED CLEAR NUTRITIONAL FACTS!

Everyone should to be able to correctly and easily identify foods high in sugar, sodium and fats.

But, for people living with living with diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, obesity and even some cancers, clarity and honesty can actually help to control their conditions, and ultimately save their lives by helping them make better, healthier choices in the long-term!

IT’S JUST EASIER TO MAKE HEALTHY CHOICES WHEN THE FACTS ARE CLEAR!

Appealing and persuasive package designs, clever marketing and misleading claims on packaging, and confusing nutrition labels can often lead to unhealthy food products being mistaken as “good for us”. Consumers need help to combat these tactics.

This is why we need a label that provides clear facts that let us quickly, correctly and easily identify unhealthy food products.

CAMPAIGN AT A GLANCE

Launch Date: Monday | 25 SEPTEMBER, 2023

Locale: Regional/Caribbean

Type: Social Media Campaign

Purpose: To advocate and build support for the current final draft regional standard for labelling pre-packaged foods, which includes the octagonal front-of-package warning labelling system.

In October 2023, CARICOM countries voted on whether to approve the Octagonal Warning Labels or not. Thanks to everyone who signed the petition in support of the Octagonal Warning Label!

1470

People Signed (including Caribbean Academics, Researchers and Health Practitioners)

RELATED RESOURCES

The post Octagonal Warning Labels Help Consumers Act on Facts appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.