Stakeholders are pushing for a policy on front-of-package food warning labels to be introduced to help enlighten consumers on the content of products on shelves on the markets.
This is targeted at guiding consumers to pick processed foods that would not endanger their health, in a bid to reduce incidents of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, and diabetes among others.
Research has revealed high consumption rates of processed foods across the country, leading to increasing rates of non-communicable diseases which risks the future of the country.
This was affirmed at a symposium jointly organized by the Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (GAND), the Departments of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Family and Community Health of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS).
Prof Paul Amuna the School of Public Health of UHAS partly attributed the high incidence of consuming unhealthy food to the lack of knowledge of consumers on the content of processed foods they purchase.
He said there is a higher national burden of communicable diseases on developing countries, hence the need to introduce front-of-the-package labeling to improve the knowledge of consumers on the contents of products.
He said the front-of-the-package policy had already been drafted, subjected to stakeholders’ scrutiny, and yet to be submitted to the Ministry of Health for the necessary parliamentary proceedings.
“Health literacy in Ghana is important, nutrition literacy is even more important because we need to get the message to the public about what is good, what is healthy for them to make healthier choices for themselves and their families.“
“And I hope that this symposium we have here today in UHAS will help us along those lines to promote front-of-pack labeling as one of the tools in the toolbox. It is just one of the tools, there are many others, and all these have to be part of the government’s policy process, the Public Health Act. And we need to make Ghanaians aware that these things exist”, he said.
The Vice Chancellor of UHAS, Prof Lydia Aziato emphasized the significant role of text size of labels for easy reading and assimilation of the messages displayed.
She was optimistic that a strong collaboration among stakeholders would contribute to ensuring there are safe processed foods on the counters across the country, to warrant healthy living.
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