By Nzama Mbalati
When the national Department of Health released its draft regulations proposing mandatory front of package warning labels, health promoters saw this as a step in the right direction to support a healthier South Africa.
In the meantime, movement towards health promotion level (HPL) has been slowed and the small gains made for healthier food choices are being challenged by an industry seemingly unconcerned about the longer health care costs caused by the over-consumption of sugar and other nutrients such as salt and saturated fat.
Front-of-package warning labels will help consumers make better choices and live healthier lives. The Word Health Organization suggests that people should not have more than 60g of sugar per day. Just one can of soda contains as much as 32g. We are consuming more sugar than we realise.
South Africans are eating more ultra-processed foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat – contributing to the obesity and non-communicable disease (NCD) rates and placing a burden on the health system.
Indeed, South Africans are more likely to die from NCDs than any other illness: We have a 51.9% chance of dying from an NCD such as diabetes, heart diseases and stroke. South Africa is also the country with the highest obesity rate in Sub-Saharan Africa, with two-thirds of women and one-third of men overweight or obese. Yet, we are also a country where one in four children are undernourished.
Understanding what is in the food we eat can be challenging. The nutrition labels (currently on the back of food packaging) are confusing and difficult to understand or comprehend. Front-of-package warning labels on foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat and containing non-sugar sweeteners provide consumers with a quick and easy way to understand what is in their food – helping them make healthier food choices by avoiding these unhealthy food products.
It is true that ongoing global shocks continue to impact on food inflation. But the solution is not to remove checks and balances that support healthier options.
The reality is that we pay high costs treating the long-term effects of unhealthy food choices. NCDs account for 70% of premature deaths globally. In Sub-Saharan Africa, rising NCDs are estimated to account for 27% of mortality by 2020, a 4% increase from 2005. This burden of disease is placed mostly on Africa’s public health system – drawing from limited state resources.
The WHO has a clear focus to reduce NCDs: tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and the harmful use of alcohol.
With an estimated 41 million premature deaths from NCDs – primarily heart and lung diseases, cancers and diabetes – each year, prevention is a top concern – particularly in developing countries where most deaths occur.
Tackling the risk factors will, therefore, not only save lives; it will also provide a huge boost for the economic development of countries, says the WHO.
It is, therefore, clear that the cost to the economy in terms of health cannot be ignored as all taxpayers end up paying the cost. Food consumption patterns are changing – and need to change – globally. We now know that sugar is in decline, but this is not simply because health activists are calling for responsible behaviour. There is little to show for the sugar masterplan which was put in place to assist the sugar industry.
Instead, all South Africans are now being held hostage by a job loss threat. Jobs are important. But sugar is not the only source of such jobs and we need to find other ways of creating employment without incurring a long-term cost to the health system.
We had until July 21 to comment on the Draft Regulation Relating to Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs. There are many elements of progress: The bill includes a nutrient profiling model to identify unhealthy foods. It includes mandatory easy to understand Front of Pack Warning Labels on unhealthy foods.
And, it includes marketing restrictions focusing specifically on children. However, we also believe that these regulations can be strengthened by expanding the marketing restrictions and putting pressure on the food and beverage industry to act quickly.
We cannot wait to promote healthier eating among South Africans. Access to food is important, but we should not undermine that access by not focusing on the quality of food we consume. South Africa’s long-term health depends on it.
Nzama Mbalati is the programmes manager of the Healthy Living Alliance (Heala)
* The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.