Sir,
Consumption of unhealthy food has been associated with detrimental effects on the health status of individuals and a significant burden on the health-care delivery system.[1] Furthermore, the choice of food products plays a defining role in the development of various noncommunicable diseases and obesity.[1]
In order to respond to the public health concern of foodborne illnesses, stakeholders from the European region have developed an action plan for the period 2015–2020.[2] This plan identifies the priority areas which require attention and also implement measures to improve the overall quality of the diet and nutritional status of the European population.[2] In fact, with an aim to increase the pace of activities and to supplement other actions to establish a healthy food environment, the policy makers from France have decided to adopt the Nutri-score system.[2,3] This simplified system employs color coding principle to assist people in understanding the nutritional value of different food products by just a glance.[3]
Moreover, it has been envisaged that all European nations should devise and implement a labeling system on the front-of-pack, which should be easy to comprehend and assist people in their understanding about nutritional information.[3] In fact, the findings of a randomized trial concluded that the five-color nutrition label system is extremely effective in motivating people to make a healthier food option in heterogeneous settings.[4]
Further, the practice of food labeling not only guides people for adopting healthier food products but also encourages food operators to bring about reforms in their products, and thus, it becomes a critical intervention in regions with high incidence of noncommunicable diseases.[2,3] The proposed Nutri-score system will be categorizing food products and drinks under five categories of nutritional quality.[3] In addition, it has been observed that the presence of a color-coded nutrition label on the front-of-pack acts as a key factor in augmenting the attention of consumers, when compared to traditional nutrition facts label.[5]
To conclude, it is anticipated that the adoption of color coding in the labeling of food products will play a significant role in assisting people to make an informed healthy choice, meet the demands of people to have better information about healthier food products, and in minimizing the intake of energy-dense foods or foods rich in saturated fats, sugar, or salt.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
REFERENCES
- 1.Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Global food safety: Challenges and recommended public health strategies. Int J Prev Med. 2016;7:8. doi: 10.4103/2008-7802.173904. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.World Health Organization. European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015-2020. Geneva: WHO Press; 2015. pp. 1–27. [Google Scholar]
- 3.World Health Organization. France Becomes One of the First Countries in Region to Recommend Colour-Coded Nutrition Labelling System. 2017. [Last accessed on 2017 Mar 30]. Available from: http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/nutrition/news/news/2017/03/france-becomes-one-of-the-first-countries-in-region-to-recommend-colour-coded-nutrition-labelling-system .
- 4.Ducrot P, Julia C, Méjean C, Kesse-Guyot E, Touvier M, Fezeu LK, et al. Impact of different front-of-pack nutrition labels on consumer purchasing intentions: A randomized controlled trial. Am J Prev Med. 2016;50:627–36. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.10.020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Becker MW, Sundar RP, Bello N, Alzahabi R, Weatherspoon L, Bix L. Assessing attentional prioritization of front-of-pack nutrition labels using change detection. Appl Ergon. 2016;54:90–9. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2015.11.014. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]