Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling: Actions, Challenges, Opportunities

12 April, 2013

Helen Falco, MS, CNSDirector, Nutrition & Health PolicyScientific & Regulatory Affairs

Overview

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Obesity is a serious and complex global health problem

The Coca-Cola Company is committed to providing FOP calories

The food/beverage industry supports fact-based FOP labeling

Policies, regulations and programs are changing how products are being labeled.

All stakeholders need to come together to drive

workable solutions

Many Factors are at Play

Intake(Kcal)

Output(kcal)

• Genetic• Metabolic• Behavioral• Environmental• Cultural • Socioeconomic

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Bottom line: An imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended

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Obesity Affects More than the Waistline

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• Increased risk of non-communicable (chronic) diseases

• Impact on quality of life

• Health-care costs• National security• Malnourished

remain a problem (est. 850MM worldwide)

Dialogue has Increased, as have Policy and Regulatory Actions

•Advances in science, consumer interest, political influence, world trade and speed of communication have increased awareness of the issue

•Policies and regulations are expanding

WHO Global Strategy

Dietary Guidelines

Nutrition labeling

Nutrient Profiles

Front-of-Pack (FOP) nutrition labeling

Claims

Taxation

Limits on advertising

Fortification

•NGO actions

CSPI, BEUC

•Industry initiatives

Partnerships, collaboration

FOP labeling

Sponsorship of nutrition education and physical activity programs

Obesity is driving broad-based public and private actions and initiatives

Civil Society Solutions

 

 

Civil Society  

Government

Business

Workable Community Solutions To

Address Obesity And Improve Well-Being

The Challenge is…

Major Communication and Information Challenge

Motivating and empowering people of all ages to achieve a healthy

“energy balance”

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Front-of-Pack nutrition labeling is a “tool” to help consumers make dietary decisions

• Easy, at-a-glance, on Front Of Pack• Usually presented in a unique graphic

format• Multiple systems• Voluntary• Reasons for introducing

Response to obesity and related NCDs

Help makes nutrition information easier to find and

understand

FOP is Nutrition Labeling at its Simplest

Three basic approaches to FOP labelingFact-based• Key information from the nutrition panel

• Provides facts; does not rate nutritional quality

“Better-for-you” (Interpretive)• Indicates “superior” nutritional quality

• Does not reflect individual needs

“Traffic Lights” and similar systems (Interpretive)• Use colors, numbers and/or words to indicate

nutritional quality

• Does not reflect individual needs

• Can act as a “warning” system

High Med Low

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Policy and Regulatory ActionsU.S. Institute of Medicine – 2010, 2011

Final Recommendations

• FDA/USDA should develop, test and implement a single, standard FOP system to appear on all products

• Consistent location

• Aligned with nutrition labeling regulations

• Nutrition Facts panel and FOP should be mutually reinforcing

• On-going consumer education program

• Multi-stakeholder, multi-faceted outreach program

Effective FOP System• Encourage healthier choices

at point-of-purchase• Encourage industry to

provide/promote healthier offerings

• Encourage retailers to highlight those offerings

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Policy and Regulatory ActionsAustralia/New Zealand – 2011-2013

• Labelling Logic: Voluntary FOP multi-traffic lights, mandatory with certain claims

• Forum on Food Regulation Response: Develop interpretive FOP; MTLs put on hold while interpretive system explored.

• Intense debate, with opposing views

• Industry: Voluntary FOP; fact-based

• Public health/consumer stakeholders: interpretive system

Forum on Food Regulation

• Initiated collaborative process with industry, public health and consumer groups

• Objective: Reach a broad consensus on a unified, interpretive FOP system

• Research to identify existing systems; design; limited consumer testing; consumer education

• 2 year process; Project Committee developing recommendations

• New Zealand exploring separately and may opt for a different system

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Policy and Regulatory ActionsUnited Kingdom – 2012-2013

• Food and drink industry using GDAs; many retailers using “hybrid traffic light” scheme

• Carried out three-month consultation with retailers, manufacturers, others on what a consistent, clear FOP label should look like

• Decision: combination of GDAs, color coding

• Label design has not been established

• Goal is to have new label in use by summer 2013

• Based on EU Regulation, system cannot be made mandatory; must be objective and non-discriminatory

There is strong global industry support for fact-based FOP systems

Guideline Daily AmountsEuropean Food, Beverage

Industry

Daily Intake GuidesAustralian Food, Beverage

IndustryFacts Up Front

U.S. Food Industry, Retailers

Clear on CaloriesU.S. Beverage Industry

Objective, Consistent, Non-judgmental

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Industry is acting to educate, motivate and empower consumers towards active, healthy lifestyles

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What is The Coca-Cola Company

Doing?

Our Core Beliefs

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• People have individual nutrition and energy needs

• Wide-spread consensus that weight gain is primarily the result of energy imbalance

• No one single food or beverage alone is responsible for people being overweight or obese

• All foods and beverages can have a place in an active, healthy lifestyle that includes a sensible, balanced diet, proper hydration and regular physical activity.

All calories count for managing weight,

including those from our caloric beverages

Our Position and Commitments

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http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/obesity-position-statement.pdf

We support fact-based nutrition information, with focus on energy (calorie) transparency

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We do not support systems that make judgments

Our Actions

We provide factual, meaningful and understandable nutrition information to help our consumers make informed choices

We support nutrition education programs to help consumers understand and use nutrition information to select a sensible, balanced diet

We made a commitment to place nutrition information and FOP calorie labeling on nearly all of our labels…

…and we’ve met our commitment

In SummaryObesity is a serious and complex global health problemPolicies, regulations and programs are changing the way food and beverage products are labeledAll stakeholders, from all sectors, must come together to drive workable solutionsFOP nutrition labeling is a tool, with different approaches – fact-based, interpretive, hybridThere is strong support for fact-based FOP labeling across the global food and beverage industryEducation is key

Fact-based FOP nutrition labeling

-objective, consistent non-judgmental.

Allows consumers to select diets that meet

their individual calorie and

nutritional needs

Thank you!

Questions?

Comments?