MANILA, Philippines — The majority of Filipinos support a proposal to put warning labels in front of food packages that are unhealthy or high in sodium, salt and fats to prevent the rising cases of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the country, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
The findings of the survey, released in time for National Nutrition Month this July and commissioned by civil society coalition Healthy Philippines Alliance (HPA), showed that 66 percent of Filipinos favor the implementation of a food warning label policy for prepackaged and ultraprocessed food (UPF) and beverage products.
“The SWS survey demonstrates that adopting a food warning labeling policy can effectively protect consumers against unhealthy food and drinks. More importantly, the Alliance appreciates that the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Nutrition Council have similarly identified front-of-package labeling as a priority policy initiative for the prevention of NCDs and we express full support to move this forward,” said Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, former DOH chief and HPA convener.
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