KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, has welcomed the Heart Foundation of Jamaica’s (HFJ) newest campaign, aimed at boosting public support for black octagonal front-of-package warning food labels (FOPL).

The campaign, dubbed “Protect our Children’s Health”, was launched on Wednesday (May 27) and is intended to build on the success of HFJ’s first FOPL campaign. This phase will, among other things, continue to highlight the harms of unhealthy foods in efforts to help reduce the spread of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Jamaica.

“Last year, Cabinet took a decision to support front-of-package labelling. This is a step in the right direction. This year, we must decide what this means and how it will be implemented. This campaign should help with that. We must give consumers, including young consumers, a fair chance of making informed choices about the foods they eat,” Tufton said during the virtual launch event.

Recent research conducted by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the University of Technology (UTech) indicated that the chances of people correctly identifying when a product is high in critical nutrients, such as sugar, salts and fats, are higher when black octagonal FOPL are applied.

According to the Communications Officer at the HFJ, K Morrish Cooke, post-evaluation campaign data from 2019 showed that almost 55 per cent of respondents believed it took too much time to interpret the nutrition facts panel.

She added that 92 per cent of Jamaicans from that campaign were in support of the use of FOPL as part of Government’s plan to promote a healthier diet among citizens, 82 per cent agreed on the policy requiring clear warning labels on the front of foods and beverages as a way of reducing obesity in Jamaica, with another 87 per cent agreeing to support Government’s efforts to increase children’s access to healthy foods and drinks.

Meanwhile, also welcoming the campaign were the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ) and United Nations International Emergency Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

President of the MAJ, Dr Brian James, noted that the campaign strategy has been an effective way in helping to control NCDs in the country.

“The cost to the country of handling this existential crisis is growing at an unsustainable pace and we must act early if our vision of making Jamaica a preferred place to live, work, raise family and do business is to become real,” he said.

PAHO Representative to Jamaica, Ian Stein, in his remarks, noted that a collective effort is required to tackle NCDs, which have accounted for some 78 per cent of deaths in the island. He said, “PAHO recommends the use of laws and regulations to reduce the demand for any offer of products that contain excessive amounts of these critical nutrients, and one of the key policy tools to regulate such products is the use of front-of-package labelling.”

UNICEF Representative to Jamaica, Mariko Kagoshima, says stakeholders must act quickly to implement octagonal FOPL to protect the health of children and their families.

She noted that UNICEF supports implementation of evidence-based food and nutrition policies, including FOPLs and national school nutrition programmes, as they are aimed at fostering a healthy food environment.