Peru will raise requirements for octagonal labeling

The Ministry of Health (Minsa) of Peru finished the phase of collecting opinions and comments on the draft supreme decree that it published last July, and in which it proposes more demanding parameters for the placement of the so-called nutritional octagons in processed foods and beverages .

This was reported by Cynthia Norris Medina, executive director of Health Promotion at Minsa, during her presentation at the Special Zero Hunger Commission. The official recalled that for a processed food to carry the octagon “High in Sodium” -for example- it must contain 400 mg/100g of sodium, however, the recommendations of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) establish that it be from 100mg/100kcal, both for food and beverages.

In addition, he pointed out that the updating of the regulation of the Healthy Eating Law proposes to regulate advertising warnings for breast milk substitutes and strained, chopped and processed cereal-based baby foods for children up to two years of age. Thus, what is being proposed is that breast milk substitute products and complementary infant foods that contain 60mg/100 kcal of sodium also incorporate the advertising warning.

It should be noted that according to the draft supreme decree, companies and importers of processed food and beverages will have one year to adapt to the new requirements.

The Minsa also reported that in a study carried out in the first phase of the implementation of the Healthy Food Law, it was detected that during 2021 many importing companies (55%) were not complying with the placement of the labeling.

“The countries that were complying the least are the United States and Colombia, while a great advance was detected in those products from Brazil and Mexico,” mentioned Norris.