Majority of Filipinos in favor of food warning labels — SWS poll

The majority of Filipino people are in favor of adopting front-of-pack warning labels (FOWL) or food warning labels for the country, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll as cited by the Healthy Philippines Alliance (HPA).

The HPA said it commissioned the SWS to determine public perception of food warning labels in the Philippines.

The poll revealed that 66 percent of Filipinos said they will support a policy that will implement food warning labels for pre-packaged and ultra-processed food and beverage products, of whom 39 percent will strongly support.

Meanwhile, 62 percent, or six out of 10 Filipinos across all demographics, areas, socio-economic, and educational status, said that food warning labels are the most effective at communicating health risks versus other labeling schemes.

Food warning labels, the HPA explained, or the black octagonal warning labels directly identify which products have high or excessive amounts of sodium, sugar, and saturated fats that can harm health.

“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 (NNC) 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, convenor of the HPA and Board Member of HealthJustice.

Tan explained that an unhealthy diet and improper nutrition are risk factors for developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer, diabetes, heart, and kidney disease.

Tan added that the country's food environment is saturated by pre-packaged ultra-processed food (UPFs).

He explained that UPFs, more commonly known as junk food, are industrially formulated products with preservatives, artificial additives, and are typically high in critical nutrients such as sugar, sodium, and fats.

UPFs are linked to obesity, hypertension, and NCDs. In the Philippines, 70 percent of all deaths are attributed to NCDs.

“There is mounting evidence that food warning labels are a powerful tool to influence consumer attitudes to avoid unhealthy food and to develop a preference for natural and minimally processed foods to protect health," Tan said.

"It has encouraged the reformulation of food and beverage products that will lessen the amounts of sugar, sodium, and fats. This has helped improve the unbalanced food environment for people, especially children,” he added.

He also urged the Department of Health to "take the lead in pushing for food warning labels as a strategy to arrest the rising cases of diet-related NCDs in the country."

Food warning labels have been pioneered by Chile in 2016, after which other Latin American countries like Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, and Venezuela adopted and improved the policy.