CAPPA calls for mandatory food labelling to combat increased NCD

WITH the increase in the rate of non-communicable diseases (NCD) in the country, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has urged the Federal Government to mandate front-of-pack labelling of food products to enable Nigerians to know what they are consuming.

At the Salt Target and Front of Pack Warning Label (FOPWL) Journalism Training on Response Building, Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of CAPPA, said one of the leading and entirely preventable risk factors behind these NCDs, especially hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular conditions, which account for over 30 percent of all deaths in Nigeria, is excessive salt intake, much of which comes from prepackaged and ultra-processed

Hence, he said there should be enforcement of policies to mandate food labelling, noting that FOPWL is transformative intervention that puts power in the hands of consumers.

“The principle is straightforward. No one should need a PhD in nutrition to understand what they are eating. A clear and visible warning on a food product, whether it is high in salt, sugar, or saturated fat, empowers people to make better choices and pressures companies to reformulate their products.”

Akinbode noted that, globally, countries that have embraced front-of-pack warning labelling are already reaping the benefits, among which is the drop in purchases of sugary drinks and have also prompted companies to reformulate their recipes to avoid using warning labels.

“This is regulation doing exactly what it should by influencing behaviour, fostering accountability in the food industry, and rebalancing power in favour of the public.

“Nigeria has the opportunity to be part of this global shift—by adopting a mandatory, interpretive front-of-pack warning labelling system that clearly alerts consumers when a product is high in salt, sugar, or saturated fat.

Akinbode called the attention of the federal government to industry interference in enforcing the policy, among which are lobbying behind closed doors, public relations campaigns masquerading as science, and the funding of research designed to obscure the link between processed foods and disease.

He noted that CAPPA believes that public health advocacy must go hand in hand with public education, hence the training of journalist, which serves as a part of a broader struggle to reclaim public health from corporate capture by equipping journalists with knowledge that empowers them to confront structures that profit from public confusion, and a regulatory system that too often remains weak in the face of multiplying challenges.

“The workshop theme, Industry Interference and Response Building, is also about understanding and confronting the forces that block life-saving policies. As journalists, we are here to deepen our grasp of not just the science behind salt reduction or food labelling, but also the political economy that governs what the public consumes, understands, and internalises as truth,” Akinbode said.

ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE