Food industry lobby confronts a study revealing great confidence in stamps – CIPER Chile



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REPLACEMENT OF INGREDIENTS

Approved with difficulties in Congress, Law 20.606 came into force in June 2016. Part of the agreements to obtain its authorization was the obligation made to the Ministry of Health in December 2016 to perform a first evaluation C is the Institute of Communication and Image of the University of Chile, in collaboration with the Demoscopic Consultant, who conducted this study : 43% of those surveyed said they looked at food coupons and compared them, while 91.6% said that the warning "ALTO EN" influenced his decision to buy.

The regulation also incorporated three steps to allow industries to adapt to new demands and change their revenues and technologies. If the manufacturers exceed the limits, their products should put the disc to black with white letters on their packaging. In addition, no food with stamps may advertise for minors, be sold, given or offered in primary and secondary schools.

In the first phase, which began in 2016, solid packed products were needed for stamp "HIGH ON" when each 100 grams of food exceeds 22.5 grams of sugar, 800 milligrams of sodium, 6 grams of saturated fat and 350 calories. For liquids, the ceilings were 6 grams of sugar, 100 milligrams of sodium, 3 grams of saturated fat and 100 calories.

This Wednesday, June 27, began the second step, which is stricter: now products that in 100 grams contain more than 15 grams of sugar, 500 milligrams of sodium, 5 grams of saturated fat and 300 calories will carry black seals. For liquids, the limit is 5 grams of sugar, 100 milligrams of sodium, 3 grams of fat and 80 calories.

The standard will harden even more in June 2019: 10 grams of sugar, 400 milligrams of sodium, 4 grams of fat and 275 calories. For liquids, the 2018 standard will be maintained, with the exception of the calories that must go down to 70.

With this second step, 10% of the products that had until now no stamp, must wear it. In industries, they ensure that by 2019, there will be companies in which nearly 90% of their food supply will end up displaying stamps.

The coming into force of the Food Labeling Act, which put pressure on consumers, forced the industry to reformulate its preparations. If it was originally thought that people would make the stamps disappear before buying, internal studies done by several companies indicate that the public is starting to make the revision of the seals a habit. The same advertisement of several firms has already been invented as a strong idea of ​​the sentences of the style "without stamp" or "without stamps".

This did not prevent the private sector from charging additional costs by substituting ingredients and packaging. In its 2017 annual report, Carozzi, one of the largest food groups in the country, informed its shareholders that the provisions of the labeling law have generated several problems that have led it to courts. For example, on February 12, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal for the protection of the Bofill family-related company against the Serem Salud of the metropolitan area, for the recall of Christmas products that violated the law on the property. food labeling.

Another company, the American company Pepsico, which controls the snack brand Evercrisp, sued the Chilean state in front of Santiago's second civil court, forcing it to withdraw certain iconic packaging. figures to violate the law

THE REJECTION OF THE FOOD INDUSTRY

The powerful initial rejection of the standard deployed by the industry, has now become a clandestine lobby. And that is explained. The same New York Times has described the Chilean labeling law as one of the most ambitious in the world: it is the first law on the globe that simultaneously regulates and integrally l & rsquo; Frontal warning labeling; restrictions on advertising intended for minors and the prohibition of the sale of food in schools and their environment.

The changes that this law has caused in the industry are obvious. And his rejection of the law of labeling too. All the pressure to change the regulations was concentrated in the action displayed by Food and Beverages of Chile (AB Chile) the guild that brings together the largest manufacturers of processed foods, such as Coca Cola, CCU, Nestle, Evercrisp, Bimbo, Carozzi and Agrosuper. It is chaired by the former deputy Rodrigo Álvarez (UDI), who was also undersecretary of the Treasury and then Minister of Energy during the first government of Sebastián Piñera

L & Ipsos study revealed by the CIPER refutes the statements published by Rodrigo Álvarez, in the column that appears on the cover of the AB Chile web page and which bears the title: "Without evaluation, it is not possible to do so". there is no result. "

Rodrigo Álvarez

In this document, Álvarez states: "It is essential that we be able to look, with objectivity and political disinterest, what are the real effects that this norm generates at the level of the consumer". He adds: "In two years, we do not know any evaluation which allows us to know clearly if this way was traced by our country." The president of AB Chile, concludes: " At 24 months there is no real evaluation of the effects that this law causes on consumers ."

One of the main criticisms of the industry has been the requirement to measure the amounts of sugar, sodium, saturated fats and calories per 100 grams or 100 cubic centimeters. In the opinion of the producers, these should be measured on the basis of portions, since the measurement is made for every 100 grams or millimeters, a container of 1 kilogram or one liter could exceed limits.

The industry claims that, to be "without stamp", it had to replace sugar with various types of sweeteners, butter, potbadium, carrageenan and various types of starches [19659003] Iansa, the largest domestic sugar producer, imports of non-caloric sweeteners increased by 24% in 2017, while those of sucralose and stevia rose by 50% over the same period. This week, it was announced the intention of the sugar mill to close its plant in Linares, mainly due to the decline in sugar consumption generated by the law on labeling.

CHANGES IN GOVERNMENT STUDIES

Under-Secretary Health Paula Daza said in T13 Radio that before the third stage, will be "an badessment of all of the 39 law enforcement to see if it requires some kind of change. " The ad received applause from the industry

Paula Daza

The announcement of Daza contrasts with the opinions that CIPER collected in the same Ministry of Health: all of them agree that although there is an intention to change the norm, changes can not touch the core of the law.

The opinions gathered are consistent with the internal evaluations that this ministry has done: four out of ten people already prefer to buy products without stamps when alternatives exist. The other figure that marks a huge red alert is one that shows that obesity in Chile is not slackening, already becoming an epidemic.

The latest National Health Survey (ENS) 2016-2017 showed that 74.2% of the population over the age of 18 is obese, with women having the highest prevalence. These data place Chile in the top three positions of the ranking of obesity in Latin America.

All of this data reinforces the need to improve the information that manufacturers provide to consumers, as well as the deployment of nutrition education campaigns. The government's plan is to reformulate all this public policy, facilitating its arrival to the most vulnerable population under the umbrella of the "Elige Vivir Sano" program, which is now managed by the Ministry of Social Development. And it is understood: the figures show that in Chile, obesity and malnutrition are fattened with the poorest population.

DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING

The Ipsos study warns against another of the most delicate axes that influence this epidemic that does not give truce: misleading advertising. The badysis warns, for example, that in the foods that people once qualified as "healthy", the appearance of the seal "ALTO EN" causes them to change this badessment, but that the presence of texts or images in the container that gives a "healthy" reading of the food, causes confusion.

Ipsos – who included in his work focus groups and interviews – also warned of the ways in which certain images and messages may alter or alter the perception of the consumer:

Another of Advertising warnings contained in the study, refers to the way the presence of images of fruits, seeds and nuts or the word "integral" in the packaging of a product, promotes a reading of "healthy" by the consumer.

He also warns about the "hedonic" nature of certain foods. Regardless of any seal that alerts its packaging on the harmfulness of its ingredients, the link that people make with the pleasure that they produce can promote their consumption.

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