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In a collapse of arms with other entities, representatives of the food industry increased pressure with Anvisa (National Agency for Health Surveillance) to include its own model of alert on the sugar, fat and sodium content in the labels of
Today, the new rules that will change the packaging are the subject of discussion at Anvisa. The goal is to help the consumer make healthier choices and create tools to prevent the country from developing obesity, a problem that reaches 18.9% of the adult population.
Anvisa's initial technical report, however, gave an opinion (19659002) Now Abia (Brazilian Association of Food Industries) insists on putting its own model back on the table. . According to the association's executive president, João Dornellas, a new proposal was presented this week
The model, to which Folha had access, maintains the format of traffic lights, but comes with sentences that
Previously, the proposal sent to the agency gave less space to the colors and used lower case and numbers
The measure represents a new industry offensive to try to bring back the l & rsquo; Favorable evaluation of Anvisa to models similar to those advocated by the Pan American Health Organization and consumer protection organizations.
By these proposals, etiquette would bring a symbol when there is an excess of one of these ingredients indicated as risk factors for obesity and chronic diseases. There would therefore be no different signals for low or medium content, as it is the case at traffic light
The argument of the consumer-friendly entities is that this combination of ## EQU1 ## 39; information could lead to a misinterpretation of the health of a product. The industry claims that warning models underestimate the decision-making power of consumers. "When he is informed, he has the right to make his choices, but this model assumes that he has no autonomy or can not choose," Wilson Mello says. , chairman of the board of directors of Abia.
Last week, representatives of the MERCOSUR industries were in Brasilia and signed a letter in which they defend that a possible change in the labels be agreed in a unique way between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
"Having different legislations in each country will only disrupt the process of integration which will make foreign trade unsustainable. "
On another front, Abia obtained an injunction that extends until July 24 the end of the term of a public consultation would end on Tuesday, 10.
The argument is that the 45-day period, coinciding with the truckers' strike and the World Cup, would be insufficient to present studies and discuss the report.
According to the Brazilian Institute of Consumer Protection (IDEC), the company has already reactivated the consultation, but she intends to appeal the decision.The attempt of the industry to extend the process causes strangeness. "The momentum for that the sectors of society submit their proposals, models of labeling and studies has already been opened and respected. This type of maneuver is an attempt to postpone the process, "said Igor Rodrigues, attorney at the institute.
As of this Tuesday, 2,858 people had already submitted suggestions to the process. , 60% identified themselves as consumers and 18% as health professionals.
Anvisa indicates that she has not yet finalized the analysis of contributions. a proposal based proposal is made by the end of the year
Despite the dispute between the entities, the majority of the consultation participants are in agreement : it is necessary to change the labels [19659002Autotal90%ofpeoplewhohaveuggestedforconsultationhavebeenreportedtohavehadgreatdifficultyinidentifyingfoodstuffsasafoodstuffonthebasisofcurrentinformationonpackaginginthepreliminaryreportsofAnvisa
. final report and said that the report made a robust assessment of the international scenario and available scientific literature.
Understanding the discussion on new labels
What is the proposal of Anvisa?
on the front of the food label, a warning about the presence of high sugar, saturated fat and sodium – something that, if consumed in excess, is the risk of weight gain or chronic disease. The measure comes after a workgroup found that the consumer was having trouble reading and understanding the information on the label
What does the industry say?
Affirms that she is collaborating with the process and has sent a proposal to Anvisa defends the model of the nutritional semaphore, which combines green, yellow or red colors for low, medium and high content as well as data on the quantity of these nutrients.
Other changes proposed by the technical team of Anvisa
- Include total and free sugars in the list of nutrients in the nutritional table
- trans fat from the nutritional table, that would occur after a process that analyzes new rules or a possible banishment of that substance from food
- Calculation of the amount of food not per serving, but per 100g or ml
- Eliminate nutritional claims, such as 0 % of fat
- Adoption of own model for calculating high, low and medium fat
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