Claims of halting harmful food labeling are false, Health Ministry says

JUNE 27, 2023 17:15

Red 'traffic light' nutrition labels are seen on cream cheese products on Israeli supermarket shelves. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST) — Red 'traffic light' nutrition labels are seen on cream cheese products on Israeli supermarket shelves.

(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

The Health Ministry announced that there were no plans to stop labeling food products with designation of high sugar and fats.

The Health Ministry has denied rumors about an alleged plan to cancel the requirement of labeling food containing high levels of sugar, saturated fat and salt.

The ministry said on Tuesday that it is opposed to any change in the labeling of harmful foods and maintains that this requirement that it initiated “has made a significant and clear contribution to changing the composition of products and decreasing the consumption of harmful foods.”

Israel's action on food labeling includes changes to warning labels

In January 2020, Israel launched a reform mandating Front-of-Package (FOP) labeling on food products, requiring the placement of red-and-white warning labels on the front packaging of food products that contain values above the recommended threshold for saturated fat, sodium and sugar.

A CUSTOMER shops for groceries at a Rami Levy supermarket branch, in Jerusalem. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

In the coming decade, the marking is expected to prevent over 22,000 deaths and save about NIS 6 billion for the economy, the ministry claimed. “Thanks to the marking requirement, in recent years we have seen a 16% decrease in consumption in the purchase of marked foods in general and a 25% decrease in foods marked for sugar. Also, for the first time there is a downward trend in childhood obesity after years of stagnation or an increase.”

Before the imposition of the marking obligation, the claim that it would raise the cost of living “was examined by economists in and outside the ministry, and it was proven that there is no contribution to the CoL in any way,” the ministry spokesman said. “We are committed to promoting processes that would lower the cost of living as part of comprehensive staff work that was presented in the government and will be implemented quickly,” the ministry concluded.