The World Health Organization (WHO) has opened an online public consultation on a draft tool called the Integrated food profiling model for regulatory measures. Governments could use the model to decide which foods fall under health rules. The WHO announced the consultation on Monday.
The model targets industrially produced, pre-packaged foods. According to the WHO, people should eat these foods only in moderation as part of a healthy diet. A product is flagged when it exceeds one or more nutrient criteria. It is also flagged when it contains one or more specified ingredients.
Those ingredients include flavours, colours and sweeteners. The WHO said that listing them does not mean they are unsafe. Instead, they help identify products designed to increase appeal and consumption.
Flagged foods could face measures meant to reduce preference, demand and consumption. The WHO lists restrictions on food marketing and nutrition labelling, including front-of-pack labels. It also lists fiscal measures and rules for public food procurement and service. The agency said a persistent problem has been deciding which foods these measures should cover, in a clear and consistent way.
The WHO said that unhealthy diets are a major driver of noncommunicable diseases. It said industrially produced foods make up a large and growing share of what people eat. In its view, healthier diets require action on the food environment, not just on individual behaviour.
The draft builds on more than two decades of WHO work. That work includes nutrient recommendations, regional nutrient profile models, global sodium benchmarks and recommendations to eliminate trans-fatty acids. The draft also explains how countries can turn the classification into regulation. This includes aligning national labelling rules, ensuring legal coherence, and setting up monitoring and governance.
The WHO is seeking feedback from member states, experts, civil society, academia and other stakeholders. The consultation closes on Friday, November 27, at 23:59 CET. Comments are accepted only through the online form. Every submission must include a signed Declaration of Interest form. The WHO said it will review all comments before finalising the publication.