Analysis of the policy process for the implementation of nutritional warning labels in Uruguay

Abstract

Objective: To analyse the process for the development and implementation of mandatory nutritional warning labels in Uruguay, in order to inform future nutrition policy making and strategic engagement by public health actors. Design: The study design drew on policy analysis methodology and case study research methodology. Two main sources of information were selected and analysed for the current study: eighteen official documents from the Uruguayan government and 259 news reports, published between June 2017 and February 2021. Setting: Uruguay, Latin America. Results: The Uruguayan Ministry of Public Health led a cross-sectoral working group composed of diverse governmental stakeholders, international organisations and the academia to develop the front-of-package nutrition labelling policy. A robust evidence-based approach, based on rigorous scientific knowledge generated in the country, was followed. However, changes in the systemic governing coalition as a consequence of a change in government led to a delay in the entry into force and changes in the regulation. The food industry was the main opponent to the warning label regulation and relied on widely reported corporate political activities to influence the policy process: information and messaging, legal action, policy substitution, opposition, fragmentation and destabilisation. Conclusions: Key insights to inform future policy action in Uruguay and other jurisdictions were derived. Results stressed the importance of an evidence-based approach for policy design and the early engagement with actors from all the political system.

The role of food packaging on children's diet: Insights for the design of comprehensive regulations to encourage healthier eating habits in childhood and beyond

“…The introduction of comprehensive packaging regulations cannot be expected to be an easy task. Efforts by governments to introduce such regulations have faced fierce opposition globally, mainly in the form of opposition from the food industry and trade challenges (Ares, Antúnez, Cabrerar, & Thow, 2021;Dorlach & Mertenskötter, 2020;Julia & Hercberg, 2016;Mulligan et al, 2021;Vandenbrink et al, 2020). In particular, research has shown that the food industry engages in corporate political activity to promote deregulation (Ares, Antúnez, Cabrerar, & Thow, 2021;Julia & Hercberg, 2016;Mialon et al, 2020;Vandenbrink et al, 2020).…”

“…Efforts by governments to introduce such regulations have faced fierce opposition globally, mainly in the form of opposition from the food industry and trade challenges (Ares, Antúnez, Cabrerar, & Thow, 2021;Dorlach & Mertenskötter, 2020;Julia & Hercberg, 2016;Mulligan et al, 2021;Vandenbrink et al, 2020). In particular, research has shown that the food industry engages in corporate political activity to promote deregulation (Ares, Antúnez, Cabrerar, & Thow, 2021;Julia & Hercberg, 2016;Mialon et al, 2020;Vandenbrink et al, 2020). The arguments of the food industry mainly rely on making consumers responsible for making healthy food choices and stressing the potential negative effect of the regulations in terms of costs required for implementation and their potential negative effects on sales (Ares, Antúnez, Cabrerar, & Thow, 2021;Mialon et al, 2020).…”

“…In particular, research has shown that the food industry engages in corporate political activity to promote deregulation (Ares, Antúnez, Cabrerar, & Thow, 2021;Julia & Hercberg, 2016;Mialon et al, 2020;Vandenbrink et al, 2020). The arguments of the food industry mainly rely on making consumers responsible for making healthy food choices and stressing the potential negative effect of the regulations in terms of costs required for implementation and their potential negative effects on sales (Ares, Antúnez, Cabrerar, & Thow, 2021;Mialon et al, 2020). Another major point of criticism is related to trade concerns, which have contributed to delays in the implementation of public health policies and even their watering down (Dorlach & Mertenskötter, 2020;Thow et al, 2017;Thow, Jones, Schneider, & Labonté, 2019;Thow et al, 2021).…”

Consumers' Response to Sugar Label Formats in Packaged Foods: A Multi-Methods Study in Brazil

“…FoP labelling includes simplified information about nutritional content or health aspects of foods, and they are displayed on the front of the package to assist consumers make healthier food choices during their quick decision-making shopping process ( 16 ). In Chile, a FoP octagonal warning label stating “high-in-sugar” is mandatory for food products exceeding defined sugar content thresholds ( 17 ), and this same format has been implemented in Peru ( 18 ) and Uruguay ( 19 ) and approved to be implemented in Mexico ( 20 ).…”

Consumer perspectives on the inclusion of nutritional warnings in retail food establishments

“…Nutritional warnings have recently emerged as a FOP nutrition labelling scheme to discourage consumption of foods with excessive content of nutrients associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) 14 . This FOP nutrition labelling scheme has been implemented as black octagons highlighting pre-packaged foods with excessive content of calories, sugar, fat, saturated fat and sodium, in several Latin American countries (Chile, Peru, Uruguay, and Mexico) 15,16,17,18 . An increasing body of evidence shows that nutritional warnings are easy to understand, facilitate the identification of foods with excessive content of nutrients associated with NCDs, and discourage consumers from choosing them 19,20 .…”