Healthy food choices are an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. South Africa is one of many countries that committed themselves to implementing the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health - an international initiative aimed at the improvement of human health worldwide. As a member of the WHO the Department of Health supports this initiative and is of the view that the country can practically implement this Strategy by means of healthy food choices, improved nutrition and accurate and fair labelling practices.
The existing food labelling regulations (R.2034 of 29 October 1993) published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act 54 of 1972), which have been in place for a number of years, had some shortcomings that needed to be addressed. It is for this reason that the Minister of Health approved the new Regulations related to the Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs in terms of the mentioned Act and which were published in the Government Gazette on 1 March 2010 as Government Notice R. 146.
These Regulations are aimed at ensuring that consumers have access to properly and accurately labelled foodstuffs, which will in turn assist them, among others, in making informed food choices. The Regulations also provides clear guidance on "do's" and "don'ts" regarding the information provided on the labels and in advertisements of foodstuffs, which will be beneficial to both consumers and manufacturers. Manufacturers of foodstuffs, both nationally and internationally in respect of imported foodstuffs, will be obliged to adapt their labelling accordingly. However, the implementation thereof will come into effect 12 months from the date of publication (i.e. from 1 March 2011) to provide for most of the labelling requirements included in the new regulations.
The draft Food Labelling and Advertising Regulations were published for comments in July 2007 and after considering the large volume of comments received and further consultation with relevant stake holders, the Department decided to deal with the finalization of the regulations in two phases. The first phase has been concluded with the publication of the new regulations on 1 March 2010, with the contents covering among others, the following aspects:
* “Use by” date: to be mandatory on perishable pre-packaged foodstuffs and a prohibition regarding the sale thereof after the date has expired as it relates to the safety and/or suitability of the products in question, i.e. microbial growth
* “Best before” date: to be mandatory for non-perishables but no prohibition regarding placed on the sale thereof after the date has expired in view of it relating only to the optimum freshness, thus quality aspects, of these products
* Batch number and physical address of the manufacturer to ensure traceability
* Declaration of common food related allergens
* List of ingredients declaration to contains vital information about the contents of the foodstuff e.g. colorants, preservatives, etc.
* Correctness of nutritional information to support validity of nutrient content claims e.g. “high fibre’ or ‘trans fat free”, etc.
* Quantitative Ingredient Declarations (QUID) to place special emphasis on the presence of a specific ingredient e.g. % olive oil in margarine; and
* Nutrient contents/Comparative claims (e.g. “low fat” vs “reduced fat” claims).
The second phase of the process related to the regulation of the labelling of foodstuffs by the Department depends on factors such as the development of a nutrient profiling model suitable and applicable to South African conditions.
Some of the issues that have been held back to be addressed during the second phase are: health claims on foodstuffs; serving sizes; the Glycaemia Index (GI) aspect; and determining the list of foodstuffs considered to be not essential for a healthy diet. The aspect of advertising of food and beverages to children will also be addressed, awaiting the final recommendations by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on this matter, which will be tabled at the meeting of the World Health Assembly scheduled for May 2010 for adoption.
The guidelines, (which have the same status as the regulations), to assist industry and other stake holders regarding the practical implementation and interpretation of the new regulations are available on the website of the Department of Health under the Directorate: Food Control web-page.
For more information please contact:
Fidel Hadebe
Tel: 012 312 0663
Cell: 079 517 3333
Issued by: Department of Health
9 March 2010
