26 November. Already in 2018, the products will start labeling, taking into account their caloric content and the content of sugar in them.
Red, yellow and green colors will tell customers about how healthy the product they are planning to buy. The main sanitary physicians of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union supported the idea of Rospotrebnadzor to introduce a system for labeling food products using flowers. And already in 2018 this system will begin to operate.
Today, products are labeled. It contains information on caloric content and the energy value of foods, the amount of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, as well as the amount of minerals and vitamins. However, Rospotrebnadzor believes that such marking is not informative and outdated. As stressed in Rospotrebnadzor, in fact at the present time the buyer does not know how much the product actually contains salt, fats and sugar. And, as you know, excessive use of these components leads to various diseases such as: arterial hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus. Taking care of the health of the nation, Rospotrebnadzor has developed several new product labeling systems. According to the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova, this will help people to choose a healthy diet.
In particular, the "traffic light" system will inform you about how much saturated fat, salt and sugar is contained in the product. If the package has a red strip, then, in the product there is an overabundance of these components, if the yellow - these components are present, but in a moderate amount, the green strip will show the buyers that fat, salt and sugar in the product is very small.
At present, this marking system is considered a priority, but an alternative option is also proposed. The second option is even more informative and gives an idea of the recommended rate of consumption of calories, sugar, salt, fat and fiber. It also looks like a "traffic light". There are also three levels marked with colors (red, yellow, green). In each color, it is suggested to indicate information about how many calories this or that product contains. The higher the calorie content, the brighter the color. The labeling is also suggested to indicate information about the daily balance of the main product groups. In Rospotrebnadzor believe that this system will allow people to control the consumption of harmful ingredients and keep their weight in the norm.
In the world, marking with different colors is used for a long time. In particular, in Finland, 20 years ago, red foods began to mark foods with high salt content. As a consequence, salt consumption by the population has halved. As a result, the number of strokes and heart attacks decreased.
In the UK, food and beverage manufacturers apply colored icons to the front of the package, showing the content of salt, sugar and fat in the products. In the US, food manufacturers are required to indicate on the package the amount of fat, salt and sugar contained therein - both useful and not very much. The package also indicates information about how much sugar, salt and fats contained in the product are from the recommended daily consumption rate.
And what do you think about this labeling system? Write in the comments, you are "for" or "against" the introduction of this system.
