The Health Department says it will soon enforce front of package labeling for foods and beverages in the country.
It says the food and beverage industry will be compelled to indicate on the front package, the contents of products such as fat, salt and sugar.
National Health Department’s Lynn Moeng revealed this during a panel discussion organised by the Healthy Living Alliance on the Health Promotions Levy better-known as Sugar Tax.
“The aim is to make consumers aware and make informed decisions. The front of pack labels are tested on consumers. We want to put what consumers understand. At the end no one will be spared. If you are selling a product that is high in sugar or high in salt whether you are a small player or a big player your product will be labeled because it will be regulated, it is not a choice issue.”
Additional funding for sugar tax
The health department says it hopes to get an additional funding from the Health Promotions Levy next year to fight Non-Communicable Diseases in South Africa.
In April last year the Health Promotions Levy was introduced in South Africa. It was aimed at regulating and reducing the amount of sugar consumed by citizens.
As a result, an amount of 50 million rand was allocated to dealing with non-communicable diseases which include high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and cardio-vascular diseases among others.
Moeng explains, “This levy started last year and government didn’t know how much they were going to get out of it. Last year we got an amount of about R50 million which was used for NCD for cancers because last year’s priority was cancer. This year we got a bit less but we were told for next year it is going to be three times as much. We are putting up a plan on what are the priorities where we think this money could best be used.”
