VAST Ghana pushes for front-of-pack food warnings against unhealthy foods to tackle rising non-communicable diseases

The Executive Director of Vision for Accelerated Sustainable Development Ghana (VAST Ghana), Labram Musah, has called on the government to introduce stronger food policies, including mandatory front-of-pack warning labels, to help curb the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country.

He said Ghana's current food regulatory framework had gaps that allowed manufacturers to sell products high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats without clear and standardised warnings to help consumers make informed choices.

Speaking at a workshop on Nutrient Profile Modelling (NPM), Front-of-Pack Warning Labelling (FOPWL) and Healthy Food Policies in Ghana, organised by VAST Ghana in collaboration with SEND Ghana and GAND, Mr Musah said the increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages was contributing to serious health problems.

He said that Ghana needed to move beyond dealing with unsafe or unhealthy products after they entered the market and focus more on preventive measures that would stop harmful products from reaching consumers in the first place.

Mr Musah acknowledged the work of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in regulating food products but said more comprehensive policies were needed to strengthen the country's food environment.

"I wouldn't say that the FDA is not doing their work. Let me say that they're doing what they can do. That's why sometimes you see that products in the market and the FDA will go there and get these products," he said.

However, he believes the country must adopt stronger standards to prevent manufacturers from producing and marketing foods with excessive amounts of ingredients that pose risks to public health.

He said some products entering the Ghanaian market might receive regulatory approval without necessarily meeting the best international standards for protecting consumers.

A major concern raised by Mr Musah was the absence of mandatory front-of-pack warning labels on food products in Ghana.

He explained that the current system was largely voluntary, leaving manufacturers with considerable discretion over the nutritional information displayed on their products.

According to him, this makes it difficult for consumers to know whether the food they are buying contains excessive amounts of sugar, salt or saturated fats.

He called for an evidence-based Nutrient Profile Modelling system that would establish clear thresholds for determining when a product should carry a warning label.

Under the proposed system, products exceeding the approved levels of certain ingredients would have clear warnings displayed on the front of their packaging.

"We want to go beyond that, where we have a very robust system, a front-of-pack label backed by an evidence-based nutrient profiling system, where thresholds are properly developed by the FDA working with other relevant stakeholders," he said.

Mr Musah explained that the policy would allow consumers to identify products with high levels of unhealthy ingredients and decide whether they wanted to buy or consume them.

He said clear labelling was particularly important because consumers needed to understand the nutritional content of the food they ate rather than depend on information they might not easily interpret.

Mr Musah warned that the growing consumption of unhealthy foods was adding to Ghana's non-communicable disease burden, which includes diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.

He cited figures indicating that NCDs account for about 45 per cent of deaths in Ghana annually, describing the situation as a major public health concern.

He said the government needed to place greater emphasis on prevention rather than relying mainly on healthcare interventions after people had developed chronic conditions.

He referenced the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, introduced to support people living with chronic illnesses, including diabetes and hypertension, but argued that more attention must be given to preventing such conditions.

He said the country could not sustainably address the growing burden of NCDs without policies that helped people make healthier food choices.

"These are like firefighting approaches. So, can we go beyond that? And going beyond that means we need to come out with preventive measures. And one of the preventive measures is to ensure that people know what they're consuming," he said.

He maintained that when consumers had clear information about the nutritional content of food products, they would be better placed to decide what to eat.

Mr Musah called for other measures to discourage the consumption of unhealthy foods, including taxes on products high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats.

He said increasing the prices of such products could encourage consumers to reconsider their purchasing decisions.

"When prices go up, consumers think twice before they buy the product," he explained.

He also called for stronger food procurement policies to ensure that government institutions, particularly schools, prioritised healthier food when purchasing meals for children.

Under such a policy, he said, public institutions would be encouraged to procure nutritious food instead of products that could expose children to long-term health risks.

Mr Musah further called for restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods, particularly advertisements targeting children and other vulnerable groups.

He said the media and advertising industry had an important role to play in promoting healthier food choices rather than exposing children to excessive marketing of sugary drinks, snacks and other ultra-processed products.

He said the proposed measures should work together to create a healthier food environment and reduce the risks associated with poor diets.

Responding to whether the government was doing enough to support the campaign, Mr Musah said some progress had been made towards introducing stronger food policies.

He disclosed that a Nutrient Profile Modelling system had been developed and was awaiting recommendations from the Ministry of Health.

Once approved, the system would provide the necessary thresholds to help the FDA identify products that contained excessive amounts of sugar, salt and other ingredients of public health concern.

He also revealed that four major food policy measures had been drafted and were undergoing review by the Ministry of Health.

These include the Front-of-Pack Warning Labelling policy, restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods, fiscal measures such as taxes on unhealthy products, and public food procurement policies.

Mr Musah expressed hope that the review process would be completed to allow the country to introduce stronger and more effective regulations.

The VAST Ghana Executive Director also cautioned against allowing the interests of food manufacturers to undermine policies intended to protect public health.

He argued that regulations must be strong enough to achieve their intended purpose rather than simply satisfy the concerns of industry players.

According to him, the food industry could attempt to influence or weaken regulations to protect its commercial interests, making it important for policymakers to remain focused on public health.

"You can have policies, but if it is not biting enough, then it's better you don't even have it. That's what we are going for: a very robust, evidence-based policy, something that when it's implemented, it can stand the test of time," he said.

He added that the success of a public health policy should not be measured by how comfortable manufacturers were with it but by its ability to change unhealthy practices and protect consumers.

"If industry is happy that a policy has been enacted on food or any other unhealthy product, that means that these policies are not effective because it means that they are happy that they'll be able to manoeuvre," he said.

Mr Musah urged civil society organisations, health professionals and the public to support efforts to get policymakers to speed up the approval process while ensuring that the final regulations were strong enough to deliver results.

He said Ghana did not need to start developing standards from scratch, as international organisations had already produced evidence-based models and guidelines that could be adapted to the country's needs.

"The beauty is that they have already come out with the model. They've already come out with the guidelines. The standards have already been set. You don't need to reinvent the wheel because it's expensive," he said.