By Henry Owino
Nairobi, Kenya: The NCD Alliance of Kenya (NCDAK) a registered NGO in Kenya that coordinates multistakeholder activities around non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in collaboration with the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) pushing for a strategy that would compel foodstuff industries to have their products branded with the warning on front-of-pack labels (FOPLs) to enable customers to select brands according to their health diets.
This comes as a result of public concerns about the alarming cases of NCDs in Kenya especially diabetes, obesity, overweight, heart diseases, and high blood pressure among others. A study done by Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), in 2022 indicates a 49 percent increase among citizens, especially women up from 33 percent in 2014. The NCD policy and strategy documents also qualify this rising burden.
Recently, APHRC carried out some studies on consumers’ purchasing habits in various shops and supermarkets, and the findings were presented to NCDAK. The discovery is that most customers buy products based on fancy brand names used to market the products but say nothing about the product.
Additionally, the survey found that most customers are basically attracted by; the packet color, graphics on the package, price during product promotion, advertisement, taste, scent, and preference. Many are not bothered to know its contents components.
As a result, several people innocently develop lifestyle or chronic diseases which are categorized as non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This is one of many reasons why there is a need for food and beverage industries to clearly label products with warnings in front-of-packets.
Dr Catherine Karakezi, Executive Director, of the Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance of Kenya (NCDAK) shares her fears that rising cases of lifestyle or chronic diseases in the country, require urgent interventions. She is worried that diseases which used to be predominantly known to rich people or elites, are nowadays with all people regardless of age or social status.
Dr Karakezi hinted that alarming cases of these incidences and fear among citizens prompted NCDAK to respond to the call of action for the prevention and control of NCDs. She disclosed the two organizations are working together and consulting the Ministry of Health to make it obligatory as law.
“Labeling warnings in front-of-package products would help consumers to make informed healthy choices when buying prepackaged foodstuffs. Without such labels, most people would innocently buy products based on fancy and brand names used to market products but say nothing about the product,” Dr Karakezi said.
According to Dr. Shukri Mohammed, a researcher with the APHRC team, the front-of-pack labeling on consumable products would enable customers to pick products of their choice depending on their health conditions. The Products Front-of-Pack Warning Labels (FOPLs) are to be marked clearly with distinctive colors.
“For example, products with high sugar and thus sweetened contents could have a Red colour, high salt may be Black, and fatty contents or oily would have Green color as warning labels. These must be clearly marked in-front-of-packs for ease of identification,” Dr Mohammed explained.
Dr Mohammed regretted that most foods and beverages in shops, supermarkets, and other business stores are not marked with warning labels. However, as much as fast-moving foods with warning labels marked on the front-of-packs, consumers are ignorant about its meaning.
It, therefore, shows how much work is needed to be done in terms of sensitizing the public on the connotation of warning labels on packs. Ones the citizens are made aware, it would help individuals to make decisions based on healthy diets and not product attractive packets.
In the wake of the rise in NCDs, healthy eating choices should be a priority and not a second-thought decision. The burden caused by NCDs on families in Kenya is really perturbing and unfortunate.
“It is important to know what you consume because many lifestyle diseases are usually triggered by fast-moving foods in prepacked packets usually sugar-sweetened. Sugary drinks are the leading source of diseases such as diabetes, obesity, blood pressure and types of cancer among others which becomes burden to families, draining resources on its management,” Dr Mohammed regrets.
To stem the increasing incidence of NCDs, the FOPLs strategy would help a great deal in taming the growing disease burden. The FOPLs would be rated as an intuitive tool, for demonstrating a high capacity to help consumers rank food products as more or less healthy.
Therefore, labeling is an effective way in modifying purchasing behavior, in directing individual dietary patterns toward a healthy and sustainable diet. Again, in reformulating fiscal policies on food and beverage products by the food industry.
Several countries in Europe have already adopted FOPL though voluntarily, the European Community is harmonizing it as a system that is mandatory for all member states.
This research by APHRC appears to be informative and well-accepted by consumers even if they would require a cognitive effort. So, with enough evidence from the research, surveys, studies, interviews, and observations, NCDs are on the rise locally and globally.
The ball is now in Kenya’s Ministry of Health’s court to reformulate food products by the food industry and make it mandatory for all prepacked foods. This would act as public health policy and intervention towards advocacy for healthy diets and save families from burden of NCDs which is preventable.
