DOES THE LANGUAGE USED IN LABELLING OF FOOD

Transcript:DOES THE LANGUAGE USED IN LABELLING OF FOOD:
DOES THE LANGUAGE USED IN LABELLING OF FOOD MATTER? Yashasvi Sanja Perera ASCEND Research Network Trainee cohort 2 SRI LANKA Sri Lanka An Island in the Indian Ocean, off the south-eastern coast of India. It (65,610 km2) is about 0.93 times as big as Ireland (70,273km2). • Population is about 20 million. The Sinhalese, make up 74.9% of the population . Tamils are 15.4% • Official Languages: Sinhala and Tamil. INTRODUCTION The Asia-Pacific region is facing an epidemic of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) partly as result of changing food habits and sedentary life styles. Estimates suggest 2% reduction of annual deaths would save lives of 8 million people over 10 years simply through simple life style modifications. NCDs and health related information Availability of health related information is a critical step to gain knowledge and subsequently to have positive health related behaviour. In this regards, proper labelling of food could be considered a prerequisite to provide information that is necessary for consumers to make an informed choice as regards to their consumption patterns Labelling Defined in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) in the United States of America (USA) as a written, printed, or graphic matter (i) upon any article or any of its containers or wrappers or (ii) accompanying such article. Labelling is a subset of packaging. Sellers need to label their products. The label may be a simple tag attached to the product or an elaborately designed graphic that is a part of the package FOOD ACT Food (Labelling & Advertising) Regulations 2005 Package or container is labeled in accordance with the regulations Label with two languages (with certain exceptions) Label indelibly printed or painted or affixed on the main panel (Supplementary label may be affixed for imported foods) (i) Main panel: Common Name - two languages Brand/Trade Name - one or more languages (Shall not mislead the public) Net contents in international symbols eg: g or kg, ml or l Contd…. (ii) Main or any other panel – anyone or more of the three languages Food Additives by name or INS number Instructions for storage/use, if any Name & address of manufacturer, packer or distributor in Sri Lanka Batch No. or Code No. or decipherable code marking The date of expiry – exp date The date of manufacture Bulk imports & repacking – date of manufacture, date of repacking List of ingredients in descending order Country