The labels are designed to make it easier for individuals to make
informed choices at the point of purchase, especially regarding items high in
saturated fat, sugar or sodium.
The
Ministry of health has sounded alarm over consumable foods in the market,
saying most of them do not meet the required threshold for proper nutritional
content.
The 2025 Kenya Market Assessment Report shows
that only 10 per cent of processed and packaged food products meet the nutrient
threshold set by the Kenya Nutrient Profile Model (NPM).
Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni
says the state is now seeking to end the rise of NCDs by properly labelling
foods.
The NPM seeks to set the threshold for fats,
sugar and salt across 21 categories of foods.
“Categorisation of foods will be in groups,
especially beverages, dairies, snacks and cereals to tailor the nutrient
threshold on food products,” she said.
Some of the foods include sodas, juices and energy
drinks, snacks including biscuits and confectionary, dairy products, ice cream,
cooking essentials such as edible oils and breakfast products.
“We have seen cereals and dairy products
marketed for children, which are not very healthy. If you go to a supermarket
with a child, these are the foods they will pick,” Muthoni says.
“Once developed, our front of package
labelling will indicate whether the particular foods are healthy or unhealthy
based on the nutrient content.”
Kenya, led by the International Legislative Affairs in partnership
with the Ministry of Health, made a breakthrough this year and came up with the
country’s nutrient profile model.
It is this nutrient profile model that will be used to decide if a
product should have a front of pack warning label or not.
“If a product does not exceed the threshold set on the NPM, then
it will not have a front of pack warning label,” says IILA programme officer
Gideon Ogutu.
The NPM design adopted by the Kenya team is the octagonal shape,
with black and white colours.
“It took a lot of effort for us to come up with an NPM because the
first document had a lot of gaps that needed to be addressed,” Ogutu said.
“And I want to thank the Ministry of Health for steering us to
this success. It is after MoH took over the process that we made headways and
finally came up with the NPM.”
One of the policies is the front of pack warning labels warning
labels (FOPWL) on products to inform consumers about potential health risks
associated with ultra-processed foods and beverages.
The labels are designed to make it easier for individuals to make
informed choices at the point of purchase, especially regarding items high in
saturated fat, sugar or sodium.
They are intended to prevent non-communicable diseases such as
diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
Some countries such as Chile, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Israel and
Argentina have already implemented these labels on food products.
Experts say front-of-pack food labels will help Kenyan consumers make better choices.
Kenya’s NPM model borrows from other countries with success
stories as well as the WHO guidelines.
“We settled on the octagonal shape because it is related to stop
or a warning sign, which is basically what the warning labels are trying to
communicate. The black and white colours are used because they are fairly
neutral and relatable,” Ogutu said.
Anne Swakei of the Non-Communicable Disease Alliance of Kenya says
the FOPWLs are not only important for persons living with diabetes, but other
NCDs such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
She says implementation of the labels will only be important if
proper awareness and sensitisation are conducted.
“Not everyone who lives with NCDs can read and write, and so it
will be important that once adopted, sensitisation campaigns be conducted by
the Ministry of Health and other partners,” Swakei says.
“We also cannot assume that those who can read and write will
automatically understand what the front-of-pack warning labels are. So, the
campaign messages should consider this and also inform the consumers on what
parts of the products they will be placed.”