During my recent random survey at various supermarkets within the vicinity of KK city, it seems that majority of consumers doesn’t understand what is food labeling and how important and useful food labels are as a source of information, primarily to inform and protect them.
Many believe that food labeling still isn’t clear enough, making it difficult to easily spot which ingredients and nutrients some products contain. As for Muslim consumers, they only look for the “HALAL” sign, as long as it is halal not a problem regardless of what chemicals or toxic chemicals or added additives presents in the food that they eat.
The relevant authorities must educate the public on food labeling to make sure that consumers get the right information they need in an understandable form. They must ensure that the consumers are adequately protected against chemicals that might transfer into the food from these chemicals, causing harm or affecting the quality of the food.
Consumers also want health claims proved before the products reach the shelves, but until recently no such compulsory approval system existed, making it hard for consumers to make an informed choice.
As an example, one Tongkat Ali product claims that by drinking it, consumers would feel strong, energetic and could overcome sex impotentcy. A chocolate spread advertised their product is rich in calcium, magnesium and vitamins, but how do we know that the high levels of sugar and saturated fat are not contained in the same product?
Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) did asked the Ministry of Health to quickly move beyond carbonated drinks and to take action against the numerous sweets and confectionaries that have flooded the Malaysian market. These products that are being marketed to children are not conducive to health.
They contain basically nothing more than sugar, colouring and other additives which are not even labeled on the packaging. Children received no nutritional benefit from consuming these products. Some of these items are from China , where food safety standards have been questioned recently.
CAP also notes that some of these sweets and confectionaries are being labeled as halal. They also calls on JAKIM and the MDTCA to conduct nationwide checks on these products that come into the country to verify and certify their status – whether they are actually halal or not.
Until today, there are still plenty of these imported sweets and confectionaries from China widely available in the market. The consumers are not aware if these products are really safe to consume or “HALAL” to the muslims?
In most developing world, supermarkets will guide the consumers on the salt, sugar and fat levels in the food that are on sale as a reference and guidelines before they purchased the food.
Below is an example on how they guide consumers by using colours to differentiate the levels of nutrient on food they sold.
A red light on the front of the pack means the food is high in something we should be trying to cut down on. It's fine to have these occasionally, or as a treat, but try to keep an eye on how often you choose these foods, or try eating them in smaller amounts.
An amber light means the food isn't high or low in the nutrient, so this is an OK choice most of the time, but you might want to go for the green for that nutrient some of the time.
A green light means the food is low in that nutrient. The more green lights, the healthier the choice.
If you want to make the healthy choice when you are shopping, go for more greens and ambers, and fewer reds.
| Guide to nutrient levels in your food | |||
| Nutrient | High | Medium | Low |
| Sugars
| Over 15g | Between
| 5g and below |
| Fat
| Over 20g | Between
| 3g and below |
| Saturates
| Over 5g | Between
| 1.5g and below |
| Salt
| Over 1.5g | Between
| 0.3g and below |
Food is something everyone needs, every day. As we know, how it is produced
and who controls it, are important issues. But the way that it is processed
and marketed can have a big effect on health and economics too.
As consumers we need to voice out our opinions, both good and bad. We have every rights to know, what is the actual contain or ingredients and nutrients that are stored in our food especially canned and packed ones.
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