International Scientific Committee meets in Amsterdam

July 16th, 2012

On the 11 June 2012, all five members of the International Scientific Committee met in person at Schiphol Airport. On the agenda was the process of criteria revision, the upcoming Latin American and worldwide nutrition conferences SLAN (Habana, 2012) and ICN (Granada, 2013) and other national and regional developments.

Chile publishes criteria for labelling and child marketing

July 16th, 2012

In November 2011, INTA - the Chilean nutrition institute - published a lengthy report setting criteria for food labelling and restriction of child marketing. It was drafted in support of the  Chilean Bill on Food Composition and its Advertising in Chile, which is currently being implemented.

The study by INTA suggests generally applicable limits for critical nutrients (salt, saturated fat, trans fat, simple sugars) and energy, and specific limits per food category in certain cases. These limits were established according to Choices criteria as well as other local criteria. 

According to INTA, the ultimate objective in establishing these limits is to facilitate healthy food choices for consumers and to encourage reformulation of food by the industry. While the study mentions warning labels, the exact manner in which the Chilean government will inform consumers has yet to be established.

Choices representatives meet in Prague

July 16th, 2012

On 3 and 4 July 2012, several EU Choices countries met in Prague to reflect on the Programme’s development thus far, and to discuss its future. It was a lively meeting, with discussions on industry participation, communication and research on the impact of the logo. Participants shared best practices, gained new insights and put forward new ideas.

Each country showed strong commitment to further developing the programme, and agreed that closer cooperation can help strengthen its possibilities. To facilitate the exchange of information, the national representatives will start using an online platform and will meet twice a year. Next year, the meeting will be hosted by another country, and we can already look forward to discussing the progress that will have been made!