Belgian Choices Criteria Gets an Update

July 19th, 2017

The Belgian Scientific Committee for Choices is pleased to announce the latest revision of its national criteria. Many of the changes, such as listing all nutrient measurements in grams per 100g, tightening sodium levels, and including added sugars where relevant, align with the most recent international criteria. In other changes, such as changing criteria from sodium to salt and proposing upper limits for artificial sweeteners, the Committee took their own decisions compared with the international criteria. The next step is to present the criteria to the Belgian Ministry of Health as contribution to the national conversation on front-of-pack labelling. We are grateful for the scientific committee members for their dedication and support.

Download a copy of the revised criteria here.

Nigerian consensus on NCD prevention

July 18th, 2017

In a paper in the European Journal of Nutrition and Food Safety, that just has been released, the consensus statement on lipids and cardiovascular heart disease in Nigeria has been described. The paper by Dr Akinroye, CEO of the Nigerian Heart Foundation, shows that many political, scientific and communication aspects have been addressed in a one day conference. This included the Nigerian Heart logo, a front-of-pack label to identify heart healthy food. Finally, experts from the different angles, including Choices International, reached a consensus in their urgent call to advocate for the general public and health professionals to make heart-friendly choices in food consumption. The publication can be reached here.

Choices granted membership of Consumer Goods Forum

July 8th, 2017

As a multi-stakeholder foundation in which food scientists, governments and the food industry cooperate for heathier food habits, Choices International has been granted associate membership of the Consumer Goods Forum. This Forum brings the 300 biggest brand manufacturers and retailers of the globe together to discuss and make progress on the big issues of today such as health and sustainability.

During the CGF Summit in Tokyo on 12-14 June 2013, Ahold’s CEO Dick Boer has been elected co-chair. In his presentation on the Ahold Health and Wellness strategy, Boer presented the Choices logo as an appropriate tool to achieve the company’s health ambitions.