Choices and WHO identify common interests

January 4th, 2013

The Choices Programme was launched in direct response to the WHO’s call for the food industry to help make the healthy choice the easy choice. The Programme’s product criteria are also based on WHO-dietary recommendations. Therefore, good interaction between the two organisations is of obvious relevance. A recent visit to the WHO-headquarters in Geneva by a Choices-delegation helped bring to light several shared interests, thus providing possible opportunities for future cooperation.

Dietary improvement through nutrient profiling
An obvious interest that the WHO and the Choices Programme share relates to reducing trans fat, added sugars, salt and saturated fats in people’s diets. The WHO is developing a ‘how to guide’ in which positive, front-of-pack logos may be put forward as good examples of how to bring about these reductions. Nutrient profiling is seen as an important tool and therefore high on the WHO’s agenda. The Choices Programme will be invited to share its experiences on the topic, and as reliable food composition data are of crucial importance in nutrient profiling, cooperation between the WHO/FAO and the Choices Programme in this area may be of mutual interest.

Healthy food procurement
Other shared interests lie in the area of healthy food procurement – for instance in schools, supermarkets and the food service sector. The WHO has expressed interest in the high degree of cooperation by Dutch retailers within the Dutch Choices Programme, as well as in the VU-research project that is currently assessing the feasibility of linking the Choices Programme with  healthy school cafeterias.