Background Paper
NUTRITION LABELING
September, 2001
Codex is considering requiring the amount of sugars, fiber, saturated
fat and sodium in a food product to be listed on the nutrition label
whenever nutrition labeling is used.
The International Council of Grocery Manufacturers Associations
(ICGMA) does not believe that worldwide public health needs warrant
the addition of all of these nutrients to a mandatory list for nutrition
labeling when any of them is listed voluntarily or when a claim
is made about any of them.
Public health needs differ among countries, and any one of these
nutrients may be of concern in a given country without a corresponding
concern for the others. Therefore, the proposed triggers for the
mandatory listing of all these nutrients would not be appropriate
for all countries. In addition, the resources that would be required
to develop and maintain the accurate nutrition labeling would be
burdensome, without corresponding benefits, for many Codex member
countries.
The International Council of Grocery Manufacturers Associations
is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) officially
recognized by the Codex Alimentarius. ICGMA represents the interests
of national and regional associations representing all sectors of
the grocery industry and serves to facilitate harmonization of standards
and policies concerned with health, safety, packaging, labeling,
advertising and marketing of foods, beverages and other grocery
products.
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