Frontal Labeling has debuted on supermarket shelves: what are its implications?

Since the enactment of Law 27,642 on “Promotion of Healthy Food” in November 2021 (hereinafter the “Law”), the Ministry of Health and ANMAT, as enforcement authorities, have issued important rules that complete the regime and make it operational. At present, the extensions have expired, and the adaptation stage has elapsed, most of the products already bear the respective octagonal stamp on their packages. However, some aspects of the regime require a detailed explanation to better understand its content.

Octagons Warning Stamps and Healthy Eating

In order to provide nutritional information in a simple and accessible manner, it is mandatory to place black octagonal stampson those packaged foods, without, the presence of the customer, , where it is mandatory to warn consumersthat the product contains any or all of the following characteristics:“Excess Sugars”,: “Excess Sodium”, “Excess Saturated Fat”, “Excess Total Fat”, “Excess Calories”, as appropriate (the “Warning Stamps”)..

Likewise, the standard requires the incorporation of a cautionary legend, below the Warning Stamps, for those foods or non-alcoholic beverages containing sweeteners with the following phrase: “Contains sweeteners, not recommended for children”.

In case of containing caffeine, the package must include a cautionary legend immediately below the Warning Stamp stating: “Contains caffeine. Avoid in children”.

In this way, the Warning Stamps are applied in a mandatory manner to packaged food and non-alcoholic beverages that, during their elaboration process, have added sugars, sodium, fats, or ingredients that contain them, causing that, in the final composition, the amounts of these critical nutrients are equal or higher than the limits defined in the Law.

However, some products are exempted from placing the stamp on the main face of their packaging. These productsare c sugar, vegetable oils, nuts, common table salt, dietary supplements, food for specific medical purposes or formulas for infants and children up to 36 months of age.

Obligated parties must file a sworn statement with ANMAT through the National Food Institute (INAL), where they will declare the content of critical nutrients and calories and the presence of sweeteners and/or caffeine in their products.

This sworn declaration will provide the necessary data to determine whether a product should bear Warning Stamps. The table below shows what the Stamp means in each case.

1. “Excess Sugars” corresponds to products that have an index equal to or greater than 10% of the total energy from added sugars.
2. “Exceso en Grasas Totales”, corresponde a los productos con un índice igual o mayor al 30 % del total de energía proveniente del total de grasas.
3. “Excess in Total Fats” corresponds to products with an index equal to or greater than 30% of the total energy from total fats.
4. “Excess Sodium” for those products with an index equal to or greater than 1 mg of sodium per 1 Kcal up to a maximum of 300 mg of sodium per 100 g of product. In addition,all those products that provide an amount equal to or greater than 600 mg of sodium per 100 g must bear the stamp “Excess Sodium”, regardless of the amount of energy (kcal) they provide. In the case of non-alcoholic beverages without energy intake, the stamp “Excess Sodium” must be placed when the value is equal to or greater than 40 mg of sodium per 100 ml.
5. “Excess Calories” shall apply this stamp only when the energy value limit of the product is equal to or greater than 327 kcal per 100 g in the case of food, and equal to or greater than 25 kcal per 100 ml for non-alcoholic beverages and presents at least 1 Warning Stamp.

This information is important to understand the scope of the Warning Stamp because the presence of octagons in some products that consumers associate as healthy raises concerns.

Consequences of Octagons Warning Stamps

The obligation to place octagonal stamps on the containers of packaged products has the following consequences aimed at discouraging their consumption:

1. Prohibition of adding Complementary Nutritional Information, understood as any additional information on the food or beverage stating that it has nutritional properties, especially its energy value and content of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and dietary fiber, as well as its content of critical nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
2. Prohibition to include logos or phrases with the sponsorship or endorsements of scientific societies or civil associations referring to those societies or organizations of persons dedicated to any of the branches of medicine, nutrition and/or sports.
3. Prohibition to include children’s characters, animations, cartoons, celebrities, athletes or mascots, interactive elements, the delivery or promise of delivery of gifts, prizes, presents, accessories, stickers, visual-spatial games, digital downloads, or any other element, as well as the participation or promise of participation in contests, games, sports, musical, theatrical or cultural events, together with the purchase of products with at least one critical nutrient in excess, which incite, promote or encourage the consumption,.
4. purchase or choice thereof. Regulated advertising. If the product contains at least one Warning Stamp, all forms of advertising aimed at children and adolescents are prohibited. In other cases of advertising, promotion and/or sponsorship by any means, of food and/or non-alcoholic beverages containing at least 1 Warning Stamp, the following guidelines must be respected: (a) prohibition of highlighting complementary nutritional claims that emphasize positive and/or nutritional qualities of the products in question, in order not to promote confusion regarding nutritional contributions; (b) obligation to make visible the totality of the Warning Stamp that correspond to the product in question each time the packaging is exposed; c) prohibition to include children’s characters, animations, cartoons, celebrities, athletes or mascots, interactive elements, the delivery or promise of delivery of gifts or prizes, as well as the participation in contests, which incite, promote or encourage the consumption, purchase or choice of the product and d) are forbidden to promote or deliver the product free of charge.

Although the Law does not limit its effects to the above, since it also establishes measures for the promotion of healthy eating in educational establishmentsand disadvantages in contracts with the National Government,, los aspectos que hemos extractado son los que impactan en forma directa para los consumidores y es necesario que se divulguen para facilitar la comprensión del régimen.
Even though the implementation of the Warning Stamps is just beginning to be seen on the shelves, there have already been some pronouncements, within the framework of claims filed by obligated parties, both from the National Administration and the Courts, which endorse the provisions of the Law and its complementary regulations. Therefore, it can be inferred from the above that front labeling is here to stay.

This report cannot be considered as legal or any other kind of advice by Allende & Brea.