The consumption of ultra-processed products and diets high in saturated fats, sugars and sodium is increasingly increasing and, with it, the risks associated with suffering from overweight and obesity worldwide, a reality that does not escape the Dominican Republic, where seven out of ten adults report one of these two conditions, according to data from the Ministry of Public Health.
In that context, the Front Labeling Nutrition Warning – a seal placed in front of packaged products to indicate, with black octagonsif foods contain these and other components in excess – could become a key public policy for the prevention of these diseases, without adding significant costs to industries that affect the final price of the product.
For the regional advisor on Nutrition of the Pan American Health Organization (OPS), Fabio Da Silva Gomezhe front labeling -whose resolution is still under review and discussion between the health sector and the industrial sector- represents a clearer and more direct way of informing the population about what they are really consuming.
This improves your understanding of the product, beyond the nutritional tables which, many times, result “indecipherable”.
“What we know, from the 70sis that consumers don’t take more than two or three seconds to make a decision when it comes to purchases they make repeatedly. We have to have a tool that makes it easier for us to make that decision,” he said.
![[object HTMLTextAreaElement]](https://resources.diariolibre.com/images/2025/11/19/etiquetado-frontal-cfa0d74a.jpg "Front labeling would help prevent overweight and obesity in the DR")
The senior officer for Food Security and Nutrition Policies of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations agrees with this (FAO), Daniela Godoy.
“We have seen a decrease, in recent years, in the prevalence of hunger, but we are seeing an increase in overweight and obesity, which are multi-causal problems that require a series of public policies to be able to address it,” he noted.
He added that these policies should encourage both the consumption of healthier foods and the food industries reformulate your products so that they are of greater benefit to health.
“They are public policies based on evidence”FAO Senior Food Security and Nutrition Policy Officer.
Regulation and costs
Da Silva highlighted that one of the advantages of this type of front labeling is that, although there are initial adaptation costs, these are usually minimal and often involve simple changessuch as updating printing plates for labels.
“The cost is so lowthat no increase in the price of food for the products is generated,” he added, after remembering that this would only apply to those containers whose content exceeds the parameters of sodium, sugars or fatsso not all products would carry the label.
![[object HTMLTextAreaElement]](https://resources.diariolibre.com/images/2025/11/19/entrevista-con-la-fao-y-ops-sobre-el-etiquetado-frontal-f21e91a2.jpg "Front labeling would help prevent overweight and obesity in the DR")
Guilds like the Industry Association of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) have expressed their concern about the proposed resolution that the Ministry of Public Health has been promoting since December of last year, advocating that a measure like this should be taken ensuring compliance with the labeled basic and without discriminating against national production against imports.
Da Silva recognized that there is no single harmonized system that classifies what type of label or what warnings a certain product should carry in Latin America and the Caribbean.
However, he indicated that companies are already accustomed to complying with the legislation of each country when buying or selling products abroad, so this measure would not have a negative impact neither for Dominican imports nor for exports.
On the contrary: he understands that, if the resolution for the placement of the labeledthe Dominican Republic would not only reaffirm its commitment to guaranteeing public health, but would become the first nation in Central America and the Caribbean to have a health care system. labeled that could set a guideline to follow for other nations evaluating ongoing projects.
Patricia Grullón, who directs the Nutrition program of the Ministry of Public Health, indicated that the proposal under discussion would include labels that warn about excess sodium, added sugars, trans fats, total fats and sweeteners.
“Currently, we are in the process of systematizing and analyzing all the observations that the country received, both national and international, in order to discuss the relevance of the observations received in technical tables,” he stated.
He explained that, if the resolution is approved, it would be applied to both local products and imported products.
Results
Godoy indicated that, both in the countries of Latin America who have placed the labeled –such as Chile, Mexico, Argentina or Peru–, as in other nations around the world, results such as:
- Increased information about how food is composed
- Improves your knowledge in all age groups, including children and patients older people with comorbidities such as hypertension or diabetes
- Reduces the purchase and consumption of ultra-processed foods
- Does not reduce salaries or company income
“Are public policies based on evidence,” he concluded.
