Associations demand the SCJN endorse the labeling standards for food

Edward Murillo

Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, November 8, 2022, p. eleven

The Alliance for Food Health, which integrates various associations in defense of the consumer and quality of life, demanded that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) endorse the constitutionality of the front labeling standards for industrialized foods and deny the protection requested by a company that manufactures bottled soft drinks.

This is the protection promoted by the company Desde el Corazón del Fruto SA de CV against the reforms made in November 2019 to the General Health Law and the official Mexican standard that regulates front labeling.

The demonstrators carried huge figures similar to the octagonal seals that are placed on this type of food, but with the legends Right to information, Right to health Y defend labeling.

There is no vaccine for this epidemic

Paulina Magaña Carbajal, coordinator of Food Health of El Poder del Consumidor AC, pointed out that this issue is a matter of life or death for Mexicans, because the high consumption of industrialized food and beverages is directly related to the epidemic of overweight and obesity.

“Associated with these conditions is an accelerated increase in deaths that have gone from 83,614 in 2000 to 245,090 in 2020, which means that every hour 27 people die in Mexico due to overweight and obesity, deaths that are presented by cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, malignant tumors, kidney failure, etc.

It is an epidemic against which there is no vaccine and that grows year after year in Mexico. It is only possible to combat it through various public health policies and the front warning labeling is a fundamental part.

For her part, Doré Castillo, coordinator of the ContraPESO Coalition, stated that in front of the draft sentence that will be voted on this week in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, it is essential that the ministers of the second chamber take into account the evidence that shows that the front warning labeling protects the rights to health and citizenship information. It is also crucial that they listen to the call made by the Legislative Power in order to ensure the permanence of this measure. It will be in your hands to issue a resolution that makes the general interest prevail over that of individualssentenced.

The protesters announced that Consumers International, a global federation of consumer organisations, had delivered to the highest court a amicus curiae with legal and scientific arguments in defense of labeling standards.