Name: Wan Chi Ho, Group: ECEN2802O
University no: 2005208279
Journal: Science in Hong Kong
Nutrition Labelling – When will Hong Kong reach the International Standard?
Nutritional science is the study of diet and its relation to health and diseases. It is based
on the effect of food components on the physiological and biochemical functions on the
human body. Nowadays, nutrition has become an important topic in the context of public
health. According to a report of international sales of food and beverage, the concept of
healthy eating is the top priority amongst other factors in terms of food choice (AC Nielsen
Global Services 2006). It is proven that eating a balanced diet is one of the vital components
to achieve health and wellness. Nutritional professionals help attain a balanced diet by
providing information and dietary guidelines of the amount and types of food we should eat.
For this purpose, scientists have established nutrition labeling on prepackaged food products
(Codex 1985), a result of direct consultation with dietitians and nutritionists and other means.
Nutrition labelling is to provide nutrition information of the food products and present it
on food labels1. Such information is important in promoting public health and preventing
chronic diseases (Health, Welfare and Food Bureau 2003). Basically, the labels are developed
according to the guidelines given by Codex (1985), and modifications are often made by
different countries to suit their citizens. The major component of the label is the listing of the
contents of nutrients of the foods in a tabulated format (Figure 1), which is worked out by
food chemists of the companies or government or obtained from literatures. In addition, it is
quite often that there are nutrients reference values on top of individual nutrients contents
within a nutrition label. The most commonly used one is the daily value. For instance, 3g of
total fat gives a daily value of 5%, which means that eating such food gives 5% of the amount
of fat you are recommended to eat on a daily basis (Figure 1). These reference values are
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It is important not to confuse nutrition labels with food labels. A nutrition label is often a
component of a food label. Other components of a food label include product name, expiry date, etc.
obtained from massive population studies, and
the daily values are estimated to be able to
meet the nutrient requirement of the majority
of the population in order to maintain normal
body functions (Food and Nutrition Board
2002).
When
choosing
food
products,
consumers can make use of the information on
the label to make informed food choices given
that such labels are present and the information
is scientifically substantiated. For example, an
obese person can choose to avoid high fat
foods. A diabetic patient can realize the sugar
content of different foods and it is essential for
monitoring blooding glucose level. Other
healthy
people
can
also
choose
with
consideration of the nutrition information
according to their personal health interests.
Thus consumers are more likely to make a wiser choice when they purchase prepackaged
Figure 1: A typical nutrition label. From
food products.
Health, Welfare and Food Bureau (2003)
N
Currently, nutrition labeling is not mandatory in Hong Kong and the formats of labels are
also not standardized. On one hand, consumers can only estimate the nutrient content of
unlabeled food based on miscellaneous sources or personal perceptions which are likely to be
inaccurate. Even there are already a considerable number of foods containing nutrition labels
(Health, Welfare and Food Bureau 2003), they are of different formats and standards (Figure 2
and 3 present 2 more examples of local nutrition labels). For instance, the energy contents
2
Figure 2 (left) & 3 (right): Two more examples of local nutrition labels. From Health, Welfare and Food
Bureau (2003)
may be presented in terms of kcal or kJ, or both. Contents of some nutrients may be included
in one label but are excluded in another one. Consumers may find such information confusing
and difficult to interpret. Nutrition labelling is likely to remedy these problems. Indeed, in the
era of increasing interests and concerns about nutrition, the development of comprehensive
nutrition labelling system is essentially a global trend (Food and Environmental Hygiene
Department 2005). 9 developed countries such as the United States, Australia and New
Zealand have already developed a mandatory labelling scheme on nutrition information, while
a sizeable number of others have drafted legislation to do so. Such labels contain lists of
contents of nutrients which are considered important for public health and the formats are
coherent. In order not to lag behind in the trend to improve public health, there is a need for
the government to implement a similar nutrition labelling system, and the sooner the better.
The government is now putting effort into working out a mandatory and standardized
nutrition labelling scheme and this is likely to be enforced in a foreseeable future. The scheme
will certainly help consumers to get more accurate and scientific information about what they
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eat, so they can achieve a balanced diet more easily. Ultimately, it can promote health and
wellness of the public.
References
AC Nielsen Global Services. 2006. Executive News Reports – What’s Hot around the Globe:
Insights on Growth in Food and Beverages. Hong Kong: AC Nielsen Company. 47p.
Codex. 1985. Codex Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (with amendments in 1993, 2003 and
2006)
[online].
Available:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y2770e/y2770e06.htm
Accessed: 2007 April 17.
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. 2005. Food safety Express for Food Trade
[online]. Available:
http://www.fehd.gov.hk/safefood/food-safety-express/safety_channel/trade_200507_text.
html Accessed: 2007 April 17.
Food and Nutrition Board. 2002. Dietary Reference Intakes Tables. National Academy of
Sciences. 7p
Health, Welfare and Food Bureau. 2003. Public Consultation on Labelling Scheme on
Nutrition Information. Hong Kong: Health, Welfare and Food Bureau. 42p.
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