Assessing the impact of front-of-package nutrition labeling on public health in Brazil

Abstract

This proposal seeks to: (1) determine the impact of Front-Of-Package (FOP) nutrition labels on purchase and consumption decisions of Ultra-Processed Foods (UPF) among Brazilian consumers; (2) quantify the health impact of the mandatory inclusion of FOP labels on ultra-processed foods in Brazil; and (3) assess the influence of key stakeholders on the development and the trajectory of implementation of FOP labeling policy in Brazil. It incorporates a combination of robust methods, including experimental methods, qualitative methods, and macro-simulation models and utilizes primary and secondary data to meet the proposal objectives. Results from this proposal will identify individual and contextual factors that influence FOP label use, determine reasons for their limited use, and highlight UPF features that may enhance FOP label effectiveness. They will also help estimate 5-year and 10-year health impacts of the FOP policy, quantify the number of deaths averted by its implementation, and inform government resource allocation. Finally, this proposal will take advantage of the political processes initiated for the finalization of the FOP policy and inform future policy implementation efforts, within the country and internationally. The proposal addresses the demand for this evidence from the Ministry of Health, ANVISA and the Pan American Health Organization to help inform future policy decisions on this topic at the national and the regional level, and from advocacy NGOs like Instituto Brasileiro de Defesa do Consumidor to empower and educate the Brazilian consumer. This proposal additionally provides the evidence needed to inform the debate on nutrition labelling among public health researchers. The validity of this study is independent of ANVISA's final decision on the FOP policy. (AU)