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100 signatures reached
To: Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi
Minister Aaron Motsoaledi must not delay regulations on warning labels
We welcome you back as Minister of Health. We are hopeful that under your leadership, the Department of Health will not delay warning labels. When health regulations are delayed, it means death. The Health Department received over 13,000 public comments supporting strong R3337 Front-of-Pack Warning Labels (FOPL) regulations and marketing restrictions. Thousands of public comments called for strong regulations to be published by the end of 2023 so that by the end of 2025, the regulations will be completely in place and enforced.
Why is this important?
One public comment submitted to the department stated: "My grandma died of diabetes, and if this rule (regulations) were made a long time ago, maybe she would be alive”.
However, we are deeply concerned by news reports that big businesses have been lobbying the department behind closed doors [1] and that labelling regulations were unnecessarily stalled internally [2]. We can’t afford any more delays. It’s been 10 years since the Health Department proposed new labelling regulations [3], but according to Daily Maverick, these regulations were “... shot down internally for reasons that remain obscure, according to a former Health Department employee” [4]. The more these regulations are delayed, the more people continue to buy food products that threaten their health. “the government could allocate the funds generated from the levy towards addressing issues of hunger and poverty by increasing the child grant and subsidising healthier foods.” -Zukiswa Zimela [5].
We call on you to ensure there are no delays in implementing strong regulations for Front-of-Pack Warning Labels (FOPL) and marketing restrictions.
References
[1] Here’s why you should care about the food industry lobbying the health department behind closed doors, By Laura López González for Daily Maverick, 08 February, 2023
[2] R3337 food labelling regulation changes delayed as health department drags feet in review process, By Adèle Sulcas for Daily Maverick, 16 February 2024
[3] Regulations: Labelling and advertising of foods: Amendment, Department of Health, 29 May 2014
[4] R3337 food labelling regulation changes delayed as health department drags feet in review process, By Adèle Sulcas for Daily Maverick, 16 February 2024
[5] Heala calls on health minister to prioritise food justice, Phindile Nqumako for IOL news, 08 July 2024
