TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsNutrition grade label draws skepticism from consumers, business owners
Consumers of freshly-prepared drinks questioned whether beverage sellers can manipulate the lab testing to show incorrect nutritional rating, while small business owners are concerned about additional costs to test their products.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikit (third right), Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) head Taruna Ikrar (left), Population and Family Development Minister Wihaji (second right) and Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) planning and development director Sutopo Patria Jati (right) look at the mock-up packaging of the Nutri-Level label on April 14 during a press briefing in Jakarta. The government launched the Nutri-Level policy to classify drinks using color codes based on the percentage of sugar, salt and fat they contain. (Antara/Muhammad Iqbal)
T
he Health Ministry’s policy of graded labeling for sugar, salt and fat content in beverage products has been met with doubt by consumers and small business owners, who question its implementation and whether it would effectively influence dietary habits.
The policy, stipulated in a ministerial regulation issued in April, pushes the nutrition label, called Nutri-Level, to be applied on menus and packaging of freshly prepared beverages sold in drink outlets and restaurants. It classified drinks from A to D level accompanied by color codes based on the percentage of sugar, salt and fat content per 100 milliliters.
Rizky, 31, who likes café hopping, said he supports the policy and hopes the label will encourage people to pay closer attention to what they consume and raise awareness about the health consequences of their daily dietary choices.
However, Rizky also questioned whether the graded labeling system could be implemented consistently and accurately, noting that reliable nutritional assessments require proper laboratory testing.
“I am concerned about the possibility that some brands could display favorable Nutri-Level ratings on their products without proper testing, because accurate measurements require additional costs and effort,” he said on Wednesday.
Read also: Govt introduces nutrition grade on drinks to curb unhealthy diets
Syahrul, a 57-year-old coffee shop owner in Depok, West Java, argued the policy could be difficult to be implemented by small businesses.
