This December 31 expires the extension approved by the Ministry of Health (Minsa) for processed foods and beverages to use adhesive octagons on their packaging, within the framework of the Healthy Eating Law (Law No. 30021).
After that date, it would be prohibited for companies to place octagons on stickers on imported food packaging. In that sense, the Peruvian Association of Consumers and Users (Aspec) He urged the Government not to continue authorizing the placement of the octagons through the insecure stickers on the labels of packaged foods.
“As we have been denouncing for years, various food suppliers continue to post these warnings, not in print as required by law, but through the insecure stickersadhesives or stickers”, indicated the consumer defense institution.
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Successive governments since 2019, through supreme decrees, have made modifications to the Regulations and the Warning Manual of the Healthy Eating Law, which have been ordered by the Minsa. In view of this, the latest extension, ordered by Supreme Decree No. 005-2022-SAexpires this December 31.
In addition, aspect questioned the use of stickers because these can be placed anywhere in the container and not on the front, in a visible way, as it should be. In addition, he indicated that these stickers cannot not respect the characteristics that they should comply with, such as size and location.
“In the event of a claim, the company can evade its responsibility by blaming the winemaker or the supermarket for having placed the adhesive where he shouldn’t go; That is why it is important that the octagons are placed in print on the product packaging,” the entity sustained.
As stated above, aspect He asked the Government not to give in -as his predecessors did- to the pressures of the industry and not grant a new extension, which would be the fifth, so that companies continue using the questioned and unsafe adhesives.
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“Public health must prevail over any other consideration and the State must be the first to defend it,” the user defense entity said.
Law No. 30021 on the Promotion of Healthy Eating for Boys, Girls and Adolescents establishes the use of labeling front in all processed products that are high in sugar, sodium, saturated fat and contain trans fat.
This standard was published in 2013, but its regulations were not issued until 2019. However, the industry that has filed opposition to the standard has succeeded in being allowed to use these octagons in the form of stickers.
The Supreme Decree No. 005-2022-SA which extends the use of stickers with advertising warnings for imported products, also establishes a maximum term of six months for the Minsa issue a report on the evolution of compliance with the use of indelible labeling on the label with advertising warnings.
Before the standard is implemented, the Executive planned that the octagons be mandatory printed on the products. However, various companies claimed that the use of stickers be allowed, since it would increase import costs for products from outside the country.
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