Public Health Experts and Food Scientists have warned that the consumption of packaged food products with high sodium is responsible for increase in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), especially, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) which most times lead to lifelong disability.
NCDs, they said account for 29% of deaths in Nigeria and 11% linked to CVDs, with approximately 27% of Nigerian adults being overweight or obese and childhood obesity at a prevalence of over 30% in some urban areas.
The experts shared this during a one-day Journalism Training on Salt Reduction and Front-of-Pack Labelling (FOPL) in Nigeria” organized by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).
Mr Femi Joseph, Food Safety Technical Lead, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in his presentation, shared that the Nigerian Government is putting measures in place to align with global standards on daily salt intake, to safeguard the health of its citizens.
Referencing the existing policy frameworks in the country, Jospeh mentioned that “The National Multisectoral Action Plan (NMAP) for NCDs 2019–2025 required that salt consumption be reduced by 30% by 2025.
“The National Policy on Food Safety and Quality and Its Implementation Plan, 2023 pushed for prioritisation of a healthy diet to reduce NCDs, including the setting of mandatory salt targets & FOPL using national data.
“The 2024 National Guideline for Sodium Reduction has proposed a phased approach to sodium reduction: 30% by 2030.”
The Food Safety Technical Lead noted that salt intake among Nigerians at 3.9 grams far exceeds the 2 grams safe limit recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), driving 38% adult hypertension.
“High consumption of sodium can lead to cardiovascular diseases like stroke. This can become a lifelong issue and causes disability. We don’t want that to happen we want everybody to be able to live their full lives to the fullest,” Jospeh told BONews.
He noted that with the National Guideline for Sodium Reduction and support to subnational Ministries of Health, the informal food sector and the formalized food industries would be regulated, to ensure Nigerians consume daily recommended sodium intake.
Bukola Odele, Project Officer, Cardiovascular Health at CAPPA, who buttressed that front-of-pack-labelling (FOPL) is one of the policy tool to regulate salt intake, shared that “back of pack labels have failed because they are complex, nutritional facts tables are often too technical for the public to understand, and it is a marketing tactic for industry actors to provide misleading information in the front.”
Odele explained that Nigeria needs FOPL because it represents “a simple visual system that bridges the gap for consumers across all educational levels. Also, Nigeria is moving from traditional whole-food diets to convenient, pre-packaged, and nutrient-poor industrial foods.”
She also noted that “FOPL is a cost-effective preventive measure that reduces the long-term economic burden of treating chronic diseases on the Nigerian health system.”
Also, Dr Jerome Mafeni, Technical Advisor, Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED), emphasised that “FOPL enables quick, informed consumer choices, addresses low nutrition literacy and information overload, and most importantly reduces consumption of unhealthy foods and nutrients.”
While noting that FOPL will encourage food industry to reformulate their products to safe and healthier products, Mafeni maintained that nutrition labelling is one of the policy tools that can support healthy diets.
Earlier, Dr Joseph Ekiyor, a Public Health Consultant, emphasized the need for Nigerians to reduce the consumption of unhealthy diets because “they are ultra processed, no longer in their natural format, energy dense foods, high in fat, sugar or salt and low in minerals and fibre. They also have low nutritional value.”