Manufacturers and importers trading in food products entering the Kenyan market will soon have to dig deeper into their pockets to customise their products for the Kenyan market. This is after it emerged that the manufacturers of packaged food and drink products, as well as importers of such foods, will soon be required to publish and display all nutritional and product information on their items under new government regulations. In response to concerns regarding the impact of their product formulation on public health, both domestic and foreign companies will be required to include a health warning label on all of their products, according to Reuters. Kenya released its nutrient profile model in June and committed to using it to develop front-of-package labels.
A photo of a Kenyan shopping at a local supermarket in Nairobi on March 27, 2019 Photo Duka Kenya Among the regulations the government hinted at on June 9 are plans to intensify the campaign to curb advertising and consumption of unhealthy foods, particularly among children.
The decision, according to the Ministry of Health, is part of sweeping reforms to tackle the worrying rise in diet-related Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) across the country.
Earlier, a report by the non-profit Access to Nutrition Initiative, released last year, found that under those rules, 90 per cent of products sold by both international companies and local firms dealing in food, among them snacks and milk, contained either too much salt, sugar, or saturated fat.
