BPOM: Nutri-level is an effort to educate the public to prevent non-communicable diseases

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) states that the initiative to include levels of sugar, salt, and fat, or Nutri-level, is an effort to educate the public on healthy consumption choices, given the high mortality rate from non-communicable diseases in Indonesia.

“The main target of this Nutri-level is to educate our society to live healthily. One important indicator is that 73% of Indonesia’s population dies from non-infectious diseases. And nearly 11% of our population suffers from diabetes,” said BPOM Head Taruna Ikrar in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Previously, BPOM signed a draft revision of the BPOM Regulation on Nutritional Value Information on Processed Food Labels, adding provisions for displaying Nutri-Level on the front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL).

Taruna mentioned that according to Ministry of Health data, around 31 million Indonesians are pre-diabetic, diabetic, or even have type 1 diabetes dependent on insulin.

Nutri-level, he said, is in line with the mandate of Law No. 17 of 2023 on Health and its implementing regulations, namely Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024.

“Now the process still requires approval from related ministries. The related ministries are the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade, and Ministry of Law,” he said.

After harmonisation, he said, it will be recorded in the State Gazette and will be immediately applied, although in the initial stage it will still be voluntary.

In a separate opportunity, the Ministry of Health stated that it welcomes the Nutri-level initiative. Director of Non-Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that the impact of this education in the form of a reduction in new non-communicable disease cases will be seen in 3-5 years, and it requires a strategy consisting of many interventions.

“FOPL is one of the strategies recommended by the WHO for controlling non-communicable diseases, especially sugar, salt, and fat, and benchmarking countries with sugar, salt, and fat control can contribute to reducing hypertension and diabetes mellitus morbidity rates, as well as reducing stroke, heart, and kidney disorder rates,” said Nadia.

Other countries that implement FOPL, she said, include Singapore, Brazil, and France. With FOPL, she said, consumers will better understand and then adjust their consumption patterns according to their needs.