Citizens Challenge Health Law at Constitutional Court Over Sugar Labels on Food Packaging
Two citizens, Imamudin, a lawyer, and Andru Steven, an artist, filed an online petition for judicial review of Articles 4(c) and 7(b) of the Consumer Protection Law and Article 148 of the Health Law with the Constitutional Court (MK) on Sunday, 15 March.
Their legal team, comprising Viktor Santoso Tandiasa and Rachmat Dwi Purtranto of VST and Partners Law Firm, explained that the petitioners believe their constitutional rights have been violated. Imamudin suffers from diabetes with blood sugar levels of 749 mg/dL, whilst Andru Steven has been hospitalised twice due to bacterial infections caused by excessive consumption of packaged sweetened foods and beverages.
In their petition, the petitioners ask the Constitutional Court to mandate that businesses display colour-coded labels with symbols on packaged sugary foods and drinks to enable consumers to quickly identify sugar content.
Beyond businesses, the petitioners also request that the Constitutional Court compel the government and local authorities to establish regulations requiring manufacturers of packaged sugary products to include colour-coded labels with symbols.
“According to the petitioners, existing regulations have failed to protect consumers because sugar content information on packaged sugary products remains microscopic and manipulative, making it extremely difficult for consumers to discern quickly,” Viktor stated in a written statement on Sunday.
The petitioners demand that the Constitutional Court mandate the implementation of new visual standards using colour labels (red, yellow, and green) and symbols on packaged sugary foods and drinks.
This is crucial to ensure that information about sugar levels becomes an instant and inclusive risk mitigation tool for all communities, rather than merely administrative information.
Viktor explained that this demand is particularly important for parents with children, as current labelling practices make it difficult for parents to guide their children away from high-sugar products due to excessively small, illegible, or incomprehensible text.
“It would be different if sugar content labels on packaged sugary foods and drinks were presented in colour form (red-yellow-green) with symbols. This would make it easier for parents to prevent their children from consuming products with red labels featuring an upward-pointing arrow symbol,” Viktor said.
He added: “Beyond colour labels, arrow symbols are necessary to accommodate individuals with colour vision deficiency.”