Health Ministry Urges Restaurants to Implement Nutri-Level Labelling
The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) is urging ready-to-drink beverage business operators to begin implementing nutri-level labelling on menus or menu descriptions. This exhortation comes alongside the establishment of regulations for labelling sugar, salt, and fat content on ready-to-eat food products from 14 April 2026.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated that in the initial phase, the regulation applies only to beverage products. According to Budi, the policy will not be implemented immediately. The government is providing a transition period of 1-2 years for business operators to make adjustments until the regulation becomes mandatory.
In this initial phase, Budi said the implementation will focus on large-scale industries before expanding to all sectors. Therefore, he urged large-scale ready-to-drink beverage business operators, such as restaurants, to begin applying this policy.
“So we will start gradually from restaurants first. Because this is more about education. We start with large business operators first, not SMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises). SMEs are still exempt,” Budi explained.
Nutri-Level is a classification system for food or beverages based on sugar, salt, and fat content. The regulation on labelling sugar content for ready-to-drink beverage products is stipulated in Ministerial Decree Number HK.01.07/MENKES/301/2026 on the Inclusion of Nutrition Labels and Health Messages on Processed Ready-to-Eat Foods.
In the regulation, Budi explained, the government divides sugar content levels in beverage products into four levels marked with specific colours and letters. These include level A (dark green) for very healthy drinks with sugar content less than 1 gram, meaning no added sweeteners.
Then, level B (light green) for the healthy category with sugar content less than 1-5 grams, level C (yellow) for the less healthy category with 5-10 grams of sugar content, and level D (red) for the unhealthy category with more than 10 grams of sugar.
In addition to letters and colours, Budi said business operators must also provide information on the amount of sugar content in the product. He stated that this policy aims to make it easier for the public to identify nutritional content in daily consumed foods.
Thus, he hopes the visual identity on the labels will enable consumers to independently recognise products high in sugar, salt, or fat.
Budi then urged the public to adopt a new lifestyle by being more selective in choosing daily intake, such as opting for drinks with low sugar content or no sugar at all. “If we drink the red (label) ones, for example, that’s not cool; we should drink the green ones,” he said.