Islamabad, May 29, 2025 — Senior officials of the Federal and Provincial Health and Food Departments, health and Policy experts, civil society organizations, food regulators, nutrition advocates, and academicians gathered today at a national consultation held at Islamabad. The consultation was aimed at advancing the adoption of Front-of-Pack Warning Labels (FOPWL) on packaged food items—an evidence-based measure to help combat Pakistan’s growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and hypertension.
The event was convened jointly by leading public health organizations Heartfile and Pakistan National Heart Association supporting government on food and health policy reform and the event brought together a diverse range of stakeholders. Opening the session, speakers emphasized that Pakistan is facing a serious health and economic crisis due to the unchecked rise in diet-related diseases. According to the World Health Organization, NCDs account for over 60% of deaths in the country, with poor dietary habits—particularly the consumption of ultra-processed foods high in sugar, salt, saturated fats, and trans fats—being a major contributor.
Participants highlighted the failure of traditional back-of-pack nutrition labels, which are often too complex for the average consumer to understand. In contrast, FOPWLs—simple, black octagonal labels—are a globally recommended tool that allows consumers to easily identify foods with excessive levels of harmful nutrients. These warning labels have already shown measurable success in countries like Chile, Mexico, and Brazil, leading to reduced consumption of unhealthy foods and encouraging food manufacturers to reformulate their products to meet healthier standards.
Dr. Saba Amjad (Heartfile), Mr. Sana Ullah Ghumman (PANAH), and other leading voices stressed that Pakistan’s adoption of FOPWL must be supported by a scientifically grounded Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) to objectively determine which products should carry warning labels. This approach, successfully used in several countries to ensure consistency and alignment with international best practices.
The speakers highlighted the need for a package of policies to reduce the growing consumption of ultra-processed food and average products mounting diseases and economic burden on the country. The panellist recommended the urgent need to adopting FOPWL, increasing excise taxes on ultra-processed food and beverage products during finance Bill 2025-26, regulating their marketing to children, and restricting these products from public institutions especially from schools.
The meeting also acknowledged and appreciated the recent momentum within the government, with MoNHSR&C formally moving a proposal to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) for initiating regulatory action on FOPWL. Officials from provincial food authorities, academia, and civil society groups reiterated their support for swift and decisive policy adoption.
Participants called for a multi-prong strategy, urging stakeholders to:
- Collaborate with MoST and PSQCA to develop and enforce mandatory FOPWL regulation.
- Launch public awareness campaigns at the community level.
- Monitor compliance and track public health outcomes after implementation.
The consultation concluded with a resounding consensus that FOPWLs are a low-cost, high-impact intervention to reduce NCD prevalence, enhance health system efficiency, and ensure that consumers are no longer misled by deceptive food packaging.