Indonesia has announced a new regulation mandating food and beverage manufacturers to display colour-coded labels indicating the levels of salt, sugar, and fat in their products. This initiative aims to tackle obesity and related health risks in the country. The health ministry issued the decree on Tuesday, introducing a traffic-light style “nutri-level” system where red labels signify high content of these ingredients, while green labels indicate low levels.
Under the new rules, companies can voluntarily apply stickers with the appropriate colours based on testing conducted by government laboratories. However, the labels will become compulsory within two years. The decree also requires that menus in outlets selling ready-to-eat items include these coloured stickers. Details regarding penalties for non-compliance were not specified in the decree.
More than 40 countries have implemented similar labelling systems, either on a voluntary or mandatory basis, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Singapore is among the nations with comparable regulations. Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country with approximately 280 million residents, has seen obesity rates double over the past decade, health ministry data.
UNICEF has highlighted the growing obesity concern, noting that one in three adults and one in five school-age children in Indonesia face obesity-related risks. The decree comes after lobbying efforts by both the United States and local manufacturers, who had urged President Prabowo Subianto to reconsider the policy.
