Summary:
This resolution adopts technical criteria for front-of-pack nutritional labeling (FOPL). Following the adoption of Law No. 2120 of 2021 and litigation by civil society organizations it has been substantially amended by Resolution No. 2492 of 2022.
Description:
This resolution laid out the technical criteria for the adoption of front-of-pack nutritional labeling (FOPL, in Spanish “etiquetado frontal de advertencia”) in prepackaged food and beverages. It provided for the mandatory adoption of circular warning labels bearing the inscription “high in” (“alto en) for products exceeding certain nutritional thresholds (Art. 32). Moreover, it provided that products meeting specific nutritional criteria would be allowed to bear a positive seal (“sello positivo”) (Art.33).
Shortly after the adoption of the resolution, the Colombian Congress adopted the Law for the Promotion of Healthy Food Environments and NCD Prevention (Law no. 2120 of 2021, commonly referred to in the media with the Spanish nickname “ley comida chatarra”). The law laid out general criteria for the adoption of FOPL, and ordered the Ministry of Health to issue a technical implementing regulation within a year. Following litigation by civil society organizations, the Ministry of Health issued Resolution no. 2492 of 2022 substantially amending Resolution No. 810 of 2021.