Chile’s Food Warning Labels Reduced Sugary Drink Consumption

– Advertisement –

Chile has the strictest mandatory labelling requirements for unhealthy foods in the world. Advertising aimed at children is also heavily restricted. Following the introduction of these measures, consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks fell significantly and products became healthier. Although obesity remains a major problem, Austria can learn from the Chilean approach. In the EU, labelling is currently only voluntary.

In 2010, 64 per cent of the Chilean population was overweight or obese. Alarm bells rang for the Chilean government. How did this come about? After the military dictatorship ended in Chile in 1990, the country’s democratisation, privatisation and opening up led to an increasing influx of imported products. These were often highly processed, high in fat and sugar, and cheap. However, the associated health risks were not adequately communicated for a long time. As a result, by 2014, Chileans had the world’s highest calorie intake from sugar-sweetened drinks, at 190 kilocalories per person per day.

The world’s strictest labelling requirements

Consequently, the government and the Ministry of Health were forced to take action. In 2014, the Chilean government increased the tax on high-sugar drinks from 13 to 18 per cent and reduced it to 10 per cent for less sweet drinks. Two years later, under the left-wing government of Michelle Bachelet, the world’s strictest food labelling law was introduced. An octagonal ‘stop’ sign on product packaging was designed to warn of high levels (‘alto en’) of sugar, salt, saturated fats or calories. Particular emphasis was placed on protecting children and young people.

Unhealthy foods must not be advertised to children

With the introduction of the reform, foods and drinks labelled as unhealthy may no longer be advertised to children under the age of 14. This means no advertising featuring comic book heroes, cartoons, child stars or toys. Since then, a ban on TV adverts for these foods has been in force between 6 am and 10 pm. ‘Alton-en’ products have also been banned from all educational establishments. Manufacturers were granted a three-year transition period, during which the limits were tightened in stages. This allowed them to adapt their products and change their recipes.

Consumption fell by almost a quarter – products became healthier

And indeed, as early as the first year, sales of sugar-sweetened drinks fell by almost a quarter – 23.7 per cent, to be precise. The industry also responded: according to a study by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology at the University of Chile (INTA), 15 per cent of the products examined were reformulated following the introduction of the labelling law – in other words, their ingredients were altered so that they would not require warning labels. Meat and cereal products, in particular, became healthier.

Excess weight remains a major problem

At the same time, obesity remained a very serious problem in Chile – and actually increased following the reform. The latest National Health Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Salud, ENS), which took place in 2016–2017, revealed that 74.2 per cent of people aged 15 and over were overweight or obese. The proportion of people with obesity alone stood at 31.2 per cent.

According to the World Obesity Atlas, the percentage of people with a high body mass index (BMI) continues to rise annually. These are people whose body weight, relative to their height, is above the normal range.

There are also alarming figures for schoolchildren: According to the National Education Authority (Junaeb), more than half of all schoolchildren (51.7 per cent) will be overweight or obese by 2025.

Whilst the industry was already interpreting this as a failure of the strict legislation, researchers emphasised that such a trend takes time to be reflected statistically in the figures. Cristian Cofre from the Chilean Ministry of Health, for example, says:

“The change in dietary habits among this generation – today’s children – cannot be assessed in five or six years’ time, but only in 25 to 30 years or later, when health consequences such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases become apparent. It is much more about the long-term consequences, when today’s children become the adults of tomorrow; but today’s changes will shape them.”

First measurable successes: risk of being overweight fell by 2–3 per cent

In early June 2026, a new study was published in the renowned Lancet journal, which, for the first time, quantifies the success of these changes. A comparison of children aged 4–6 between 2012 and 2017 shows that, 18 months after the law was introduced, the risk of being overweight or obese fell by 2.85 per cent among girls and by 2.40 per cent among boys.

There is currently a debate in Chile about further tightening the law. A draft proposal has been put forward to restrict further highly processed products, particularly those containing large amounts of sweeteners and additives. These products are, in part, seen as the industry’s response to the warning labels.

Nutri-Score: In the EU, labelling is voluntary only

In Austria, too, more than half the population is overweight. In principle, the Nutri-Score system in the EU is based on a similar concept. The five-tier nutritional labelling system (ranging from a dark green ‘A’ to a deep red ‘E’) takes into account beneficial nutrients such as protein, fibre and vitamins, as well as less beneficial nutrients such as sugar, saturated fats and salt. However, the rating is based solely on a comparison with products in the same category.  It therefore does not automatically indicate whether a product is healthy or unhealthy, but rather, for example, how a frozen pizza compares to other frozen pizzas.

In France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal, this system is officially supported, though its use is voluntary in all these countries. In Austria, voluntary display on food packaging has been permitted since 2021. 

The Nutri-Score system has since been further refined. From January 2026, sugar and salt will be penalised more severely, artificial sweeteners will incur point deductions, and milk-based drinks and plant-based drinks will be reclassified from the ‘solid foods’ category to the more strictly assessed ‘drinks’ category.

Actimel, Pepsi, Fruchtzwerge: better get rid of them before they’re downgraded

The fact that participation is voluntary is seen as a weakness. Those who do not wish to take part are not obliged to do so. Rather than facing up to the assessment or making fundamental changes to their recipes, food companies often choose to omit the Nutri-Score labels from their product packaging altogether.

Danone, for example, removed the Nutri-Score from all its drinkable milk and plant-based drink products under the Alpro, Actimel and Fruchtzwerge brands. As a result, Actimel drinking yoghurt would have been downgraded from ‘B’ to ‘E’. Pepsi also had the labelling removed for its entire drinks range (including Pepsi, Rockstar and SchwipSchwap). Due to the presence of sweeteners, the diet soft drinks would have been downgraded from ‘B’ to ‘C’. Furthermore, the frozen bakery products manufacturer Coppenrath & Wiese, as well as the YFood brand – whose drinkable meal would have plummeted from ‘A’ to ‘E’ – promptly withdrew the label.

Foodwatch: Food lobby and Italy are campaigning for a watering down of the scheme

In its ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy, adopted in 2020, the European Commission had announced plans to introduce mandatory EU-wide nutritional labelling on food packaging.  To date, this has not been implemented. According to Foodwatch, the food lobby and countries such as Italy exerted significant pressure to water down the measures.

For example, the Italian agricultural association Coldiretti and the confectionery manufacturer Ferrero argued that the Nutri-Score would discriminate against the ‘Mediterranean diet’ and traditional, geographically protected products such as Parmesan, Parma ham and olive oil. They view the fact that these products should only be consumed in moderation for nutritional reasons, due to their high fat and salt content, as an attack.

Italy played a leading role in spearheading opposition to the Nutri-Score within the EU. Politicians, farmers’ organisations and parts of the food industry joined forces to criticise the system as misleading. The Italian authorities even imposed fines on companies using the Nutri-Score.

Meanwhile, a new survey has been carried out in Germany: out of over 1,000 participants, 61 per cent of consumers are in favour of mandatory labelling of food products with the Nutri-Score label. In Austria, 72 per cent of all parents are in favour of introducing the label for all products aimed at children.

Post Views: 41

– Advertisement –