ABSTRACT
Nutrition labelling provides information to consumers on the nutritional properties of foods. It is an important tool to guide healthy food choices and support people to adopt healthy diets, and therefore reduce the NCD burden. The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) is responsible for implementing the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme and for providing international food-related standards, guidelines and codes of practice, including guidelines on nutrition labelling. Codex standards and guidelines serve as a basis for national legislation to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair practices in the food trade, and they are used as a reference point for international trade agreements of the World Trade Organization. This chapter focusses on the following components of labelling: ingredient lists, nutrient declarations and supplementary nutrition information (which includes front-of-pack labelling). The chapter also describes nutrition and health claims, which are used to promote the sale, purchase and intake of foods.
