The float, aimed at promoting healthy eating in Ghana was on the theme: “Ensuring Healthier Diets in Ghana with Evidence and Actions Towards a Double Duty Food Policy Bundle.”
The participants walk through some principal streets in the Osu community, the Ministries of Education, Labour and Employment, Ghana Health Service, Tema Station, and Parliament House.
They distributed fliers on four key policies that government should implement thus Public Food Procurement and Service Policy, Front-of-Pack Labelling, Food Marketing Restrictions, and Food-Related Fiscal Policy.
They also carried placards with messages like; “Ghana needs a MANDATORY Front-of-Pack Labels,” “We deserve to know what we are eating. Simple!” and the “Foods sold and served in public places like schools and hospitals must be healthy.”
The others were; “Food policy actions are urgently needed,” “No Public funds should be spent on unhealthy foods,” “Support taxes on unhealthy foods,” “Tax on unhealthy foods, subsidize the healthier one,” “Say NO to unhealthy and misleading ads,” ”Misleading advertisement must stop NOW!” “Unhealthy foods are killing millions yearly.” “Drink water instead of sugary drinks to stay healthy,” “Water is life,” and “Eat Healthy, Stay Healthy.”
Mr Ali Issah, the Projects Manager of INSLA, in an address, asked the participants to explain to the youth of Osu what the four policies they had embarked on sought to address.
He expressed gratitude to them for joining the float despite their schedules.
Mr Benjamin Anabila, the Director of INSLA, in an interview, urged the government to adopt key policy measures to improve public health through nutrition.
He explained that the public food procurement and service policy sought to ensure that food served and procured in public settings like hospitals, schools, prisons, restaurants, among others, promoted healthy diets.
“Front-of-pack labelling policy is to ensure that food products are labelled in ways that consumers can read and understand clearly so that it can informed their food choices,” he stated.
Mr Anabila said food marketing restrictions sought to ensure that the advertisement of unhealthy diets on television was restricted to protect kids from unhealthy diets like sugary, drinks, fats, salts, and others, to deter people from consuming them.
He noted that these measures would not only improve public health but also boost consumer confidence in the safety and nutritional value of food sold in Ghana.
“There is a saying that what you consume represents you. If you import a food product into Ghana labelled in Chinese or Spanish. How will I be able to read it?” he quizzed.
“We are calling for regulations to ensure that all imported food products have labels in English so consumers can make informed choices,” the Director said while urging vendors to strictly adhere to food policy regulations to safeguard their health and that of their customers.
Mr Anabila urged the Food and Drugs Authority to tighten regulations on advertising unhealthy food products on television and social media, ensuring that misleading promotions did not influence consumer choices.
He admonished individuals to prioritize their health by ensuring that the food they consumed were healthy, cut down intake of sugar, salt, fats, and fizzy drinks, and to cultivate the habit of eating more fruits and vegetables.
GNA
