A lawmaker is pushing for more accurate information on fat and cholesterol content in the label of food products.
Rep. Delphine Gan Lee of Party-list AGRI filed House Bill 5253 to provide consumers with more relevant dietary information.
She cited international and local medical research on a high intake of saturated fat can lead to increased serum cholesterol levels, causing Coronary Heart Disease, a killer disease in the Philippines and the number one killer in America.
“To decrease the risk of acquiring the disease, private and public studies by experts in the fields of medicine and nutrition unanimously support the conclusion that people should know how much fat, particularly saturated fat, they consume and should guard against too much consumption of fat,” Lee said.
Under the measure, compulsory labeling and fair packaging shall be enforced to enable the consumers to obtain accurate information as to the nature, quality and quantity of the contents of consumer products.
The measure, also known as the “Low Cholesterol Consumer Education Act 2014,” will facilitate the consumers’ comparison of the value of each product.
The Department of Health is required to impose additional labeling requirement for food, which specifically shows, “Saturated Fat Content”, and “Cholesterol Content.”
Any person, either as principal or agent, engaged in the labeling or packaging of any food consumer product, to display or distribute or to cause to be displayed or distributed in commerce, any food consumer product whose label does not conform to the requirement of the proposed Act is unlawful.
Violators shall be fined P20,000 or meted out a maximum imprisonment of four years, or both, at the discretion of the court.