As Members of the Board of The Consumer Goods Forum, we believe that manufacturers and retailers, by working together, have a key role to play in improving the health and wellness of consumers, employees, their families and the communities we serve.
The Health & Wellness Resolutions are built upon and leverage existing Industry initiatives. They encourage retailers and food and personal care manufacturers to further develop and implement self-regulatory tools to support healthier diets and lifestyles.
Offer consumers and shoppers a range of products and services that supports the goals of healthier diets and lifestyles.
For the Food sector, this includes:
- Continuing to develop / improve affordability and availability of existing products and services that support the goal of healthier diets and lifestyles.
- Reducing the overall energy, salt/sodium, sugars, saturated and trans-fat content of our foods and beverages to help address public health priorities.
- Enhancing our products with respect to ingredients and nutrients that should be encouraged in the diet.
- Seeking opportunities to address nutritional deficiencies of vulnerable populations.
- Providing healthier choices of products and services for a range of budgets.
- Developing product sizes for a range of consumer needs.
- Promoting consumption of fruit and vegetables.
For the Personal Care sector, this includes:
- Continuing to develop / improve affordability of existing products that support the goal of healthier lifestyles.
- Developing product sizes for a range of consumer needs and budgets.
- Providing better access to personal care through public and private channels.
Provide transparent, fact-based information that will help consumers and shoppers make informed product choices and usages.
For the Food sector, this includes:
- Providing globally, wherever feasible, on-pack nutrition information on products – for at least seven (7) parameters: energy, carbohydrates, total sugars, protein, fat, saturated fats, sodium, and also for nutrients on which a nutrition or health claim is made. This will include per serving/portion and per 100 g/ml, if required, and may include the contribution to the diet as a percentage of the official daily intake guidance, where such values are available.
- Displaying energy information (at minimum) on the front of pack in markets, where there is currently no specific recommendation for Front of Pack nutrition information.
- Acknowledging that there are other existing Front of Pack labelling systems in various parts of the world – particularly those supported by local governments – we will work synergistically with other on-pack information.
- Committing to voluntary, company-specific measures to ensure that any advertising to children under the age of 12 years is only for products which fulfill specific nutrition criteria based on scientific evidence and /or applicable national and international dietary guidelines or that we do not advertise at all on media directed to children under the age of 12 years.
For the Personal Care sector, this includes:
- Displaying clear product usages on packaging.
- Partnering with school communities, including parents and educators, to provide information consistent with developing habits of safe product usage.
- Partnering with healthcare professionals to develop holistic solutions for managing the health and wellness of their patients throughout the various life stages.
Use communication and educational programmes to help raise consumer awareness on health and wellness and energy balance to inspire healthier diets and lifestyles.
For both the Food and the Personal Care sectors, this includes:
- Providing opportunities for our consumers and employees to lead healthier lives, including smoke free environments and employee wellness programmes.
- Encouraging and supporting our consumers of all ages to make informed choices and become more physically active.
- Promoting overall physical and mental health (both cognitive and emotional).
- Partnering with school communities, on request, including parents, educators and authorities to provide information that supports developing habits of sensible, balanced diets, good hygiene, and regular physical activity.
- Supporting public health and civil society initiatives that promote active, healthy living, particularly those that inform consumers about good hygiene as well as achieving energy balance through healthier diets and lifestyles and increased physical activity.
For the Personal Care sector, this also includes:
- Promoting healthy skin through UV protection (sunscreen and practices).
- Encouraging self-confidence through healthful practices and positive body image.
- Partnering with healthcare professionals to encourage prevention.
- Advance community wellness thorough health literacy, education and promotional initiatives that increase public understanding of basic health indicators and how to effectively access health resources.
Recognising the importance of health and wellness to consumers, our Board of Directors recently reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of the Health & Wellness Resolutions.
The Resolutions set out our belief that manufacturers and retailers have a key role to play in improving the health and wellness of consumers, employees, their families and the communities they serve. We have, therefore, asked our members for increased alignment and engagement on our ambitious five-year plan, which aims to empower the world’s population to make healthier product and lifestyle choices. In June 2014, the Board of Directors has committed to lead the industry on a number of specific actions from the Resolutions, namely: