the minister of Health, Ferdinand Ruizyou will have to go to Congress for a political control debate in the Seventh Committee of the House of Representatives. The reason? They want him to give explanations for the implementation of the Junk Food Law, which according to the opposition has not been put into practice by the National government.
Mauricio Toro, representative to the Chamber of the Alianza Verde party, told this newspaper that the date of the debate on political control will be set for next Tuesday, April 26. In other words, it will most likely be scheduled for two weeks from now.
The controversy focuses, above all, on the labeling of high sugar foodsin sodium and trans and saturated fats that had changed with the issuance of the law, sanctioned in August of last year.
Normally, resolutions are issued by the Government to implement the laws passed by Congress. But in the case of so-called junk food, the Ministry of Health issued Resolution 810 before the Legislature approved the law on labeling.
“The idea is that the minister of Health explain to the country why, almost 9 months after the law was issued, it has not wanted to regulate it. They have not carried out the necessary studies to determine which is the best labeling, as required by law,” Toro assured.
Indeed, the Law details that the Government must implement a labeling that contemplates the available scientific evidence. Resolution 810 refers to circular labeling, but the opposition says that the labeling should be octagonal, as there are several studies that show that this is the best way for consumers to find out what ingredients are in foods that can be harmful to them. your long-term health.
“Resolution 810 is not a regulation of the law, it is prior to the law. And it has a lower rank, which is completely unconstitutional,” said Toro, who also said that the Ministry of Health has already been socializing and asking companies to regulate the labeling of that standard.
“The most serious of all is that the Vice Minister of Health, German Escobar, accepts that it is possible that after it is regulated in the law, what comes out in the regulation is contrary to resolution 810”, the representative told the Camera.
According to Toro, this is a risk for the industry, since it would have to change its labeling twice, which would entail large costs.