The CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO), along with the CARICOM Secretariat, and the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) this week launched the CARICOM Consumer Food Choice Survey.

According to the joint organisations, the survey, launched on Wednesday (February 2) is an important component of the study CARICOM Impact Assessment Study: Determination of an Appropriate Front of Packaging Nutrition Labelling (FoPNL) Scheme and the Identification of a Harmonized Approach for Implementation and examines consumer food choices to arrive at a better understanding of how different labelling schemes impact on consumer food purchasing behaviour.

The 52nd Ministerial Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), held in June 2021, approved the study.

CONSUMERS ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE

Front of Package Nutritional Labelling (FOPNL) has been at the forefront of discussions among CARICOM member states and key stakeholders, over the last three and a half years.

Stakeholders have been focused on the need to implement a FOPNL model that assists CARICOM consumers to make more informed decisions about the healthy purchasing of pre-packaged foods.

Consumers across the Caribbean Community are encouraged to participate in the Consumer Food Choice Survey, which can be accessed here.

The Project Steering Committee, comprising the CARICOM Secretariat, the CPSO and CAHFSA, has announced that the survey will also be accessible on the websites and the social media pages of their respective institutions. The survey will be open until February 16.

The FoPNL study will be completed by February 28.