Dear FSN Forum,
on behalf of Federalimentare, the Italian Food&Drink Industry Federation, please find enclosed our submissions to the call for examples and good practices on investments for healthy food systems.
Thank you for your attention.
Kind regards,
Maria Agnese Dau, Responsible for Nutrition Policies, Federalimentare
Proponent
Federalimentare – Italian Food and Drink Industry Federation
Date/Timeframe and location
Italy 2008 – 2018
Main responsible entity
Nutrition context
Italy has been recently rewarded by Bloomberg as the healthiest country in the world. This is also due to the nutritional context whose policies are characterized by a strong collaboration between private and public sectors.
Key characteristics of the food system(s) considered
The food and drink industry plays a crucial role – along with governments, international organizations and civil society - in the growing global challenges for sustainable food systems and healthy diets.
The Italian food and beverage industry is fully aware of its responsibilities not only to provide healthy and safe food products, but also supporting the wide adoption of a nutritionally balanced diet.
Key characteristics of the investment made
In 2015 Federalimentare signed with the Italian Ministry of Health a voluntary agreement “Shared objectives for improving the nutritional characteristics of food products, with a particular focus on children (3-12 years)”, focused on food product reformulation in 2008-2018 and aimed at improving the nutritional characteristics of food products (see Annex 1).
The Italian Ministry of Health has set up an ad hoc group to identify monitoring initiatives.
Key actors and stakeholders involved (including through south-south/triangular exchanges, if any)
1. Italian Ministry of Health
2. Italian Food and Drink Industry Federation
Key changes (intended and unintended) as a result of the investment/s
Targets for reformulation have been shared for three different categories of foods (not only specifically children’s products):
1) cereal & sweet (breakfast cereal, biscuits, salted snacks, potato chips, crackers, cakes)
2) beverage (soft drink, nectars/juices and fruit pulp)
3) dairy products and ice creams (yogurt, fermented milk, ice cream)
Challenges faced
Overweight and obesity are a public health issue whose solution cannot be entrusted exclusively to the health care system: the potential recipe for success requires cross-cutting, multi-sector interventions, with close cooperation between health authorities and the food industry.
Lessons/Key messages
Obesity and other nutrition-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have many causes – including unbalanced diet, sedentary lifestyles, environment, consumer knowledge and genetics – and require a coordinated approach. Therefore, prevention and treatment requires a whole-of-society approach and consistent and coordinated multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder approaches.
Responsiveness on the part of the food industry – which is aware of the problem and considers itself part of the solution – is essential and includes not only awareness of the relationship between health and various nutrients, but also consciousness of a proper lifestyle model combining physical activity and balanced diet, taking into account of the portions size and the frequency of consumption.
This will allow consumers to choose to modify their dietary habits by selecting reformulated products, eating smaller portions and doing physical exercise.
Ms. Maria Agnese Dau