New Rules for Packaged Food’s Nutrition Labeling in Brazil

The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) approved on October 7, 2020, new labeling rules regarding packaged food’s nutrition labeling. The measure improves the clarity and legibility of the nutritional information on  labels and helps consumers to make informed choices. The new rules - contained in Normative Instruction No. 75, and the Resolution of the Collegiate Board No. 429, both published on October 8, 2020 - will come into force on October 2022.

The most relevant change is the creation of a front nutrition label informing about high content of added sugar, saturated fats and sodium, which shall be used in an area easily seen by the consumers at the top of the package, in the following fashion, in Portuguese:

Moreover, the new rules also provided changes on the Nutritional Information Table, which shall display its information in black letters on a white background. The goal is to rule out the possibility of using contrasts that may hinder the information’s readability. In addition to that, the Nutritional Informational Table shall mandatorily inform (A) the amount of added sugar and total sugar, the energy (B) and nutritional (C) value per 100 g or 100 ml, and the number of portions per package (D), as it may be seen below:

As a rule, the table shall be close to the list of ingredients and on a continuous surface, with no breaks being accepted. It cannot be presented in hidden areas, deformed places or in regions that are difficult to be noticed by consumers. The exception is for small products (labeling area less than 100 cm²), in which the table may be presented in covered areas, as long as they are accessible.

Finally, the following guidelines were proposed for nutrition claims in order to avoid contradictions with the frontal nutrition label:

• Claims cannot be at the top of the main panel if the package has front nutrition label.
• Packages which front label informs the existence of added sugar cannot have other claims for added sugars or sugar in general.
• Packages which front label informs the existence of saturated fat cannot have other claims for total, saturated, trans and cholesterol fats.
• Packages which front label informs the existence of sodium cannot have other claims for sodium or salt.