Philippine nutrition fortification food supervision and nutrition fortification labeling regulations

199511，《》（Republic Act No.
8172），，
。

 

On November 7, 2000, the Philippines formally implemented the "Philippines Food Fortification Act" (Republic Act No.
8976), which stipulated the Philippines Food Fortification Program (Sangkap Pinoy Seal Program), covering all imported or domestic foods, excluding sanitation The Ministry has issued standard dietary supplements
.
The food fortification plan is divided into two parts: voluntary food fortification and mandatory food fortification
.

 

　　Currently mandatory food fortification is four types of staple foods, including: rice, wheat flour, refined sugar and edible oil.
If necessary, other staple food fortification requirements will be formulated in the future, but they may be regulated in the form of regulations instead of It is regulated by the Philippine Food Fortification Law
.
In addition to compulsory food fortification, the law requires the competent authorities to formulate relevant regulations after the implementation of the law to encourage enterprises to voluntarily fortify all foods
.

 

　　2.
Mandatory strengthening

 

　　The Regulations for the Implementation of the Food Fortification Law of the Philippines specifically stipulates the minimum and maximum allowable levels of nutrients and the source of nutrient compounds in the four staple foods of rice, wheat flour, refined sugar, and edible oil sold in the Philippines.
See Table 1 for details
.

  

　　The Philippines requires all table salt producers/manufacturers to add iodine to table salt produced, imported and sold
.
The iodine content in table salt is 20-70 mg/kg, and the source of iodine compounds can be potassium iodide or potassium iodate
.

 

　　The Philippines requires fortified foods in principle to be fortified at the place of production.
If the imported product is not fortified at the place of production, the importer shall fortify the food before the imported food is sold or distributed in the Philippines
.
For imported foods that use the above mandatory fortified foods as ingredients, companies can voluntarily choose whether to fortify the ingredients
.

 

　　3.
Voluntary reinforcement

 

　　In addition to the mandatory fortification of staple foods and salt, the Philippines encourages other foods to be fortified and issued the "Processed Food Micronutrient Fortification Guidelines" (AO No.
4-A s.
1995), which stipulates the requirements for the level of fortification of foods and the source of compounds.

.
The guidelines apply to all fortified foods, except for dietary supplements and foods with established standards that include nutritional content or fortification levels, such as breastmilk substitutes and infant formula
.
However, the Philippines discourages nutritional fortification in alcoholic beverages and sweets, because excessive promotion of these fortified products may cause health problems
.

 

　　Four, nutrition fortification label

 

　　The Philippines issued the "Guidelines for the Labeling of Fortified Foods Granted to Producers of Fortified Foods" (AO No.
82 s.
2003) to guide staple food producers to apply for fortified food labels
.
Only staple foods (rice, sugar, edible oil, flour and salt) that meet the requirements for fortification can claim fortification (such as fortified with vitamin A), and further apply for the Diamond Sangkap Pinoy Seal (DSPS) (Figure 1) )
.
Applicants can submit application materials to the Philippine FDA, including the application form, a copy of the applicant's operating permit (LTO), product analysis results of vitamin A, iron and iodine in an officially accredited laboratory, a sample of the label with DSPS, and payment voucher
.
The application period is 20 working days.
If the application is approved, you will receive a DSPS and a grant letter.
The validity period is indefinite, unless it is revoked for some reason
.

　　Figure 1 DSPS of nutritionally fortified staple food

 

　　For iodized salt, the Philippines has also formulated DSPS for iodized salt (Figure 2)
.
The DSPS of iodized salt aims to raise consumers' awareness and use of sufficient iodized salt
.
For the first use of DSPS with iodized salt, an application must be made in accordance with the requirements of AO No.
82 s.
2003
.
For change applications, a change application and a sample draft of the label with DSPS should be submitted
.

　　Figure 2 DSPS of iodine-fortified table salt

 

　　Processed foods that are voluntarily fortified in accordance with mandatory fortified nutrients or use fortified ingredients that meet the requirements can apply for a fortified label to the Philippine FDA (see Figure 3)
.
Currently, processed food category to obtain enhanced identified mainly bread and cereals, butter sandwiches, drinks and other chocolate products, fruit drinks, baby supplementary food, snacks, noodles and so on
.

　　Figure 3 SPS of fortified food

 

　　V.
Summary

 

　　In order to improve the problem of nutritional deficiencies, the Philippines requires mandatory nutritional fortification of five types of foods: rice, wheat flour, refined sugar, edible oil and salt, and encourages voluntary fortification of other foods
.
For foods such as dietary supplements and infant formulas with established standards for nutritional ingredients or fortification levels, they are fortified in accordance with their respective product standards
.
Imported processed foods that use rice, wheat flour, refined sugar, edible oil, and salt as ingredients can voluntarily choose whether to use fortified ingredients
.
Foods that meet the mandatory fortification requirements may apply for the nutrition fortification label, which has no validity period
.

　　News from Food Partners Network As the problem of nutritional deficiencies in the Philippines is more prominent, it is mainly the deficiency of iron, vitamin A , iodine, vitamin B1 and vitamin B2
.
To a certain extent, the diet of Filipinos is also deficient in vitamin C , calcium and folic acid
.
Faced with the problem of nutritional deficiencies, the Philippine government adopted a policy of " compulsory fortification of staple foods + voluntary fortification of other foods" to gradually improve the nutritional deficiencies of Filipinos
.

 

　　In this issue of the Food Partner Network, we will introduce the supervision of fortified foods in the Philippines and the regulations for the use of the fortified nutrition label (Diamond Sangkap Pinoy)
.

　　1.
Introduction to nutrition fortification policy
 

Table 1 Nutritional fortification requirements in four types of staple foods