Manila: A coalition of public health advocates on Thursday lauded the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Nutrition Council (NNC) for establishing the country's first-ever nutrient profiling system, calling it a "game-changing" weapon against the country's soaring non-communicable disease (NCD) crisis.
According to Philippines News Agency, the Healthy Philippines Alliance (HPA), a civil society network convened by HealthJustice, expressed full backing for the provisionally approved Philippine Nutrient Profile Model (PNPM), which sets maximum thresholds for sugar, sodium, and saturated fats in packaged and ultra-processed foods. Drafted in 2019, the PNPM underwent rigorous scientific scrutiny before its provisional approval. It is expected to serve as a legal baseline in classifying whether local grocery products are technically "unhealthy."
HPA Lead Convener Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan emphasized that the system must immediately be linked to active government regulation. "We congratulate the NNC and DOH for establishing this game-changing nutrition policy tool. While but one step, this will make a transformative impact on improving the nutrition standards and food environment in the Philippines," Galvez-Tan said in a statement.
The PNPM will be used in several regulatory measures including front-of-pack warning labels, unhealthy food taxation, government food procurement, and marketing restrictions. These measures aim to force high-salt, high-sugar items to carry clear warnings, guide tax policies on ultra-processed goods, restrict what can be served in public schools, government offices, and during disaster relief operations, and limit how unhealthy foods are marketed to children.
"We look forward to the immediate application of the tool to regulatory policies, such as front-of-pack warning labels, healthy food procurement of government agencies, and unhealthy food taxes," he added. Apart from helping everyone avoid NCDs, such as hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes, the tool is eyed as a critical intervention to halt the country's rising number of chronic kidney disease (CKD) cases.
Dialysis-PH Support Group founder Reynaldo Abacan Jr. explained that clear profiling takes the guesswork out of eating, potentially forcing food manufacturers to alter their recipes. "We believe this can be life-saving for Filipinos, especially young people, who need access to healthier and nutritious food products," Abacan said. He added that dietary intervention is the first line of defense against CKD, making Filipinos manage their nutrient intake with precision before permanent kidney health damage occurs.
A field-testing study conducted this year by the University of the Philippines Manila, College of Public Health (UP-CPH) validated the effectiveness of the local model by testing it against 5,000 packaged products sold in local markets. UP-CPH Department of Nutrition Chairperson Kim Leonard Dela Luna noted that while the World Health Organization - Pan American Health Organization (WHO-PAHO) model remains the global gold standard for simplicity, the Philippine model performs remarkably well despite its complexity. "We highly recommend our government implementing agencies to be transparent and free from conflicts of interest and to make sure that all products are accurately and clearly categorized," he said.
The HPA is now urging the DOH and NNC to grant the policy final approval to jumpstart its nationwide rollout.
