The imminent demise of thousands of packaged food products in Hong Kong is causing a lot whining, yet it does not disturb me in the slightest.
With the new labelling law coming into effect in the summer of 2010, products that do not carry the required “1+7″ labels, which declare the total energy value along with seven core nutrients, including trans-fats, will no longer be sold in the Big Lychee. While many folks are complaining that certain products will be permanently off the shelves because it will no longer be economically feasible for suppliers to comply with the law, others are pleased that proper information will finally be available.
Manufacturers simply won’t be able to get away with making spurious claims such as ‘low carbohydrate’, ‘low sugar’ or ‘no trans-fats’, which means fewer dodgy foods in the stores, especially so-called health-food products that are packaged to look good when in reality they are anything but healthy.
For consumers concerned with what they eat, that’s good news; it’s difficult to maintain a proper diet when products are allowed to display misleading or downright false nutritional information. Without this new law too many loopholes would continue to exist, and this city has no shortage of people who would take advantage of them if they weren’t nipped in the bud.
While in the short term the law will cause a reduction in the availability of packaged foods, in the long run superior items will be imported to fill the void. Consumers will be safer and better able to make choices, even if that means an increase in the cost of food products. Eventually the market will stabilize and prices will even out.
Besides, if people truly knew what went into half the things they eat, they’d stop eating them.
