New labelling requirements in Mexico

Amended rules for food and drink packaging seek to ensure that people can easily identify the high calorific content of some of these products, as Daniel Sanchez and Victor Ramirez report.

Health problems related to overweight, obesity, diabetes and hypertension have been rising in Mexico among all population groups. Given the urgency of solving this problem, the Mexican government has implemented rules intended to increase the quality of consumers’ diets by establishing more specific and stringent rules for the labelling and advertising of the nutritional details of foods, non-alcoholic beverages and other pre-packaged products intended for human consumption.

The nutritional facts shown on the labels of food, non-alcoholic beverages and other products for human consumption are governed by the Sanitary Control of Products and Services Regulation of the Mexican General Health Law.

On February 14, 2014, a decree was published amending Article 25 of that regulation, establishing the obligation to include additional nutritional facts on the labels of these products. On April 15 an agreement was published specifying the technical guidelines determining how the new nutritional facts required by the amendment of the regulation should be displayed.