The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has launched the Double-Duty Nutrition Profiling System, a scientific food classification framework designed to promote healthier eating and address Ghana's growing burden of malnutrition, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases.

The system classifies food products according to their nutritional value and will serve as the foundation for several national food policies aimed at helping consumers make informed dietary choices while creating a healthier food environment.

Speaking at the launch, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Amos Laar, said Ghana continues to face multiple nutrition challenges, ranging from micronutrient deficiencies to a sharp increase in overweight and obesity.

"Ghana is battling with micronutrient malnutrition, so anaemia is a big problem among pregnant women and children," he said.

Prof. Laar noted that while undernutrition remains a concern, the country has also witnessed a rapid rise in obesity over the past two decades.

"In the midst of those age-old nutrition challenges, over the past couple of decades, we have been having a skyrocketing rise of overweight and obesity," he said.

He warned that obesity significantly increases the risk of developing other non-communicable diseases, including hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.

"Once you have obesity itself, a non-communicable disease, you are then predisposed to other non-communicable diseases, including hypertension and heart diseases," Prof. Laar added.

He stressed that protecting public health requires deliberate policies that make healthier food choices easier and more accessible for consumers.

Director of the FDA's Centre for Import and Export Control, Percy Adumako Edekun, said the Double-Duty Nutrition Profiling System will underpin four major food and nutrition policies intended to improve public health outcomes.

"It is a technical document which is going to produce four main policies," he said.

One of the key interventions is the introduction of front-of-pack nutrition labelling for packaged foods. Under the proposed system, healthier food products will carry a green label, while products that fall between healthy and unhealthy will receive a yellow label, signalling that they should be consumed in moderation.

The nutrition profiling framework will also support a marketing regulation policy to guide how food products are advertised, particularly to vulnerable groups.

In addition, it will inform a procurement policy aimed at encouraging healthier food choices in public institutions, as well as a fiscal policy to guide the Ministry of Finance on using taxation and other economic measures to make healthier foods more affordable and accessible.

The FDA believes the framework will provide the scientific basis needed to strengthen nutrition policies, reduce malnutrition in all its forms and help curb the increasing prevalence of diet-related diseases across the country.

The Double-Duty Nutrition Profiling System forms part of the Healthy Diet Healthy Life Initiative, launched in 2022 to encourage healthier dietary habits and support Ghana's broader efforts to improve nutrition and public health.