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Chile

Chile has undergone major demographic, epidemiological, and nutrition transitions over the past 50 years and currently has the highest prevalence of obesity in Latin America. Non-communicable diseases account for 83% of all deaths in Chile, for which over-nutrition and obesity are both major determinants. Massive increases in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has helped fuel these trends. From 2009–2014, Chile saw the fastest absolute growth of SSB sales in the world, and in 2014, Chile had the highest per-person daily calories sold from SSBs in the world. To combat these trends, Chile has implemented one of the most comprehensive set of obesity-preventive regulations to date in the world, including a sugary drink tax, a front-of-package warning label system, and restrictions on marketing and advertising of unhealthy foods and drinks. Staggered implementation of these regulations across four years allows us to evaluate the policies’ independent and joint impacts.

Our evaluations to date: In collaboration with our research partners in Chile, we have evaluated the impacts of the Chilean sugary drink tax and Phase 1 and 2 of the Law of Nutritional Composition of Food and Advertising and its combined warning label, marketing restriction, and school sales policies. Data indicate that within the first and second year of implementation, these policies were already impacting the foods and drinks Chileans buy and consume as well as the public’s perceptions of junk foods targeted by the policies.

We will continue our work in Chile through 2023 in order to evaluate all three phases of the Law of Nutritional Composition of Food and Advertising.

Policy Research

Policies

Ley 20.780 | Implemented October 1, 2014

Beverage tax law

For all non-alcoholic drinks with with coloring, flavoring, or caloric sweeteners:

  • 18% ad valorem tax on drinks containing >6.25 g sugar/100 mL (5% increase from previous rate of 13%)
  • 10% ad valorem tax on drinks with ≤6.25 g sugar/100 mL (3% decrease from previous rate of 13%)

Exempt: 100% fruit juice and dairy-based beverages

Read law in: Spanish | English

Ley 20.606 | Implemented June 27, 2016

Law of Food Labeling and Advertising

This law introduced mandatory front-of package labeling, marketing restrictions, and school sales/marketing policies, which all use same nutrient profiling model to identify which products are subject to regulation. Packaged food and beverage products containing added sugars, sodium, or saturated fat and exceeding set thresholds for content of total sugar, sodium, saturated fat, or overall calories are considered “high in” products subject to all regulations. The law was implemented in three phases (in June of 2016, 2018, and 2019) with increasingly strict nutrient thresholds.

  • Front-of-package warning labels: “High in” products must carry black octagon “stop sign” octagonal warning labels for each nutrient in excess of thresholds (calories, sugar, saturated fat, and/or sodium). Products with a “high in” warning label for a given nutrient/calories cannot carry a health/nutrient claim related to that nutrient (or calorie content).
  • Marketing restrictions: “High in” products may not use child-directed marketing strategies or appeals in any media/marketing (including use of brand characters on packaging);
    • May not advertise during children’s programming (TV, cinema, online) or when child audience share >20%;
    • May not advertise on TV from 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. (2018 update; read in Spanish | English); and
    • Must carry warning message if advertised outside of restricted hours/programming.
  • School sales & marketing: “High in” products cannot be marketed, sold, or offered for free at kiosks, cafeterias, and feeding programs at schools and nurseries.

Read law in: Spanish | English

Chile Cereal Boxes

In-Country Research Partner

In-Country Team Leads

Publications

  • Beverage industry TV advertising shifts after a stepwise mandatory food marketing restriction: achievements and challenges with regulating the food marketing environment.
    Authors: Fernanda Mediano Stoltze, Teresa Correa, Camila Luz Corvalán Aguilar, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Marcela Reyes, Francesca Renee Dillman Carpentier.
    Published In: Public Health Nutrition. December 27, 2023 view full text

  • OpEd: Chile's comprehensive food policy offers global lesson in tackling unhealthy foods.
    Authors: Francesca Dillman Carpentier, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Teresa Correa
    Published in: Health Policy Watch, August 8, 2023 view full text

  • Evolution of food and beverage prices after the front-of-package labelling regulations in Chile
    Authors: Guillermo Paraje, Daniela Montes de Oca, Camila Corvalán, Barry M. Popkin
    Published in: BMJ Global Health, July 3, 2023 view full text

  • Restricting child-directed ads is effective, but adding a time-based ban is better: evaluating a multi-phase regulation to protect children from unhealthy food marketing on television
    Authors: Francesca R. Dillman Carpentier, Fernanda Mediano Stoltze, Marcela Reyes, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Camila Corvalán, Teresa Correa
    Published in: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, May 26, 2023 view full text

  • Framing a new nutrition policy: Changes on key stakeholder’s discourses throughout the implementation of the Chilean Food Labelling Law
    Authors: Fernanda Mediano, Camila Fierro, Camila Corvalán, Marcela Reyes, Teresa Correa
    Published in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, May 1, 2023 view full text

  • Changes in children’s and adolescents’ dietary intake after the implementation of Chile’s law of food labeling, advertising and sales in schools: a longitudinal study
    Authors: Gabriela Fretes, Camila Corvalán, Marcela Reyes, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Christina D. Economos, Norbert L.W. Wilson, Sean B. Cash
    Published in: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, April 4, 2023 view full text

  • Socioeconomic patterns in budget share allocations of regulated foods and beverages in Chile: a longitudinal analysis
    Authors: Guillermo Paraje, Daniela Montes de Oca, Camila Corvalán, and Barry Popkin
    Published in: Nutrients, January 29, 2023 view full text

  • Sweetener purchases in Chile before and after implementing a policy for food labeling, marketing, and sales in schools
    Authors: Natalia Rebolledo, Maxime Bercholz, Linda Adair, Camila Corvalán, Shu Wen Ng, Lindsey Smith Taillie
    Published in: Current Developments in Nutrition, December 23, 2022
     view full text

  • Did the sweetness of beverages change with the Chilean Food Labeling and Marketing Law? A before and after study
    Authors: Natalia Rebolledo, Maxime Bercholz, Camila Corvalán, Shu Wen Ng, Lindsey Smith Taillie
    Published in: Frontiers in Nutrition, October 28, 2022 view full text

  • Why don’t you [government] help us make healthier foods more affordable instead of bombarding us with labels? Maternal knowledge, perceptions, and practices after full implementation of the Chilean food labelling law
    Authors: Teresa Correa, Camila Fierro, Marcela Reyes, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Francesca Renee Dillman Carpentier, Camila Corvalán
    Published in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, April 9, 2022 view full text

  • Changes in nonnutritive sweetener intake in a cohort of preschoolers after the implementation of Chile's Law of Food Labelling and Advertising
    Authors: Natalia Rebolledo, Marcela Reyes, Barry M. Popkin, Linda Adair, Christy L. Avery, Camila Corvalán, Shu Wen Ng, Lindsey Smith Taillie
    Published in: Pediatric Obesity, January 27, 2022 view full text

  • Front-of-pack labeling in Chile: Effects on employment, real wages, and firms’ profits after three years of its implementation
    Authors: Guillermo Paraje, Daniela Montes de Oca, Juan Marcos Wlasiuk, Mario Canales, Barry M. Popkin
    Published in: Nutrients, January 11, 2022 view full text

  • The impacts on food purchases and tax revenues of a tax based on Chile’s nutrient profiling model
    Authors: M. Arantxa Colchero, Guillermo Paraje, Barry M. Popkin
    Published in: PLOS ONE, December 2, 2021 view full text

  • Youth's diets at school after implementation of Chile's Food Labeling and Advertising Law
    Authors: Gabriela Fretes, Camila Corvalan, Marcela Reyes, Christina Economos, Lindey Smith Taillie, Norbert Wilson, Sean Cash
    Published in: Obesity, December 1, 2021 view full text

  • Changes in the use of nonnutritive sweeteners in the Chilean food and beverage supply after the implementation of the Food Labeling and Advertising Law
    Authors: Ricardo C. Zancheta, Camila Corvalán, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Vilma Quitral, Marcela Reyes
    Published in: Frontiers in Nutrition | Nutrition and Food Science Technology, November 8, 2021 view full text

  • Television viewing and using screens while eating: Associations with dietary intake in children and adolescents
    Authors: Melissa L. Jensen, Francesca R. Dillman Carpentier, Camila Corvalán, Barry M. Popkin, Kelly R. Evenson, Linda Adair, Lindsey Smith Taillie
    Published in: Appetite, September 1, 2021 view full text

  • Changes in food purchases after the Chilean policies on food labelling, marketing, and sales in schools: a before and after study
    Authors: Lindsey Smith Taillie, Maxime Bercholz, Barry M. Popkin, Marcela Reyes, M. Arantxa Colchero, Camila Corvalán
    Published in: The Lancet Planetary Health, August 1, 2021 view full text

  • Impact of warning labels on reducing health halo effects of nutrient content claims on breakfast cereal packages: A mixed-measures experiment
    Authors: Fernanda Mediano Stoltze, Emily A. Busey, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Francesca Dillman Carpentier
    Published in: Appetite, August 1, 2021 view full text