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Colombia

Colombia faces high and rising prevalence of obesity and diabetes, with a large proportion of calories in the modern Colombian diet coming from ultra-processed foods. Unhealthy dietary patterns are a major cause of mortality and disability-adjusted life-years there. Colombia also has strong consumer advocacy and legal groups very focused on constitutional rights of children and supporting healthy eating as a major pathway to enhance the health of all.

Together with our partners, we plan to evaluate any forthcoming policies as they are passed/implemented.

Policies

Ley 2120 | Passed July 30, 2021

Front-of-package warning labels

Law 2120, commonly referred to as the "junk food law," will require front-of-package warning labels to appear on ultra-processed foods and beverages that exceed the maximum content of sodium, sugar, saturated fats, trans fats, or artificial sweeteners set by the Colombian Ministry of Health and Social Protection. The Ministry has one year from the law's passage to determine these nutritional criteria and other details of the regulation.

Read law in Spanish

Research Partner

Researchers

Team

Publications

  • Lowery CM, Mora-Plazas M, Gómez LF, Popkin B, Taillie LS. Reformulation of Packaged Foods and Beverages in the Colombian Food Supply. Nutrients. 2020 Oct 24;12(11):E3260. doi: 10.3390/nu12113260. view full text

  • Taillie LS, Hall MG, Gómez LF, Higgins I, Bercholz M, Murukutla N, Mora-Plazas M. Designing an Effective Front-of-Package Warning Label for Food and Drinks High in Added Sugar, Sodium, or Saturated Fat in Colombia: An Online Experiment. Nutrients. 2020 Oct 13;12(10):E3124. doi: 10.3390/nu12103124. view full text

  • Mora-Plazas M, Gómez LF, Miles DR, Parra DC, Taillie LS. Nutrition Quality of Packaged Foods in Bogotá, Colombia: A Comparison of Two Nutrient Profile Models. Nutrients. 2019 May 4;11(5). view full text

  • Caro JC, Ng SW, Bonilla R, Tovar J, Popkin BM. Sugary drinks taxation, projected consumption and fiscal revenues in Colombia: Evidence from a QUAIDS model. PLOS One. 2017 Dec 20;12(12):e0189026. view full text view full text

  • Kline L, Jones-Smith J, Jaime Miranda J, Pratt M, Reis RS, Rivera JA, Sallis JF, Popkin BM. A research agenda to guide progress on childhood obesity prevention in Latin America. Obesity Review. 2017 Jul;18 Suppl 2:19-27 view full text

  • Corvalán C, Garmendia ML, Jones-Smith J, Lutter CK, Miranda JJ, Pedraza LS, Popkin BM, Ramirez-Zea M, Salvo D, Stein AD. Nutrition status of children in Latin America. Obesity Reviews. 2017 Jul;18 Suppl 2:7-18. view full text