Business group airs concern over junk food ban in schools

The country’s food manufacturers have asked the national government to clarify what products may or may not be sold in schools or in their immediate vicinity, after two local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila imposed a campus ban on items they listed as junk food or sugary drinks.

The Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers Inc. (PCFMI) raised the matter in a recent letter to President Duterte. Malacañang then referred the group’s concerns to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), according to Ernesto Mascenon, the chamber’s corporate secretary and chair of the its legislative committee.

No single definition

Quezon City and Pasig recently started banning a long list of food items and drinks in school canteens and areas within 50 m to 100 m of the campus. The problem, according to Mascenon, is that there is no single definition for junk food and sugary drinks, hence cities can just come up with their own classifications.

“We raised this issue (with Malacañang). We said: ‘Can your office take the lead in harmonizing the standards? We cannot have different standards. [Otherwise], the food industry will be thrown in confusion,” he told reporters.

Need for basis

Mascenon, who is also a ranking executive of Nestlé Philippines Inc., stressed that there should be a basis for local governments to consider a certain food product to be bad for children.

He cited sweetened milk, for example, which is covered by the ban in one city.

Quoting Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Mascanon said LGUs are authorized by law to impose such restrictions. Still, the PCFMI official said, there is need to clarify the standards that local governments can use.

The DTI committed to help the chamber in pushing for legislation addressing this concern, he added. —ROY STEPHEN C. CANIVEL