As Ghana joined the global community to mark World Food Day 2025, civil society organisation SEND GHANA chose not to merely celebrate food security but to confront one of the country’s most pressing public health threats, unhealthy diets and rising non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Through a high-impact advocacy campaign themed “Advocating for Mandatory Front-of-Pack Warning Labelling (FOPWL) in Ghana: Uniting for Healthier Food Choices and Informed Consumers,” SEND Ghana is seeking to reshape the national conversation on food policy and nutrition
The initiative builds on eight months of sustained civil society mobilisation, media advocacy, and technical consultations with health experts and policymakers. Its central demand is clear: the Government of Ghana should adopt mandatory Front-of-Pack Warning Labels (FOPWL), symbols prominently displayed on processed foods and beverages to warn consumers when products contain excessive levels of sugar, salt, or unhealthy fats.
At first glance, the call for clearer food labels may seem administrative. But the stakes are far higher. Ghana, like many African nations, faces a silent epidemic of NCDs, with conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity now outpacing infectious diseases in both prevalence and mortality.
Warning labels on food are essential for making informed food choices – SEND Ghana
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, NCDs are now responsible for approximately 43-45% of deaths in Ghana, a dramatic rise over the past decade.
A looming public health crisis
The statistics are sobering. The 2023 WHO STEPS survey revealed that 22.7% of Ghanaian adults live with hypertension, while obesity rates stand at 19.3% among women and 5.6% among men.
Diabetes prevalence is also climbing, driven largely by dietary shifts toward ultra-processed foods high in refined sugars, salt, and trans fats.
Urbanisation, sedentary lifestyles, and the aggressive marketing of cheap, energy-dense products have further entrenched unhealthy consumption patterns.
Health experts warn that Ghana’s food environment increasingly mirrors global patterns seen in middle-income countries, where poor nutrition is now the leading risk factor for early mortality.
The growing affordability of sugary drinks, fried snacks, and processed meals, coupled with limited nutrition literacy, has created what the Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics calls a ” triple burden of malnutrition: the coexistence of undernutrition, overnutrition, and micronutrient deficiency within the same population.
Front-of-Pack Labelling: A proven policy tool
Front-of-Pack Warning Labelling (FOPWL) represents one of the most evidence-based tools in the global public health arsenal to address such challenges.
Countries like Chile, Mexico, Peru, and South Africa have demonstrated how simple, graphic warnings, such as black octagonal symbols reading “High in Sugar” or “High in Salt”, can powerfully influence consumer behaviour and push manufacturers to reformulate products.
The rationale is simple: information saves lives. When consumers can easily identify unhealthy products, they are empowered to make better choices.
Moreover, mandatory warning labels foster corporate accountability, discouraging misleading advertising or “health halo” branding (such as labeling sugary cereals as “fortified” or “high in fiber”). Studies from Latin America have shown that within two years of implementing FOPWL, companies significantly reduced sugar and salt content in popular food items, leading to measurable improvements in national health indicators.
In Ghana’s context, FOPWL would complement existing frameworks such as the Public Health Act (Act 851), the National Nutrition Policy, and the National NCD Policy, offering a practical, low-cost intervention that bridges the gap between policy and daily dietary choices.
SEND GHANA’S Strategy: From policy to people
SEND GHANA’S campaign stands out not only for its policy focus but also for its people-centred mobilisation. Over recent months, the organisation has rolled out a series of community dialogues, stakeholder workshops, and media partnerships to raise awareness about the dangers of excessive sugar and salt intake.
The initiative has gained visibility through collaborations with major media outlets including GhanaWeb, Joy FM, UTV, GTV, and Adom TV, as well as social media engagement under the hashtag #KnowWhatYouEat.
These efforts have sought to democratise the debate, bringing discussions on food labelling from the corridors of policymaking into homes, markets, schools, and workplaces.
The Project Lead Levlyn Konadu Asiedu, has consistently framed FOPWL as a matter of social justice and consumer rights, not merely a technical health issue. “Front-of-Pack Warning Labelling is not just about nutrition, it’s about saving lives,” she stated in recent campaign materials.
“It is about giving Ghanaians the right to know what they eat and holding food companies accountable for what they sell.”
Policy momentum and barriers ahead
For SEND GHANA , therefore, the campaign is both a moral and economic argument: that health protection should not be optional or left to market discretion. It calls on government to align its food regulation policies with regional frameworks such as the African Union’s Continental Strategy on Health, the ECOWAS Nutrition Agenda, and the WHO Global Action Plan on NCDs.
Building a healthier food future
The 2025 World Food Day theme, “Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future,” provides a fitting backdrop for this national dialogue. It reinforces the notion that building resilient, equitable food systems requires collective action, across government, industry, and civil society. FOPWL is thus not a punitive measure but a collaborative tool for healthier living.
If adopted, Ghana’s FOPWL policy could set a precedent for West Africa, positioning the country as a regional leader in nutrition governance and preventive health policy. It would signal a shift from reactive treatment to proactive prevention, where transparency, education, and regulation converge to shape a healthier, more informed society.
In many ways, SEND GHANA ’s campaign embodies the spirit of World Food Day itself; transforming awareness into action, and advocacy into reform. As the organisation reminds stakeholders, “Knowing what we eat is the first step toward saving lives.”