Praneeta Prakash 
Chief Dietitian Ateca Kama believes that dietitians and nutritionists require stronger authority to act as authorized officers in monitoring and regulating unhealthy food products.
Speaking before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Kama stressed the urgent need for a more hands-on approach to food regulation, particularly for products high in sugar, salt, and fat.
Kama says while the National Food and Nutrition Center is responsible for drafting food-related regulations, the legal authority to enforce those regulations lies with the Ministry’s Food Unit.
[Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji/Facebook]
“We need the manpower or perhaps become authorized officers to look at these processed foods, these sugar-sweetened beverages, these high-fat processed foods, high-salt packaged foods.”
Kama says that advocacy alone is not enough.
[Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji/Facebook]
“We need to work together with the other ministries. We need to let agriculture to plant iron-rich foods so that our people can consume those iron-rich foods, vegetables in particular, to address anemia. Half of our population is anemic. “
Kama says the current food laws lack teeth, and stronger enforcement could be key in tackling Fiji’s growing health crisis.
According to the Ministry of Health, over fifty percent of the population is now overweight, with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension remaining Fiji’s leading causes of death.
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