Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has signed the ordinance passed by the city council that will require restaurants, fast food chains, and other food establishments operating within the city to publish the number of calories of food items on their menu.
In a media briefing held at Quezon City Hall on Thursday, the City Government, led by Mayor Joy Belmonte, announced that calorie labeling will be required soon to help QCitizens make informed food choices.
“Nais nating maging ligtas ang ating QCitizens sa non-communicable diseases. Kapag may calorie labeling, may kapangyarihan ang Qcitizen na pumili ng masustansyang pagkain dahil hawak nila ang tamang impormasyon (With calorie labeling, QCitizens have the power to make healthier food choices because they have the correct information),” said Mayor Belmonte.
At the same time, Mayor Belmonte assured carinderia and small eatery owners that they should not worry about the policy.
“Hindi po sakop ng ordinansa ang ating maliliit na kainan. Pero bibigyan pa natin sila ng insentibo kapag nagkusa sila na maglagay ng calorie count sa kanilang regular na menu,” she added.
Based on data from the QC Health Department, almost 1 in 5 adult residents have high blood pressure. In 2018 alone, 19.9% of school-age children and 43.0% of adults were found to be overweight and obese. To address this, the city committed to building a food environment that will improve the overall health of its residents as part of its work with the Partnership for Healthy Cities – a prestigious global network of 73 cities committed to save lives by preventing noncommunicable diseases and injuries through the delivery of high-impact policy or programmatic interventions in their communities.
“We commend the Quezon City Government for this groundbreaking initiative. This is the first of its kind in the country and as a pioneer in calorie-labeling, we hope that QC inspires more cities and municipalities to do the same,” said Atty. Sophia San Luis, executive director of public interest law group ImagineLaw.
In the first year of its implementation, the ordinance will cover QC restaurants or food businesses that are part of a food chain or franchise with five or more branches in the country. In the second year, it will cover the same businesses with two or more branches. In the third year, it will cover all restaurants or food businesses. Barangay micro businesses and micro, small, and medium enterprises like ambulant vendors, hawkers and carinderia owners are exempted from the ordinance.
This initiative underscores Quezon City’s commitment to prioritizing public health and
fostering environments that promote informed decision-making when it comes to dietary choices.
About Quezon City
Quezon City is situated on the northeast portion of Metro Manila. It is bounded on the north by Caloocan City and San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan Province, on the east by San Mateo and Marikina, on the south by Pasig and Mandaluyong, San Juan and Manila, and on the west by Valenzuela, Caloocan, and Manila. With an area of 16,112.58 hectares, it is the largest among the sixteen (16) cities and one (1) municipality in the region and is almost one-fourth the size of Metro Manila. The City’s mission is to provide quality service, making Quezon City an ideal community where people live, work and do business in a hospitable, progressive, and peaceful environment.
About the Partnership for Healthy Cities
The Partnership for Healthy Cities is a prestigious global network of 70 cities committed to saving lives by preventing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with WHO and the global health organization Vital Strategies, the initiative enables cities around the world to deliver a high-impact policy or programmatic intervention to reduce NCDs and injuries in their communities. For more information, visit https://cities4health.org.
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