A vast majority of packaged food and beverage products sold in Kenya by both local and multinational companies could soon be subject to health warning labels, according to a new independent report cited by Reuters.

This development follows the recent release of Kenya’s nutrient profile model, which the government plans to use as the basis for implementing front-of-pack labelling regulations.

The report by the non-profit Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) revealed that 90% of products on the market, including those from global brands like Coca-Cola and Nestlé, as well as local producers such as Brookside Dairy Ltd and Manji Foods Industries contain excessive levels of salt, sugar, or saturated fats.

Moreover, about two-thirds of the products were classified as “unhealthy” under widely used international standards such as Nutri-Score, which factors in both harmful and beneficial nutrients unlike Kenya’s current model.

Neither the Kenyan authorities nor the companies mentioned responded to requests for comment.

While ATNI has conducted similar assessments in countries including the United States and India, this is the first time the organisation has released such a report focused on an African nation, alongside a similar study from Tanzania.

Previous ATNI research has shown that the nutritional quality of products sold by leading food and beverage companies tends to be lower in low-income countries than in wealthier ones.

Source: Reuters