Halal Research Centre, Iran Food and Drug Administration, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Department of Assessment and Control of Prescribing and Use of Medicines and Health Products, Iran Food and Drug Administration, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
East Mediterr Health J. 2020 Dec 9;26(12):1556-1564. doi: 10.26719/emhj.20.024.
Diet plays an important role in the risk of noncommunicable diseases. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, national activities were started after release of the World Health Organization's (WHO) action plan on prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases.
This study describes national food policies implemented by the government in order to reduce noncommunicable diseases in the country in line with WHO action plan.
Newly adopted food standards and regulations linked to noncommunicable diseases from 2013 to 2018 were reviewed and the maximum permitted levels of salt and trans and saturated fats were compared in the old and new standards. Nutritional traffic light labelling to raise public awareness of healthy diets was evaluated.
Fifteen food standards associated with eight food items that make up a large share of the daily Iranian food basket and three that make up a small share were evaluated. Policies on salt included reduction in maximum permitted percentage in bread, cheese and doogh (a fermented drink) to 1%, 3% and 0.8%, respectively. For trans and saturated fats, maximum permitted percentages were set as 2-5% and 30-65% of edible oils and fats, respectively. Nutritional traffic light labelling, which indicates the content of salt, sugar, fat and trans fat in foods, has been mandatory for all foods since 2016.
In view of the polices implemented to reduce the salt and fat/oil content of foods, significant decreases in noncommunicable diseases are expected in coming years in the country. However, further studies are needed to show the effectiveness of the interventions.
饮食在非传染性疾病风险中起着重要作用。在伊朗伊斯兰共和国，在世界卫生组织（世卫组织）发布预防和控制非传染性疾病行动计划后，开始了国家活动。
本研究描述了政府为减少本国非传染性疾病而实施的国家食品政策，以符合世卫组织行动计划。
审查了 2013 年至 2018 年与非传染性疾病相关的新采用的食品标准和法规，并比较了旧标准和新标准中盐和反式及饱和脂肪的最大允许水平。评估了营养红绿灯标签，以提高公众对健康饮食的认识。
评估了与八种构成伊朗日常食品篮子很大一部分的食品和三种构成一小部分的食品相关的 15 项食品标准。盐政策包括将面包、奶酪和都古（一种发酵饮料）中的最大允许百分比分别降低到 1%、3%和 0.8%。对于反式脂肪和饱和脂肪，食用油和脂肪的最大允许百分比分别设定为 2-5%和 30-65%。自 2016 年以来，所有食品均强制使用营养红绿灯标签，指示食品中盐、糖、脂肪和反式脂肪的含量。
鉴于为降低食物中盐和脂肪/油含量而实施的政策，预计未来几年该国的非传染性疾病将显著减少。然而，需要进一步的研究来表明干预措施的有效性。
