Ottawa: The Vision for Accelerated Sustainable Development Ghana (VAST-Ghana) has called on the Ministry of Health representatives at the ongoing 49th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL49) to support four key proposals. These proposals are aimed at improving alcohol labelling standards and ensuring that consumers have access to accurate information about alcoholic beverages.
According to Ghana News Agency, the proposals include initiating new work on alcohol labelling to amend Codex texts that currently treat alcohol as an ordinary food product. This involves revising documents CXS 1-1985, CXG 2-1985, and CXG 23-1997. Additionally, there is a push to establish an Electronic Working Group, led by Tanzania, to draft amendments for consideration at the CCFL50 session.
Other proposals emphasize the importance of recognizing alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen, which is linked to several types of cancers. Health warnings, including cancer warnings, should be part of the alcohol labelling programme. The proposals also resist deferring the work or narrowing its scope to alcohol strength information alone and oppose substituting clear on-pack health information with QR codes or electronic labels.
The CCFL49 session, taking place from May 11-15, 2026, in Ottawa, Canada, is focused on labelling provisions for alcoholic beverages. The advice from VAST-Ghana was conveyed in a letter by Mr. Labram Musah, the Executive Director of VAST-Ghana, to the Minister of Health, highlighting the alignment of improved alcohol labelling standards with Ghana's public health commitments.
Mr. Musah stressed that effective alcohol labelling is a crucial public health measure to enhance consumer awareness and informed decision-making. As a board member of Movendi International, he highlighted the global and national public health concerns associated with alcohol consumption, citing scientific evidence from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
VAST-Ghana commended the Codex Committee on Food Labelling, chaired by Tanzania, for its efforts and praised Ghana and other Member States for their support in advancing evidence-based food labelling standards within the Codex Alimentarius framework.