Vietnam urges food firms to comply with new nutritional labelling regulations

Around 71% of consumers have heavily regarded health labelling information on packaging.

Vietnam has called for food companies to transition to new nutritional labelling regulations, in compliance with international standards that improve public health.

With implementation last 2023, the government said the influence of health label information will “boost consumer confidence and safety in local food and drinks brands/companies a measure of transparency."

Furthermore, it reflects a growing consumer trend toward health consciousness after the pandemic. According to the GlobalData 2023 Q4 Consumer Survey, 71% of Vietnamese consumers have been influenced by health labelling information on the packaging of their product choices.

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“Consumers greatly value nutritional information as many of them find it confusing to know what food and drinks are healthy for them as attested by 55% of Vietnamese respondents, given the widespread choices of food and drinks on the supermarket shelf,” Tim Hill, key account director of GlobalData Singapore, said.

Through the new mandates, the government has projected that domestic companies will display content, such as “energy,” “fat,” “protein,” “carbohydrate," and “sodium” on-pack, alongside allergens and health warnings in packaging food and drinks.

Reportedly, Vietnam has targeted to have around 40% of domestic food and drinks producers to new labelling requirements and regulations within the next two years. Currently, 60% of food and drink companies in Vietnam already display nutritional information on labels, while all exported brands of food and drinks have complied with nutritional labelling.