SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2023
Supplement to the integrated annual report for the year ended 30 September 2023
Supplement to the integrated annual report for the year ended 30 September 2023
We are building the integrity of our portfolio by renovating our existing product range to comply with robust nutritional standards, meet modern food-labelling requirements, and move our existing products, labels and ingredients towards alignment with best-practice initiatives in health and nutrition.
Management
Basic nutrition labelling and the declaration of certain ingredients and allergens are regulated by South Africa's Department of Health through regulations relating to the advertising and labelling of foodstuffs. Our health and nutrition strategy guides our nutrition labelling practices and reflects our commitment to help consumers make health-positive food choices and improve their health and nutrition.
Through our Eat Well Live Well (EWLW) programme, we have implemented an easy-to-read nutrition labelling system on all product packs, including the EWLW stamp-of-approval and guideline daily amounts (GDA) table. We ensure that when our products go to market, they comply with both national labelling regulations and our own internal EWLW nutrition labelling requirements.
Our system for managing our labelling practices includes clear internal guidance on presenting product ingredient formulations, product artwork and labels, and marketing and advertising ( see – responsible marketing). Nutritional guidelines are considered within these procedures, as well as within our product innovation processes. All product formulations, artwork and labels pass through our nutrition, regulatory, and legal teams before final sign-off, and we conduct internal audits of our labelling practices to ensure that they are correctly managed and compliant. We continue to restructure label architectures and artwork across various brands to accommodate more nutrition information where necessary.
We declare ingredients, allergens, and additives on our products, as well as indicate irradiation and genetically modified organisms (GMO) in alignment with regulations published under the Foodstuff, Cosmetics and Disinfectant Act, Agricultural Products Standards Act and Consumer Protection Act. Beyond compliance, we declare the presence of beta-glucan (insoluble fibre) in some of our Jungle Oats products in regard to heart health benefits, and we label the glycaemic index and glycaemic load of Albany Low GI breads in relation to sustaining energy levels.
Many consumers are concerned about genetically modified (GM) foodstuffs. All GM commodities that are currently on the market in South Africa are approved by government and are thus considered safe. The presence of GM foods is declared on the label of a food product to uphold the consumer's right to know and choose, rather than being a warning label to indicate that GM foods are unsafe. We support consumer education on health and nutrition, and prefer that our consumers are educated about what they consume and exercise choice.
We are following developments relating to the imminent front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling and regulations on marketing to children in South Africa; we have released a revised company position on these regulations to guide our engagements with government and other stakeholders. The aim of our engagement on these regulations is to yield an FOP labelling and marketing solution that best enables consumers to make an informed decision regarding their food choices, and to improve public health in South Africa.
Performance
We continue our compliance with national regulations requiring the labelling and declaration of certain ingredients, additives and allergens. We maintain adherence to the on-pack nutrition labelling requirements of our EWLW and GDA labelling initiatives.
Management
We monitor advances in nutrition and broader public health issues, including through the World Health Organization (WHO) and South African Department of Health, and regularly review our nutritional standards, so that our products meet or exceed globally recognised guidelines.
We have developed a set of nutritional standards under the umbrella of our EWLW programme that align with locally and globally recognised dietary guidelines. These EWLW nutrition standards have been formalised through the Nutrition Information Centre of the University of Stellenbosch (NICUS), and we apply the standards internally to assess the nutritional value of our products. We have committed to reviewing the EWLW standards through NICUS every three years. The next review will take place after promulgation of the new FOP labelling and marketing regulations, expected imminently, so we can integrate the requirements of these new regulations into the EWLW standards and the nutritional categorisation of our products.
Performance
We remain in full compliance with the sodium regulations and health promotion levy (sugar tax) requirements in South Africa. We continue to categorise our products using the EWLW standards, and this year developed criteria for the Snacking category (such as rice chips, rice cakes). Approximately 52% of our food basket (by net sales, and excluding Baby, and Snacks and Treats) meet our EWLW nutritional standards for healthier product categories.
Management
Micronutrient deficiencies are a key public health concern in South Africa. We fortify new and existing products in alignment with the Regulations relating to the Fortification of certain Foodstuffs published by the National Department of Health. We fortify staple foods such as wheat flour (including white and brown bread) and maize meal with key vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B9 (folic acid), iron and zinc. Amendments to the national fortification regulations, including proposed adjustments to the prescribed forms and amounts of vitamins and minerals, are pending approval. We are engaging with government and other stakeholders as part of this process and will ensure that our affected products comply with these new regulations once approved.
Further to the mandatory fortification of staple foods, we voluntarily enrich products across Grains, Cereals, Bakeries, and Baby (such as Morvite, certain Jungle cereals, and Ace Instant) with micronutrients commonly deficient in South African diets. In addition, we are developing new products that are enriched to target a specific nutritional or health improvement (such as Energade Boost to support healthy eyes and immune function). Beyond fortification and enrichment, we are working on excluding and substituting certain preservatives, colourants and sweeteners with more natural alternatives.
Performance
We have delivered micronutrient enrichment across >30% of our portfolio (as measured by net sales), predominantly in our Grains products. This was achieved in 2022.