National Policy Updates

Poland

Mirosław Jarosz, Katarzyna Stoś

National Food and Nutrition Institute

Warsaw, Poland

HLG meeting, Brussels, 18.02.2015

1. New rules on food and nutrition

in Polish schools (amendment to the Act on

safety of food and nutrition)

2. Self-regulation on food advertising to

children

3. Other activities (programmes)

This presentation covers:

Food and Nutrition in School

• In the light of the WHO recommendations on

nutrition some activities have been initiated in Poland

to implement healthy eating habits and to promote

healthier food choices.

• As a result of legislative initiative - the Act of 28

November 2014 amending the Act on the safety of

food and nutrition was created.

(the Act shall enter into force on the 1 September 2015)

• This Amendment in Polish food law concerns food

and nutrition of children and adolescents in

educational institutions.

• rules of sales, advertising and promotion of

foods (list of food groups)

• requirements on nutrition of children and

adolescents in nursery schools canteens,

other forms of pre-schools, schools

(excluding schools for adults) and other

units of the educational system canteens

The new regulation concerns:

Art. 52 c. 1. In the units of the educational system:

1) only foods covered by groups of foodstuffs intended

for sale to children and adolescents

in school or other unit may be sold ( the list of food

categories set out by the Minister of Health in the

regulation);

2) only foods complying with the requirements set out in

the regulation of the Minister of Health can be used in

school or other unit canteens (food-based standards).

the Act of 28 November 2014

Art. 52c. 2.

In the units of the educational system, it is

prohibited to advertise and promote foods other

than foods covered by categories of foodstuffs

intended for sale to children and adolescents in

these units (the list of food categories set out by

the Minister of Health in the regulation) and foods

that do not meet the requirements set out in the

regulation of the Minister of Health.

the Act of 28 November 2014

Art. 52c. 3.

The Head of the nursery (…), school or

other unit of the educational system can

establish, after the consultation with

parents, a detailed list of foodstuffs

permitted to be sold or used in canteens

with the respect to the provisions set out by

the Minister of Health in the regulation.

the Act of 28 November 2014

According to the Act of 28 November 2014 amending

the act on the safety of food and nutrition, the new

regulation is being created by the Minister of Health.

The regulation will specify:

1) groups of foodstuffs intended for sale to children

and adolescents in the units of the educational

system, (for example: milk products, fruits and vegetables)

2) requirements, that the food used in canteens in the

units of the educational system must comply with,

– with a respect to the nutrition standards for

children and adolescents and taking into account the

nutritional and health value of food.

(currently it’s under discussion)

Self-regulation in food advertising to children

Nutrition criteria (based on EU Pledge) have been

developed by the Polish Federation of Food

Industry, reviewed and consulted with the National

Food and Nutrition Institute in Poland

(foods and beverages prohibited: sugar&sugar based

products, soft drinks, potatoes chips and snacks)

• Nutrition criteria became annex to the Code of

Ethics in Advertising in 2014.

Self-regulation by the broadcasters

• The nutrition criteria became part of

the agreement signed by 7 major broadcasters

(public&private) in Poland on 29 October 2014

http://www.radareklamy.pl/images/Dokumenty/zywnos

c/porozumienie%20nadawcow.pdf

• Nutrition criteria apply to all advertising in and

around programs aimed at children under 12

from 1 January 2015.

• Advertisers who want to advertise during and around

programs aimed at children under 12 are required to

submit declaration of the compliance with the

nutritional criteria.

Other activities

• ‘School Fruit Scheme’ Programme (www.owocewszkole.org)

The Agricultural Market Agency implements an EU ‘School Fruit and Vegetable

Scheme’, whose purpose is to change eating habits of children by increasing the

share of fruit and vegetables in their everyday diet, as well as promoting healthy

eating habits by accompanying educational programmes in primary schools.

Pupils from I–III grades of elementary school and children fulfilling the obligatory

one-year pre-school preparation in primary schools are provided with: fresh fruit

(apples, pears, strawberries, highbush berries), fresh vegetables (carrots,

radishes, sweet peppers, turnip cabbage, cocktail tomatoes) and fruit, vegetable

or fruit and vegetable juice.

Poland joined this programme in the 2010/2011 school year.

The National Food and Nutrition Institute is responsible for evaluation of this

programme in Poland.

• National Programme for the prevention of overweight,

obesity and non-communicable diseases through diet and

improved physical activity (POL-HEALTH 2007-2016)

As a realization of the POL-HEALTH Programme in 2008 two

monographs for schools were published by the National Food

and Nutrition Institute :

„Healthy diet principles for children and young people and

instructions on healthy lifestyle”

“School lunches” (with regard to Good Hygiene Practice and

the HACCP system for meals served in schools and proposals

of 60 healthy menus for canteens)

• The National Food and Nutrition Institute is also the leader and

co-author of “Charter of Nutrition and Physical Activity of

Children at Schools” signed by the Commissioner for Civil

Rights Protection of the Republic of Poland, which indicate

responsibility of school environment in the area of overweight

and obesity or malnutrition as health problems

Other activities

Recommendations for nutrition of children and

adolescents

School lunches — recommendations

and proposed menus

"Keep Fit" Programme

• The "Keep Fit" Programme is co-organized by the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate,

and the Polish Federation of Food Industry - Association of Employers in the

implementation of the WHO strategy on diet, physical activity and health.

• The purpose of the "Keep Fit!" is education for sustainable development of

healthy habits among school children by promoting the principles of active

lifestyle and balanced diet, based on individual responsibility and free choice of

individuals.

• The programme has already covered about 7000 primary and secondary

schools in the entire Poland, that is 3 million pupils.

Other activities

The Swiss - Polish Cooperation Programme Preventing overweight and obesity as well as chronic diseases by education

on nutrition and physical activity of the society 2011- 2016. The main tasks of the Programme are:

1. Nutritional health promotion, with particular emphasis on prevention of overweight and obesity among pregnant women and nursing mothers.

2. Education and implementation of the principles of nutrition in preschools, primary, lower secondary and secondary schools, and the assessment of the impact of education on nutrition, nutritional status and level of knowledge among children and adolescents.

Among 1,600 schools and nursery schools, which joined the programme "School and nursery school for proper nutrition and physical activity", more than 850 schools and nursery schools already met all the criteria necessary to obtain a certificate „School/Nursery school for Proper Nutrition and Physical Activity”.

3. Implementing the principles of rational lifestyle among people with overweight and obesity in the health care system in Poland

4. Dissemination of knowledge about the composition and nutritional value of food, nutrition and health claims and food labeling to influence the formation of rational choices of food products

5. Media campaign

Other activities

Plans for the future

• Regulation of the Minister of Health on the list of food

categories that may be sold in schools and requirements

for food in school and other educational units canteens

(from 1 September 2015)

• Looking forward WHO Nutrient Profiling Model

• The National Centre of Nutritional Education and Healthy

Lifestyle of Society (in the National Food and Nutrition Institute)