Antigua Government Moving To Regulate Bread Industry

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda, January 20, 2020 (CMC) – The Antigua and Barbuda government says it is examining the possibility of enacting measures that would force large producers of bread and pastries, to provide the nutritional values on their packages, as it warned of the high cost of treating people suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCD).

Prime Minister, Gaston Brown, said, on a radio program, that his administration, at some point, would be “introducing regulations to make sure that individuals, who sell bread, especially the large suppliers….that they put the ingredients on the bread; we need to know how much fat, how much sugar, how much salt…I just want to appeal to the people of Antigua and Barbuda to exercise some form of self-regulation in the consumption of sugar, even fats and salts”.

Browne told radio listeners that citizens will now have to adopt new measures to ensure their health.

“We have to make sure we do things now, in moderation, because the health costs, they are excessive, strenuous on the government. But above and beyond that, these illnesses are literally reducing the productivity of our people,” he added.

Browne said he believes “the issue of non-communicable diseases is probably the biggest development challenge facing the country at this time”.