Collateral Effect: Impact of Chile’s Law of Food Labeling and Advertising on non-caloric sweeteners

• In Event: Sugar, Alcohol, and Caffeine: Policy Impacts on Consumption and Health Outcomes

Abstract

Excessive sugar consumption has been associated with a rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as the consumption of food high in sugar increases so is the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, lipidic profile alterations, hypertension, non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality (Sacks et al., 2021).Several countries have implemented public health and policy actions such as taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and sugar-added food (Pfinder et al., 2020) or the mandatory inclusion of Front-of-Pack (FoP) nutrition labels (Reyes et al., 2020; Yamim & Werle, 2025),  to tackle this widely recognized global health priority by the World Health Organization (Khan et al., 2023).One of the consequences of these policies has been the reformulation of products, thus lowering components which could be detrimental for health (eg, saturated fat, trans fats, sugar, salt) thus, have healthier nutritional profiles (Salgado et al., 2025; Dummer, 2012; Griffith et al., 2017; Mhurchu et al., 2017; Otite et al., 2013; Reyes et al., 2020; Vyth et al., 2010; Young & Swinburn, 2002).
In 2016, Chile implemented a pioneering Food Marketing and Labeling Law mandating front‑of‑package (FoP) “high in sugar” warning labels to reduce sugar intake. Although prior research documents decline in sugar purchases following the policy, its longer-term implications for non‑nutritive sweetener (NNS) consumption remain insufficiently understood. This question has growing relevance amid increasing global use of NNS, uncertainties regarding their long‑term health effects, and their expanding incorporation into reformulated foods. To assess the policy’s impact on NNS consumption, we employed the Synthetic Control method to construct a counterfactual trajectory for Chile using Food and Agriculture Organization data from 1995 to 2022 and a donor pool of 73 countries. Pre‑intervention predictors included food supply trends, real GDP, and sugar availability. Robustness was evaluated through in‑space placebo tests and mean squared prediction error (MSPE) ratio comparisons. Results reveal a two‑phase response. Between 2016 and 2018, changes in NNS consumption were minimal. However, from 2019 onward, observed trends diverged markedly from synthetic Chile. By 2022, per capita NNS consumption reached 5.9 kg—39% higher than the counterfactual estimate of 4.24 kg. Placebo analyses indicate this deviation is statistically meaningful (p < 0.10), with Chile exhibiting the highest post‑/pre‑intervention MSPE ratio. Overall, FoP sugar warnings appear to have simultaneously reduced sugar exposure and accelerated substitution toward NNS, likely driven by industry reformulation and evolving consumer behavior. These findings highlight the need for comprehensive monitoring of sweetener use when designing or revising labeling policies.

Author

• Jean P. Sepulveda, Universidad del Desarrollo-Chile
  Presenting Author