- Mexico has begun to enforce a ban on junk food in schools.
- The ban targets salty and sweet processed products such as packaged chips and sweetened fruit drinks.
- This ban is part of an effort to fight against the country's obesity and diabetes epidemic.
Mexico has introduced a ban on junk food in schools, in an effort to fight against the country’s obesity and diabetes epidemic. Similar epidemics have also been seen in countries worldwide, with government leaders struggling to know what to do about it.
The ban took effect on Saturday, but the health guidelines were first published last fall, according to The Associated Press.
The guidelines for the ban target salty and sweet processed foods that have been a staple for Mexican schoolchildren. The banned products include sugary fruit drinks, artificial pork rinds, packaged chips and soy-encased, chili-flavored peanuts.
To announce that the ban had taken effect, Mexico’s Education Ministry posted on X: “Farewell, junk food!” The ministry also encouraged parents to support the government’s efforts by cooking healthy meals for their kids at home, per CNN.
“One of the core principles of the new Mexican school system is healthy living,” said Mario Delgado, the public health secretary, per the AP. “There’s a high level of acceptance of this policy among parents.”
Why is Mexico implementing this ban?
UNICEF has reported that children in Mexico consume more junk food than any other country in Latin America. The agency also classified the country’s childhood obesity epidemic as an emergency.
Highly processed foods and sugary drinks make up 40% of the calories that children consume each day. One-third of Mexican children are currently considered obese or overweight, and 50% will develop diabetes in early adulthood, per the AP.
Under this new law, schools must get rid of any food or drink that displays at least one black warning logo which marks it as high in salt, sugar, calories and fat, per CNN. The labels are a part of a compulsory system that Mexico introduced in 2020.
How will this ban on junk food be enforced?
The enforcement of the ban started on Monday morning, the beginning of the school week. This order also requires schools to serve more nutritious alternatives to the previously provided junk food and to offer plain drinking water.
“It is much better to eat a bean taco than a bag of potato chips,” said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has championed the effort, per CNN.
Administrators of schools that do not follow the ban will face fines ranging from $545 to $5,450.
There are questions on how effective enforcement of the ban will be. Previous junk food bans in the country haven’t been able to gain traction, with lax monitoring.
It was also unclear how the Mexican government plans on forbidding the sale of junk food from vendors on sidewalks outside of school campuses, according to CNN.
Will the U.S. do something similar next?
Mexico’s bold attempt to change its food culture is being watched by leaders around the world as many governments are struggling in the fight against a global obesity epidemic, per the AP.
This effort to change the types of food consumed has also been seen in the U.S. President Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has promised to uproot the country’s food system under the slogan “Make America Healthy Again.”
In order to curb ever increasing obesity and disease, Kennedy is targeting ultra-processed food, in a mindset similar to Mexico’s new ban.