The Chamber Specialized in Defense of Competition of the Tribunal of the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) annulled a sanction against the company Panificadora Bimbo del Perú SA for marketing white bread without the advertising warning “Contains trans fats: Avoid their consumption ”, Despite the fact that the product did have these oils for Peruvian law.
In July 2019, the highest body that watches over the health of consumers warned that Bimbo’s borderless white bread product, sold in the Wong chain, did not have the trans fat warning on its packaging, so it violated the Healthy Eating Law. The fine ordered by the Commission for the Supervision of Unfair Competition arrived at the beginning of this year.
However, on September 21, the Specialized Chamber for the Defense of Competition of the Indecopi Court, made up of Silvia Hooker, also manager of International Affairs of the National Society of Industries (SNI), he decided surprisingly lift the fine considering that the Peruvian law and the Manual of Advertising Warnings “do not require parameters for trans fats.” Instead, it applied guidelines from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
According to the lawyer Jaime Delgado, this resolution constitutes a complete nonsense, since it states that if the product has less than 0.5% trans fat, it can declare it as “zero” (as if it had nothing) and is exempt from placing the respective octagon.
“Trans fats block your arteries, that’s why our legislation has already banned it. In Peru, if a product contains trans fats, you have to place its octagon on it ‘Contains fats after, avoid their consumption’. The rule is express, it does not say ‘from such a level a warning is given’, as it does with sugar. It is put to all. FDA regulations cannot be applied overriding national legislation. They are attacking the health of our children”, Sent the specialist.
As explained by the portal Salud with magnifying glass, the room would have interpreted that, since there is not a stipulated amount of trans fats for the advertising warning to be mandatory, the Codex Alimentarius is now used as a reference. But, as it is not provided for in Codex either, it should be guided by the provisions of the FDA.
“The argument is the same one that a sector of the industry has been making in the sense that the FDA regulations provide for it. In this way, the North American standard prevails over the Healthy Eating Law 30021 and the Consumer Protection and Defense Code ”, added Delgado.
The also founder of the Peruvian Association of Consumers and Users (Aspec) explains that this situation sets a terrible precedent for the country’s food safety since, from now on, any other product that contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per portion may be declared free of them.
“In 2019, the Bimbo white bread version declared 0.7% Trans Fat, in 2021 it declared 0% trans fat. We wonder, have they reformulated their product? If so, good for them and the consumers. Or is it that now they declare 0%, even though they contain them, because this is how Indecopi has authorized them in its recent resolution, which allows, based on a North American FDA standard, to declare it as zero if it has less than 0, 5 grams per serving? ”, He stressed.
Bimbo: conflict of interest at Indecopi
Both the lawyer Jaime Delgado and the National Council of Associations of Consumers and Users of Peru (Conacup) denounce the lady that Silvia Hooker, in addition to being vice president of the Specialized Chamber for the Defense of Competition of the Indecopi Court (together with Ana Martinelli and Jose Perla), is also a manager at SNI, a private organization that groups together the Peruvian business union of the manufacturing industry and “which has Bimbo among its star partners.”
“They have ordered that the laws of the United States FDA prevail over Peruvian law, which is absurd. Here there is a very clear conflict of interest not seen by Mr. Julián Palacín, and it has not been the only case”Delgado snapped.
La República newspaper tried unsuccessfully to communicate with Indecopi to collect its discharges.
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