The design of effective front-of-package warning labels to protect public health from unhealthy food products: Evidence, policy principles, and design specifications to support the adoption and implementation of effective front-of-package warning labeling

Front-of-package warning labeling (FOPWL) has emerged as a key regulatory strategy to address the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the Region of the Americas. Governments across the Region have increasingly adopted FOPWL systems to provide clear, simple, and effective information that enables consumers to quickly identify products with excessive sugars, fats, sodium, and other components associated with adverse health outcomes.

 

This technical note presents a framework that integrates public health policy, nutritional science, and information design, consolidating the best available evidence and international best practices to support policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in the development, adoption, and implementation of effective FOPWL systems. Three types of warnings are addressed, each corresponding to a distinct category of nutritional or compositional risk and organized within a hierarchy reflecting the strength of epidemiological evidence and public health priorities: the Ultra-processed Triangle Warning, the Octagon EXCESS Warning, and Precautionary Warnings. Their design specifications vary according to the purpose each label intends to achieve. 

 

The technical note also provides guidance on key graphic and design elements—including shape, size, color contrast, typography, and placement for warning labels. Together, these elements are intended to ensure that labels attract attention, are easily understood, and ultimately improve consumers’ ability to make healthier food choices. To further support the design of effective FOPWL systems, PAHO also establishes and provides legibility and visibility principles for risk disclosure, salience, graphic integrity, multimodal representation, typographic legibility, information isolation, conciseness, and strategic position,.

 

When developed with structural integrity and supported by continuous evaluation, FOPWL can fundamentally reshape food environments and serve as an effective mechanism to reduce premature mortality and safeguard public health across the Region of the Americas.