A/HRC/26/31 the community, civil society organizations and other stakeholders. To be effective, dissemination of these guidelines and nutritional information to people in a comprehensible manner is equally important. One regulatory approach that States should consider is the adoption of nutrient profiling models, in which foods are ranked according to their nutritional composition. 18. Education and public awareness programmes can help the population make healthier food choices. Consumer-friendly labelling of food products is a common method to raise awareness and encourage consumers to make informed decisions about their diets. For instance, some States have issued guidance for supermarkets and food and beverage companies to use images such as front-of-pack, “traffic light” food labelling.33 This creates awareness about healthier food options, impacting positively consumer choice. Traffic light food labelling makes use of red, amber and green colours to indicate high, medium and low content, respectively, of a particular nutrient. As children are particularly vulnerable to increased risk of NCDs in adulthood due to the consumption of unhealthy foods, States should involve schools in teaching children about the benefits of healthy foods in a childfriendly manner. B. Fiscal policies 19. To reduce the intake of unhealthy foods, States should adopt policies to create disincentives for consuming them. For instance, some States have levied a consumption tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to curb the obesity epidemic, with the revenue raised from sales to be spent on providing drinking water.34 However, merely increasing the price of unhealthy foods may have a punitive effect on low-income groups. Reducing the price of nutritious food to levels cheaper than or comparable to unhealthy foods would make healthy foods more affordable. For instance, agricultural subsidies benefiting unhealthy foods could be removed and shifted to subsidies for increasing the production of healthier foods. States could take measures, such as tax benefits and focused investments in agricultural production, to incentivize farmers to produce healthier foods like vegetables and fruits (A/HRC/19/59). 20. Procurement policies could be used to encourage farmers to produce fruits and vegetables, guaranteeing profits and making more nutritious diets affordable for lowincome groups. For instance, some countries procure food grains at market rates directly from farmers that they then sell to low-income groups at affordable rates, balancing the interests of the farmer and a vulnerable group. Another measure adopted by States has been to encourage localized farming and then procure the produce for schools. This not only enhances local economic development, but also ensures the reduction of unhealthy foods among schoolchildren.35 21. Accessibility of healthy foods may not necessarily lead to their higher intake. Even though foods with high nutrition value may be available in areas and spaces alongside less nutritious foodstuffs, consumers may not be attracted to the healthier option based on 33 34 35 NHS Choices, “Food labels”, 19 June 2013, available from http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/food-labelling.aspx. Sarah Boseley, “Mexico enacts soda tax in effort to combat world’s highest obesity rate”, The Guardian, 16 January 2014, available from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/16/mexicosoda-tax-sugar-obesity-health. World Food Programme, Brazil: a Desk Review of the National School Feeding Programme (July 2007). Available from http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/newsroom/wfp207419.pdf. 9