Tufton Urges Jamaicans to Use Buying Power for Healthier Food and Drinks

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton is calling on Jamaicans to channel their spending toward healthier foods and beverages as a way to press producers into offering better nutritional options and lighten the country's load from lifestyle-related illness.

He made the appeal on June 24 at a Community Arranged Response Efforts (CARE) Fund sensitisation session held at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre in St. James. Buyers, he said, hold meaningful sway in prompting food manufacturers to lower sugar and salt levels and to stock alternatives that support better health.

Sustained preference for those options can gradually reshape how the domestic food market operates. "If we demand it, companies will respond by providing what the market demands. It is not always the case where they have to influence us. We can influence them too," Dr. Tufton said.

He added that companies should be pressed to lift the nutritional standard of their goods as public appetite for healthier items grows. "We can influence manufacturers to put less sugar in their drinks. We must influence manufacturers to cut back on the salt. We must challenge them around the marketing of tobacco products through legislation and policy but also through consumer advocacy. We must say to them we want healthier products," he emphasised.

Dr. Tufton acknowledged that business runs within a free-market framework, but argued that shoppers need clear information to choose wisely. "It's a free market. People make decisions but consumers must know what's good for them and what's good for their children, their families and their communities," he said.

He also cautioned against treating legal sale, heavy promotion, or wide supermarket placement as proof that a product is wholesome. "Not because something is legally allowable in a free country means that it is good for you, and I want that to be the message today. Not because it's advertised on television or on radio or you see it in the supermarket means that it is good for you," he said.

Raising public awareness, he noted, remains vital to curbing chronic conditions linked to poor diets and harmful consumption habits. Community organisations can support that work by guiding residents toward smarter food choices and encouraging households to build healthier eating patterns.

The CARE Fund is a Ministry of Health and Wellness programme that channels support to community-based and civil society groups carrying out projects that promote healthier living, prevent disease, and address key public health priorities.