Where and how can I join the nutrition commitment?
You can make the nutrition commitments that help to improve the nutritional quality of the diet so that you commit yourself to implementing the targets laid out in the nutrition recommendations. You can make your commitment on the Finnish Commitment 2050 website of the Prime Minister's Office, at www.sitoumus2050.fi (More information of The Society's Commitment to Sustainable Development in English: https://commitment2050.fi/)
- The nutrition commitments are concrete, significant and measurable activities that help to achieve the nutrition recommendations and that are put into effect during a period of between one and five years.
- The earliest base year for the measures is 2015.
- A number of basic criteria (in English) have been set for the commitments and by making your commitment you also pledge to observe the criteria.
- When making your nutrition commitment, you set your own targets, propose the measures for achieving them, the indicators and the timetable. After that you can enter them on the Commitment 2050 website where they are published after receiving approval.
- Your aim should be to improve the nutritional quality of your products or to establish nutritionally responsible operating practices.
- You can also commit to maintain your existing levels provided that your products and practices are in accordance with the criteria (such as the Heart Symbol criteria) set out in this model. In that case, your nutrition commitment must apply to important product groups or measures.
Who can join the nutrition commitment?
The National Nutrition Council invites all food business operators and other parties promoting healthy dietary habits to join the commitment model.
The commitment model is open to
- the food industry,
- retail trade,
- importers of food products,
- providers of catering services,
- lunch restaurants,
- fast food outlets,
- cafes,
- organisations,
- municipalities,
- schools and daycare centres,
- media (including food bloggers),
- and employers.
The purpose is not to gather commitments made by individual consumers as we are seeking operators that can influence wide groups of consumers/population with their choices.
Collaborating with its stakeholders, the National Nutrition Council is actively promoting the implementation of the nutrition commitment model. A communications and action plan will be prepared for the operating model so that operators in a broad range of different fields can be encouraged to joint the commitment.
What are the joint objectives of the nutrition commitment?
The overall objective of the nutrition commitment model is
- to encourage as many operators as possible to take action and to make nutrition into a central part of their work to promote responsibility and sustainable development.
- to ensure that the operators have a tool for planning and monitoring concrete and measurable activities that improve the nutritional quality of the diet and/or promote the implementation of the nutrition recommendations.
- Publicly presented nutrition commitments
- provide visibility for the nutritional responsibility of the operators
- serve as examples and motivate operators to introduce improvements and create new innovations
- help wide groups of consumers to make dietary choices that are in accordance with the nutrition recommendations.
What tools are used to assess the nutrition commitments and their impacts?
Monitoring progress
The National Nutrition Council will continuously monitor the implementation of the nutrition commitments. The inclusion of different sectors, the commitments made and their total number, the targets set and the manner in which the operators plan to meet them as well as the success rate are monitored in real time on the basis of indicators and the reports produced by the commitment system. The programme generates publicly available follow-up information on each content commitment for the Commitment 2050 website on a continuous basis (on such matters as the number of commitments, likes and sent comments).
The software operator will supply the National Nutrition Council with an extensive report on the basis of the commitment database each year. The report contains the details of individual operators and commitments submitted as part of the registration and making of the commitment and during reporting. The National Nutrition Council will analyse the information and publish its own annual nutrition commitment report on the basis of this material.
The functioning and impacts of the operating model and the need to develop it will be assessed at annual stakeholder meetings.
Monitoring the impact of the nutrition commitment model at population level
The nutrition commitment contains population-level targets for each content area. The impacts of the nutrition commitments on population-level dietary habits will be monitored at national level. The monitoring is based on the data collected by the National Institute for Health and Welfare for the National FinHealth 2017 and 2022 studies. The monitoring of children's nutrition is based on the dietary and nutrient intake information contained in the child health monitoring reports 2018/2019 and 2023/2024 produced by the National Institute for Health and Welfare. Changes in the consumption of vegetables, berries and fruits among children in school age are monitored as part of the national school scheme follow-up carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the National Institute for Health and Welfare. Up-to-date market information is also used.