Being informed about the composition and harms of products intended for personal consumption should be a straightforward request. However, as analysed in this paper, mandatory labels and health warnings on unhealthy products such as tobacco, alcohol and foods and non-alcoholic beverages that are ultra-processed and/or high in fat, sugar and/or salt (hereinafter, “HFSS foods”) are far from the norm in many countries. Moreover, there are differing degrees of global guidance and national implementation of labelling policy across these products.

This paper aims to highlight lessons learnt and current gaps in labelling policy across products directly linked to the main noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factors, and to provide concise recommendations for a comprehensive approach to labelling and health warnings across these unhealthy products.