Latest news with #IndianNutritionRating
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
FSSAI holds national meet to review food labelling rules; experts propose front-of-pack warning labels
NEW DELHI: To strengthen India's regulatory framework on food labelling, advertisement, and claims, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Wednesday convened a national stakeholder consultation to review the effectiveness of existing regulations, to address implementation challenges, and explore ways to align with global standards. This is to strengthen consumer protection. The national consultation, which involved various ministries, was conducted following the Supreme Court's order last month, which gave the FSSAI three months to make its recommendations on the proposed move to introduce mandatory warning labels on the front of packaged food items. The meeting came a day after 29 public health organisations issued a consensus statement proposing that the FSSAI implement front‑of‑pack nutrition labelling (FOPL) warning labels (WLs) on food products found high in fats/sugars or salt (HFSS). The consensus statement, published in the Journal of Preventive Medicine Research and Reviews, proposes that the government replace the proposed Indian Nutrition Rating (or Health Star Rating) system with front-of-pack warning labels, restrict marketing to children, and ensure that trade agreements do not undermine public health policy.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
Front-of-pack warning labels proposed for food products high in fats, sugar and salt
NEW DELHI: As India is facing a growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular illnesses, which is primarily driven by unhealthy diets. 29 public health organisations have given a call to implement front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPL) warning labels (WLs) on food products found high in fats or sugar or salt (HFSS). The consensus statement, published in the Journal of Preventive Medicine Research and Reviews, proposes that the government replace the proposed Indian Nutrition Rating (or Health Star Rating) system with front-of-pack warning labels, restrict marketing to children, and ensure that trade agreements do not undermine public health policy. The statement said that it is estimated that in India, nearly 5.8 million people die from NCDs every year out of a total of about nine million deaths, contributing to about 60% of annual deaths. 'There is substantial scientific evidence showing that increased consumption of ultra-processed unhealthy food/drink products is associated with high risks of NCDs and all-cause mortality,' the statement by well-known public health experts said.
India Today
12-07-2025
- Health
- India Today
Packaged food alert: Why India needs warning labels, not health star ratings
The Supreme Court, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) recently, set a three-month timeframe for the Centre to implement food safety norms in the country. The PIL, filed by the Pune-based non-profit 3S and Our Health, had raised concerns about food safety and the need for package labelling norms, especially around nutrients of concern—salt, sugar and fat—so that consumers could make informed government, in its reply, informed that the country's highest food safety regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), had received over 14,000 public comments from various stakeholders on the proposed labelling norms, and had started the amendment September 2022, FSSAI introduced draft Front-of-Package Nutrition Labelling (FOPNL) guidelines and proposed an Indian Nutrition Rating or Health Star Rating model. This is supposed to be an FOPNL system that rates the overall nutritional profile of food, from a star to 5 stars. The more the stars, the healthier the this model work? George Cheriyan, working president of the Consumer Protection Association, thinks otherwise. He argues that companies can add protein or some vitamins to offset the negative impact of sugar or salt content in their food products and still manage a decent rating. For instance, if a bar of chocolate contains some nuts, it may get a healthy score without accounting for the presence of excessive fat and sugar. 'The entire purpose of warning about the presence of harmful ingredients gets ignored in this,' says Cheriyan. Cheriyan suggests India needs warning labels such as those used in Chile, where excess calories, sugar and fat are displayed in large black octagons on food packages, since literacy levels are low in the country and language barriers abound. Thus, warning labels should be in the form of symbols or emojis—just like the red dot currently indicating non-vegetarian food and a green dot indicates a vegetarian are enough studies to underscore the positive impact of food warning labels on public health. Data suggests that 18 months after Chile implemented FOPNL norms, including restricting advertisements for unhealthy products between 6 am and 10 pm, warning labels on packaged food, and a ban on selling junk food in schools, the consumption of sweet beverages reduced by 25 per cent. The study, published in medical journal PLOS Medicine, had tracked 2,000 Arun Gupta, convenor of the National Advocacy in Public Interest, a think-tank on nutrition, says interpretative labels don't work. 'Consumers take 6-8 seconds to choose the brand, and the star rating system doesn't empower them to make decisions according to their personal choices and health and lifestyle preferences,' he states it is time consumers be made king in the real sense. 'It is time to go back to that ethos,' he says. That mission can only be accomplished through a food labelling system that empowers consumers to make choices and take health into their own hands, he Sanyal, chief operating officer and secretary at VOICE (Voluntary Organisation in Interest of Consumer Education), describes FOPNL as one of the most critical ways to curtail the rising consumption of ultra-processed foods in India. He says there is enough data to show how ultra-processed foods are impacting health and becoming was part of the FSSAI discussions on draft FOPL guidelines. He highlights that a more democratic dialogue is required to determine the right norms for the country. During the last discussion on the draft in 2021, he said, the participation in the meeting was heavily skewed in favour of the industry, with 25 representatives from industry associations such as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), but only five from the other side—three from consumer organisations and one each from civil society and farmer producer says most of the regulations are limited to packaged food while there is also a responsibility to ensure food safety for unbranded products in the informal sector, which accounts for a much larger market than the formal sector in India. He shares how unbranded products or counterfeit brands are freely available in small confectionery shops along the highway or in rural areas. 'FSSAI needs to develop the intelligence-gathering mechanism to ensure that all regulations are implemented on the ground for all food products,' he to India Today Magazine- Ends
