Latest news with #RevantHimatsingka
Time of India
04-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
From Foodpharmer to Trustpharmer: The life and times of Revant Himatsingka
Revant Himatsingka, a name that has become synonymous with challenging the status quo in the food industry, has now embarked on a new mission; launching his own food brand, Only What's Needed. Once a successful McKinsey consultant, Himatsingka pivoted his career to become a vocal advocate for health literacy, earning both notoriety and fame with "Foodpharmer," the social media identity that catapulted him into a health activist influencer, almost overnight. Soon a barrage of brands approached him with endorsement deals. But he couldn't say yes to them, because nearly 95 of the offers that came his way were from food brands. The remaining five per cent would obviously be non-food and have little or no connection with the work that Himatsingka was pioneering in the space to make Indians read labels of what they consumed. But as he explains, 'The trust deficit exists not only in food… but in so many more things.' That's why Himatsingka's expanding his mission, venturing into the realm of "becoming a trustpharmer", which is both an expansion of his mandate as a self anointed change-maker and a well thought out business decision. In this interview, Prasad Sangameshwaran delves into Himatsingka's journey, exploring his transition from advising brands to actively questioning their practices, uncovering the motivations behind his audacious move, his unique approach to content creation, and how he's leveraging his platform to empower consumers with knowledge. Himatsingka, who draws inspiration from diverse personalities like Indian Ayurveda evangelist, Rajiv Dixit, the Israeli intellectual and author, Yuval Noah Harari and Australian philosopher Peter Singer, considers himself as not a social media influencer or a content creator, but as a "change-maker". We explore the mind of the change maker who is reshaping the conversation around health and transparency in India and now, beyond the food businesses that he originally set out to uncover. Excerpts: Prasad Sangameshwaran: As someone who always speaks truth to power, is there a journalist hidden somewhere inside Revant Himatsingka? Revant Himatsingka: I think so, yes! It's that inquisitiveness, you know, trying to find out the truth and asking questions – that's essentially what led me here. So, yeah, I think there's something there, which is why I also like to follow some people and learn from them. But I've never formally been involved in journalism at any point in my life. Did your consulting career in the past require similar skills like inquiry, digging deeper, trying to unearth issues with companies and figuring out how they could improve…. In a way, the skill sets were pretty much the same, right? Yes, the skill set is similar, of course. You have to deep-dive into things and do a lot of research. The main difference, of course, is that in consulting, I was helping brands, and now I'm often going against brands. It's the opposite! In fact, some of the companies I've sort of exposed, or whatever word you want to use, were clients of my earlier companies. So, it's like being on the other side of the table now. The research skills and a lot of that are similar. I look at a video almost like a PowerPoint presentation – you have photos coming up and you're speaking. Essentially, that's similar to consulting; you make PowerPoints every day in consulting. In that sense, you're trying to simplify things as much as possible. In consulting, they have something called "answer first," meaning your answer should come in the first 5 to 10 seconds, or you'll lose the person's interest. In a video, you have to do something similar. You can't be like, "Okay, at the end of the entire video, I'm going to give you the answer". I mean, you can do that, but then people lose trust and they won't watch the entire thing. So, honestly, there are a lot of similarities. What prompted a very successful consultant to kind of throw caution to the wind and decide to take on so many corporations, almost at the same time? People expect a very interesting story and some emotional thing, but it was a bunch of small things that happened, not like any one incident per se. For example, I was in the US for 13 years – a long time – and every time I went to the grocery store, I was almost mind-blown at how much fake marketing was going on there. All companies claiming to be "high protein" but only having two grams of protein, and things like that. I used to be very amazed and I wanted to do something about it. In India, there's even more miscommunication. In India, people didn't read labels at all. I was like, "I need to come back to India maybe and try to focus on health literacy". So, I always say this: Indians are educated, but not 'health literate'. Even in the fanciest colleges I've spoken at, people often wouldn't know basic things about calories, fiber, sweeteners and colors. They have no idea what they're putting into their body. Even health-conscious people – if you go to the gym and pick any random person and ask them, "Are you confident that the protein shake you're having, or the biscuit you're having is actually good for you?" they won't be able to confidently reply. So, there's a lot of lack of education in the health space. That is what led me to do this. Of course, I didn't envision it happening in the exact way it did. I was thinking more along the lines of starting an app where you could scan the barcode of a packaged food, and it would give you a health rating. Then, people would just download an app and know what to eat. That was more similar to my consulting background, more startup-ish. This entire video, and this video getting viral and blowing up, was obviously a bit of an accident as well. You cannot predict this. You cannot predict going viral the fourth time, fifth time. So, a lot of it was an accident, but the intention was to try to spread health literacy. How many reels did it take you before you hit the 'viral jackpot'? It's very interesting and sort of unbelievable, but my first ever reel as FoodPharmer is my most famous and most viral reel. However, I've been making videos as an individual for seven, eight years, not as frequently as I do now, but at that time, it used to be once a month, once every two months, or once every three or four weeks. Now, I post about two videos a week. But it's like a one-minute video. People who post one-minute videos usually try to post almost every day. And the people who post long-form videos, the 15-20 minute videos, they may do once a week. But for someone who makes only a two-minute video, it's not that regular. You have still arrived as a prolific content creator, if one could call you that…. I want to clarify: I know the word content creator and influencer and some other words like that have unfortunately got stuck with me. I am essentially raising awareness. I even wrote a book 11 years ago, where I was educating people on labels. When you raise awareness using any particular platform, you get labeled with that platform. So, if you raise awareness with a book, you become an author. When you raise awareness online, you become a content creator. I don't personally see myself as a content creator in that traditional form. I'm using a medium of communication which is widely used to spread awareness, and that happens to be online (social media) because that is where most people currently are. That label of content creator and influencer often puts me in a very different bucket from what I would like to try to do. Given a choice, what would you label yourself as? I would say there's no clear answer, but a change-maker is a safe word, I would say. Yeah, so I would say something like that—anyone who's just trying to create awareness. That's pretty much it. Of course, because my videos have gotten a bigger response than my book, I'm called a content creator, not an author. So it's fine, whatever medium of communication works. And in the social media space, which medium actually resonated the best for you? The one which works best for me so far is Instagram . Is that necessarily where you first upload your content? Maybe not, because now Instagram has my biggest audience. So, sometimes I like to test my video on a smaller platform to see if there is hypothetically, potentially, any possible mistake or anything. Then I get a response on some smaller platform, and then I'll correct the mistakes and then I'll upload it on Instagram. But yeah, Instagram is my number one platform. What differentiates me from some other people in this space is that I often make my videos with the purpose of reaching a non health-conscious person. There are doctors and health experts and various people online who are targeting the top 1-5 per cent in their videos – either the people who are going to the gym or people who at least at some point even once contemplated going to the gym. I am making videos for people who are not at all health conscious, but I'm trying to get them to become health conscious, which is why Instagram works, because Instagram is not where you click, it just shows up. It's not an intention-based platform. On YouTube, you click. So, for someone who's clicking a video, it means they're health conscious, they care about that, that's why they're clicking. I am trying to focus on children. Many of my videos are about the "sugar board" movement and all are popular amongst children. So they don't want to watch a video on health. So I'm fighting against the algorithm in some ways, but it helps because you reach a much wider audience. So that's how it's worked for Instagram; it has worked well for me. Although, of course, I would like to grow on YouTube because I think YouTube is a much more serious audience, and you can make longer videos, long form, right? Instagram sometimes unfortunately does not allow the nuance in a one-minute video. Since, you mentioned that the word "change-maker" is what you would love to be known as, and usually change-makers come with some idol in their life. Do you have any such idols? Not any one idol. Genuinely, I feel like no one should have one person who they are obsessed with, because then it just becomes an obsession, and you become a fanatic. So there's no one person. I would say there are qualities of various individuals that I like. In current times, I like Yuval Noah Harari, the Israeli intellectual and author. I like Peter Singer (Australian philosopher). And then there are a few other people, even 10 years ago, like Rajiv Dixit (the evangelist of Ayurveda for rural and urban Indians). I may not agree with every single thing Dixit said, but the aggressiveness with the way you should not worry about names – like, you should name brands openly – that part, you can say, is inspired by him. So, there are certain things where I've been inspired by, but it's not that I am following one particular person's path or anything like that. I may disagree with the same people who I also like, in many ways. Was creating a brand that would be healthy always a part of the plan, or did it just happen? You cannot predict what happens. When I left the US, I was making a lot of money, and I left everything, came here and started making videos. There were cases happening against me, and a lot of the chatter that was all over Google, sort of, "this guy will never ever get a job again". You Google my name and it was negative things and things like that. So, the point is that I just kept following a particular path of showcasing the truth. And there's a very, very strong community I've built of more than 50 lakh people. And people would often give me feedback that, 'You never tell us what is good. And there's a lot of mistrust in the protein space, that people are like, 'Protein is steroids'. So, we would want you to highlight what's good, because you represent trust. So, if you do something like this, it could be pretty cool'. Does listening to the community always lead to the right decision? And I'll tell you one thing: I make some erratic decisions based on public votes. So, for example, I don't do any paid food brand deals. So, I put out a post to my audience on Instagram stories, and I asked people what should I do next, and I gave various options, and options were also based on what people had suggested to me earlier. One of which was clean food alternatives. Another was, "Should I start a health education company? Sort of doing online health courses?" And there are again, there are many people in the finance space who do finance courses and they are making insane money. So there were a lot of people like that who told me that I should do something like that. There were four or five options I gave to the public. However, 72 per cent of people voted that I should start healthier alternatives, try to create healthier alternatives, which is what led me to this path, and that's how it happened. And then I did a voting on what space should I start in, and they were like, "Protein is what we're deficient in." How long did the elections happen? Within protein, I did another vote, which is proteinated or whey protein: then isolate or concentrate. People voted for concentrate. So, like that, we did voting on every small aspect, and that's how we got to the answer. Elections are ongoing in the sense that, for example, what is the next flavor? Like, we launched only one product and one size – cocoa only. And now the election is, what should we make next? Should it be coffee or mango or something? And what is the category we should also do next? Should we do biscuits or should we do vitamins or plant protein, or what should we do next? So, my point is it's an ongoing thing. And with even the smallest, "What should the color of our package be?" – we've taken voting on various things. So, it's an ongoing process. And one more thing, of course, I also tell the people that "These are the pros and these are the cons." So, it's not that people can vote for something like, for example, one very interesting example is... or two examples, like I did whey protein concentrate voting. Now, Isolate is technically better, but people still voted for 'concentrate' because it's more affordable. I told them that you can vote for isolate if you want, but just remember, when I launch it, then you have to pay a higher price as well. So people were sensible enough to not vote for isolate. So I try to give the pros and cons. Three-four months ago, when we were deciding a name. I put out a poll that I really like the word "Take Charge". I thought that should be the name, because throughout my journey I've been taking charge of the public's health and taking charge of the situation and things like that. So "Take Charge" is a great name. It got very average votes. Everyone was like, "Take Charge sounds like an energy drink." Then someone suggested "Only What's Needed," and then that got significantly better votes, and that's how we came up with Only What's Needed. When you conduct business in full public view, don't you end up tipping off your competition? Honestly, I think India is too big to worry about competition. It has so many people, and so many diverse preferences and tastes. I don't think you can copy this. And yes, you can maybe even launch the same four ingredients the public voted for, but that entire story line that you built with the public, that will not be there. You also will not have the advantage of the 50 lakh followers. So it will be hard to replicate the honesty and the intention and all of that. I don't think they'll be able to get the public's confidence in the same way. And it's not just the ingredients, it's more than just selecting the right ingredients. It's the entire way you communicate. So, my goal has been to try to create the world's most transparent label, not India's most transparent label – the world's most transparent label. I have reviewed thousands of labels in my life. So I did a lot of surveys, asked people about what the problems are, and they gave me a lot of suggestions on how we should design it. Probably, we are the first company to put a nutrition label in the front of a pack. This is our logo, and even bigger than the logo is the nutrition facts. Usually, people put the logo in big letters here. So we have the nutrition facts here. The ingredient list is also in the front in the pie chart. So you can very clearly see how many ingredients, which ingredients we are, and in a bigger font. And only 10 to 15 per cent of India knows how to read English. This is a crazy stat. So we have a QR code scanning here, where you can scan this, and you'll get the entire nutrition label in all major languages of India. But we'll keep increasing it. Also, for the people who are visually impaired, with every pack we are giving a nutrition label in Braille. We started the "sugar board" movement quite some time ago, and it's become massive. CBSE, ICSE have all mandated it. So, with every order, we are also giving a sugar board magnet, a fridge magnet to put in your fridge. So there are many things which are first. And another thing is that most companies test their protein powders one to two times in a year. And once, suppose, because once you get a positive test, you can now use that positive test for the rest of the year. Even though every batch is different, once you get, "okay, there's enough protein," then every batch you are just using the same lab report. We test every single batch, not once a year, not twice a year. Every single batch is tested across these seven categories: protein, heavy metal, pesticides, and other seven things. And if even one of the seven tests fail, we'll reject the entire batch. So the point is to try to create a benchmark in transparency testing. And there is no company, as far as I know, one which is putting the nutrition label in the front, putting the exact ingredient percentage – 97.2%, 92.5% exact. This is not legally required; FSSAI is not saying you need to give this. And no one, as far as I know, is giving it in Braille. And the beauty of this is that it's been designed essentially by the public. Like, they have put in their comments, they've seen, "We want ingredients in the front, we want this font size," and things like that. This is the first draft. So, of course, we'll keep adding things. For example, we launched only one, only cocoa. People expected when I launched that I'll have seven flavors – vanilla, cocoa, strawberry. No, it's just not possible for me to launch and do so many things all at once. And that's why we also launch only on our website – no Amazon, no Flipkart, no BigCommerce. It's not that easy operationally. As activist influencers, it is often very easy to get used by rivals. People always want to shoot from somebody else's shoulder. So how do you then insure yourself against that kind of a possibility? You're very right. People want to do that a lot. I have made a public thing: at least as of now, I won't do paid food brand deals. That reduces some scope, and that is 95% of the deals which I get. I have already killed 95% of my income in some ways through this. So I have made that announcement, which helps. Now there have been some cases where people have approached me saying, "I'll give you XYZ amount of money and you criticise some other company." So, of course, I have not done any of that, but that is, of course, one of the problems with this: once you raise voices, people think your voice has a price to it. So, yeah, that was basically the thing. Of course, review... and I'll tell you an interesting incident: once, a particular company had approached me, and I told them... they gave me a thing, "Say that our product is not harmful because we've gotten into some controversy recently." I said I'm not going to do all this, and I won't make any video. Very interestingly, two days later, I saw someone else who's influential on Instagram make a very similar video as to what they proposed to me. And this person is very well-respected and very considered to be scientific and nuanced and fact-checker and whatever else. So it was just very disheartening to see that. When you were putting your own product out, you know that you have made too many enemies and maybe those 50 lakh anonymous friends or followers. Wouldn't the ones who crossed swords with you, go all out to get you? That's a very good way to put it: 50 lakh anonymous friends and probably 100 very public enemies. Yes. It's very difficult. I do massive fact-checking, massive... especially when you design a pack. I have exposed hundreds of labels. If there's any mistake in my own label, what will happen? So it's a very risky proposition. Now, we did a lot of everything. For example, we have the word "sunflower lecithin" on our ingredient list, calling it "emulsifier." The public does not like the word "emulsifier." Even though there's nothing wrong with it scientifically, most other brands, they're not using the word "emulsifier," because once people read "emulsifier," they don't want to buy the product. We are calling it "emulsifier." So, with everything, we are like, there's no point we can escape from it. Another thing, the smallest of things, basically, we are trying our best to be as actually correct and are trying to be as transparent and doing it with full positive intention. So I am just hoping that that positive intention comes through. Of course, I know that there will be times where people will try to poke holes and try to bring me down and things like that. Earlier, my Twitter account had got hacked, and I had lost all my followers. The palm oil board has been running ads against me. So I know that there are people who may make videos against me, and I've seen recently, especially, there have been some people who've been making videos against me. So I understand some of that will happen. Who knows, there can even be adulteration in my own packet. Someone may put in something, and the blame will come to me, not to them. Of course, there is that fear that what if someone does something shady and the blame comes on me? But we are working with a lot of positive intention. You mentioned that almost 95 percent of the endorsement deals that come your way are from food brands, which you are not comfortable with. But the other five percent are from categories that may have little to do with the cause that you represent as a Foodpharmer. How do you then bring in an authentic connect with your audience? When I launched ' Label Padhega India ' (India will read product labels) one year ago, it was supposed to be a food label movement. But the trust deficit is not only in food, but in so many more things. So people were like I'm now going to start reading labels of toothpastes, perfumes, detergents, and the categories just increased. And it's very shocking, but even things like health insurance, they were like, I'm going to read the terms and conditions. It's sort of like a label, 'I'm going to go into the fine details' and they were like, and I started a mini movement called 'terms and conditions India'. Now people want me to reveal scams in not only food. So I have now become a trustpharmer rather than just a foodpharmer. I'm thinking of a second channel as lifepharmer, where the content is about everything and it's no longer about just food.
Fashion Value Chain
11-07-2025
- Business
- Fashion Value Chain
Farmley to Host 2nd Edition of Indian Healthy Snacking Summit at Bharat Mandapam
Following the success of its debut flagship edition, Farmley, India's leading healthy snacking brand, is set to host the 2nd edition of the Indian Healthy Snacking Summit (IHSS) on July 18, 2025, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Shri Chirag Paswan, Cabinet Minister of Food Processing Industries of India, will grace the occasion as Special Guest. Farmley to host 2nd edition of IHSS 2025 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi The summit will bring together a diverse group of over 2,000 participants, including policy-makers, investors, start-up founders, and leaders from across the food, wellness, and retail sectors. The event will also witness the unveiling of an all-encompassing industry report on pertinent trends shaping India's healthy snacks market. The evening will feature prominent voices shaping consumer and food innovation in India, including Revant Himatsingka aka FoodPharmer, Amitesh Jha, CEO, Swiggy Instamart, Arjun Vaidya, Founder, Dr. Vaidya's and V3 Ventures, Dr. Ritesh Malik, Founder, Innov8. The summit will also see participation from the investment community, including firms such as L Catterton, DSG Consumer Partners, Omnivore, and Insitor Partners, senior leaders from the retail, FMCG, and quick commerce sectors, as well as representatives from Amazon, Blinkit, Zepto, Meesho, etc. These speakers will participate in various panel discussions, offering insights into investment trends, the future of food distribution, and emerging health-conscious consumption patterns. The event will also provide a platform for over 200 emerging start-ups to showcase product innovations and bring together key stakeholders from across the food, retail, investment, and policy ecosystems. 'With the second edition of IHSS, our goal is to strengthen conversations around healthier food choices and support emerging start-ups by giving them a platform to showcase their ideas, connect with industry leaders, and grow within the food ecosystem,' said Akash Sharma, Co-founder, Farmley. About Farmley Farmley is a Noida-based healthy snacking brand founded in 2017, aiming to become the go-to choice for guilt-free, anytime-anywhere snacks. Endorsed by Rahul Dravid, the brand has gained strong visibility in India's wellness food space. Farmley follows a farm-to-palm model, directly sourcing makhanas, nuts, seeds, and dry fruits from over 5,000 farmers. Its in-house production and R&D capabilities drive innovation across product formats. In May 2025, Farmley raised $42 million in a Series C round led by L Catterton, with participation from DSG Consumer Partners, to strengthen regional expansion, food-tech capabilities, and its omnichannel distribution network.
Hindustan Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
‘It wasn't charity': FoodPharmer reveals how Nithin Kamath offered help at his lowest point
Revant Himatsingka, better known by his online moniker FoodPharmer, recently took to social media platform X to recount a powerful moment from his journey—when Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath offered him financial support during a personal and professional crisis, asking for nothing in return. Himatsingka, a health and nutrition influencer known for calling out unhealthy food marketing practices, revealed that in late 2023, he was battling multiple lawsuits and facing financial uncertainty after quitting his job in the US. 'I had quit my job in the US, wasn't doing food brand deals, and I had 8 legal notices,' he wrote. 'That's when I met @Nithin0dha at an event in December 2023.' The conversation that followed left him stunned. 'He told me, 'Don't worry, if you need any financial help, let me know, I'll help out,'' Himatsingka recalled. 'I asked him, 'How much equity would you want if you help me?' He smiled and said, 'None. I don't want anything. I just want to support you.'' Moved by the gesture, the influencer emphasized that the offer wasn't about charity—it was about belief. 'It wasn't charity. It was belief. Belief that doing the right thing is worth backing,' he wrote. 'In a world obsessed with ROI, here was someone who reminded me that true wealth is in character.' Though he ultimately didn't accept the money—opting instead to build a sustainable income stream—Himatsingka expressed his deep gratitude: 'You didn't just offer me help. You inspired me.' Himatsingka, earlier this year, took to social media to reveal that he had quit his ₹2 crore per annum job in the United States and returned to India 'to fight companies which are doing false marketing.' Over the last one and a half years, he claimed to have turned down hundreds of food brands, many of which offered him large sums of money. 'I've obviously said no to junk food promotions, but I've even said no to all clean food brands asking me to promote them,' he wrote on X. 'The money these companies offered could have changed my life,' he noted. However, he said his commitment to remaining 100% unbiased in his reviews led him to reject even the most lucrative offers. Quitting a high-paying job and shifting to content creation came with significant challenges. Himatsingka shared that for 14 months, he made no income. Also read: Mumbai job seeker claims 'intrusive' interviewer asked about family income, marriage plans 'After 14 months of making no money, my savings dried up and my legal costs increased. So I started doing a few non-food promotions. But I continued to say no to all food promotions, even though 95% of the deals I get are food-related,' he wrote on Instagram. He clarified that while he wasn't facing financial hardship, he was finding it difficult to grow his platform and broaden its influence. 'I want to make it clear that I'm not struggling financially and I am living a comfortable life. But I am struggling to scale our impact,' he posted. The relentless pace of work had also started to affect his mental health. In his posts, Himatsingka admitted, 'I am very burnt out.'
News18
27-05-2025
- Business
- News18
Food Pharmer To Launch A Health-Focused Brand OWN - Only What's Needed
Last Updated: Revant Himatsingka will be first sold online through his website, quick commerce platforms and major e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart. Revant Himatsingka aka Food Pharmer, is a popular social media influencer who is known for calling out misleading food labels and unhealthy ingredients hidden in everyday products. Now, he is stepping into the business himself with a clean-label brand built with help from the same followers who made him famous. In a recent interview, the influencer explained that he wants to shift from just highlighting problems to actually offering solutions. 'One of the biggest concerns my followers point out is that my content is more problem-focused. Nine out of my 10 videos will probably say that a particular product has a problem or is being advertised incorrectly. I want to go from being problem-oriented to solution-oriented, giving more alternatives to people, telling what they can potentially eat," Revant told Moneycontrol. Revant is now launching his range of clean-label foods. He said the idea came directly from his community. His first product launch is a whey protein for which a soft launch is planned for June followed by a full launch in July. According to Revant, this wasn't a random decision. 'It was people who decided what product I should launch. They are also suggesting the ingredients," he told the outlet. The product will be sold under the brand name Only What's Needed (OWN), a title chosen based on suggestions from his online community. Revant had initially considered naming it Take Charge, but his followers weren't on board with the idea. 'Most companies add unnecessary and often harmful ingredients. We're doing the opposite — including only what's truly needed. That way, you're taking ownership of your health because you're making a conscious choice — it's your product," he explained. For production, Revant has partnered with a manufacturing unit in Tirupati. 'They're also investing some funds, which should cover our needs for at least the first six months. After that, we'll assess the response and consider raising more capital if needed," he said. The product will first be sold online through his website, quick commerce platforms and major e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart. There are no offline plans right now. He said offline retail needs a different kind of expertise, which he and his team don't have at the moment. Revant further admitted that the product won't be cheap because of the quality of the ingredients that will be used. But he wants to keep it reasonably priced by cutting down on ad expenses. 'Most companies spend insane amounts on ads. If I can cut down the advertising budget by 20–30 per cent and pass that on to customers, then we can be cheaper," he explained. Even as he starts his business, the influencer said that most of his earnings still come from public talks, which he does occasionally. 'Monetisation from the food brand is a long-term thing. You don't get money even in the first three years," he said about food businesses. In addition to launching OWN, he is introducing something called 'Food Pharmer Approved.' 'I will approve brands which I think are authentic. This can potentially expand beyond packaged foods, like approving a healthy restaurant. 'Food Pharmer Approved' will be like a symbol or a certification," he said. Although he initially wanted to go for lab-tested certification, the cost and time made it difficult. For now, the approval will be based on reviewing ingredients. He also plans to add a disclaimer saying the products haven't been lab-tested. Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN News18. Stay updated with all the latest business news, including market trends, stock updates, tax, IPO, banking finance, real estate, savings and investments. Get in-depth analysis, expert opinions, and real-time updates—only on News18. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published:
The Hindu
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Why are ‘sugar boards' necessary in schools?
The story so far: In order to check the sugar intake of school-going children, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has instructed over 24,000 affiliated schools across India to establish 'sugar boards', where information is displayed for educating students about the risks of excessive sugar intake. What are 'sugar boards'? Two years ago, food influencer Revant Himatsingka appealed to schools through a video to start a 'sugar board' campaign, which involves a visual representation of the quantity of sugar contained in a bottle of aerated drink or packaged fruit juice. 'Children need to learn in fun and interesting ways the perils of consuming excess sugar. So, in Do It Yourself (DIY) workshops with school children, we ask the students to stick, say for instance bottles of aerated drinks, or packaged juices, [on a paper/white board] and adjacent to that stick the quantity of sugar in a packet and number of teaspoons of sugar that go into the product,' Mr. Himatsingka told The Hindu. For example, a 300 ml bottle of a popular aerated drink contains eight teaspoons of sugar, with one teaspoon of sugar being nearly four grams. Similarly, a popular brand of a 125 ml packaged mango drink contains five teaspoons of sugar. 'Sugar boards' provide essential information, including recommended sugar intake, the sugar content in commonly consumed foods (such as junk food and cold drinks), health risks associated with high sugar consumption and healthier dietary alternatives. The CBSE has stated that schools may submit a brief report and photos of the activity on 'sugar boards' till July 15. Mr. Himatsingka said that while many schools have already included 'sugar boards' in their activities, CBSE's directive will create awareness in nearly two crore students and their families. Why are 'sugar boards' necessary? The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has pushed for the introduction of a 'sugar board' in all schools, not only in those which are CBSE affiliated, but also in schools which are affiliated to various State boards. In a letter written to CBSE by NCPCR in March earlier this year, the child rights body emphasised, 'Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in Type 2 Diabetes among children, a condition primarily seen in adults. This alarming trend is attributable to high sugar intake… easy availability of sugary snacks, beverages and processed foods within school environments,' the letter states. While population-based data on Type-2 diabetes among children and adolescents are unavailable from India, it is estimated that the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in the group is 397 per lakh population, next only to China which has 734 estimated cases per lakh. Speaking with The Hindu, Dr. Divya Gupta, gynaecologist and a member of NCPCR, said, 'Studies indicate that sugar constitutes 13% of daily calorie intake for children aged 4 to 10 years and 15% of those aged 11 to 18 years —substantially exceeding the recommended limit of 5%.' What is India's regulatory stand? Official sources said that the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI) had convened a scientific panel of experts in April and May earlier this year, to decide on a High Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS) definition pertaining only to school meals. However, the FSSAI has still not set HFSS standards or finalised the 'health-star rating system', for front-of-pack labelling regulations. 'In the meeting, we could not arrive at definition for HFSS for what comprises a school meal. Discussions are underway and it was decided that the HFSS definition for what comprises school meals cannot be different from that of packaged food. So a holistic HFSS definition should be formulated,' an official said. Currently, FSSAI has regulation for brands making food claims. For instance, a low sugar claim can only be made if a product contains not more than five gm sugar per 100 gm. 'While there are regulations in place for making claims on packaged food, FSSAI has not fixed cut-offs for High Fat, Salt, Sugar consumption for the Indian population,' the official said. India currently relies on World Health Organization (WHO) cut-offs for ideal HFSS intake. For instance, WHO guidelines restrict daily sugar intake in adults and children to 25 grams (six teaspoons). However, experts argue that the Indian cut-off should be lower, and should be derived from indigenous data, as the genetic make-up of Indians make them more prone to heart attacks. 'We need epidemiological data, through a country wide study which monitors dietary intake, along with variables like data on Body Mass Index, insulin resistance, lipid profile, biochemical parameters and so on,' said an expert closely working with FSSAI on the issue. What next? Dr. Gupta said that the child rights body is working on gradually introducing directives for foods high in salt and trans-fats as well. 'NCPCR is also gathering data on children suffering from diabetes from government hospitals. We will be talking to parents during parent teacher meetings about the importance of healthy eating. We have had stakeholder meetings with paediatric doctors who will be roped in to go to schools for workshops and so on. Introducing 'sugar boards' is just the beginning,' Dr. Gupta said.
