New Delhi:
“High fat”, “high sugar” and “high salt” warnings in red hexagonal boxes could soon be the latest weapon against obesity and other lifestyle diseases in the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s arsenal.
Prodded by the Supreme Court to act against unhealthy packaged foods, FSSAI has proposed displaying ingredient warnings on the front labels of products rich in such contents.
“In this regard, FSSAI has prepared a proposal for providing information relating to added sugar, added fat and salt in pictorial form on the Front-of-Pack (FoP). The proposal is intended to provide a simple, prominent and easily comprehensible warning to consumers regarding food products which are high in specified nutrients of concern,” the FSSAI said in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, which had ordered the food regulator to make these labels mandatory while hearing a plea that linked these nutrients to serious health issues such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers.
The food regulator today proposed the warning labels be displayed in a red-coloured hexagonal shape for food products high in any two or more of the following nutrients: saturated fat, added sugar and salt.
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“The warning label shall indicate the applicable declaration(s), such as HIGH FAT, HIGH SUGAR, HIGH SALT, and/or HIGHLY SWEETENED BEVERAGE”, as the case may be, to enable consumers to readily identify products high in the specified nutrients,” it said.
The regulator said the warning should be displayed in a font size larger than that used in the nutrition information table on the back of the pack.
FSSAI also proposed exemptions for some categories.
“Single-ingredient food products and food products which are inherently rich in fat, sugar or salt, such as ghee, edible oil, salt, sugar, jaggery and honey, subject to the applicability of other requirements under the food safety and labelling regulations” can be exempted, it said.
It recommended that the exercise be implemented in phases to “facilitate consumer acceptability and provide industry adequate time for reformulation”.
Phase I would cover products high in two or more specified nutrients — added fat, added sugar and salt — and specified sweetened beverages. Phase II would extend the warning to products high in any one of these.
“That for this regulation, a food product shall be considered High in Fat, Sugar and/or Salt where, based on the nutrients-of-concern thresholds specified under the Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024 issued by ICMR-NIN, the food product is high in any two or more of the following nutrients: a) added fat; b) added sugar and salt,” it added.
