Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to put food safety labels on the front side of packaged food depending on the harm fat, sugar and salt cause to human health. Expressing concern over increasing consumption of junk food leading to obesity in youth and children in India, FSSAI CEO Arun Singhal said that there is a plan to introduce front-of-package (FoP) labeling on packaged foods to help consumers make healthier food choices.
Front of Package labels seek to provide simple nutrition information in a more accessible location instead on the back or side of packages. At a meeting with all stakeholders called by FSSAI in June, the industry said the food safety labeling on salt, sugar and fat should be based on serve-size rather than quantity in the packet basis as this is what the consumer eats.
Asserting that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is capable of introducing this kind of label in India, Singhal said it has become necessary as obesity along with malnutrition is also a big problem in the country, especially in youth and children. “There is a rise in demand for packaged food. There is a need to provide information in a simple way about the impact of packaged food on health so that consumers can make choices,” Singhal said. He also mentioned that many countries which used FoP labels saw reduction in consumption of junk food.
Interestingly, FSSAI took close to eight years to reach this stage as industry had been reluctant to have front of package food safety labels, implemented in some other countries such as Brazil and Chile, clearly stating if the product is healthy for people or not. A 2018 study in Brazil and Chile on impacts of food-safety labeling on people has shown that it leads to reduction in consumption of ultra-processed food products, which are considered bad for human health. Around half of the processed food sold in the United States is ultra-processed, meaning very less natural products are used.
IIM Ahmedabad has been asked to conduct a survey on the nature of FoP labels in the interest of consumers, he said on the occasion of 15th anniversary of formation of FSSAI here. “We will get a people perception study done by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, on what sort of label would people prefer,” said Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) chief executive Arun Singhal. Once that study comes, draft and then final guidelines on front of package label (FOPL) would be issued, he said.
Singhal said that several deliberations have been held with stakeholders. A consensus has been arrived at on most issues after elaborate consultations with the industry and consumers, who had different opinions of this issue initially. “The technical issues have been settled, but only one issue is left, that is, the nature of the FoP label. For this, IIM Ahmedabad has been asked to conduct a survey,” he said.