Now Reading: India drops front-of-pack warning labels after industry push
-
01
India drops front-of-pack warning labels after industry push
A can of Fanta sold in London has 63 calories, but the same drink in India contains three times the sugar and an artificial dye that would carry a health warning in…
A can of Fanta sold in London has 63 calories, but the same drink in India contains three times the sugar and an artificial dye that would carry a health warning in Europe. In India, the dye is noted only in small print on the back of the can.
Consumer giants like Coca-Cola and Nestle have long resisted Indian efforts to mandate nutritional warnings on the front of packaged products. India's food-safety regulator, the FSSAI, said in August it abandoned that push, arguing such labels don't account for Indian cuisine's intense flavours. Instead, it proposed a black-and-white table of sugar, fat and salt content.
The Supreme Court is scrutinising the decision after a petition by public health activists. At stake are the waistlines of 450 million Indians who could be obese or overweight by 2050, according to a Lancet study. Roughly 20 nations have adopted interpretive front-of-pack labels.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The FSSAI's reversal mirrors a pattern seen since 2017, when it first floated colour-coded warnings and star ratings but faced industry pushback. Nearly 80% of products in India's Rs 8.5 lakh crore packaged food market could be labelled high in fat, sugar or salt, meaning red warnings would cover most shelves. The Supreme Court in February suggested examining Israel's red-and-green label system, which the regulator then bypassed. The case now pending before the court will determine whether India adopts a model similar to the UK's traffic-light system or keeps voluntary back-of-pack labelling. The next hearing date is yet to be set.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
