In a column for Down To Earth, public health researchers Monika Arora, William Joe and Tina Rawal argue that a small symbol on a food packet could become one of India's most useful public health measures. The views are the writers' own.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, a red hexagonal warning label for packaged foods high in sugar, saturated fat and salt, and for specified highly sweetened drinks. The writers call it a significant step towards making nutrition information visible at the point of purchase.
They point to a fast-changing diet: overweight and obesity among Indian adults nearly doubled between the National Family Health Surveys of 2005-06 and 2023-24, with rural rates rising faster, while non-communicable diseases cause a large share of deaths and packaged and ultra-processed foods are reaching rural markets.
A back-of-pack nutrition table, they write, demands time and some knowledge of nutrition science. Warning-style labels used elsewhere, such as Chile's black labels, France's Nutri-Score and the Nordic Keyhole symbol, have been found to improve understanding, and a systematic review linked warning labels to fewer purchases of products high in sugar, salt or fat. They cite Indian research in which 72.58% of adolescents said they read nutrition information on packets and 62.81% said they needed it simplified.
The writers ask for two improvements: that a high level of any one of sugar, salt or fat should trigger a warning on its own, and that the label stay aligned with the dietary guidance of ICMR's National Institute of Nutrition. They also call for curbs on marketing unhealthy food to children, and for taxes, as part of a wider response.
Source: Down To Earth
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