“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.
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. “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. “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. “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.
