New Delhi: A Delhi-based green body on Wednesday said it has submitted recommendations to FSSAI on the draft regulations on labelling released by the food regulator, urging it to make the norms “effective and stringent”.
In April, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a draft of the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018 and sought comments from stakeholders.
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in a statement said that the draft has “major gaps” and called for making it “effective and stringent”. The CSE said it has submitted recommendations to FSSAI to “ensure a labelling framework in the country”.
CSE deputy director general C. Bhushan said: “A strict labelling law is important to combat obesity and non-communicable diseases plaguing our country. Though this draft directives are a good beginning, it has major gaps that need to be plugged to make it effective.” One of the “gaps” the CSE said the draft “dosen’t provide for labelling of crucial aspects such as added sugar and dietary fibres”.
CSE programme director (food, safety and toxins) A. Khurana said: “Health and nutrition experts recommend it is best to avoid added sugar in food items. It can be measured and controlled and hence must be labelled. Also, dietary fibre is a key beneficial component of our diet and must be labelled. This will help consumers make informed and healthy food choices.”
The draft laws state high in fat, sugar or salt food products “shall not be advertised to kids in any form”, the CSE said. CSE programme manager S. Taneja said: “Kids are consumers of HFSS items. With many kids becoming obese, the FSSAI must adopt to regulate ads of HFSS foods.”
