Front of-Pack (FOP) Labelling
- September 20, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Front of-Pack (FOP) Labelling
Subject – Governance
Context – Countries have tried different labelling formats, but warning labels have emerged as the most effective in guiding consumers to make healthy food choices.
Concept –
- Countries are working to find ways to nudge consumers into healthy food choices and to contain the growing crisis of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension and heart ailments.
- It is a crisis that increasingly impacts children and also exacerbates novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) symptoms. Front-of-pack (FoP) labelling is definitely an effective tool in this effort.
Interpretive ‘warning’ labels–
- Warn about the specific nutrient that is present in excess amount in a product and provide binary information — if the product has a warning label for salt, it has excess salt.
- The information is then conveyed using tools such as colours, shapes and graphics. They do not leave consumers confused with a glut of information, text and numbers to process and thus informs the unlettered and those not familiar with the language.
- At least seven countries have adopted warning labels in the past five years. These include Chile, Peru, Mexico, Israel and Uruguay.
- Brazil and Columbia have announced to implement the label in 2022, with Canada likely to enforce by December 2022 and Argentina, South Africa and the UK considering it.
- Warning labels “have better performance than any other type of labels in visualisation, understanding and healthier food purchase behaviour”.
- The overall nutrition of the product can be assessed by number of octagons on the package — four octagons mean the product is high in all of sodium, sugar, saturated fat and calories.
- Since the labels came into force in 2016, nutrients cut‐offs have become increasingly stricter over a three‐year period. Studies show warning label along with other policy measures have helped reduce purchases of sugary drinks by 24 per cent.
- Low- and middle-income mothers have shown profound changes in attitudes towards food purchases as they now understand the nutritional content of packaged foods.
FOP Labelling in India –
- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) introduced regulations on Packaging and Labelling in 2011.
- The ‘Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and labelling)Regulations, 2011, mandated that pre-packaged food products should include a description of food contained in the package long with a list of ingredients used in it.
- With subsequent amendments, changes mandating format for displaying the license number, step by step regulations on trans fat, the display of warning messages such as ‘May not be nutritionally appropriate for pregnant and lactating women and children under age of 5’, and ‘Consumption of more than 3 gm shall be avoided’, the specification of gluten free food, labelling of edible oil and fat, limitations of dietary fibres in foods like flakes, noodles, pastas and savories, limitations on doses of radiation for food products like fresh fruits, vegetables, cereals and fish to inhibit ripening, delay ripening, insect disinfestation etc, the font size of the label and voluntary display of trans fat free logo, were included.
- In 2018, the FSSAI proposed a draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018, highlighting certain criteria for labelling and display on the front of food packs.
- Under this, the FSSAI proposed the Guiding Daily Amounts (GDA) design for FoPL with the nutrient(s) of concern (high on sugar/salt/fats) in the food product to be marked in RED.
- The FSSAI also laid down the thresholds for sugar, salt/sodium and fats for various food and beverage categories which was in line with the WHO- SEARO model.
- Faced by opposition from the industry, the FSSAI developed a modified set of thresholds in 2019 – a study done and validated based on the Indian context and environment. However, due to continued resistance from the industry, this also did not see the day of light.