Should Package Foods Carry Nutritional Labels? A Call for Clearer Standards in India

Should Package Foods Carry Nutritional Labels? A Call for Clearer Standards in India

Sub : Sci

Sec : Health

Why in News

• A recent report by the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi) highlights the disparities in the healthiness of packaged foods across different global markets. The report has brought attention to the lack of clear food labelling standards in India, emphasizing the need for better regulations to curb the rising incidence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). This issue has gained traction due to India’s growing burden of diet-related health problems.

ATNi Report

• The Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi) is a non-profit global foundation dedicated to improving access to nutritious foods worldwide.
• Established in 2013, ATNi aims to drive change within the food and beverage (F&B) sector by assessing the nutritional quality of products and the companies’ commitments to health and nutrition.
• It focuses on motivating companies to adopt transparent and sustainable practices, particularly in promoting healthier food choices in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).
• One of ATNi’s key projects is the Global Access to Nutrition Index, which is published every two years.
• ATNi uses a standardized rating system to evaluate the healthiness of products based on nutrient content.

Global Access to Nutrition Index:

• The 2024 edition is the 5th release of the Index.
• It evaluates 30 of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers, analyzing over 52,000 products that collectively represent about 23% of the global market share.
• In 2024, Nestlé topped the Index, recognized for its commitments and actions towards improving nutrition.
• Companies are assessed based on product healthiness, transparency, and marketing practices, with particular attention to lower-income markets.
• Low-income countries showed the poorest health ratings for products, highlighting a disparity in healthier food availability.
• Product Healthiness: Companies are assessed using internationally recognized Nutrient Profiling Models, such as the Health Star Rating (HSR). In 2024, only 31% of assessed products met the healthiness threshold of 3.5 out of 5 stars.
• Health Star Rating System: Products were evaluated on a scale from 0 to 5, with 5 stars indicating the healthiest options.
• The rating is based on components that increase health risks (like energy, saturated fats, sugars, and sodium) versus components that mitigate risks (like proteins, fibres, and fruits/vegetables).
• Using a health star rating system, the healthiness of food products in LMICs was rated at an average of 1.8 out of 5, while in HICs it stood at 2.3.
• Increasingly, companies are reporting on the healthiness of their product portfolios, but only 30% have fully adopted international standards.
• The report noted that no company fully adheres to the World Health Organization’s recommendation to prohibit marketing unhealthy foods to children under 18.
• This report echoes earlier findings, such as an April study by the Swiss NGO Public Eye and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN).
• That study revealed that baby food products from Nestlé, sold in India, Africa, and Latin America, contained higher sugar content than similar products sold in Europe.

India’s Growing Health Crisis:

• Non-Communicable Disease Burden: India is experiencing a surge in NCDs, with over 101 million Indians affected by diabetes.
• According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 24% of women and 23% of men are classified as obese.
• At the same time, problems like undernutrition, anaemia, and micronutrient deficiencies persist, complicating the health landscape.
• Unhealthy diets have contributed to 56.4% of India’s total disease burden, as per the Economic Survey 2023-24, citing the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.
• The rise in consumption of highly processed foods, combined with decreased physical activity, is a significant factor.
• Over 50% of Indians cannot afford a healthy diet, according to UN data, while expenditure on processed foods has increased among Indian households.

The Role of Food Labelling:

• India is a signatory to several World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions, which emphasize reducing exposure to harmful food marketing, especially for children.
• The National Multisectoral Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Common NCDs (2017-22) was launched to address these challenges.
• However, there has been limited progress in implementing front-of-pack labelling for foods high in sugar, fats, and sodium.
• A draft regulation, Food Safety and Standards (Labelling & Display) Amendment Regulation 2022, proposed mandatory front-of-pack labelling. However, it has seen little movement in the last two years.
• Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi) argues that clear labelling can influence consumer behaviour, as demonstrated by countries like Chile and Mexico, where sugary beverage consumption dropped following mandatory labelling.
• A study by NAPi found that many packaged foods in India contain high levels of unhealthy nutrients, such as saturated fats.