HYDERABAD: With the junk food culture effectively taking over the food habits of most youngsters in the country and playing havoc with their health, experts are calling for mandatory labelling of such foods with the letter J.
Unlike the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) rule that makes it mandatory for manufacturers to mark vegetarian and non-vegetarian food with green and red dots respectively, there is no identification mark that differentiates healthy diet from junk food. What's more, India does not even have a statutory definition of junk food, making it difficult for people to make healthy diet choices, say nutrition experts.
"Food products like soft drinks, chips, pizzas, fried food and high calorie biscuits should have "J" marking for easy identification. Most Indians do not understand nutrition table," said nutritionist Radha Puri. She suggested that the FSSAI develop a standard measure based on which food falling in the junk category can be identified.
Such a move can't come sooner, say experts who point to the long-term health hazards of junk food. Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that junk food robs a substantial portion of lifespan while also exposing people to lifestyle diseases. According to WHO, 2.8% of all deaths in the world is due to unhealthy food devoid of fruits and vegetables.
Nutrition expert D Sarkar said that junk food cause health disorders such as obesity, aversion towards home-made nutritious foods and even to poor academic performance. A WHO report on unhealthy food calls for "adequate consumption" of fruits and vegetables as they "reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, stomach cancer and colorectal cancer". Since junk food contains high amount of dietary salt and fat, they have a negative impact on one's blood pressure and cardiac health as well.
Dental surgeon Dr Nashwa Sultana Omer suggests that one should eat diet that has a high fibre and calcium content instead of junk food that accelerates decay of teeth and gums.
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