Jul 11, 2018
FSSAI launches Eat Right campaign to curb consumption of sugar, salt and fat
The objective is to combat negative nutritional trends and fight lifestyle diseases
This campaign has kick-started at a crucial time when India is becoming the diabetes capital of the world. Credit: FSSAI
States such as Karnataka and Odisha have shown high intake of salt in their diet, revealed Hemalatha R, director of National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) during the launch of the ‘Eat Right Movement’ today. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has initiated this campaign, wherein the key stakeholders like food processing industries and restaurants will volunteer to reduce the percentage of salt, sugar and fat content in food.
This campaign has kick-started at a crucial time when India is becoming the diabetes capital of the world, cases of anaemia and micronutrient deficiencies are on the rise, and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounting for 1 in 5 disease-related deaths.
As a part of the campaign, edible oil industries took a pledge to reduce trans-fat content by 2 per cent by 2022. Later, food companies also took a pledge to reformulate packaged foods with reduced level of salt, sugar and saturated fat.
This Eat Right Movement is a collaborative move with stakeholders—on both the demand and supply side—coming together. On the demand side, the campaign focuses on empowering citizens to make right food choices. On the supply side, it nudges food businesses to reformulate their products, provide better nutritional information to consumers and make investments in healthy food as responsible food businesses.
This is a voluntary movement from both the sides. To begin with, food brands such as Haldiram’s, Bikanerwala, Kellogg’s have volunteered to reformulate their products.
Related resources to disseminate the message
Apart from this, a tool kit also has been introduced to address the issue at grassroots level. Both theory- and activity-based manuals have been developed to train the ASHA and Anganwadi workers in the villages.
On the consumer front, FSSAI has come up with a separate portal where they can post queries and experts from the Nutrition Society of India(NSI), Indian Dietetic Association (IDA), Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India), Indian Medical Association (IMA), Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) and individual experts will guide them. An AI-powered Chatbot for citizens to answer all questions related to food is also available. The experts have contributed health tips, balanced diets and easy recipes, which are available on the website.
Calling it a good move, Sunita Narain, director of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said that just like new regulations on packaging and labelling, and safe food for school children, FSSAI should consider making ‘Eating Right’ a regulation instead of only a volunteering activity to have a better impact.
FSSAI asks food companies to voluntarily cut salt, sugar, fat in packaged products
To promote safe and healthy food, regulator FSSAI today asked industry to voluntarily reduce salt, sugar and saturated fat in packaged food products as it would take about an year to make labelling norms operational.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) today launched a national campaign 'The Eat Right Movement' to improve public health and combat lifestyle diseases.
Edible oil industry, bakeries and FMCG companies, including Nestle India, HUL and Patanjali, took pledge to reduce the level of salt, sugar and fat in food products.
To kick start and popularise the movement, FSSAI has roped in film actor Rajkummar Rao for a short video that encourages citizens to reduce salt, sugar and fat. The video would be telecast on television channels and circulated through other mass media including social media.
"We have come out with draft food labelling regulation. It is with the Health Ministry now," FSSAI's CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said at the launch of this movement which was attended by top officials of Nestle India, Patanjali and HUL among others.
"It will take at least one year to be operational. Until then, this is the opportune time for the food industry to reformulate their products," he added.
Agarwal said the regulator would get an actual feedback from the industry while finalising the labelling norms if food business operators start following the draft rules.
The FSSAI CEO said that it would take about 4-5 months to finalise the packaging and labelling norms and then at least six months would be given to the industry for compliance.
While launching 'The Eat Right Movement', he said the campaign is built on two broad pillars of 'Eat Healthy' and 'Eat Safe'.
On the demand side, the movement focuses on empowering citizens to make the right food choices. On the supply side, it nudges food businesses to reformulate their products, provide better nutritional information to consumers and make investments in healthy food as responsible food businesses.
While the edible oil industry, bakeries and halwais' committed to phase out trans-fats by 2022, major food companies pledged to reformulate packaged foods to reduce the level of salt, sugar and saturated fat.
The food services sector promised to provide healthier food options and introduce menu-labelling, even as major food retail players including e-commerce players agreed to promote healthier food options and responsible retail practices.
This movement could not have come at a better time, with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) accounting for 1 in 5 disease-related deaths, widespread anaemia and other micronutrient deficiencies on the rise and India becoming the diabetes capital of the world, the FSSAI said.
Speaking on the occasion, K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to the government, said there is a need to complement reduction of salt, sugar, fat with lifestyle changes such as eating a more plant-based, natural diet.
The industry is a big player in supporting this movement therefore synergy between government, civil society and the industry is critical to its success, he added.
Suneeta Narain, DG, Centre for Science and Environment, said the FSSAI should "move ahead with the labelling regulations as fast as possible." She favoured government regulations to deal with junk foods and not voluntary commitments from the industry.
FSSAI Chairperson Ashish Bahuguna said these voluntary nutrition commitments are a giant leap forward to combat negative nutrition trends in society.
Eat Right Movement off to a healthy start
Actor Rajkummar Rao launches the web portal in Mumbai on July 10, 2018 to kick-start the Eat Right Movement.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority’s programme aims at engaging citizens to make correct choices
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Tuesday unveiled ‘The Eat Right Movement’, built on two broad pillars of ‘Eat Healthy’ and ‘Eat Safe’. The programme aims to engage and enable citizens to improve their health and well-being by making the right food choices.
Star attraction
Kicked off in the city by National Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao, the event saw the food industry, public health professionals, civil society and consumer organisations, and influencers and celebrities coming together to pledge concrete steps to create ‘The Eat Right Movement’ in the country.
FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said the movement can grow organically as a self-perpetuating movement, co-owned and co-led by various partners using the broad framework and resources put together by professionals and experts in the field of food and nutrition.
Stating that its aim was to cut down salt/sugar and oil consumption by 30% in three years Mr. Aggarwal said that 15 major food manufactures have already joined the programme.
The FSSAI, he said, “is looking at robust food labelling and cleaning up the claims space.”
Tasmac collecting details of bars without FSSA licences
Additional Advocate General seeks one week time
The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac), a government undertaking which operates liquor shops in the State, on Tuesday told the Madras High Court that it had instructed its district managers to issue notices seeking explanation from all bar owners whether they had obtained licence under the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006.
Additional Advocate General P.H. Arvindh Pandian made the submission before Justices N. Kirubakaran and V. Parthiban and sought a week’s time to revert on the progress. He said he would be able to place the statistics of the bars that were being run with FSSA licences and those without licences only after receiving reply to the notices.
It was during the last hearing of the case on July 5 that the judges had raised a question whether all bars had been licenced under the 2006 enactment. As to the question on the possibility of opening shops at 2 p.m. every day instead of 12 p.m., the AAG said it was a policy decision that had to be taken at the highest level in the government.
Unhappy with the reply, Justice Kirubakaran said it was essential to open liquor shops after lunch hours so that the addicts could be encouraged to work during daytime. He impressed upon the need for the government to give a serious thought to the proposal and adjourned the matter by a week.
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