Don’t leave it to kids to decide what they should eat: NGO

Non-government organisation Uday Foundation, which has sought a ban on the sale of junk food in school premises and within a 500-metre radius, on Wednesday questioned the logic of restricting the availability of such food items only there.

In its submission before a Division Bench of Justice G. Rohini and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, the petitioner questioned the rationality of leaving it to the children to decide which food items are healthy or unhealthy for them.

On Tuesday, the Centre for Science and Environment Director-General Sunita Narain also alleged that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had diluted the original guidelines prepared by an expert group.

The expert group had suggested restricting the availability and consumption of junk food or food high in fat, sugar and salt in schools and in a 50-metre radius around them. It had also called for increasing the availability of wholesome food to school children across the country.

The Bench also refused to endorse the draft guidelines and asked the petitioner to submit suggestions by August 6, the next date of hearing.

The committee has identified chips, fried foods, sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages, sugar-sweetened non-carbonated beverages, ready-to-eat noodles, pizzas, burgers, potato fries and confectionery items as the common foods containing fat, sugar and salt in high quantities.

Another category of concern is the non-standardised deep fried foods such as samosa , chana-bhaturaetc that are available in school canteens and nearby. The guidelines state that the school managements must ensure regulation of such foods through canteen policies that promote consumption of healthy, wholesome and nutritious foods alone.