Carbonated drinks, junk food still rule college canteens

The ‘No Junk Food’ rules for schools in the State got a boost when the Centre asked that foods, high in saturated fats and carbonated drinks, be withdrawn from schools and college canteens.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Anupriya Patel, Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare said that States and Union Territories have been requested not to serve such food items from the canteens that students flock to.

While a few colleges in the city have already chosen to stop the sale of aerated drinks, there is still a lot of junk food available for the students with little or no healthy options. P. Ishwarya, a student from a college in the city, said that while her college canteen did stock soft drink cans, tetra packs of juices and flavoured milk were more easily available and students preferred them.

V. Shyam, a student from an engineering college in the city, said that they had separate counters for ‘chaat’ items and fried snacks, apart from regular options available for breakfast and lunch. “Many of us depend on the subsidised food available in the canteen and eat at least five meals in a week here,” he said.

‘Increasing awareness’

Andrew Sesuraj, assistant professor, Loyola College, said it was the responsibility of the institutions to ensure that the students are provided with healthy and subsidised food. “The college has not been serving aerated drinks and we have noticed increasing awareness among the students to switch to healthier options, ” he added.

As for schools, both the State board and CBSE schools in the State have been trying to implement the ‘No junk food’ rules in their canteens. More recently, the food safety department had said that the Yellow Book, brought out by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), would be sent to the School Education Department so that the material could be reviewed and taught in schools in order to encourage healthy eating habits among children.

Ms. Patel’s reply had stated that the excessive and regular use of aerated and energy drinks may lead to hypokalaemia, hallucinations, stroke, paralysis, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.