‘We want consumers to know what they are eating’

FSSAI’s The Eat Right Movement seeks to push manufacturers and consumers towards healthier choices

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently started The Eat Right Movement, a nationwide campaign to improve public health and push the food industry to produce healthier choices. Thirty companies, including 18 packaged food companies, have signed various associations with the regulator to bring down salt, sugar and trans fat content in their products. Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI explains the motivation behind the campaign, and the road ahead.

How did the campaign start?

Last November, we came across a report on disease burden in India, which compared statistics between 1990 and 2016. The incidence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) was extremely high and had been rising steadily over the years. The reason we figured was our unhealthy eating habits. The report got us thinking about measures we can take as regulators. The initiative requires a multi-sectoral approach, and we are trying to make interventions at all levels: regulation, supply and demand.

Can Indians give up on packaged food and beverages?

It’s not easy. It may not happen in a day or a month or even a year, but we have to begin the conversations. As the country’s food authority, we have taken the initiative of talking to all stakeholders and see if we can start the change gradually.

Food companies in Western countries have been told to reduce salt and sugar content. Is it viable?

What we have started in India is similar to initiatives taken in the UK and some Western European countries. However, they have also developed robust monitoring systems to pull up those not adhering to the norms. In the future, we hope to cover the monitoring aspect as well.

Have targets and deadlines been set for reduced salt and sugar content?

We don’t even have a clear picture of the current levels of consumption, so setting targets will be difficult. What we are aiming at is to get food businesses to move in this direction. We are coming up with new labelling regulations and setting a threshold for salt, sugar and trans fat content, beyond which the product can be termed as unhealthy. We want consumers to know what they are eating. There are concerns from the industry on such norms, but we are in the process of fine-tuning them.

How many companies have shown willingness?

Thirty companies have signed various associations with us, including 18 packaged food companies, close to 10 e-commerce players and retailers and some restaurant and hotel associations. ITC, Kellogg’s, Mapro, Marico, Patanjali, Haldiram’s, MTR, Bikanerwala, Britannia, DelMonte, Nestle, Hindustan Unilever Limited are some of the companies who have signed on. The Indian Bakers Federation, Wheat Products Promotion Society, Federation of Biscuit Manufacturers of India, Indian Vanaspati Producers Association are among the bodies that have committed to bring about change.

What are these commitments?

Some have signed general commitments in groups, while some have signed individual ones to reduce the salt, sugar and trans fat content. The commitment documents include pledges like encouraging the use of right choice of fat or oil, reformulating products to reduce fat, sugar and sodium, reducing trans fat content in all foods to less than 0.2% by 2022 in a phased manner.

How will you ensure success?

The success of this initiative depends on consumer demand. Consumers have to consciously and actively move towards a healthy lifestyle, and their demands will automatically push companies to create new, healthy products.