Apr 16, 2018
Color Coding To Help Buyers Differentiate Between Healthy & Unhealthy Foods
Health conscious eaters or people who are looking for foods that are devoid of harmful chemicals and GMO often have a tough time at markets because it’s not exactly easy to distinguish GMO and chemical-free goods from the entire lot. However, a new regulation introduced by India’s apex food safety regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), may soon change that.
FSSAI has made it compulsory for all food manufacturers to display a red color coding on front-of-the-pack labels borne by packaged food products that are high in fat, sugar or salt levels. Currently food packets – or boxes – carry a general table containing all the nutritional information like calories, total fat, trans-fat, total sugar and salt per serving, but with the new regulation in effect, for products that will contain high levels of fat, salt and sugar, the percentages of dietary energy values will be highlighted in red on the labels. Though a first for India, this is a common practice in many countries.
Additionally, the food safety and standards controller has also suggested that all food products that have 5 percent or more of ingredients that are genetically engineered or modified (GMO) should carry a clear declaration stating the same.
The proposed draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018 are now in the public domain for suggestions and feedback before they are notified, reports The New Indian Express. What do you think, will this move make selecting foods at markets easier for us or will it have no major effect? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Unhealthy foods may be colour coded: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at helping consumers make informed choices, India’s apex food safety regulator has proposed making it mandatory to display red colour coding on front-of-the-pack labels on packaged food products with high fat, sugar or salt levels.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has also proposed that a declaration be made on the label if the food product has five per cent or more of ingredients that are genetically engineered or modified.
The proposed draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018 are now in the public domain for suggestions and feedback before they are notified.
The regulations say that food company will need to declare nutritional information such as calories, total fat, trans-fat, total sugar and salt per serving on the front of the pack.
However, FSSAI has suggested that in case of packaged food products containing high levels of fat, salt and sugar, the percentages of dietary energy values be highlighted in red colour on the labels.
In some developed countries, colour coding is used to let consumers decide if they want to have potentially unhealthy food.
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