Ready to eat foods low on nutrients, fatten you

Study Says Packaged Food Unhealthiest in India

At least for a decade now, doctors in India have been warning against the consumption of chocolates, cookies, chips and other packaged foods. Their concerns have fallen on deaf ears for ages, but it is time for many in the country to seriously consider this advice now. A recent survey has found that India’s packaged food is among the unhealthiest of the countries surveyed in the world.

The study published in the medical journal ‘Obesity Reviews’ analysed more than 0.4 million food and drink products from 12 countries including the UK, US, Australia, Chile, China, India, New Zealand and others. These products were rated based on the Australian Health Star Rating System. The system assesses the healthiness of food products on a scale from 0.5 to 5, where 0.5 is the least healthy. 

The assessment is done by comparing the good ingredients and components of the products (fibre, protein, fruits, legumes etc.) to the bad ones (saturated fats, calorie intake, total sugar and sodium). In this study, India ranked the lowest with a 2.27 rating. It was followed by China at 2.43 and Chile at 2.44. Amongst the high-ranking countries, the UK was at the top with 2.83 and closely followed by the US with 2.82 and Australia with 2.81. 

These findings are bad news for Indians considering the amount of packaged food that they consume. According to a report done in 2017, 93% of children eat packaged food and 68% consume packed beverages more than once a week. Moreover, in 2016, the National Family Health Survey in India had pointed out that obesity in the country had doubled in a decade. Against this backdrop, the current study highlights that the high levels of sugar, saturated fats and calories in some of India’s favourite snacks are a cause of concern. 

But what has earned India such low rating? Sonal Dhingra, the Deputy Programme Manager of Food Safety and Toxins at the Centre for Science and Education answers that a lack of regulation is the main cause. “The current law does not require a mandatory declaration of critical nutrients of concern like salt, saturated fats, cholesterol and added sugar. So, the same food company that declares these nutrients of concern in countries like the US and UK are selective in declaration here. Besides, it is not just about the content but also about the quantity consumed. Indian regulations in their current form, unlike the US and UK, do not mandatorily require the declaration of serving size and per serve contribution to recommended dietary allowance (RDA). If a consumer is aware of how much of the daily limit of fat, salt or sugar he/she will exhaust by consuming a particular quantity, they can consume thoughtfully,” she says. 

Dhingra further adds that the nutritional quality of packaged foods can be improved if the food companies reformulate their products i.e. manufacture the same foods with less fat, sugar, and salt. Front-of-pack warning labels can potentially encourage reformulation of these products, but the food industry is averse to the idea of having a warning label on the foods. Having this label would make it easier for a consumer to understand the contents of the packaged food and highlight excess fat, sugar, and salt. 

But this improved consumer understanding of unhealthy packaged food is detrimental to the sales of these companies. 

Mridul Patwardhan, a nutritionist who specialises in food as preventive medicine and sports nutrition too has similar things to say. “Manufacturers of these products want to maintain their profit margin yet keep their prices low for maximising their sales. In this bid, they tend to use a lower quality of the ingredients. Multiple videos have been put up on social media which have shown how unhealthy packaged food is. However, no action has been taken up in response to that. Such things are not taken lightly in developed countries and if a company is sued, it becomes difficult for them to carry on with their business,” she says. 

Patwardhan further added that consumers too need to be aware and read the labels carefully. “I had once bought two variations of pasta, one which claimed to be whole wheat pasta on the front label and the other one was white pasta. However, when I compared the ingredients of the two, they were the same. So, what made the pasta look brown? One needs to think about it,” she says. 

The health burden of packaged food 

Considering that packaged food is energy dense, with a high content of fat, sugar, and/or salt, it contributes to long-run health risks. “In India, the disease patterns have experienced complete transition since the 1990s. About two-thirds of Indians now die because of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These include cardiovascular diseases, cancers and diabetes, many of which are associated with unhealthy diets. Overweight/obesity levels among the 15-49-year-old population have doubled in a decade and the threat of hypertension is looming large,” says Dhingra. 

On the positive side, she says that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) released a draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2019 last month, which also includes ‘front-of-pack’ labelling along with red-coloured coding to help identify foods that are high in calories, saturated fats, trans fats, added sugar and sodium. The draft, if adopted, will require packaged foods to have this label which can encourage the food industry to improve the nutritious value of packaged food. 

“It is important that this draft is notified soon to enforce the required labelling laws. Apart from the labelling regulations, the consumption of high fat, sugar, salt (HFSS) foods also needs to be curtailed by having in place a robust regulatory framework for restricting its advertisements, targeted at children and youngsters. This should be made applicable to ads on television (during prime-time), in outside spaces like near parks, schools, stadiums and other places where children gather, and digital media platforms that children access the most. The availability of packaged food in school canteens needs to be restricted as well,” says Dhingra.

Food supplements sold as drugs in State

Companies claim falsely that the products have approval of AYUSH Ministry

Certain manufacturers in the State have been accused of getting licence for their products as ‘food supplements’, but later resorting to multi-level marketing to sell them as drugs that can cure diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, and body pain.

The Assistant Commissioner of Food Safety, Thiruvananthapuram, recently banned the sale and marketing of Glucosamine Plus capsules and Jamun capsules, food supplements that claim to heal osteoporosis, a bone disease, vericos vein, neck pain, and diabetes and related issues. The action was based on complaints filed by the Campaign Against Pseudo Science Using Law and Ethics (CAPSULE), an initiative of the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad.

M.P. Anil Kumar, functionary of CAPSULE, says these companies claim that their products have the “approval” of the Union Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH). They also claim that the products are Ayurvedic drugs that have no side effects.

“They call for franchisees in districts and hold workshops for prospective clients. Those who enrol five customers would be offered a commission and the network gets expanded. Not many know that the AYUSH Ministry does not issue approval for drugs,” he says.

The Drugs Control Department has a limited role in regulating these products as the licence is given by the Food Safety authorities, he claims.

In the order banning Glucosamine Plus capsules and Jamun capsules, the Food Safety authorities pointed out that the advertisements placed by the companies and the sale of their products had violated the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011. The labels of food products for sale should not contain the words “recommended by medical profession” or those implying that the products were recommended by medical practitioners or were approved for medical purpose.

Illegal adverts

Placing advertisements of such products falsely representing that they were of a particular standard, quality, quantity or grade composition was illegal. The manufacturers should not make false representation about the usefulness of the products or give any guarantee of their efficiency that was scientifically proved, the order added.

Most eateries flouting food safety rules in Dimapur

Dimapur, August 25: The Food safety authorities have been caught napping time and again while the Food Safety and Standards Act are being openly flouted in Dimapur.

There are hundreds of food joints and hotels, ranging from roadside/ foot path eateries, tea stalls to restaurants and bakeries flourishing in the commercial hub of the State with little or no monitoring from the authorities on the safety of foods served in such establishments.

In a major embarrassment to the State authorities, a tourist had a nauseating experience while eating at a hotel here recently. The tourist informed about the same to some of his State official friends who then informed the Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare.

When Nagaland Page contacted the Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Ramiah Ramakrishnan, it was learnt that a tourist from a neighboring state while eating in a hotel at Middle Point Colony observed with utter disgusts that rats were running on the floors, even touching his feet and the food items kept on the table. It was also learnt that sweats from the cooks were dripping on cooking pan, the floors and the tables were unclean, splashed with food items and food was served in unclean plates with dirt visible.

The tourist, as learnt, paid off the bill without eating anything and rushed out from the hotel. He then informed some friends who contacted the Principal Secretary, H&FW and narrated the happening.

“It is a very shameful matter for the State and so I immediately informed the Chief Medical Officer, who deputed the food inspection team and made the necessary inspections. More such surprise checking will take place,” Ramiah Ramakrishnan said.

In the inspection report, the food inspection team mentioned that “the sanitary and the hygienic condition of the tea stall were at zero tolerance.”

“The tea stall premises were filthy and the surroundings too were found to be unhygienic and there were every possibilities of cross contamination of food articles. Fourteen days time was given for food compliance under FSS Act, rules and regulations guidelines,” the report said.

Instructions were also issued to all the tea stall proprietors to attend to food safety authorities for necessary legal actions.

This, however, is only a tip of the iceberg. If the officials conduct raids on other hotels, tea stalls or bakeries in the city, many facts will be exposed about the poor quality of food served to customers and poor hygiene inside the eateries and restaurants.

Earlier this year some raids were conducted on some restaurants and bakeries, both in Dimapur and Kohima, and they were reportedly given some time for food compliance under FSS Act. Whether they have complied to the guidelines or not nothing is known, as is the activities of the State food safety authorities since then.

There is also the habit of the State authorities to announce when they are going to conduct raids, which allows time for the eateries to ensure a semblance of hygiene in their respective establishments during the raid period.

Ramiah assured that the food inspection team would vigorously carry out inspections and strict actions enforced on defaulters. Perhaps he should also direct the food inspection team to go for surprise raids, instead of giving advance announcement of raids to be conducted, in order to eradicate this menace.