Dec 19, 2019
Junk food regulation stalled by food industry, CSE claims
The CSE tested the fast-food against yet-to-be-notified thresholds set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and all were in breach.
Given consumers have a right to know what they are consuming, the government must provide clarity on the notification of the regulations.
The findings of a lab-analysis of 33 popular junk foods from top-billed brands, including PepsiCo’s Lays, Nestle’s Maggi, and Mc Donald’s, among others, by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) show consumers could be ingesting unhealthy amounts of salt and fat. The CSE tested the fast-food against yet-to-be-notified thresholds set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and all were in breach—indeed, one brand of snacks marketed as a healthier alternative to conventional offerings had twice the level of salt allowed in a day from a snack. But, the real shocker is CSE’s assertion that consumers have been kept in the dark because the processed food lobby is thwarting the notification of the Food Safety Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations that would replace the existing Regulations.
FSSAI had already taken five years—work had started in 2013—when it came up with a draft in 2018 that was sent to the health ministry for finalisation. The draft proposed that packaged food containing more than its prescribed thresholds of salt, transfats, added sugars, and other nutritional components that pose health risks carry a front-of-the-pack red mark to indicate these risks. But, following objections from the food industry, FSSAI sent the draft for review to a committee headed by B Sesikeran, a trustee of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), in August 2018. ILSI is financed by Coca-Cola, PespsiCo, Nestle, Danone, and other food industry giants. While the final draft Labelling and Display Regulations—announced in June 2019—retains the ‘red mark’ provision of the 2018 draft, it dilutes several thresholds. For instance, as per the 2019 draft released after the Sesikeran committee submitted its report—the report was never made public—a product will have to be marked ‘red’ if the energy provided by the added sugar content is more than 10% of the total energy provided by 100g of the product. But, the 2019 draft dropped the 2018 draft’s labelling requirement for total sugar in favour of ‘added sugar’—that means the manufacturer doesn’t have to inform the consumer about the naturally occurring sugar in the food. Also, the threshold for added sugar has been set at 50 g, the same as the 2018 threshold for total sugar.
Whether or not the food companies are stalling the notification of the regulations is difficult to say. But, given consumers have a right to know what they are consuming, the government must provide clarity on the notification of the regulations. New York Times reports that, in China, ILSI shares office space and staff with the body tasked with battling the country’s obesity epidemic, and, in Brazil, its representatives occupy seats that were previously reserved for university researchers on food and nutrition panels. Against such a backdrop, the government needs to be very circumspect about the heft it allows food industry representatives in food standards regulation.
Time to junk packaged food!
New Delhi, December 17
A new report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) claims that most packaged food and fast food items being sold in India contain high levels of salt and fats in them, much higher than the threshold set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), but not notified.
The study tested salt, fats, trans-fats and carbohydrates in 33 popular junk foods, which include 14 samples of chips, namkeen, instant noodles and soups and 19 samples of burgers, fries, fried chicken, pizza, sandwich and wraps.
“These samples were collected from grocery stores and fast food outlets in Delhi and are known to be widely sold and consumed across the country,” read a statement by the CSE.
‘Consumers should know what they eat’
The industry is opposing the notification of draft regulation because then we will know how bad their food is. We have found dangerously high levels of salt and fats in all packaged food and fast food samples that we tested. Consumers have the right to know what is contained in the package. Sunita Narain, CSE Director General
They include brands like Knorr tomato soup, Nestle’s Maggi, Patanjali atta noodles, Haldiram, LAY’S and Too Yumm chips (endorsed by cricket icon Virat Kohli), Haldiram’s classic nut crackers and aloo bhujia, Kurkure, Bingo mad angles, burgers, fries and wraps from fast food chains like the KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King, Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Subway.
According to the tests conducted by CSE’s Environment Monitoring Laboratory (EML), levels of salt are much higher than the threshold set by industry body — FSSAI. The EML is known for its earlier findings on food products consumed in India (pesticide in soft drinks), potassium bromate in bread, antibiotics in honey and chicken.
CSE director general Sunita Narain said: “The industry is opposing the notification of draft regulation because then we will know how bad their food is. We have found dangerously high levels of salt and fats in all packaged food and fast food samples that we tested. Consumers have the right to know what is contained in the package. But our food regulator, the FSSAI, is dragging its feet and has not notified its own draft labelling regulation. This is clearly because of pressure from the powerful food industry. This is not acceptable. This is compromising our right to know and our right to health.”
“Expert group made recommendations six years ago, but the draft regulation that has emerged is severely diluted. Even this much-diluted draft has not been notified,” the CSE said, calling for urgent notification of labeling laws and RED warning label on food items that cross the healthy threshold.
Regular monitoring for heavy metals in soil-food crops soon
Delhi The country’s apex food safety regulator, Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), along with the Ministry of Agriculture, will soon start regular monitoring for presence of heavy metals in soil–food crops. Tests are likely to be conducted for the presence of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury.
“The presence of heavy metals, especially four big ones such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, in produce is an area of concern that we aim to check through regular monitoring, like in case of pesticides,” FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said.
In a recently released result of the food and beverages samples analysed last year, the FSSAI found that nearly 4% of the 1,00,000 samples analysed by states and union territories were unsafe.
In another survey of raw and processed milk being sold across the country, the food regulator found about 6% of the milk samples to contain Aflatoxin M1, a liver-toxic micro-contaminant, also known as carcinogen.
The food safety regulator has commissioned another pan-India survey to understand the extent of the problem regarding the presence of heavy metals in soil-food crops. The survey was conducted on vegetables to know the contamination pattern across India and its possible sources. The data is still in the process of being collated, and is likely to be released next week.
“The regulator wanted to get a sense of the problem since there have been talks of crops from various riverbeds being mainly contaminated. There are also experts suggesting that air pollution is resulting in our produce getting contaminated with harmful metals such as lead. The matter was taken up with the ministry of agriculture,” said Agarwal.
According to experts, prolonged exposure to these heavy metals could even damage organs.
“A person would usually suffer from chronic condition rather than symptoms related to acute metal toxicity,” said Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant, internal medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. “The focus should be to prevent contamination so that experts can look at how best to minimise the effect. The idea is to create a safe food ecosystem in the long run.”
‘Build wall to stop sale of junk food near schools’
Noida: All schools should impose restrictions on the sale of junk food within a 100-yard radius, just like they do with cigarettes, stated environmentalist and founder of the Centre for Science and Environment, Sunita Narain. A CSE study based on laboratory tests conducted by them between July and November, 2019 found levels of salt, fat and sugar much higher than thresholds set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in such food.
In a press conference held by Narain on Tuesday at India Habitat Centre, the CSE chief said, most packaged food and fast food items being sold in India contain “dangerously” high levels of salt and fat in them. She added that a lack of upfront labelling to alert consumers of this high content of sugar, salt and fat, fails to dissuade parents from stopping children from consuming junk food.
“The target of the junk food industry are children and each day, if a child has just a packet of chips or a bowl of instant noodles, he or she exhausts the entire day's quota of salt or sugar intake,” Sunita Narain said.
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