The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has approved a proposal to enhance the display of nutritional information on packaged food items. In its meeting which was chaired by Union Health Secretary, Apurva Chandra, the FSSAI decided to amend the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, mandating that nutritional information related to Total Sugar, Salt, and Saturated Fat must be highlighted in bold letters and a relatively larger font size on food labels.

A statement by the FSSAI said that key aspects of the amendment include displaying percentage contribution to Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) per serving size prominently in bold for total sugar, total saturated fat, and sodium content. Also, Specifications under Regulation 2 (v) and 5(3) of FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulation, 2020, which outline requirements for serving size and nutritional information on food labels while additionally, FSSAI continues to issue advisories to prevent misleading claims by Food Business Operators (FBOs). These advisories include directives to remove terms like 'Health Drink' and '100% fruit juices' from labels and advertisements where they are not appropriately defined or standardized under the FSS Act 2006.

The draft notification for these amendments will be made public to invite feedback and objections.

Dr Arun Gupta, convenor of Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi) was not much impressed as he termed it “a small step, which does not match and should not replace much needed “Front-of-Pack Label” FOPL - a warning label of HIGH Sugar Salt or Fat.”

“This information should be available in the advertisement of food products that have high sugar, salt or saturated fats. Therefore, the necessary condition is a definition of HFSS that should come in sooner than later.

“That’s what would reasonably and meaningfully contribute to combating the rise of obesity and diabetes. Efforts must tackle pervasive marketing for this objective,” said Pediatrician Dr Gupta.