Mint Explainer: Why India must heed WHO’s call to restrict junk-food ads
leadership and community support could facilitate new regulation, hindering factors include industry interference, a weak evidence base, and ambiguity around what is considered unhealthy. For regulations to be successful, penalties for violations must be meaningful. India is currently battling explosive growth in lifestyle disorders.
A study by the Indian Council of Medical Research, released in June, showed that one in four adults were either pre-diabetic or diabetic. While prevalence of hypertension was at 36%, about 40% of Indians reported abdominal obesity. Earlier studies had indicated growing incidence of these non-communicable diseases, even among schoolchildren. Since most packaged and ultra-processed food items— such as juices, biscuits and savories – exceed recommended levels of sugar, salt or fats, it is imperative that marketing of junk food be restricted, much like tobacco and liquor.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has been dragging its feet on implementing front-of-the-pack warning labels for packaged food. Consumers can check nutritional information on the back of the pack, but this can be a tedious exercise. Nonetheless, it often reveals startling facts.
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