Leading doctors and global public health experts in India have emphasized the need for consumer-friendly warning labels on packaged food. The food industry wants the label to be a guideline informing the consumer about the quantity of salt, sugar, sodium and fats in the packet without giving a health warning, saying that the aim should be to enable consumers to make an informed decision and not discourage consumption of packaged food.
Consumer and advocacy groups want labels to clearly state whether the food is healthy or not, as many customers might be unaware of how much sugar, salt or fat is good or bad for their health.
Dr. Arun Gupta, convenor of Nutrition Advocacy in India in Public Interest, said there is a need for having a proper health safety labeling on processed food products as their consumption is increasing leading to an increase in health hazards too.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has asked the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad to conduct a consumer survey to find out which type of label would be best understood by people.
Chairperson Rita Teotia said that the discussions to place a food safety label on the front of the product package have been long and most of the aspects have been decided upon to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. “Informed choices of consumers need to be the central point in all decisions undertaken on this subject and the label should be easy to understand,” she added.
