“This study puts beyond doubt what many of us have long said: it’s not just about ingredients; it’s about the way food is processed. Since most of the UPFs are high on fats/sugars and salt, FSSAI must now adopt strong, clearly worded front-of-pack warning labels while amending its regulations” said Dr. Gupta, who is a paediatrician and nutrition advocate, said.NAPI called for treating UPFs as a distinct and unsafe category of food, requiring stringent regulation to end advertisements and marketing of the HFSS food products as recommended by the Economic Survey 2024-25.As India moves toward its 2025 target of halting the rise of obesity and diabetes, this study offers a wake-up call to policymakers to focus on processing levels as much as nutritional thresholds and take swift action to protect the health of the public, especially children, Dr Gupta said.India also shows a rapid growth of UPFs at CGAR of 13.37%, from 900 million USD to 37.9 Billion USD. It means per capita UPF sales increased from Rs. 37 to Rs. 1964, a 53-fold rise.“It is during this period that obesity almost doubled. To halt obesity, action has to reduce this consumption speed,” he said.Given the new trade agreements signed with the UK, UPFs /HFSS food will be imported cheaper.“That may further increase consumption and put a risk to peoples’ health. While the UK is set to enforce a 9 PM watershed on HFSS products advertising on television and already uses a traffic light warning label system in front of the pack of HFSS food products; India has no comparable legal safeguard on labelling as yet. India’s weak laws to control advertisements are open to interpretation, allowing full freedom to the food industry,” he added.
Source link
