Warning labels on food to ensure a healthier tomorrow for children

Lucknow: Academics from Aligarh Muslim University lent their voice to a nationwide call for urgent policy action on Front of Packet Labelling (FOPL) regulations on packaged and ultra-processed food and beverages in response to the rising concern about the health of children. At a consultation in Aligarh, department heads of Social Work and Community Medicine of this esteemed academic institution joined public health leaders from across the country, to urge for effective regulation of packaged food in India, to address growing public health concern.

Continuing their campaign for consumer friendly and interpretive food labels , People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) People's Initiative for Participatory Action on Food Labelling (PIPAL), Department of Social Work and Sociology, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) & Department of Community Medicine,Department of Social Work, University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), Meghalaya and Childline India organised a joint consultation in Aligarh.

The Consultation held at Old Boys Lodge, AMU, noted that there is growing evidence linking childhood obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and the overall burden of non-communicable diseases spiralling out of control with excess consumption of ultra-processed food and beverages.

Speaking at the Consultation, Dr Ali Jafar Abedi, Assistant Professor, Community Medicine Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC), AMU said, "More than 14 million Indian children are obese or overweight, putting them at risk of developing NCDs when they are adults. Regulatory steps such as nutrition thresholds that make it mandatory for the industry to reformulate and make their food products healthier, at par with global and scientific standards, will go a long way in preventing an obesity or diabetes epidemic."

Given the gravity of health implications, human right activist and CEO of PVCHR (People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights) Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi asserted that PIPAL is an effort to remind the policy makers, nutrition leaders and industry that "Children have a right to health and nutrition, as per Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Good nutrition is a fundamental right as per the UN Convention of Child Rights. It is time to make sure that children are given their right as unhealthy nutrition puts their entire future at stake.

PIPAL will hold a series of consultations across the country to bring this to the attention of policy makers and encourage industry to rise to the occasion. This show of support from AMU, following our earlier consultation with BHU, bolsters our cause. Faith leaders, consumer activists, child rights and parents groups are all coming together to demand that Indian children are safeguarded from the deadlu harms of ultra-processed food."

India is one of the global leaders in the food and beverage industry with a sales volume of 34 million tons. As per forecasts of the Euro-monitor data, India was set to emerge as the third largest market for packaged food in the world by 2020, after China and the United States. Studies have found that in India, across urban and rural households, 53% children consumed salted packaged food such as chips and instant noodles, 56% children consumed sweet packaged food such as chocolates and ice creams and 49% children consumed sugar-sweetened packaged beverages at an average of over twice a week.

Describing the 'high in' warning food labels as a critical component of a suite of measures to fight NCDs, Satyapal Singh of CUTS International said, "It could be India's winning strategy to ensure a healthier tomorrow for its children. A warning label on the front of the package helps consumers identify products high in sugar, sodium, saturated fats, trans fats and total fats in a quick, clear and effective way for a healthier life. "

Participating in the panel discussion, Dr Mohammad Kashif of Resident Doctors' Association, JNMCH, AMU, said, "In recent years more than 60% of all deaths in India are due to NCDs. Poor diet, as a result of packaged and ultra-processed food, is a leading cause for this epidemiological shift in India's disease burden."

According to Dr. Simon Jude of Soch -Beyond the Imagination, "Research findings have shown that countries such as Chile which have adopted the warning label system of FOPL have succeeded in reducing consumption of the unhealthiest ultra-processed foods and beverages. With Brazil, Israel, Chile and more recently Colombia adopting 'high in' warning labels on their food packets – considered a best practice approach – there is a global momentum to make packaged foods safer and healthier."

Shruti Nagvanshi, Convenor, Savitri Bai Phule Women's Forum, whose petition to NHRC on FOPL was taken into cognizance and the Union Health Secretary was notified, said, "With more than 14.4 million obese children, India has the second-highest number of children with childhood obesity in the world. By 2025 this number is expected to reach a staggering 17 million. There is growing evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has potentially increased the risk of children becoming obese. Being overweight or obese is directly associated with life-threatening non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer."

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