Cravings

Salt, sugar, fat: The Indian food regulator’s savoury nudge

The three building blocks of flavour have come to haunt processed food makers and restaurant owners everywhere. Is the food regulator’s proposal to make food healthier whetting the appetite or the apprehension of food businesses?

Ruhi Kandhari, 29 May 2017

An 11-member group of experts identified that three ingredients—fat, salt and sugar—significantly increased the risk of chronic diseases—diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular, which lead to half of all deaths in India

The food regulator will ask food manufacturers for about 30% salt reduction

Hindustan Unilever acknowledges that while 69% of its products are compliant with the WHO salt limit, the remaining aren’t

PepsiCo says that it plans to reduce sodium, the key element in salt, in 75% of the food portfolio by 2025

The waiting room is always full, and the phone does not stop ringing in Pawan Agarwal’s office. On the morning of 8 May, the CEO of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) published a report on the subject of high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) on its website. By evening, journalists had filed stories anticipating which recommendations the authority would act upon.

The 11-member group of experts had identified that the three ingredients significantly increased the risk of chronic diseases—diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular, which lead to half of all deaths in India.

AUTHOR

Ruhi Kandhari

Ruhi writes on the impact of healthcare policies, trends in the healthcare sector and developments on the implementation of Electronic Health Records in India. She has an M. Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

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Salt, sugar, fat: The Indian food regulator’s savoury nudge