Experts say the two or more nutrient threshold in phase I may render the move ineffective as many unhealthy products would not need to add warning label since they are high in just one nutrient. They also flagged the challenge of the use of the term “added” as it is difficult to estimate. (Image generated using AI)Prompted by the Supreme Court, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed introducing a red hexagonal front-of-pack label to warn consumers if packaged foods are high in salt, added sugar, or added fat.“The proposal is intended to provide a simple, prominent and easily comprehensible warning to consumers regarding food products which are high in specified nutrients of concern,” the compliance affidavit filed by Kavitha Ramaswamy, Joint Director, FSSAI, before the SC said. The apex court is hearing a plea by a Kerala-based non-profit organisation, 3S and Our Health Society.While there is no notification yet — nor a timeline for implementation — the country’s apex food safety regulator has stated in its affidavit that the warning label, in English, will be carried on the front of the packet in a font size one point larger than the one used in the nutritional information table provided at the back of the pack.Also Read | Red warning labels for unhealthy packaged snacks: What has FSSAI proposed?The plan to introduce the Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling will be executed in two phases, as per the affidavit. In the first phase, only products with a high content of at least two of the ingredients will carry the warning label. In the second phase, the warning will extend to products high in even one ingredient.The FSSAI affidavit proposes the warning label for packaged foods high in two or more ingredients of concern based on thresholds specified under the Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024, issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition.“The label shall indicate the applicable declarations such as ‘high fat’, ‘high sugar’, ‘high salt’ and/or ‘highly sweetened beverage’, as the case may be, to enable consumers to identify products high in the specified nutrients,” the affidavit states.Single-ingredient food products and “food products which are inherently rich in fat, sugar or salt, such as ghee, edible oil, salt, sugar, jaggery and honey, subject to the applicability of other requirements under the food safety and labelling regulations”, will be exempted from the labelling requirement, the affidavit stated. The FSSAI said the two-phase plan is “to facilitate consumer acceptability and provide industry adequate time for reformulation”.Story continues below this adExplainedNutrient threshold, use of ‘added’ termExperts say the two or more nutrient threshold in phase I may render the move ineffective as many unhealthy products would not need to add warning label since they are high in just one nutrient. They also flagged the challenge of the use of the term “added” as it is difficult to estimate.Advocate Rajiv Shankar Dvivedi, appearing for the petitioner, said, “We have received the FSSAI compliance affidavit. We have prepared a revised draft, which has been circulated on the petitioner’s website. We have invited comments from the public on the said rejoinder (affidavit). After getting all the comments, we will file our rejoinder.”Nutrition experts have welcomed the move to introduce warning labels but have some concerns about the implementation. Dr Arun Gupta, Convener of Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi)- India, said: “In principle, FSSAI has agreed to the warning labels, but they have put in a whole lot of conditions that make it ineffective. Take for example the two or more nutrient threshold in the phase I of implementation. Many unhealthy products would not need to add the warning label because they are high in just one nutrient.” He said the FSSAI has also not given any timeline for phase II when all products high in fats, sugars or salts will have to carry the warning.Another challenge is the use of the term “added”. “The food products will have to carry the warning only when there are added sugars or added fats. One, this is difficult to estimate. Two, it is not just the added fat or added sugar that harms the health; high levels of natural sugars can also be bad.” He also said the font size proposed is too small and the message should be carried in Hindi as well.Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 26 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with the daily newspaper, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read MoreAnonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More Tags:FSSAI