FSSAI’s food-label U-turn: The regulator goes from bad to worse, say experts

The proposal, contained in a compliance affidavit filed before the Supreme Court last week, marks the latest turn in a long-running debate over how packaged food should communicate nutrition risks to consumers. Instead of a simple front-of-pack warning telling shoppers that a product is.

Their argument is that a front-of-pack system should work at a glance, rather than require shoppers to compare nutrient values, serving sizes and recommended limits while standing in a supermarket aisle. The latest proposal also follows an earlier, very different model: the Indian Nutrition.

What Happened

Under the latest position placed before the SC, labels would show nutrient content per 100 g, serving size and recommended daily limits for added sugar, saturated fat and salt. That differs from a warning-label system, in which a prominent symbol or text.

• The Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) estimates that nearly 57 % of India’s disease burden, which includes non-communicable and metabolic disorders such as cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, obesity and cancers, are.

• The current debate goes back to 2022, when FSSAI proposed the Indian Nutrition Rating as its front-of-pack nutrition-labelling model.

• FSSAI told the SC that its September 2022 draft received more than 14,000 comments from food businesses, consumer groups, public-health organisations and other stakeholders.

Key Details

For public-health advocates, the second question is more useful at the point of purchase.WHY STAR RATINGS CAME FIRST? The INR was designed as a simplified, interpretive label.

• It subsequently constituted an expert committee in February 2023 to examine the feedback and make recommendations.

• By 2025, FSSAI was moving towards making existing nutrition information more prominent rather than immediately introducing a warning symbol.

• It is how much interpretation should be left to the consumer.WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS?

Why It Matters

Packaged foods would receive a rating from 0.5 stars to five stars, with half a star representing the least healthy end and five stars the healthiest. The score would consider energy, total sugar, saturated fat and sodium, while awarding positive points for.

• The regulatory question, therefore, is not simply whether nutrition information should appear on the front of a packet.

• That is why per-100-g information also matters.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by India Today as more details emerge