The Debate around star ratings for food packets mooted by FSSAI

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CategoryHealth

Last Updated09/05/2022

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is expected to issue a draft regulation for labels on front of food packets that will inform consumers if a product is high in salt, sugar and fat.
It is expected to propose a system under which stars will be assigned to a product, which has earned the ire of public health experts and consumer organisations who say it will be misleading and ineffective.

In the past three decades, the country’s disease patterns have shifted.
While mortality due to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases has declined
And India’s population is living longer, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries are increasingly contributing to the overall disease burden.
In 2016, NCDs accounted for 55% of premature death and disability in the country.
Indians also have a disposition for excessive fat around the stomach and abdomen which leads to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
An increased consumption of packaged and junk food has also led to a double burden of undernutrition and overnutrition among children.
Over half of the children and adolescents, whether under-nourished or with normal weight, are at risk of cardiovascular diseases, according to an analysis by the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey in India (2016-2018).
Reducing sugar, salt, and fat is among the best ways to prevent and control non-communicable diseases.
While the FSSAI requires mandatory disclosure of nutrition information on food packets, this is located on the back of a packet and is difficult to interpret.

Three important decisions were taken on what would be the content of the draft regulations on front-of-package labelling.
These included:
- threshold levels to be used to determine whether a food product was high in sugar, salt and fat;
- The implementation will be voluntary for a period of four years before it is made mandatory;
- The health-star rating system would be used as labels on the basis of a study commissioned by the FSSAI and conducted by IIM-Ahmedabad.

In a health-star rating system, introduced in 2014 in Australia and New Zealand, a product is assigned a certain number of stars using a calculator designed to assess positive (e.g., fruit, nuts, protein content, etc) and risk nutrients in food (calories, saturated fat, total sugar, sodium).
Scientists have said that such a system misrepresents nutrition science and the presence of fruit in a fruit drink juice does not offset the impact of added sugar.
Experts say that so far there is no evidence of the rating system impacting consumer behaviour.
The stars can also lead to a ‘health halo’ because of their positive connotation making it harder to identify harmful products.
Over 40 global experts have also called the IIM-Ahmedabad study flawed in design and interpretation.

The FSSAI is expected to make its draft regulations on front-of-package public soliciting comments from all stakeholders. The FSSAI's scientific panel, composed of independent experts, will study these comments and make its proposal. Following this, it will go to a scientific committee, the FSSAI and the Health Ministry before the regulations are tabled before Parliament.

Prelims Takeaway

Mains Track

Q Discuss about the recent decision taken by the FSSAI regarding rating of food packets and the reasons for opposition to this system.