Makers of food products high on fat, sugar and salt content, beware. The food regulator is watching you as an FSSAI panel has proposed a set of measures, including tax, strict labelling norms and ban on their advertisements during children’s shows, to check the consumption.
The report by the 11-member panel on “Consumption of fat, sugar and salt (FSS) and its health effects on Indian population” is a pointer to cutting down consumption of unhealthy food products and reducing the rising burden of chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority had constituted the panel of experts drawn from different fields, including medicine, nutrition and dietetics. “The report recommended having a balanced diet that provided 60-70 per cent of total calories from carbohydrates, 10-12 per cent from proteins and 20-30 per cent from fat,” the FSSAI said.
The report will serve as a guideline for all stakeholders, including the industry, FSSAI and consumers, in reducing consumption of fat, sugar and salt through processed food.
The panel recommended “additional tax on highly processed commodities and sugar-sweetened beverages”. Imposition of excise tax on unhealthy eating products would lead to positive health effects, it added.
It said celebrity endorsements of such foods need to be discouraged, adding that social media websites should also comply with the advertising ban. — PTI