The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) may deem it necessary for packaged food items to have a nutrition label on the exterior of the box which will be premised on key signs on the grounds of the amount of energy, trans fat, sugar content, salt, and important micronutrients the packet contains per 100 gm or 100 ml.
Packaged Foods May Have Nutrition Labels
A senior source revealed that there are multiple reforms that are in the works for the food regulatory ecosystem, and this is one of those proposals. In addition to starting conversations on these topics last year, the food regulator also put out the idea of an Indian Nutrition Rating for packaged foods offered in the market, which would be based on their overall nutritious status.
An official mentioned that in certain Western nations, nutritional labelling on the front of the package has already been introduced in a variety of styles and has been proven to be successful in assisting consumers in making an informed decision.
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Warning Labels Have A Major Effect
The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), a Hyderabad-based institute of the Indian Council of Medical Research, recently published conclusions from a study it conducted on the acceptance and possible application of various nutrition label designs in encouraging informed food choices.
NIN released a statement on the findings of the study, saying that it “suggests that warning labels can inhibit choice and intake of even moderately harmful products, while summarized evaluations like health star or NutriScore can help locate healthier variants among the available goods.”
Nutritional labels are regarded as crucial tools for informing the public about the safety of food products. Various versions of these designations are used in various nations around the world, either willingly or by an implementation that is required.
The choice of which FOPNL should be employed in a nation should be made based on local research, as well as regional and international facts, and on the account of each country’s unique objectives for building a FOPNL strategy, according to NIN.
The systems that are now popular in Europe and Australia, respectively, are Nutri-score and Health Star Rating. The ratings, which are colour-coded from green for healthy to orange for moderately healthy and red for unhealthy, are based on both positive and negative nutrients.
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