Regulate sale of ultra-processed meals; report urges authorities to take motion

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A number one group representing epidemiologists, paediatricians, nutritionists and different well being specialists needs the federal government to carry laws to forestall non-communicable ailments and regulate gross sales of ultra-processed meals.

The group additionally needs the federal government to amend tv promoting guidelines to cease selling unhealthy meals.

They additionally urged the federal government to test the hovering consumption of high-fat sugar or Salt (HFSS) meals or ultra-processed meals (UPF), popularly referred to as junk meals.

Many different suggestions are a part of the newest report, “The Junk Push: Rising Consumption of Ultra-processed foods in India- Policy, Politics and Reality”, on the rising ultra-processed meals consumption in India, collectively introduced by the Breastfeeding Promotion Network (BPNI) and Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi).

“Food companies or their front organisations or individuals supporting them should not be part of the decision-making to develop a policy to reduce exposure of harmful marketing and consumption of the UPFs or other junk,” mentioned the report in its suggestions.

The report additionally mentioned that the Ministry of Health and Family could undertake an interpretive warning label for all junk meals, which incorporates pre-packaged sugary drinks, juices, bakery merchandise, cookies, sweets, confectionary, well being drinks, chips, ice-creams and pizza.

Among the opposite steered measures are prohibiting colleges, hospitals, prisons and different public service places of work from serving ultra-processed meals and imposing excessive GST on merchandise just like the “sin” tax on colas.

The report mentioned that non-communicable ailments are growing quickly in youngsters and adults – one in 4 suffers from diabetes and weight problems.

“Growing body of scientific evidence indicates that increased consumption of junk foods is linked to higher risk of diabetes, cancers, heart diseases, high blood pressure, mental health issues and premature deaths,” mentioned the report.

It additionally identified that qualitative evaluation of 43 commercials of pre-packaged meals merchandise and their composition revealed that they have been excessive on a number of vitamins of concern, reminiscent of sugars, salt and saturated fats.

“The ultra-processed food industry grew at a compound annual growth rate of 13.37% between 2011 and 2021, with projections that by 2024, the combined sales volume of UPFs in middle-income countries will reach high-income countries,” mentioned the report.

“Existing regulatory policies remain ineffective to minimise any advertisements of junk foods, which are mostly misleading and especially directed at children and adolescents,” mentioned Dr Arun Gupta, Convenor of NAPi, the nationwide assume tank on vitamin coverage.

“None of the legal frameworks or guidelines in India have the potential to stop most of the misleading advertisements of pre-packaged junk or HFSS foods or to ban misleading claims or warn people about the risks to health. The intent that there shall be no ‘misleading advertisement’ needs a clearly worded law.”

Nupur Bidla, a social scientist and member of NAPi says, “You pick up any advertised pre-packaged food product, invariably you will find it HFSS and ultra-processed in nature, containing all kinds of additives, colours, flavours and emulsifiers.”

As per an unpublished WHO India research, greater than 200,000 such commercials are flashed every month simply on 10 choose channels, she added.

“These advertisements target children, seek parental approval, use celebrities, and project junk foods as healthy. It is because of such pervasive and aggressive marketing techniques, we call it “The Junk Push,” she added.

According to Dr Ok Srinath Reddy, Distinguished Professor at PHFI, “Junk Foods offer a very poor balance of the nutrients which the body needs for growth, health and wellbeing while loading us with high levels of salt, sugar, unhealthy fats and chemical additives.”

“While science is clear on why these foods should be excluded from our regular diets, their consumption is rising to alarming levels because of commercial drivers. Knowledge about the harm caused by these foods is inadequate in the public domain while misleading claims and high-pitched advertising are driving increasing addiction to these products. This Junk Push needs to be countered by sharing factual information on health harms and creating public demand for strong regulatory measures,” he added.

Prof. HPS Sachdev, a famend epidemiologist and researcher mentioned, “Policymaking on Front of Pack labelling (FOPL) has not been free from food industry involvement, which led to a flawed policy of “health star rating” on junk meals.”

According to a WHO India research, the retail sale of ultra-processed meals in India grew at a compound annual progress fee (CAGR) of 13.37% between 2011 and 2021. Quite evident that the market has penetrated the poor sections of society in India.

NEW DELHI: A number one group representing epidemiologists, paediatricians, nutritionists and different well being specialists needs the federal government to carry laws to forestall non-communicable ailments and regulate gross sales of ultra-processed meals.

The group additionally needs the federal government to amend tv promoting guidelines to cease selling unhealthy meals.

They additionally urged the federal government to test the hovering consumption of high-fat sugar or Salt (HFSS) meals or ultra-processed meals (UPF), popularly referred to as junk meals.googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

Many different suggestions are a part of the newest report, “The Junk Push: Rising Consumption of Ultra-processed foods in India- Policy, Politics and Reality”, on the rising ultra-processed meals consumption in India, collectively introduced by the Breastfeeding Promotion Network (BPNI) and Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi).

“Food companies or their front organisations or individuals supporting them should not be part of the decision-making to develop a policy to reduce exposure of harmful marketing and consumption of the UPFs or other junk,” mentioned the report in its suggestions.

The report additionally mentioned that the Ministry of Health and Family could undertake an interpretive warning label for all junk meals, which incorporates pre-packaged sugary drinks, juices, bakery merchandise, cookies, sweets, confectionary, well being drinks, chips, ice-creams and pizza.

Among the opposite steered measures are prohibiting colleges, hospitals, prisons and different public service places of work from serving ultra-processed meals and imposing excessive GST on merchandise just like the “sin” tax on colas.

The report mentioned that non-communicable ailments are growing quickly in youngsters and adults – one in 4 suffers from diabetes and weight problems.

“Growing body of scientific evidence indicates that increased consumption of junk foods is linked to higher risk of diabetes, cancers, heart diseases, high blood pressure, mental health issues and premature deaths,” mentioned the report.

It additionally identified that qualitative evaluation of 43 commercials of pre-packaged meals merchandise and their composition revealed that they have been excessive on a number of vitamins of concern, reminiscent of sugars, salt and saturated fats.

“The ultra-processed food industry grew at a compound annual growth rate of 13.37% between 2011 and 2021, with projections that by 2024, the combined sales volume of UPFs in middle-income countries will reach high-income countries,” mentioned the report.

“Existing regulatory policies remain ineffective to minimise any advertisements of junk foods, which are mostly misleading and especially directed at children and adolescents,” mentioned Dr Arun Gupta, Convenor of NAPi, the nationwide assume tank on vitamin coverage.

“None of the legal frameworks or guidelines in India have the potential to stop most of the misleading advertisements of pre-packaged junk or HFSS foods or to ban misleading claims or warn people about the risks to health. The intent that there shall be no ‘misleading advertisement’ needs a clearly worded law.”

Nupur Bidla, a social scientist and member of NAPi says, “You pick up any advertised pre-packaged food product, invariably you will find it HFSS and ultra-processed in nature, containing all kinds of additives, colours, flavours and emulsifiers.”

As per an unpublished WHO India research, greater than 200,000 such commercials are flashed every month simply on 10 choose channels, she added.

“These advertisements target children, seek parental approval, use celebrities, and project junk foods as healthy. It is because of such pervasive and aggressive marketing techniques, we call it “The Junk Push,” she added.

According to Dr Ok Srinath Reddy, Distinguished Professor at PHFI, “Junk Foods offer a very poor balance of the nutrients which the body needs for growth, health and wellbeing while loading us with high levels of salt, sugar, unhealthy fats and chemical additives.”

“While science is clear on why these foods should be excluded from our regular diets, their consumption is rising to alarming levels because of commercial drivers. Knowledge about the harm caused by these foods is inadequate in the public domain while misleading claims and high-pitched advertising are driving increasing addiction to these products. This Junk Push needs to be countered by sharing factual information on health harms and creating public demand for strong regulatory measures,” he added.

Prof. HPS Sachdev, a famend epidemiologist and researcher mentioned, “Policymaking on Front of Pack labelling (FOPL) has not been free from food industry involvement, which led to a flawed policy of “health star rating” on junk meals.”

According to a WHO India research, the retail sale of ultra-processed meals in India grew at a compound annual progress fee (CAGR) of 13.37% between 2011 and 2021. Quite evident that the market has penetrated the poor sections of society in India.