The People’s Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR) drafted a letter requesting a strong FOPL (front of pack labels) regulation, for improving the health of women, children, and youth, with respect to malnutrition, according to WHO (World Health Organisation) standards.
Ramdas Athawale, the union minister for social justice and empowerment, forwarded the PVCHR’s letter to the union minister for health and family welfare.
The campaign for FOPL is highlighting the importance of consumer-friendly warning labels, to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, in India.
The campaign has brought together doctors, public health experts, human rights defenders, faith leaders and political parties.
The Burden Of Malnutrition In India
Leaders from the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), SP (Samajwadi Party), Congress, BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party), and SBSP (Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party), addressed the double burden of malnutrition in India, in a public dialogue on children’s nutritional rights and packaged food labelling.
They pledged to include FOPL in their manifestos for the Uttar Pradesh (UP) assembly elections. The BJP and SP have incorporated it in their election manifesto so far, as was promised by them.
“We support the PVCHR’s campaign for FOPL regulation in India, following the standard set by the World Health Organization for packaged food, so that children can be protected from malnutrition, which is very crucial to our country’s development,” wrote Aradhana ‘Mona’ Misra, Congress leader and MLC (member of legislative council), in support of the campaign.
Participating in the public dialogue through zoom. AK Sharma, MLC and vice president of the BJP’s UP unit, said:
“My own view is that it is necessary to have proper labels so that consumers, parents, and users are informed. There is no doubt that we all need to work in the direction of ensuring and creating a society where such methods become a matter of habit.”
Leaders Offer Their Support To FOPL
Manoj Rai Dhoopchandi, spokesperson of the SP, said emphatically:
“Packaged foods should be immediately regulated. I promise via this platform that whatever resolution you pass, we will endorse it. If the situation changes post the assembly elections and our party’s government is formed, then we will make efforts from the UP government’s side to implement FOPL, though it’s matter of the centre. Whatever you suggest, we will include it in our party’s election manifesto.”
Congress leader and the head of the UP Election Campaign Committee, Rajesh Mishra, said that, “Do give us the proposal on FOPL. We will talk to Priyanka [Gandhi] ji, give her the proposal, and we will stick to it regardless of where we stand in the Uttar Pradesh elections, or the national elections. If a Congress government is formed following the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, we will definitely implement the FOPL.”
However, the Ajagara MLA (member of legislative assembly), Kailash Nath Sonkar of the SBSP said that, “I would like to pay attention to the fact that the institutions that work with education should succeed first, and then, FOPL will definitely succeed.”
Packaged Foods Are Heavily Marketed
Lalji Desai, national organiser of the Congress Seva Dal said that, “Packaged food is a compulsion. Accepting it and bringing transparency into it is a good move.”
Taking his cue from Desai, Anil Yadav from the Congress said that, “FOPL concerns not only the children of UP, but the entire nation, so the government needs to be committed towards it, as its a matter of their future. Hence, labelling is important. I will also speak with our leader about this, such that this becomes a part of our party manifesto, and is taken up during assembly elections.”
Vandana Shah, regional director of south Asia programs, for the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), said:
“There has been tremendous growth in the food processing market of India, which is the second largest food processing market after China. Exactly what are all these measures discussed all over the world, packaged foods are so heavily marketed, so what should be done, which is a policy which the Indian government is considering. Food Safety Authority of India should consider and examine this policy, known as Front of Package Labelling (FOPL).”
Not More Than 6 Seconds To Read A Packet
She added:
“Now, if you look at a chips packet, the label on the back has many numbers written on it. One is not be able to read them even after 15 minutes. Even a doctor will not understand their significance: what is good and what is not? FOPL, which is being considered around the world, is proving to be very successful. It should be very simple to implement. It hardly takes a person six seconds to read a packet when they buy it.”
Elaborating further on FOPL, she explained:
“The FOPL policy aims to inform the consumer in a very simple way whether the food is hazardous to them or not, whether it contains more salt, sugar, and oil. If there is more salt, sugar, or fat in the product, one label needs to be inserted, which the food industry is resisting. Thus, it is being seen in some countries that the industry reformulates the food, and reduces salt, sugar, and fat. FOPL is being adopted by a number of countries.”
Packaged Food Needs Warning Labels
She added:
“Now, there are two types of labels in the world, one is interpretative and the other one is reductive. The interpretative label helps us decide instantly whether we want to buy the product or not, whether it contains more sugar, salt, and fat. There are clear guidelines from the WHO that FOPL should be interpretative: the consumer should be able to read the FOPL within 6 seconds and decide whether or not to buy it for their child.”
Another type of label that is emerging around the world is the warning label. “In a cigarette packet, there is a clear warning label saying that it is harmful to you, with pictures of cancerous lungs. Everything is easily understandable. Similarly, the warning label on food should also tell us about things in a clear manner,” Shah concluded.
For example, Chile mandates that packaged foods and beverages high in calories, sugar, sodium, or saturated fat, and exceeding set thresholds for these nutrients and/or overall calorie content, must be labelled with “high-in” warning labels: black octagon(s), with the words high-in sugar/sodium/saturated fat, and/or calories, as applicable.
In comparison, in India, the food regulator, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has been deliberating on the FOPL issue since 2013, but is yet to frame a policy regarding the same.