FSSAI’s star ratings for food products may mislead consumers: experts

What is the News?

According to experts, the nutrition labelling system for food packets recommended by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) will not only fail to enable consumers to make healthy choices but also mislead them about their nutritional value.

Background

FSSAI has recently released Draft Regulations for a Front of Package Labeling(FoPL) system.

This system proposes a health star rating for packaged foods. Under this, packaged food will be assigned a certain number of stars based on “positive” components (fiber, protein, fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content) balanced against other components (energy, sugars, sodium, and saturated fat). 

Why are experts criticizing health star ratings for food products?

Firstly, this proposed system is divorced from science as the presence of high quantities of sugar can’t be offset by the so-called positive ingredients.

Secondly, this system defeats the seven-year-long fight for safeguarding consumer interests and helping them make informed decisions to exercise their right to healthy choices.

What is an alternative to the star rating system suggested by experts?

Experts have favoured the warning label system such as a black-and-white stop symbol used in Chile or the red warning symbol in Israel for each of the three ingredients — salt, sugar and fat.

Source: The post is based on the article “FSSAI’s star ratings for food products may mislead consumers: experts” published in The Hindu on 5th May 2022.