New Delhi: The All-India Food Processors' Association (AIFPA), which counts packaged food companies such as Nestle, Coca-Cola, ITC, Haldiram and others among its members, has intervened in the Supreme Court seeking that the proposed front-of-pack nutrition labels ((FOPL) be based on per-serving consumption rather than a uniform per 100 gram or 100 ml benchmark.This comes after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) told the top court that it was considering mandatory red hexagonal front-of-pack warning labels for packaged foods and beverages high in nutrients such as sugar, salt or saturated fat. The food regulator was pulled up by the court for not implementing the FOPL even after a decade of deliberations.The FSSAI proposed thresholds would draw on the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition's Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024, which use a per 100 gram or 100 ml reference for determining whether a product is "high" in these nutrients.Also Read: Raids, shutdowns, warning labels - India's unprecedented food safety push"The proposed 'high-in' thresholds, being absolute values per 100 g/100 ml, do not appear to have been independently cross-checked against this percentage-of-daily-intake approach," AIFPA said in the court filing, adding that the "existing regulation already reflects a percentage-of-daily-intake, per-serve methodology".The food industry has long argued that different food categories should be assessed according to the quantities in which they are normally consumed rather than applying the same 100-gram benchmark across products.For instance, the nutrient content of pickle could be assessed against a 5-gram serving while buttermilk could be assessed against a 100-gram serving.Currently, packaged food companies are required to disclose nutritional information on labels, including total sugar, added sugar, total fat, saturated fat and sodium in bold letters and relatively increased font size per pack along with how much they contribute to the recommended daily limit on the back of the pack.There is currently no mandatory front-of-pack warning that explicitly identifies a packaged food as being high in fat, salt or sugar.Also Read: Too weak, too strict- India's food warning labels draw fire from all sidesIn its affidavit filed on September 9, AIFPA said the ICMR-NIN guidelines prescribe daily dietary limits and not regulatory cut-offs intended to classify individual packaged foods. It argued that converting those recommendations directly into fixed per 100-gram thresholds could overlook the amount of a product that consumers eat.AIFPA, in the court filing, said that a uniform warning-label regime could disproportionately affect traditional foods and smaller food businesses, particularly MSMEs, because of reformulation costs and limited research and development capabilities.
Front-of-pack labels: Food Inc bats for per-serving benchmark in SC, not FSSAI’s ‘per 100 gm’ plan
The All-India Food Processors' Association has intervened in the Supreme Court regarding proposed nutrition labels. They seek labels based on per-serving consumption, not a uniform benchmark. This comes after the FSSAI proposed mandatory red hexagonal warning labels for certain packaged foods. The industry argues that different food categories should be assessed by normal consumption quantities. This approach could impact traditional foods and smaller businesses due to reformulation costs.
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