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SC gives Centre two weeks on food warning labels
NDTV··13 Aug
The Supreme Court on August 13 gave the Centre and FSSAI two weeks to decide on front-of-pack warning labels for foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran said if the government could not act, the court would. It asked whether corporate pressure was shaping that children's health file.
Prism
What It Means For You
- If you buy packaged snacks, the next two weeks decide whether packets get a high-in warning or a table you must compare with daily limits.
- Parents of school-age children can note the bench treated this as a child-health file, not only an industry labelling dispute.
- Food makers can see the court rejected the argument that warning marks on namkeen or similar foods are reason enough to drop them.
What's Happening
- On August 13 the Supreme Court told the Centre and FSSAI to return in two weeks on front-of-pack labels for high sugar, salt and saturated fat.
- The bench said if the authorities could not implement the labelling, the court would pass an order.
- FSSAI's affidavit proposes a nutrient table against daily limits instead of interpretive warnings such as High Sugar Level.
Why Warning Labels and Nutrition Tables Are Not the Same
- Interpretive labels tell a shopper a product is high in a nutrient at a glance. A table lists grams and leaves the comparison to the buyer.
- In February the same bench had asked FSSAI to consider warning symbols plus a positive mark for healthier foods and to revert in four weeks.
- ICMR-NIN 2024 dietary guidelines supply the 25 gram, 10 gram and 5 gram daily figures FSSAI wants printed beside each product's own numbers.
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