JALANDHAR: Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IPA) and Non Communicable Diseases Prevention Academy (NCDPA) have requested the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to ensure nutrient the Food warning labels is interest of children on processed food products.
“FSSAI is doing stellar work in improving food safety in our country. It has been actively looking at several aspects of Front of Pack food labels (FOPL)”, said Dr Anil Sud on Sunday.
In a statement by NCDPA, secretary Dr Anil Sud said, The Covid pandemic has worsened the already shockingly compromised health of our children in many ways, especially by increasing obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
A major factor responsible for this is the wide availability of hyper palatable but unhealthy Ultra Processed foods (UPFs), positioned in people's minds as must-buys because of aggressive advertising. This popularity is in the face of scientific evidence that every 1% increase in purchase of UPFs results in a 0.25% increase in the prevalence of obesity, he added.
The Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP - a body of~ 35,000 Indian pediatricians) and it's subspeciality chapter, the NCD Prevention Academy (NCDPA), are deeply concerned about how current food labeling practices are harming our children's health.
“From the community perspective: the Indian population is heterogenous, with multiple languages and even illiteracy. Sadly, even literate people lack knowledge of nutrition, especially recommended daily allowances (RDA), the Academy said.
Further, UPFs are deliberately positioned to be highly attractive to children. Therefore, from the pediatric perspective, it is important for young children to be able to interpret food labels. NUTRIENT SPECIFIC WARNING LABELS have been demonstrated by Chile and Israel to be effective. These labels have been shown to be understood by the illiterate, as well as by children and adolescents, it added.
As per the statement, Food labeling is done in reference to the average daily requirements of an adult or adolescent. Though the labelling is done as "healthy" based on these cut offs, parents assume that it is equally "healthy" for their young children, without always being careful with the amounts. In reality, a toddler or young child whose energy requirement is half that of an adult, can end up getting unhealthy amounts.
According to the Academy, Caffeine is found in significant amounts in several products favoured by children and adolescents, e.g. energy drinks, chocolates, exercise supplements, coffee, tea, and other stimulants. There is currently no legal requirement to declare caffeine content. It is the need of hour to address safety concerns with use of caffeinated drinks in childhood.
Hence, as advocates for the well being of the children and adolescents, who are the future of our country, IAP and NCDPA strongly recommends the following actions to FSSAI, to safeguard our children’s health.
1.. The FOPL should have NUTRIENT SPECIFIC WARNING LABELS, which are easily understood by everyone, including children, regardless of literacy or knowledge of any particular language.
2.. Food labelling should be mandated in accordance with the lower cut-off values of daily requirements i.e. of 1000 calories, with proportional decreases in amounts of sugars, saturated fats and sodium.
In case this is not feasible immediately, then the FOPL should at least boldly state that “the product is unsuitable for children under 10 years”; or “this food labelling is not applicable for children under 10 years.
3. The FOPL should provide information regarding caffeine content of the product, so self-monitoring to prevent toxicity is possible.
Positive steps in this regard could help safeguard our children.