FSSAI’s ‘Star Rating’: Deterrent To Unhealthy Eating Or MSME Growth?
A recent study suggests that the front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) rating method has problems as a significant number of India's delicacies can be instantly made to appear unsafe for human eating under this rating system.
A study conducted by the Indian Sellers Collective, a collective body of trade associations and sellers across the nation, indicated that the star-rating system is unscientific and narrowly focused when evaluating foods.
It also asserts that the ranking approach will significantly impact the traditional foods from various regions of India.
The draft regulations for FOPNL, which proposes a star-rating system to provide consumers with nutritional information about packaged food goods, were announced by the FSSAI in September last year.
Once regulations are finalised, the ratings will be visible on the front labels. Based on their salt, sugar, and fat content, packaged goods will be given one-to-five star ratings and labelled as "good food," "not good food," etc.
On this, Varun Gandhi, Lok Sabha member from Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has tweeted, "FSSAI's nutrition-labelling draft notification is a misguided effort to rate Indian packaged foods with western options. It will skew consumption away from Indian MSMEs towards western MNCs & can be economically ruinous for marginal farmers & traditional Indian food manufacturers."
However, contrary to the above study, bodies like Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Nutrition in their research along with some other industry experts have given thumbs up to the draft proposed by the FSSAI.
Evidently, the FSSAI's decision to implement the health star rating has received mixed reactions among nutritionists and civil society groups who advocated for wholesome food.
Why was this draft brought?
At present, India has a system of nutrition information labelling, in which the information is provided in a tabular form. The industry pundits have notified that despite India having 22 official languages, nutritional data on the back of packages are printed in English. Experts noted this as an issue because for the majority of people, symbols and images become a universal form of communication in India.
The symbols already used by FSSAI on food packaging are green marks for organic or Jaivik food, the F with a plus for fortified food, and coloured dots to identify between vegetarian and non-vegetarian items.
Front-of-pack labelling was initially promoted by a committee formed by the FSSAI in 2013. But ten years later, despite multiple committees and suggestions, the FSSAI is still unable to develop an appropriate safety message for packaged food in India.
Experts too have been advocating for easily comprehensive front-of-package label (FOPL) warnings on packaged food products as they believe that it will also aid in addressing India’s burgeoning non-communicable diseases (NCDs) crisis.
What’s wrong with a '5-star' rating?
According to the new labelling rules based on the contents, a food product's star rating will be calculated by an algorithm based on artificial intelligence.
Experts state that a food item with healthy ingredients like fruits, nuts, fibre, legumes, etc. will receive more stars than one with only sugars, fats, and sodium, which is a component of salt. But the real issue is that even though a food product could include a lot of unfavourable elements, adding one or two healthy ones won't make it any healthier but will increase its star rating.
The study also claimed that Western foods of MNCs will get better ratings by following processes like reconstitution and substitution which are being granted exemption in the new system. “Accordingly, western packaged food companies having foods with high or similar amounts of salt and sugar will easily modify the nutrient composition of their food products to secure a better health star rating,” the report further argues.
Abhay Raj Mishra, Member and National Coordinator, Indian Sellers Collective stated, “Indian foods have evolved over centuries and are naturally designed to suit climatic conditions and genetic composition of Indians. People in the coastal areas of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kerala require foods rich in salt as they sweat more because of excessive humidity. Similarly, the farming population in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana need foods high in fats and salt to keep allowing them to work excessively for long hours in the heat."
Furthermore, Mishra underlined that the proposed regulation disregards these facts, as it is a copy-and-paste regulation from the West. FOPNL will systematically make Western foods look good and will gradually destroy traditional Indian foods and the Indian palate, he stated.
The body also argued that traditional Indian cuisines such as bhujiya, dhokla and murukku etc., make use of salt, sugar, and fat, for various scientific and customary reasons, these items will ostensibly be marked ‘unhealthy’ under the proposed mathematical calculation and expression of star-rating system, leading to consumers rejecting them.
The silver lining
A study conducted by the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition on the acceptability and potential use of different formats of front-of-pack nutrition labels in promoting informed food choices suggested that ‘warning labels’ can deter the choice and consumption of even moderately unhealthy foods. It also showed that ‘summary ratings’ like health star or Nutri-Score can help identify healthier variants among the available foods.
“If you look back 10-20 years ago, where digital was and where today's people learn, and they continue to evolve as an industry, our job is to serve the society and be responsible and help transparent labelling, which authorities will bring of course in consultation with industry and so will help the consumer, "said Arun Mishra, Global Head, Regulatory Affairs, Beauty & Wellbeing, Unilever.
Reflecting on the virtue of transparency, Mishra mentioned, "I firmly believe whatever is good for India is good for the industry. So, I'm very supportive of the direction of travel of FSSAI. Of course, we will continue to work together and bring a manufacturing revolution. The bottom line is we are moving in the right direction, bringing value transparency that's the right thing to do.”
Dr Richard Lobo, Assistant Vice President, Head Innovation and CQH, Tata Chemicals, commenting on the same stated, “The Front-Of-Pack Nutrition Labelling (FOPNL) solution or the 5-star nutritional rating is a big step in making the consumer aware how healthy any packaged food is. It is for the industry to develop and make available more products with higher nutritional ratings. Products with higher nutritional ratings will definitely have a competitive edge compared to those with lower nutrition ratings.”
Lobo further conveyed that in order to have a real transformation in eating habits, two factors will play a key role, the cost differential of products and extensive awareness about this labelling system. “The writing on the wall is clear - reduce sugar, salt, and saturated fats intake and increase dietary fibre and protein,” he commented.
The world’s overview of this
As per World Health Organisation (WHO), various FOPL schemes have been formulated by countries such as Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK, etc. They are either mandatory or voluntary in nature and are currently being analysed for their effectiveness to shift consumers’ choices towards the consumption of healthier diets, WHO stated.
Looking at the other front-of-pack labelling examples that India could have opted for, Chile and Israel are the top two examples. High in trans fats, High in Sugar, High in Salts, and High in Calories are four unhealthy elements that Chile displays as being dangerous in black octagonal boxes.
Israel also includes these illustrative graphics for salt, sugar and fat. These warning signs make it very evidently clear to consumers about items that are heavy in fat, sodium, or salt, as well as sugar.
Hence, experts in India have been demanding that India abandon the health star rating in favour of a FOPL based on symbols or images.
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