Finshots today talks about the Indian Nutrition Rating (INR) and the discussion around it.
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Let’s be honest. We all like to have snacks from time to time. Instant noodles, popcorn, potato chips, etc. It’s a great way to meet your cravings.
And Indians are crazy about this. According to a survey conducted by Mondelez International and The Harris Poll, 8 out of 10 Indians surveyed said they replace whole meals with snacks. And not a snack of any kind. Most foods are packaged. And according to Euromonitor, sales of ultra-processed foods in India seem to have tripled from 2 kg per person in 2005 to 6 kg in 2019. And it is expected to reach 8 kg by 2024.
But we all know it’s not a healthy alternative.
Processed foods lead to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. It can make an entire population sick and unhealthy. So what do you do about it?
Apparently, the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has a new formula — star ratings affixed to the front of food and snack packaging tell you exactly how healthy or unhealthy a product is. .
Well, we’ve already talked about star ratings in the past by describing the Australian Health Star Rating System, a fairly authoritative guide to ranking edible products.In their own words—
The Health Star Rating system is based on comparing products within similar food categories, allowing you to quickly compare the general nutritional profile of foods within that category. , a muesli bar to another bar, or a margarine spread to another product.
Star ratings range from 0.5 stars to 5 stars. It also considers a variety of nutritional information to determine what deserves a higher rating and what does not. You can reasonably assess the quality of your food.
And since the ratings are labeled right up front, that should serve as a useful guide, right?
Well, not everyone thinks so. In particular, the people at Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi) are important.
In March, they wrote to the Ministry of Health and public policy think tank Niti Aayog about the issue.
Their claim is that star ratings are easy to manipulate. For example, high-sugar chocolate bars can be topped with nuts to boost their ratings.
In fact, some doctors have suggested that a one-star rating may create positive perceptions. ’ you might think.
But what if the star system worked elsewhere? Wouldn’t it be helpful to know?
Well, they tried it in Australia and let’s just say it didn’t work.
Mark Lawrence, professor of public health and nutrition at Australia’s Deakin University, told The Ken that 73% of the ultra-processed foods on supermarket shelves show a rating of 2.5 stars or higher. Lawrence, who studied the implementation of ratings, said the ratings failed to convey nutritional value to consumers. [what does a 1.5 star really tell you about the actual sugar content?].
In Australia, products such as Diet Coke (with artificial sweeteners) and ‘sugar-free’ gummy candies received 4 and 5 stars respectively, packs of olives received 1 star, and free-range eggs has been awarded 4 stars.
So I can see why some people are unhappy with the new recommendations. But what works if the star-based system doesn’t work?
Well, symbols.
More specifically, color-coded symbols with interpretation text (e.g. vegetarian and non-vegetarian symbols). In fact, the national food regulator, FSSAI, released a draft in 2018 in an attempt to review food labeling and labeling guidelines. And it made some pretty solid suggestions.
For example, consider a recommendation for color-coding certain basic nutritional information — sugar, salt above a specified threshold in a serving (such as 30% of the recommended daily intake). , or contains fat, the red blocks indicate to the consumer that they do. You’re not necessarily making healthy choices.After all, if you consume a significant portion of your recommended daily sugar intake in one candy bar, you have the right to know ahead of time that you’re making that choice. “In addition to marking foods as ‘red’ within certain thresholds, we may introduce a color-coding system from time to time. ” Perhaps alluding to the fact that blocks may be colored red, orange or green depending on the health risk they pose.
Also guess what? When the Chilean regulator introduced a similar system in the country, the result was very optimistic.A year after the country introduced the warning system, “her per capita consumption of carbonated drinks was [stuff such as Pepsi and Coke] Reduced by 24.9% on first evaluation. ”
Well, maybe that’s what you really need if you’re trying to break the unhealthy snacking habit.
But for now, FSSAI is still pushing the star-based system. Will this change? I do not understand.
Until then…
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