Front-of-pack labelling: Why FSSAI's move on junk food is important

How often have you bothered to check the ingredients when that tasty bite of junk food goes into your stomach? Chances are almost never since the craving is more important than anything else. To be fair to the multitude of brands in the business, they mention it all on the packaging. In fact, many a consumer knows it is junk food but will eat it (or drink it) promising themselves this is the last indulgence for the next few days. How often that word is kept is left to one's imagination.

Now, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has swung into action and that could be a tricky one for companies whose business fortunes depended on consumers buying their brands in large quantities. In the works is what will be front-of-pack labelling, where everything related to nutrients is easily visible. Today, the consumer will need to check the back of a packet of biscuits or chocolates or a can of juice to know what it contains.

In the case of packaged foods, it is put into a few buckets - energy, sugar, fat and salt - being the most prominent. A soft drink may not have salt or fat but will tick the first two. Likewise, a pack of snacks like chips/bhujiya comes with fat, salt and energy but maybe low in sugar. Mentioning the information on the front of the pack is a practice in developed countries and India now appears to be going in that direction. According to KS Narayanan, who has spent several years in the F&B industry and is now an independent advisor, globally many countries sell products in larger packs. "India is a market dominated by small packs priced at Rs 5 or Rs 10. Displaying the ingredients on that will be a challenge," he says. It is estimated that, in many categories, the proportion of small packs can be as high as 80%.

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The bigger question is how much of a difference the whole thing makes to the consumer. Abhijeet Kundu, Vice-President (Research), Antique Stock Broking thinks most Indians may not be as health-conscious compared to consumers in other markets. "Greater care may be exercised when it comes to what children consume. Besides, most multinationals have already taken measures in line with what they need to do as part of their global practices."

A few years ago, the practice of having a green dot on packaged foods to denote it was vegetarian was put in place, while the corresponding colour for non-vegetarian was red. Narayanan says that measure was a gamechanger for the industry as it increased awareness and made consumers a lot more comfortable about what they ate/drank. "In that instance, the process was a lot easier but now, it is likely to have more dimensions, which will make the exercise a lot more difficult for the consumer to comprehend," he sums up.

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