How govt and industry can align to make India a nutraceutical powerhouse

Nutraceutical products earned fame in India when the FSSAI started functioning on August 5, 2011. However, in other parts of the world like the US, Europe, Japan, China and other developed nations, nutraceutical or nutritious food was already popular. It was preferred mostly by the health-conscious or the affluent consumers.  
 
The changing time and the sudden drift of consumer preference towards nutrition and healthy lifestyle made the acceptability of the product smooth among a larger chunk of the population. 

The credit for this also goes to the doctors and nutritionists who are actively prescribing nutraceutical products especially after the COVID-19 pandemic hit an enormous section of the population. 

Also Read: Nutraceutical startups get COVID boost; vitamin C, zinc supplements in high demand
 
The growth rate of the nutraceutical market is at a rapid pace. The market is expected to reach the market value of $722.4 billion by the end of 2025 as compared to the current market which stands at $382.5 billion. As per experts, the nutraceutical market is expected to strike gold in the upcoming years. 
 
Even though the nutraceutical market is growing at a fast pace, the regulatory framework of this sector is the "holding back" factor for the market's growth. The nutraceutical system seems to gather the spotlight when it comes to fake and unregulated products. The market demands strict regulation measures to clearly identify their speciality in use and utility rather than being in the middle of diet and drugs. 
 
Central Ownership

The nutraceutical industry needs incubation, i.e. centralised ownership. The ideal owner suggested by the community is the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI). 

The ministry should initiate the creation of subcategories and the biodiversity laws from the Ministry of Environment, forest and climate change (MoEF) and National Biodiversity Authority (NBA). 

This will stop small to medium-sized players from using the US as the platform for the launch of their plant ingredients discoveries and this will help them grow their business which is currently veiled by the complex biodiversity laws. 

The nutraceutical industry in India needs nutraceutical parks in strategic locations of India to enable research, development, and lab complexes, testing, and market access. 
 
MoFPI has already created the NIFTEM (National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship Management), which is indeed an appreciable step toward an evolved ecosystem park. 
 
Adhering to Nutrition Principles 

The need for self-regulation and adherence to nutrition practices is increasing in the Indian nutraceutical industry. The need of the hour is to work closely with the responsible Nutrition Association to create standards like ISO 22000, GMP, and Halal to meet the international standards and requirements on a larger perspective. 

There are nearly 4,000 nutraceutical startups operating in India working with various hubs supported by government's bodies like BIRAC and AIC promoting innovation.  

Also Read: 'No walk, only run': Baba Ramdev's Patanjali all set to go global
 
Regulation of Taxes and Import Duties 

Regulation in taxation for nutraceuticals is also needed as the taxes levied on nutraceutical products and other health supplements are 18% tax, making the products affordable only to the affluent class. In some of the categories, taxes are as high as 28%. 

In order to allow space for domestic ingredient manufacturers to develop and create for medical and nutraceutical exports, the finance ministry should moderately provide leniency on the import duties and revise the tax structure to make the products economical. 
 
Nutraceutical In-depth Field Information 

It becomes difficult for the nutraceutical industry to build trust among users and also to implement consistency in the regulatory field. 

Just like the pharmaceutical industry has Pharmacopoeia, a book containing directions for the identification of compound medicines, published by the authority of a government or a medical or pharmaceutical society. 

We must have an official publication for the nutraceutical industry too. The book should be compiled with factual information relating to a list of natural drugs, their effects, direction for usage, tests, trials, etc. 
 
In the near future, we can clearly see a beaming future of the nutraceutical industry only if the rules and regulations are updated with the changing trends and more focus is shifted to the products' scientific evidence and clinical trials. 
 
We need a clear regulatory system that indicates quality, efficacy, mechanism of action, safety and better control that can lead to premium quality products benefiting potential consumers as well as the industry. 
 
These combined efforts will enable the population to deliver high trust and economic objectives, building strong Indian equity in the nutraceutical space. 

The global nutraceutical space is waiting to flourish to its maximum potential and change the health industry with high quality and standardised products, and it's possible only when we update our reforms in the interest of the nutraceutical industry. 
 
(The writer is CEO & Founder - Power Gummies.)