ICMR must compel processed food industry to conform to established standards

It is because of policy failure that the market is inundated with unhealthy, ultra-processed foods – which are high in fat, sugar, salt and edible oil. These processed foods are within the reach of the common man

Sometime I wonder as to why we issue guidelines when we know a majority will never be able to follow it? For instance, I wonder how we expect a person to ensure that he/she keeps the intake of salt at 5 grams per day when highly-processed foods freely available in the market contain a heavy dose of sugar and salt.

The limit prescribed will certainly give you an idea that you have to keep salt intake as low as possible. Fair enough, but I don’t think any household will begin to keep a measuring spoon or start reading the info on the product labels so carefully to maintain a track record of how much salt is being consumed daily.

The point I am trying to make is that in addition to prescribing these guidelines, it would have been more beneficial if the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, had come up with a set of dos and don’ts for policy makers. Like the ‘go’ and ‘no go’ areas in case of granting approval for industrial activities in the environmentally sensitive areas, a similar set of policy parameters need to be laid out to reduce the dietary burden.

Let me explain. When the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) approved the first genetically-modified crop – Bt cotton -- for commercial cultivation, it came out with a guideline for farmers to grow 20 per cent refuge crop all around the field. When told that this guideline will never be followed, the then Chairman of GEAC is reported to have said ‘so what, at least we are laying out a guideline for the farmers to follow’. As expected, nowhere in the world have farmers followed the guideline of growing a refuge crop. Even in the United States, satellite images show the absence of refuge crop thereby exacerbating resistance building up in the target pest species.

Balanced use of fertiliser has been proposed for several decades now. And yet, despite all the guidelines laid out, farmers have been over applying nitrogen fertilisers. Similarly, the guidelines for environmental protection have often been ignored so much so that in cases where tree planting measures have to be undertaken, the shortfall in number of trees planted is glaring.

Therefore to expect the dietary guidelines to be followed is perhaps asking for too much.

Why I am saying this is because meeting nutrition challenges for the general public is demanding but perhaps laying out a comprehensive policy outline will help draw a lakshman rekha for the processing industry. This becomes exceedingly important given that 56.4 per cent of the disease burden in non-communicable diseases – like coronary heart disease, hypertension, type-2 diabetes and cancer, among others – in the country is from unhealthy dietary habits. And if I look at a global study, 89 per cent of the processed food on the supermarket shelves in India has been found to be unhealthy. Unless the industry is tamed and mandated to strictly adhere to the quality standards laid out, I don’t think it will ever be possible to nip the evil in the bud.

A more recent meta-analysis, published in the New York Times, and involving 10 million participants, links ultra-processed foods with 32 health problems, including heart disease-related deaths, Type 2 diabetes and common mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

It is because of policy failure that the market is inundated with unhealthy, ultra-processed foods – which are high in fat, sugar, salt and edible oil. These processed foods are not only harmful but are also within the reach of the common man. Marketing blitz through advertisements for children (and also for adults, involving celebrities, and at times of IPL cricket matches), makes it not only accessible but also sought-after products. But it is the reluctance on the part of concerned ministries to initiate a tough action that the market for these processed foods proliferates. What is the use of asking the general public to avoid sugary drinks, processed fruit juices and saturated foods like packaged chips, cookies, ketchup and candy, among others when these are freely available?

Even in the residential societies, hawkers selling junk food do multiple rounds during the day. No RWA, to my knowledge, has ever restricted entry of junk foods in residential areas.

To say that it is not possible to contain the production of processed foods low in sugar, salt and fat is only a reflection of the incompetence of the concerned authorities. After the recent controversy on higher sugar availability in baby foods produced by Nestle (which was selling no-sugar version in Europe), a social media influencer by the name of ‘Food Pharmer’ has succeed in forcing the agribusiness giant PepsiCo to replace palm oil in its potato chip brand Lay’s with sunflower and other vegetable oils. PepsiCo has not been using palm oil in its potato chip products being sold in the America. But it is because of one person’s efforts alone that Cadbury’s Bournvita and Maggi Ketchup brands have agreed to reduce sugar in its products. In fact, such was the public pressure that Bournvita has been subsequently deprived of using the ‘health drink’ tag.

If one person can do it, I see no reason why the Ministry of Consumer Affairs as well as the Ministry of Health continue to be mute spectators. How long can we allow the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSA) to get away with claims of tough standards?

That is why I think it is important that ICMR takes up the responsibility to go beyond the guidelines and come up with a policy framework that it can recommend for binding the processed food industry to conform to the standards laid out.

Let us not spend time copying the international standards but come up with our own quality standards depending on the domestic needs.

All these are, however, linked to financial investments.

Just because a big agri-business giant wants to make a heavy investment does not mean that we should allow it without seeing the harm it eventually will end up doing to the society. Many dirty industries have entered the country under the promise of making huge investments. Whether we want to acknowledge or not, these investments have led to huge pollution fallout. It is time the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (as well as the State governments) draws policy parametres that firmly say no to such investments.

Guidelines alone will not help. Bold and tough decisions are required. It is the duty of the Union Government to ensure that what is available in supermarket shelves is safe and healthy.

(The author is a noted food policy analyst and an expert on issues related to the agriculture sector. He writes on food, agriculture and hunger)