Appeal for strong FOPL for better health of children, youths and women on birthday of Indian prime Minister
Respected Shri Narendra Modi jee,
Namaskar from Kashi.
Wishing you a very happy birthday!
Sir, on your birthday, we are requesting we with the hope to support strong FOPL for better health of children, women and youth.
You are one of the rarest politicians’ champions and a statesman who are making a mark in Parliament and giving us hope through taking up the issues pertaining to the people's interest on constitutional values and welfare and defining and shaping the political agenda for the governance at the national level.
We are writing to draw your
attention to a silent killer- Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), which are
the major cause of morbidity and mortality in India. As you know, be it fresh
preparations or pre-packaged food, excess consumption of food that is high in
fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) are often the major risk factors for Obesity and
NCDs. Please find an article written in Hindi by me. https://junputh.com/column/
Please find few important article published in national media:
To address the rising prevalence of NCDs in India, The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is actively considering a regulation for front of package labels (FOPL) for all packaged foods. There will be no better time to bring FOPL regulation in the country when COVID pandemic has brought public health including children’s health & well-being to the center stage of the public discourse and catch the imagination of every Indian. Increasing obesity and high prevalence of NCDs among children and young population is the second pandemic the country is staring at.
WHO states that the Front of Pack Labelling (FoPL) is a crucial policy tool for nations to provide healthier food options for citizens, and provides guiding principles and framework manual on FoPL for various regions, including the Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) for the South Asia region. NPMs define whether a food product has excessive levels of sugar, salt and fats and state what the threshold is for each nutrient of concern. NPMs can either follow a regional WHO format or be a global best practice decided by experts free from industry influence and any kind of conflicts of interest in the country, based on the country’s nutrition guidelines/diet.
Please find few important facts as follows:
Increasing Coverage of package foods in India
• India, world’s third largest market after China and US with approx. 45 million tonnes sales annually in 2020.
• Nearly 10 % of calorie intake in both urban and rural areas are from processed foods according to study of Lancet.
• Urban higher income households consume 30 % of their total daily calories from processed food (Lancet Study).
• 53% of children consumed salted packaged food such as chips and instant noodles at an average of over twice a week (CSE).
• 56% of children consumed sweet packaged food such as chocolates and ice creams at an average of over twice a week.
• 49% of children consumed sugar-sweetened packaged beverages at an average of over twice a week.
Childhood Obesity
• Prevention of childhood obesity is an important priority for public health given the >8-fold increase of the global prevalence of childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity during the last 4 decades.
• Childhood obesity is now an epidemic in India. With 14.4 million obese children, India has the second-highest number of obese children in the world, next to China.
• The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children is 15%. In private schools catering to upper-income families, the incidence has shot up to 35-40%, indicating a worrying upward trend.
Diabetes
• India has approximately 65 million prevalent cases of diabetes as compared to 26 million in 1990.
• At least 134 million Indians will have diabetes by 2045 and the well-being of our people will take a major hit.
• It cannot be ignored that the shift in the disease pattern since 1990 can be correlated with the increase in consumption of processed food. The rapid rise in diabetes across socio-economic categories and age groups has been fueled by a massive alteration in the dietary habits of Indians.
Economic Impact of Diabetes
• Substantial cost of burden from OOP: 5% to 25% of average household earnings of Indian
• Dearth of insurance schemes and policies escalate the cost of diabetes care
|
Zone |
Direct Cost (₹) Per Annum |
Indirect Cost (₹) Per Annum |
|
North |
18,890 |
18,146 |
|
South |
10,585 |
1,198 |
|
North East |
45,792 |
18,707 |
|
West |
8,822 |
3,949 |
We would like your intervention for Nutrient Profile Model and Front of Packet Labelling (FOPL) regulation in India. Our humble request with you to ensure following principle in FOPL regulation in the country which helps India leapfrogging in protecting children's health as well as support and promote healthy food products manufactured and marketed by the Food processing Industry.
(a) Front of Package Labelling should empower consumers with accurate information in the most lucid way and make consumers aware of food products that are high in fat, sugar and salt content.
(b) Comprise an underpinning nutrient profile model that limit high consumption of salt, sugar and fat through package food, thereby help in supporting healthy life for the public including children and young population.
A science based effective FOPL regulation shouldn’t be seen against development of a vibrant food processing industry. We firmly believe that the food processing industry is an important, in-fact critical cog in the wheel needed for strong economic growth of the country. The food processing industry is very important for a nation's economy by creating employment opportunities, generating more foreign reserve and supporting farmer’s income. We believe FOPL will significantly help the food processing industry in the country as market or demand shift toward healthy food, this will be a unique opportunity created in India which will help leapfrogging Indian food processing industry and attract more foreign investment.
Set in this context, we as a delegation would like to meet you in person or to the person you designate to present our technical, economical & social viewpoint and share our suggestions.
Looking forward to your kind intervention to bring India as one of the best examples in this front.
Thanking You
Lenin Raghuvanshi
Founder and CEO
PVCHR
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
To,
Respected Shri Narendra Modi Jee
Honorable Prime Minister
Government of India
New Delhi
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