Nutritional labels must on food packs

HYDERABAD: In view of the increasing problem of obesity, the National Institute of Nutrition has proposed food labels be used as means of promoting healthy eating habits and increase nutrition knowledge among people.“Food labelling should be considered an important approach to help consumers make healthy food choices by providing nutrition information on the pack,” said Dr GM Subba Rao, nutrition communication, NIN. A study conducted recently by NIN with support from WHO-India, indicated that food labelling regulations in India are on par with those in developed countries. Despite this, there is a poor label-comprehension in India which is associated with low-level literacy. But even those with higher education had difficulties in interpreting labels due to lack of nutrition literacy. “We have therefore suggested emphasis be given to exploring and experimenting with symbol-based labelling on food packs so as to provide nutrition education to all sections of the society,” added Dr Subba Rao.Food labels are especially important considering rapid developments in the food industry, which has made a variety of food and drink products available in the market. The wide availability and heavy marketing of products, especially those with high fat and sugar content and little or no healthy nutrients, challenge efforts of healthy eating.Frequent consumption of unhealthy processed foods is an important risk factor for obesity. Research carried on factors influencing the consumption of unhealthy foods indicate that television advertising heavily influences food preferences, purchase requests and consumption patterns.