FSSAI proposes stricter thresholds for fat, sugar and salt foods sold in schools
New Delhi, Aug 11
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has proposed quantitative thresholds to classify food products as high in added fat, added sugar or sodium to tighten norms governing foods sold to children in schools.
In a draft notification published in the Gazette of India, the food regulator proposed amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Regulations, 2020.
The draft seeks to introduce a new regulation setting benchmarks for identifying foods high in added fat, sugar or salt, drawing on the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) Dietary Guidelines for Indians-2024.
Under the proposal, a solid food item will be classified as high in added fat if it contains more than 4.2 grams of added fat per 100 grams, while the threshold for liquid products has been fixed at more than 1.5 grams per 100 millilitres.
For added sugar, the proposed limits are more than 3 grams per 100 grams for solid foods and more than 2 grams per 100 millilitres for liquid products.
Foods will be categorised as high in sodium if they contain more than 0.625 grams of salt per 100 grams in the case of solids and more than 0.175 grams per 100 millilitres for liquids.
The proposed amendment seeks to insert the new provision after the existing regulation on monitoring and surveillance in schools.
According to the notification, the draft regulations have been framed under provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, with prior approval of the Central government.
FSSAI has invited comments and objections from stakeholders and the public. Suggestions can be submitted within 60 days from the date the gazette notification is made available to the public.
In addition, the regulator said all representations received within the stipulated period would be considered before the rules are finalised.
— IANS
Reader Comments
This is so important! As someone who grew up in the US and now lives in India, I've seen the difference in how snacks are marketed to children here. The portion sizes and sugar content in Indian packaged foods marketed to kids are shocking. Glad FSSAI is finally taking action based on ICMR guidelines - these thresholds seem scientifically sound.
Great initiative but I wish they'd also ban the sale of these items within school premises entirely rather than just labeling them. 😕 The pressure on parents is immense - kids see ads and want these products, and schools profit from selling them. Also need to address the bigger issue of what parents pack in tiffin boxes. Remember the good old days when we ate homemade food at lunch? Those days are gone.
As a parent, I'm 100% behind this. 🎯 My son's classmate was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes at age 12 - can you imagine? The junk food culture in schools is a ticking time bomb. But let's be realistic - 60 days for comments is short, and the F&B industry lobby is strong. They'll try to dilute these norms. We need public pressure to keep them accountable.
I read the draft carefully - the thresholds seem reasonable (4.2g fat per 100g is about 38 calories from fat, which is moderate). What worries me is the definition of "added" sugar vs natural sugars. And what about artificial sweeteners? Also, will this apply to every school or just government ones? Many private schools in tier-2 and tier-3 cities will simply ignore this without strict monitoring. Still, it's better than nothing.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.