Children, commerce and the Constitution

Regulating food product labels and their advertising is a constitutional imperative as they are intricately linked to health; we just can't ignore mounting judicial, scientific, and economic consensus.

- DR ARUN GUPTA

"The proper and accurate labelling of all pre-packaged food products is not just consumer protection and the right to know but part of the right to health and life" said the leading constitutional expert of India, Sh. Rajeev Dhawan when asked about his views about 'warning labels' on High Fat High Sugar and High Salt (HFSS) food products.

His words carry urgency.

The recent India-UK FTA allows UK to be eligible for tariff-free entry into India with food and drink products such as chocolate, gingerbread, sweet biscuits, soft drinks and non-alcoholic beer. It means lower prices for UK-made food products, much of which is HFSS. While this may delight consumers in the short term, it may pose a grave long-term health risk in the form of obesity and diabetes.

India-UK trade deal could be an excellent strategy for the BIG Food. It is being hailed as an economic win.

But as a pediatrician working on nutrition, for four decades, I see a looming public health crisis. This demands immediate attention to regulatory safeguards to protect India's children from a flood of ultra-processed, HFSS food products as a result of the FTA with UK.

India stands at the crossroads of law, trade, and child health. While India negotiates with the United Kingdom, (and several other countries) it faces growing evidence on the harms of ultra-processed food products that are High in Sugar/Salt or bad fats. Further, India also shows a rapid growth of UPFs in India at a CGAR of 13.37%, from 900 million USD to 37.9 Billion USD. It means per capita UPF sales increased from INR 37 to 1964, a 53-fold rise. It is during this period that obesity almost doubled.