Don't use refined sugar in nutrition kits: Govt

IN a major development, the centre has directed all states not to use refined sugar, foods high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS), preservatives, colours, and flavours in supplementary nutrition provided to children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls.

- KAVITA BAJELI-DATT @ New Delhi

The advisory came after the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry found that the contents of Take Home Rations (THR) and Hot-Cooked Meals (HCM) across states and UTs provided to children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls contain a high proportion of sugar, salt, and other items.

The detailed advisory issued by the WCD Ministry, a copy of which is with this paper, said that while providing the HCM and THR to different categories of beneficiaries under the Mission Poshan 2.0, the states should not use refined sugar and should use only jaggery for sweetening if needed.

"Inclusion of added jaggery should be restricted to less than 5% of total energy to avoid excessive intake of discretionary calories," the advisory issued by WCD Deputy Secretary Jyotika said.