New Delhi, Sep 3: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is looking to tighten the food environment concerning students by trying to curb the sale of high-fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) food on campuses and within a 50-metre radius as part of a broader push to inculcate healthier eating habits among children, FSSAI CEO Rajit Punhani has said.
The proposed regulation is aimed at complementing FSSAI’s ongoing Eat Right initiatives in schools and strengthening efforts to discourage children from consuming HFSS foods from an early age. Punhani said in an exclusive byte to ANI.
“Our Eat Right campaign is trying to focus on children, so besides the nudge and the campaigns that we are launching in schools, called Eat Right Schools, we also have a draft regulation which tries to curb the sale of this HFSS food in the campus and in a 50 metre radius of the campus. So we are trying to inculcate from the very childhood that this kind of HFSS food one should not have. So that is a proposal that we have submitted before the Honourable Supreme Court and the Honourable Supreme Court will take a decision,” Punhani said.
He said the objective was to establish healthier food choices as a habit from childhood, adding that FSSAI was seeking to combine regulation with consumer education and behavioural nudges.
The government has been placing emphasis on preventive healthcare, with nutrition and food safety emerging as important components of efforts to reduce the long-term burden of disease.
Addressing the ‘Illness to Wellness’ Conference on Healthy Nutrition for a Healthy Nation in New Delhi, he highlighted FSSAI initiatives including Eat Right School, Eat Right Campus and Eat Right Thali.
“There is a clear shift in the public-health landscape towards prevention, and food sits right at the centre of this transition. While ensuring that food is safe, wholesome and compliant remains FSSAI’s fundamental responsibility, empowering consumers with the right information to make informed choices is equally important,” Punhani said at the conference.
The FSSAI chief also said the food regulator was stepping up enforcement ahead of the upcoming festival season, with several raids already conducted to check food safety violations.
“We are all prepared for the festival season, hopefully this festival season will be much much better. We have conducted a number of raids and I hope that before the festival season we will have this under control,” he said.
The conference also focused on maternal and child nutrition, anaemia, malnutrition, food safety and the need to translate nutrition awareness into healthier behaviour at the community level.
The discussions emphasised the role of schools, healthcare workers, parents, communities, government and responsible industry in creating safer and healthier food environments, particularly for children. (ANI)
