FSSAI, Making India Healthier!
Fssai, is an authority established under the food safety and standard act, to create a framework for regulating the application of food standards across the country. Therefore, the prime responsibility of Fssai is to embark on a change in dietary regulations so that the idea of ‘New India’, free from unhygienic and unhealthy trans-fats, comes true.
The focus areas of Fssai
- Mandatory labelling of information such as veg, non-veg, etc for processed food. That can be seen as green and red dots on food packaging.
- Nutritional Information to be given additionally in the form of a barcode or Trade Identification Number.
- A logo for vegetarian food which consists of a green colour filled triangle summoned in a square which has a green outline.
- Every packaged food, which is not for human consumption, should bear a cross symbol.
Why we need Fssai?
Fssai has taken various steps to improve the end to end solutions of food categories and also addressed concerns such as microbial resistance or nutritional requirements. The reasons we need Fssai are:
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Promotion of healthy eating
Fssai started a campaign called ‘EAT RIGHT MOVEMENT’ in July 2018, which aimed to curb down the intake of sugar, salt and oil for the next 3 years; so that people can improve their health and overall well-being.
A country like India, with such a high population needs a preventive campaign to control non-communicable diseases; such as diabetes, or food-borne illnesses. This ‘Eat Right India’ movement triggered social and behavioural changes with the help of some regulatory measures for preventive healthcare.
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Nutritional Information
Fssai has laid out strict rules for the packaged food companies to declare all the nutritional information such as Calories, trans-fat, sugar, sodium on the front of every pack. Additionally, the contribution of food labels towards the dietary allowance had been also asked to be declared. That surely helps Indians in planning their healthy meals with care.
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No Diet comparison
Packaged food companies can no longer say that their meal is a complete replacement of a diet, or overlook/undermine the importance of another diet.
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No misleading information about food
FSSAI has been banning companies from using words such as natural, fresh, original, pure on the labels of the pack unless they were processed in such a way that their product when washed, peeled or trimmed should be able to retain its basic properties.
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Hygeine and healthy food culture
Fssai is encouraging hygienic street food so that people can connect with the local food culture, and avoid packaged and processed food.
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No wastage policy (Save Food, Share Food)
Fssai has also initiated steps to prevent the wastage of food with the help of a food sharing scheme IFSA (Indian Food Sharing Alliance) platform where it can connect with the donor and organization that give out food to the needy.
Fssai indeed has taken some good measures to ensure bettering the quality of diet we eat. But, we need to be more conscious in terms of quality and nutrition because it directly affects our overall well-being.
Editor’s Note:
If you know of other food related regulations, do let us know with #IWBMovement as we at IWB aim to create awareness about food, health and fitness through our blog. Stay Healthy, Stay Fit.
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