After that hectic day, when I reached Goa airport, I was feeling a bit hungry. Reached a food-stall set up at the airport and when I looked at the menu, it was also written along with the price of each particular item, and how many calories are in it. Every food item had a huge amount of calories and no food item was available in small portions. The availability of junk food has increased in the last two decades. These are the foods which have wrong ratio of nutrients and an abundance of calories, sugar, salt, fat etc. These harmful things have now reached far away villages. Most are sold as 'get one get one free'.
The result is that obesity and junk food-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes are on the rise across the world, across all income-age groups. On the lines of 'better late than never', some countries are making such policies, which will reduce the use of junk food. For example, in many countries, the amount of calories, fat, sugar, salt in foods is marked with red, yellow, green like 'traffic light' above the packet. Green indicates the correct amount of that component and red indicates excess amount of that component. This method is easy to understand and helps people to decide whether to buy that food item.
In April 2022, the UK Parliament went a step further and passed the 'High Fat High Sugar' Act which has many provisions. For example, information on fat, salt and sugar in food products must be clearly printed on the package in large print. For junk food, manufacturers or big shops cannot adopt promotional methods like 'buy one get one free. There is a provision to ban the use of methods like 'buy five get 25% discount for the sale of these goods. Such goods cannot be kept hanging in the front of the shop and have to be kept at the back. No TV channel shall telecast advertisements of such food items between 7 am to 9 pm. The laws will come into effect from October 2023. The Government of India has also released a public opinion poll in mid-September 2022 on new ways to warn the public about food ingredients and health risks.
Talking about implementing the method of 'star rating' on substances. Each food item will be assigned a star rating of between half and five by a complex formula and the producer will have to print it on the packet as you currently see printed on air conditioners or fridges based on power consumption. The lower the star rating of a food item, the more unhealthy the food. But there are many flaws in this proposal. Firstly, the standards set in this rating system are on the lower side as compared to the standards of the World Health Organisation. A portion of very unhealthy food can also get two or three stars in the star rating. This rating does not describe any food item as 'unhealthy'.
The biggest weakness is that people can get confused with the star rating and think that it is a standard of quality. This method will not be of much help in choosing whether to buy a food item or not. There is complete agreement among public health experts that the government should immediately reconsider this proposal. A better alternative is the 'traffic light' system used in other countries. Even if the law is made, it will take a few more years for its implementation.
You and I can't wait for it. We have to do something immediately. Let's include some things in our lifestyle. Next time wait for two minutes before eating and think whether the things in your food are healthy. Are there more oil and sugar in them than you need? Remember, whenever you feel hungry, first drink water, it may be that what you consider hunger may just be thirst. After eating food, even if it is just for a while, do take a walk. New research says that walking for even two minutes after a meal is better than sitting. We have to look into these measures immediately.
You must be logged in to post a comment.