Question : Obesity among Children

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is taking any measure to tackle obesity among young children and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that there is a violation of regulations of food industry by some food companies, soft drink companies and agrochemical manufacturers;

(c) if so, number of such incidents reported during each of the last three years in the country;

(d) whether the Government has taken any stringent actions against the agencies which have violated the rules; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a): To address the issue of High Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) in food and associated health risks, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) constituted an Expert Group that included eminent experts from the fields of medicine, nutrition and dietetics representing well known medical research and academic institutions. The Report of the Expert Group, with its gist, has been uploaded on FSSAI website i.e. www.fssai.gov.in for the information of general public. Further, to help consumers make an informed choice, the FSSAI has decided to revise its labelling regulations to include mandatory declaration of total fat, added sugar, salt, trans fat and energy per serving along with its contribution to Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) on front of pack label. FSSAI has issued draft Guidelines titled ‘Guidelines for making available wholesome, Nutritious, Safe and Hygienic Food to School Children in India’.

FSSAI has also undertaken initiatives to ensure delivery of safe, nutritious and healthy food for all citizens by an integrated approach through its Safe and Nutritious Food (SNF) campaign, covering home, school, work place and eating out. Under these initiatives, FSSAI is bringing out different series of booklets/pamphlets/flyers for consumer education and awareness and School teachers are being trained to promote healthy diets among school children. FSSAI has also created safe and nutritious food mascots-Master Sehat and Miss Sehat-superheroes who spread awareness among children.

(b) to (e): Responsibility for enforcement of provisions of Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 and Rules and Regulations made thereunder primarily rests with the State/Union Territory Governments. Cases of violation of these provisions by some Food Business Operators are detected by Food Safety Officials in the States/UTs who conduct regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and sampling of food products to check the compliance of the provisions of the FSS Act and Rules and Regulations made thereunder. In cases where the food samples are found to be non-conforming, recourse is taken to penal provisions under Chapter IX of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Based on the information shared by the States/UTs with FSSAI, details of the samples collected, found non-conforming and action taken during the last three years are at Annexure I, II and III.