ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a): Junk Food is not defined under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Rules and Regulations made thereunder. However, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued draft guidelines titled ‘Guidelines for making available Wholesome, Nutritious, Safe and Hygienic Food to School Children in India on 12.10.2015 prepared by the Expert Group/Central Advisory Committee as per the directions of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in the matter of WP(C) No. 8568 of 2010 titled ‘Uday Foundation for Congenital defects and Rare Blood Vs UOI & Others’ wherein availability of most common High in Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) foods in schools have been restricted/limited .
To address the issue of High Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) in food and associated health risks, 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 submitted by the Expert Group has been uploaded on FSSAI’s website i.e. www.fssai.gov.in and shared with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also constituted an Expert Committee on 6th March, 2017 to provide a comprehensive set of recommendations relating to all nodal agencies for implementation of evidence based strategy for reducing consumption of high fat, sugar & salt foods.
(b): FSSAI has undertaken Safe & Nutritious Food at School initiative to raise awareness amongst children on the importance of safe, nutritious and healthy food. Under this initiative, school teachers as Health and Wellness Coordinators are being trained to promote healthy and nutritious diets among children. FSSAI has also brought out a booklet ‘Yellow Book’ that provides age appropriate contents which can be adopted across schools through State education machineries as part of their curricular and co-curricular activities. It, inter-alia contains topics such as good food safety practices, personal hygiene and cleanliness habits, eating a balanced diet, packing a wholesome lunchbox, preventing nutritional deficiencies and making healthy choices. FSSAI has also created safe and nutritious food mascots-Master Sehat and Miss Sehat-superheroes who spread awareness among children.
(c): Yes. The FSSAI has already approved separate draft notification on FSSAI (Labelling) Regulations in which following provision is made:
“Food Business Operators (FBOs) including restaurants, confectioners, food service vendors, halwais, etc. having FSSAI State/Central License have to keep a record of nutritional information for food items served by them which should be made available on demand to the consumer”
(d): The Expert Group on High Fat, Sugar and Salt Foods constituted by FSSAI had, inter-alia, made a recommendation regarding ban on advertising of foods with High Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) on children’s channels or during children shows. FSSAI is of the view that Food Businesses could be asked to voluntarily desist from advertising HFSS foods on children’s channels. Bodies like Food and Beverage Alliance of India (FBAI) have already decided to voluntarily restrict food and beverage advertisements to children. Nine major Food Business Operators (FBOs) have joined this campaign and have decided not to advertise products with high fat, salt or sugar on children’s channels.
(e): FSSAI has approved separate draft regulations on Advertisements and Claims to address the issue of claims made w.r.t pre-packaged foods. It prescribes the general principles for all claims and specific requirements for nutritional claims.
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