FMCG industry calls FSSAI's nutrient thresholds 'impractical'

India's fast-moving consumer good (FMCG) industry has termed the nutrient thresholds set by the FSSAI in its new draft guidelines as “impractical,” sources told CNBC-TV18.

The FMCG  industry, in its representation to the FSSAI, has proposed to delete the ‘HFSS’ definition mentioned by the regulator, said the sources on condition of anonymity. HFSS implies foods high in fat, sugar and salt.

As per the FSSAI's draft 'Labelling and Display' regulations, the consumer goods companies have to declare nutritional information on the front of the pack. This means that calories, saturated fat, trans-fat, added sugar and sodium per serve details will have to be put on the front of the pack.

The draft regulations state that the blocks of nutrients for “High Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) food shall be coloured ‘RED.’" The regulator has laid out nutrient thresholds above which food will fall under the HFFS category and will have to be coded red.

In response to this, the industry said that there is no globally established guideline for defining ‘HFSS’ food. The 'impractical' nutrient thresholds set by the FSSAI would mean that most current market products would be labelled red.

Owing to this, the industry has suggested alternative proposals on ‘front of pack’ and general labelling.

The industry has proposed an approach which includes a gradual reduction of nutrients across suggested food categories. The general demand is the formulation of a methodology to identify a ‘scope of study’ in consultation with the FSSAI and an independent agency.

The suggested method would involve a “multi-centric product profile research,” based on which mutually agreed “nutrient-based category wise targets” should be set.