Haldiram, Patanjali, Nestle, others pledge to cut salt, sugar, saturated fat in their products

FMCG companies and bakeries like Nestle India, Haldiram and Patanjali, have promised to join the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's (FSSAI's) ‘Eat Right Movement. In the process, they took a pledge to reformulate packaged foods with reduced levels of salt, sugar and saturated fats. 

Notably, FSSAI on Tuesday launched ‘Eat Right Movement’ to improve public health and combat lifestyle diseases. The campaign asks key stakeholders like food processing industries and restaurants to volunteer to reduce the percentage of salt, sugar and fat content in food.

Several FMCG companies have promised that they will reduce the quantity of salt, fat and sugar by up to 5 to 10 per cent soon. 

FSSAI's CEO Pawan Agarwal said that the edible oil industry has promised to reduce trans-fat content. The edible oil companies will reduce trans-fat content by 2 per cent by 2022. Along with this, information related to the nutrient content of the packet will be mentioned on it, .i.e. the amount of sugar, salt and fat that are present in the food. 

The details will be mentioned in accordance with the guidelines of the  Packaging and Labelling Act. By doing so, the consumer will be able to choose the right and healthy food according to his health.

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The campaign has been kick-started at a time when India is turning up to be a diabetes capital of the world. In addition, cases of anaemia and micronutrient deficiencies are on the rise in the country.