SC seeks clearer labels for fat, sugar, salt on packaged foods

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which has proposed phased implementation of front-of-package labelling (FoPL) on packaged foods, to come up with more clarifications on the planned labels of "nutrients of concern", fat, sugar and salt. FoPL is a nutritional information graphic on food packaging that can assist consumers in making an informed decision about food purchases and healthier dietary choices.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran on Thursday also asked the Centre how it plans to increase nutritional literacy in schools while flagging that children are under acute risk of developing unhealthy eating behaviours.

"In connection with this, we would like the Union to respond on how schools plan to incorporate through curriculum, initiatives, workshops etc, (i) the manner in which information provided in packaged food items, including nutritional information, FoPL etc., must be interpreted, and (ii) other aspects relating to nutritional literacy," according to the court order uploaded late night. The matter has been posted for hearing on September 28.