Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Front and centre: On the front-of-package labelling issue

Front and centre: On the front-of-package labelling issue

Front-of-package labelling helps consumers to choose health foods

In a further instalment (किस्त) of its continuing (Ongoing; not stopping) engagement with regulating processed food products, the Supreme Court of India has, once again, staked out (Firmly claimed or taken a position) for the right of citizens to health. In a recent judgment, a Bench directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to consider introducing mandatory (अनिवार्य, बाध्यकारी) front-of-package warning labels on packaged food products high in sugar, salt and saturated fat. Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan directed the FSSAI to file its response to the proposal within four weeks. There is adequate (पर्याप्त, उचित) evidence available to associate these sugar, salt and saturated fat additives in processed foods with non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases, all of which are inching up their way up to epidemic (महामारी, व्यापक प्रसार) proportions in India. The petitioner, the NGO 3S and Our Health Society, informed (सूचित, जानकार) the Court that such disclosures would enable consumers to make informed decisions and choices and could help with stemming (रोकना, नियंत्रित करना) the tide of rising deaths due to diabetes and heart ailments. Earlier, in 2025, the Court had directed an expert committee under the FSSAI to submit its recommendations on the amendments required to be made to the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, to implement (लागू करना, अमल में लाना) front-of-package labelling. On the count of holding consultations with all stakeholders across the country, an extension was sought and secured, but in February 2026, the Bench expressed unhappiness at the regulator’s compliance report, noting that the exercise undertaken thus far had failed to yield (परिणाम देना, पैदा करना) any “positive or good result”. One of the elements of contention (विवाद, असहमति) between the FSSAI and the petitioner was the former’s proposal to introduce an Indian Nutrition Rating model, an indigenous (Native or locally developed) system of rating a product; the latter opposed it on the grounds that this was not in line with globally accepted standards.

The Court’s persistent (Continuing firmly over time) intervention (हस्तक्षेप, बीच-बचाव) on the issue of front-of-package labelling should lean on the massive ultra-processed food industry to implement these universally endorsed safeguards, to inform consumers of the content and additives in the packaged food, to guide choices, ultimately. Non-communicable diseases have already swept through vast swathes of the population in the country: the 2023 ICMR-INDIAB study found that 101 million people in India (11.4% of the population) have diabetes, with an additional 136 million suffering from prediabetes. Other concomitant factors including hypertension (35.5% national average), abdominal obesity (39.5%) and high cholesterol (24%) were also estimated to be high. Introducing front-of-package labelling is an essential part of establishing a continuum of care that begins with prevention.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Instalment (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – किस्त
English Meaning – One part of a series of actions or events.

2.Mandatory (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – अनिवार्य, बाध्यकारी
English Meaning – Required by law or rule.

3.Adequate (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – पर्याप्त, उचित
English Meaning – Enough; sufficient.

4.Epidemic (Noun/Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – महामारी, व्यापक प्रसार
English Meaning – Widespread occurrence of disease.

5.Informed (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – सूचित, जानकार
English Meaning – Having proper knowledge.