Junk food and sugary drinks get costlier as FSSAI calls for fat tax

As a practical method to curb the increase of sedentary lifestyle conditions and disorders like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and the blot of hypertension, India’s food regulator, The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), on Monday proposed to impose an additional fat tax on all packaged products, processed food and sweetened beverages. 

Although FSSAI did not specify the quantum of tax to be levied, the FSSAI panel also recommended a slew of measures, including ban on advertisements and promotion of junk food on children’s television channels, websites and social media networks and strict labelling norms for products with high salt, sugar and trans-fat content. 

The proposal by the Indian food ombudsman has not gone down well with the companies and restaurants. Food industry giants such as ITC Ltd, Dabur Ltd, Nestle India Ltd and Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd refused to comment on the matter.

“The proposed tax means that people who have money can afford to be unhealthy,” said Ashish Saxena, CEO of Chili’s American Grill & Bar.
 

As per the FSSAI notification, companies should mention “total calories, amounts of carbohydrate, sugars, fat, protein, sodium, dietary fibre” and “trans-fat added” on the labels. Also the regulator has advised the companies to voluntarily reformulate their food products to reduce fat, sugar and salt. 

On the other hand, an official spokesperson of Hindustan Unilever was of the view that, “We fully support FSSAI’s work on promoting safe and nutritious food for Indian consumers, and we have the responsibility to contribute to this cause both through our product formulation and product labelling to help consumers make informed choices", reported The Economic Times.

The nutrition-related programmes of the government can be supported through profit from taxing unhealthy food products.

The regulator’s notification is based on the recommendations of an 11-member expert group set up by the FSSAI after a Delhi High Court order in 2015. “Imposing additional tax on the purchase of commodities such as pre-packaged foods with high salt and fat content, sugar sweetened beverages, etc., can be a pragmatic approach to reduce the rising burden of chronic diseases among Indian population. Imposing excise tax on unhealthy eating products can be an endeavour to bring about positive health effects among population. This exercise can be of great importance in supporting nutrition-related programmes by the means of profit generated from taxing unhealthy food products,” added the FSSAI notification, reported Livemint.

The report ‘Consumption of fat, sugar and salt (FSS) & its health effects on Indian population’ prepared by the 11-member expert committee also recommended ways to reduce consumption of unhealthy food products, observing that over half of all deaths in the country were due to non-communicable diseases, reported the New Indian Express.

Fat taxation on junk food became a reality in India when in June last year the Kerala government proposed a 14.5% tax on burgers, pizzas and other junk food served in branded restaurants.