To promote food safety among children, regulator FSSAI is preparing a negative list of products that are rich in fat, salt and sugar in order to restrict availability of these items in schools.
"To realise the dream of a healthy and capable India, FSSAI is formulating regulations to promote and administer food safety at the school level to enable children to inculcate healthy eating habits that will last them a lifetime," Food Safety and Standards Authority of India CEO Pawan Agarwal said today.
The regulator is working on the negative list of food items that are rich in fat, salt and sugar and high in energy, but contain low amount of proteins, vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre.
"The list will have those food items which are known to have negative impact on health if consumed regularly and not desirable for young people," he said.
Last year, the Delhi High Court had ordered regulation of junk food consumption among school children through restrictions on the sale of foods high in fat, salt and sugar such as chips, fried foods and sugar-sweetened beverages on and around school premises.
Later, FSSAI had come up with its draft guidelines on availability of wholesome and nutritious food in schools in order to check junk food consumption by children.
Stating that "children are not the best judge of their food choice", FSSAI had said schools are not the right place to promote foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).
"Canteens in the schools should not be treated as commercial outlets," the regulator had observed, adding that schools should develop a canteen policy to provide nutritious, wholesome and healthy foods.
Restrict/limit the availability of most common HFSS foods in schools and areas within 50 metres, the watchdog had said.
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