India's junk food bill comes in as obesity, productivity loss increase

Poor dietary patterns have a significant economic cost, warn health experts

Mexico declared a ‘national epidemiological emergency’ in November 2016 after alarming excess weight and obesity among its citizens made the country the second worst affected in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) bloc of countries after the United States. Two years before that, Mexico had implemented a sugar tax and voted for warning labels on junk food in 2020 amid intense corporate opposition.\

A recent report said companies are looking at emerging markets like India where awareness about the harm from junk food is poor and consumer protection regulations weak.

The total volume of ultra-processed food that