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FSSAI reconsidering plan to introduce front-of-pack Health Star Rating for packaged food items.
May 04, 2023

India’s apex food safety regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is reconsidering its plans to introduce a mandatory Health Star Rating (HSR) on all packaged food items, ThePrint has learnt. HSR is a front-of-pack labelling system that rates the overall nutritional profile of packaged food.
 
The development comes a month after social media influencer Revant Himatsingka in a video criticised the endorsement of Cadbury Bournvita as a 'health drink' and claimed that the brand had 'miscommunicated' the product’s 'nutritional value' and sugar content on its packaging. 
 
While Bournvita owner Mondelez India had dismissed Himatsingka’s claims, and the influencer deleted the video saying he had received a legal notice, the matter led to calls for greater accountability in the processed and packaged food industry. 
 
Highly-placed sources at FSSAI told ThePrint that although the decision is not directly linked with the Bournvita controversy, the episode could have spurred the regulator into calling a fresh meeting with stakeholders later this month for deliberations.
 
'After coming up with the draft proposal on HSR, we have received over 10,000 comments from different stakeholders and are currently going through them,' a senior FSSAI official told ThePrint. 'However, deliberation is also still on and a meeting is being planned soon on whether health star rating or pictorial warning labels on processed food would be a better idea. We will also actively take the Union health ministry’s view on the issue.'
 
If the FSSAI does decide to go ahead with its decision, it would be the first time that a health star rating is introduced in the country.
 
ThePrint reached G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, the chief executive officer (CEO) of FSSAI, via email for comment. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. 
    
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