The Front-of-Pack Labelling system promotes healthier eating habits by giving Indians easily understandable information about nutritional value.
Published Dec 16, 2023 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 16, 2023 | 8:00 AM
The study included a survey across different regions of India to evaluate five different front-of-pack labels in use globally, adapted to the Indian context. (Sourced)
India, the most populous nation globally, has undergone a significant shift in dietary preferences, witnessing an increase in the consumption of processed and unhealthy foods. This change in eating habits has led to a rise in nutrition-related diseases and obesity.
In response to this growing concern, the Indian government is taking proactive measures by introducing a Front-of-Pack Labelling (FoPL) system. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is spearheading the implementation of this nutrition labeling system in the country.
In October 2022, the food regulator announced its plans to introduce Health Star Ratings (HSR) on traditional foods and cuisine in India. However, even after releasing the draft a year ago, the FSSAI has still not come up with any front-of-pack nutrition labelling system.
Now, a World Health Organisation-commissioned study finds that instead of the HSR, there is another label that the Indian population prefers. We dive into what it is.
The study included a survey of 1,270 adults from different regions of India to evaluate five different front-of-pack labels being used in different parts of the world, adapted to the Indian context.
It found that the two-colour Multiple Traffic Lights label outperformed other labels. It was found to be the most successful in terms of both objective knowledge and food choice results.
Front-of-Pack Labelling options in the study. (Study)
The study emphasises how crucial it is to use colour to help with interpretation when creating the new nutrition label that will be placed on products packaged in India.
All front-of-pack labels that were examined had positive effects on perception, choice, and objective comprehension results. This highlights the potential contribution of such labels in helping consumers make healthier food choices.
“Through extensive consultation with a diverse spectrum of Indian consumers, our study has conclusively shown that a two-colour label utilising a traffic light format not only provides useful information but is also widely deemed effective, useful, and likable by most respondents,” said D Praveen, a researcher at The George Institute for Global Health and one of the authors of the study.
“These findings hold immense potential to inform and guide the Indian government in its ongoing efforts to implement an FoPL system that incorporates the features of this highly effective design,” Praveen said.
The findings can serve as a reference to the FSSAI and the government when they work to create a front-of-pack nutrition labelling system, the researchers said.
The goal is to promote healthier eating habits and slow the rise in diet-related illnesses by giving Indian customers easily available and understandable information about the nutritional value of packaged foods, they added.
FoPLs of different types highlighting various components of packaged food are in use in many parts of the world. They are mandatory in some countries and voluntarily applied by manufacturers in others.
FoPLs provide key information on food components that consumers can use to make choices and purchasing decisions, such as choosing healthier ones over unhealthy ones.
India, which does not have an FoPL system in place yet, intends to implement one to promote informed decision-making on packaged food purchasing, as part of promoting healthier diets in the population, the researchers said.
The findings, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, can shape the government’s selection of a new FoPL system for India to give consumers easier access to nutritional information and healthier food options.
The Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling system will help counter the rising cases of nutrition-related diseases and obesity that are becoming more prevalent in India.
However in early 2023, a study conducted across five Indian cities involving 3,231 participants who had to choose from a series of warning labels had thrown up a clear winner — at least in terms of readability — and it wasn’t the HSR or the two-colour MTL.
The study by Hyderabad-based ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition was on the acceptability and potential use of different formats of Front-of-Pack Labelling.
The study by ICMR-NIN tested the consumer’s acceptability, reliability, and understandability, as well as the cognitive workload, informativeness, and purchase intention of five FoPL formats.
These formats are:
Please enlarge the image to understand how these formats work
The cross-sectional study, with a quasi-experimental design, was conducted among 3,231 participants from five regions of India — north (Delhi), east (Kolkata), west (Pune), south (Hyderabad), and northeast (Jorhat, Assam).
While FSSAI, in its notification, has stated its preference for the Health Star Rating (HSR), people who participated in this study leaned towards the colour coding-based Nutri-Score (NS).
In the study, when the participants were shown mock food packages and were asked about their preference among all five front-of-pack labels, in almost all the categories their preference was Nutri-Score.
Nutri-Score indicates product healthfulness using five different colours and five letters ranging from Category A (dark green), indicating highest nutritional quality, to Category E (dark orange), indicating lowest nutritional quality.
According to the study, Nutri-Score was most preferred due to its colour-coding as it attracts attention and also because it is a summary indicator providing a quick evaluation of the product’s overall healthiness using both positive nutrients and nutrients of concern.
The lead investigator of the ICMR-NIN study, Dr SubbaRao M Gavaravarapu, told South First that in terms of likeability, colour-coded labels are easily liked because people are familiar with red to green.
“They understand what red means and what green means,” he said.
However, in terms of likeability, “the Health Star Rating is also understood by people in India because such a rating style is already being used for electrical gadgets,” noted Dr Gavaravarapu.
“If the purpose of front-of-pack labels is to promote healthy food choices — based on the relative healthiness of the foods or the available variants of similar foods — then summary labels such as NS or HSR may be useful,” the study said.
So, will the FSSAI ever kick India’s Front-of-Pack Labelling system off the ground? Which label format will win the consumer market? We will just have to wait and watch.
