Star-spangled Tussle
Gazing at ‘stars' may prove to be not so pleasant every time. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is probably experiencing this. Its recent decision to go ahead with the ‘Health Star Rating' (HSR) system for packaged food is being opposed by consumer organisations. The FSSAI may have been expecting the opposition to the move from food manufacturers, but receiving it first from consumer and health organisations must have been out of the blue. More interestingly and ironically, they are opposing the move citing the same reason which the food regulator has used to introduce the system.
The HSR system is akin to the system of energy efficiency introduced by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency for electrical and electronic appliances. Instead of energy efficiency, the number of stars printed on the package will inform consumers about the healthy or unhealthy quotient of the packaged food they plan to buy. The amount of salt, sugar and fat the food contain determines its health rating to be printed in the star format on the front of the package as these three ingredients are key concerns for one's health. Shortly, the regulator will issue the guidelines in this regard that will impact an estimated $35 billion packaged food market of India, home to giants like Nestle, Britannia, ITC, Pepsico, and Amul, not to mention several medium and small manufacturers.
Over a dozen organisations engaged in protecting the interests of consumers have written to the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Health opposing the move, which they feel won't help consumers in choosing healthy foods. In fact, they feel, consumers would find it difficult to understand the meaning of star ratings. They argue that the HSR system will dilute warnings, hence the direct nutrition warning should be printed on the label for the people to understand the message.
The FSSAI has pondered over the issue for a considerable period of time as the proposal was in the consultation stage for seven years. The food regulator has a strong backing of a study for this move. It had roped-in the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad (IIM-A) to study the impact of the front of the pack labelling. IIM-A considers various labelling systems like traffic light signs, nutrition score and warning symbols. But, after doing a survey of over 20,000 consumers, it recommended HSR as the best suited option for the consumers to choose healthier packaged foods.
The consumer organisations, however, are opposing exactly that, claiming that the HSR is difficult to understand. They too are quoting a study recently done by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) wherein consumers prefer direct warning labels as the most effective type of labelling than the HSR which is difficult to understand. They also claim that HSR has failed internationally.
In case of direct warning labels, the food manufacturing companies will have to undertake additional efforts at an extra cost, to print labels in different languages considering that ours is a multilanguage country. Then they will also have to ensure that the particular language label packages are made available in a particular state using that language. So, for them, HSR is an easy option. However, they have not yet come out openly expressing their views, but are expected to do so soon.
The two key issues involved in the HSR system are the matrix or the algorithm to be used to calculate star ratings and explaining that matrix as well as interpretation of different stars to the people to comprehend it well enough to make the perfect purchase decision for healthy food. That matrix itself will have to take care of showing correct results.
The FSSAI will have to launch a major public campaign for a long time to educate consumers if it wants to go ahead with the labelling system. It will have to act as the former US President Theodore Roosevelt once said in a different context but applicable here, “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”