'Celebrities should not be allowed to promote junk foods and drinks'

The demands, by the Centre for Science and Environment, a prominent research and advocacy group, come as media reports speculate that the government has been readying to reveal a wide-ranging sugar tax.

According to Times of India​, health and food safety officials have been working on a detailed proposal on such action.

“We have drawn a multi-sectoral action plan and consultations are being held with different ministries.There are specific proposals as part of the plan​,” a senior Ministry of Health official told the daily, adding that the proposal would be sent to the finance ministry and the prime minister’s office for further action.

The proposal is also likely to include new packaging regulations and could impose restrictions on endorsements and the advertising of low-nutrition foods.

“No celebrity should be allowed to advertise soft drinks, chocolates, noodles, etc​.,” said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general of the CSE think tank.

According to Bhushan, the government should take tough measures to limit the consumption of junk food as part of an integral plan to limit the growth of non-communicable diseases in the country at a time when India is home to more than 60m diabetes sufferers.

The CSE also advocates stringent food packaging regulations that feature standardised serving sizes on labels, along with salt content, which is not currently required by food standards authorities.

“There are no provisions to inform consumers about how much a particular food or portion contributes to the recommended daily intake of salt, sugar or fat. Serving sizes are not standardised: these are best practices across the world,​” says Amit Khurana, the CSE’s food safety programme manager. 

“In fact, the need of the hour is warning labels that clearly highlight that a particular food is unhealthy due to presence of high salt, sugar or fat. Just the way it’s been talked about in the case of tobacco​.”

The idea of adding tobacco-style labelling to packaging has been gaining momentum in India recently.

Last month, India’s consumer affairs minister said he would consult with other ministries on the issue of forcing food companies to display health warnings on low-nutrition foods.

"In some countries, it is written on the label if junk foods are healthy or not. We do not. We have received suggestions if cigarette pack can carry a warning 'it is injurious to health', then why not ‘a not healthy food' warning on junk foods​," said Ram Vilas Paswan.

He also questioned how companies were approaching the inclusion of technical information on labels.

More stories from South Asia…​

E-retailers, including delivery apps, told by FSSAI to comply with food Act​

E-commerce food companies will be governed by India’s food regulator and forced to register under the Food Safety and Standards Act, according to the FSSAI in a ruling that will be seen as a blow to the legal status of technology companies.​

The FSSAI has told all major e-commerce companies, including Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, that their food operations cannot continue unless they agree to be bound by the Act by registering with it.

Doing so will allow inspectors to perform periodic inspections on the safety of the food items that they sell and the warehouses they operate. The regulator will also be entitled to take action in the case of consumer complaints.

"The online distribution channel has been neglected in regard to food safety​,” the FSSAI wrote in a note sent to e-commerce firms. 

“It has been noted that online shops are not necessarily subjected to inspection since sampling and analysis is often complicated as the provisions in FSS Act cannot be completely fulfilled in such business operations​.”

Helped by Ficci, an industry group, e-commerce food firms have been lobbying to be recognised as “technology facilitators​”, rather than food operators, and as such have argued that the Food Safety and Standards Act should not apply to them.

However, they were told at a meeting with the FSSAI last month of plans to bring them into its fold, according to a Times of India ​report.

Other food technology start-ups including Zomato and Foodpanda, which have expanded internationally, Swiggy, Grofers, Big Basket and Peppertap have also been told to comply with the Act, though these companies operate as recommendation and delivery services on behalf of third parties.

Sri Lankan tea and rubber plantation smallholders to benefit from development loan​

Sri Lanka has taken a UN loan to improve food security and increase incomes for 32,000 rural households dependent on tea and rubber plantations in central and southern regions of the country.​

The US$65.4m project, including a US$25.8m loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development, aims to help smallholders’ business more productive, profitable and resilient to market volatility.

It will help small farmers who grow tea or rubber to improve production and processing, and take advantage of market opportunities. It will also make rural finance more accessible to help farmers develop their rubber or tea business.

“It is important that smallholder farmers are the key decision-makers in all project activities​,” said Hubert Boirard, IFAD’s country manager for Sri Lanka. 

“We are connecting farmers to the value chain, in both the tea and rubber sectors, so that they are stakeholders in producing, processing and marketing their products​.”

The project area will cover the districts of Galle, Matara, Badulla, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya for tea cultivation, Moneragala and Ampara for rubber cultivation and Ratnapura for tea and rubber processing.

Since 1978, IFAD has invested more than US$262.8m in 17 projects in Sri Lanka, with a total project cost of US$464.9m including co-financing, directly benefitting 557,000 rural households, the fund said in a statement.

Spice prices to fall as farmers increase production​

The world’s pepper market has seen prices falling from the highs they experienced in the second-half of last year after the arrival of a new crop into India and Vietnam. ​

A larger crop in Vietnam is also forecast for 2016, with pepper production expected to increase by an estimated 20%, to 160,000 tonnes, due to an increase in planted area—up by 18% to 100,000 ha. 

Higher crop expectations and the possibility of further price erosion has taken some demand off the markets, adding to a downward pricing trend.

Coriander prices have fallen sharply since November last year, though weather conditions have been favourable for the development of seed in the main growing regions of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. 

According to Mintec, a commodities analyst, this will aid higher yields and should provide good quality seeds compared to last year, when coriander prices increased sharply between March and June due to damage caused by heavy rains and hailstorms during the harvest.

Indian ginger prices have dropped over the past weeks following the arrival of a new crop, and also due to higher ginger production this year. Following two years of very high prices, farmers have expanded their planted area and consequently production has increased.

Chilli prices remained high at the start of 2016, supported by limited supplies. Current arrivals in the main markets in India are 60% below average, following lower production from the current season. The crop is forecast to fall substantially short this year due to an erratic monsoon, scarcity of rain, lower planted area and a disease which has severely reduced production in the Madhya Pradesh province. 

The situation has been aggravated by farmers holding on to stocks, with a view to maximising revenues in the months to come as prices remain firm.