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Salt content mislabelled in two-thirds of Indian processed foods

By RJ Whitehead

- Last updated on GMT

Photo: iStock
Photo: iStock

Related tags Coffee

Most food labelling in India shows an inaccurate representation of the salt that packaged products contain, a major study has found. The research comes at a time when growth in salt-related deaths in the country is surging.

Researchers from several Indian public health institutes surveyed 7,428 packaged foods, finding that less than one-third of them had accurate salt content displayed on the nutrition label.  

Almost a quarter of products carried no nutritional details at all, though it is not mandatory to display these under current regulations.

It’s certainly something we need to consider​,” said Dorairaj Prabhakaran, of the Public Health Foundation of India, who was involved in the study.

According to Vivek Jha, executive director of the George Institute India, and an author of the study, excess dietary salt is responsible for around 600,000 deaths each year—approximately double that reported in 1990. 

Indians have traditionally added large amounts of salt during cooking and salty pickles remain popular, but as dietary patterns change, packaged foods are becoming a problem, Dr Jha said, adding that excess sodium intake is the fifth leading cause of death in the country.  

In the west, hidden salt in packaged foods accounts for three-quarters of salt in the diet, and there has been a real push for better labelling​,” he said. “We think it’s important that Indian consumers can easily see what’s in their food​.”

There has been a marked shift in the dietary habits of Indians from traditional home cooking towards more convenience foods, particularly in urban areas, and increasingly more processed foods have been coming onto the market. 

According to the study’s authors, this mislabelling is making it even harder for nutritionally aware consumers to have less salt in their diets. 

Sailesh Mohan, also of the Public Health Foundation of India, said that Indians were increasingly aware of the need to reduce the amount of salt they consume “but we also need the food industry to play its part​”.

The main problem caused by salt is high blood pressure which greatly increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney failure.  These are all now leading causes of death and disability in India​,” Dr Mohan said.

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