The Food Safety and Standards of India has decided to move with “Health Star Ratings” for Front of the Pack Labelling. Soon the draft regarding the same will be framed. In this regard, the Indian Institute of Management- Ahmedabad (IIMA) has conducted the study on behalf of FSSAI for Front of the Pack Labelling. Various measures like Nutri-score, Monochrome, Multiple Traffic Lights, warning labels, and Health Star Ratings for Front of the Pack Labelling are considered.
Amongst the other studies, HSR is most acceptable for FoPL. The ‘Warning Labels’ has helped a lot from the perspective of ease of understanding, reliability, identification, and influence on the consumers. Currently, the food authority has decided to propose a draft to get public comments.
This draft is proposed majorly to seek comments from the consumers on large scale, as most of the ‘consumer activists’ opposed the move and have written to the Prime Minister.
Ashwin Bhadri, CEO, Equinox Labs, “‘Health Star Ratings’ allow the consumers to know the genuineness or safety of a product for consumption. Various products have ‘warning labels’ and allow the consumers to access the information that is necessary to go through before consumption. Similarly, the ‘Health Star Ratings’ will allow the consumers to know the genuineness of the products.”
Equinox Labs is a leading FSSAI Approved and NABL Accredited Food, Water, and Air Testing Lab with 16+ years of experience. With a PAN-India presence, they are also Industry Leaders in Food Safety Auditing and FoSTaC Training.
He added, “The Health Star Ratings are given from 1-5. These help to ensure the products are rated as per the safety and other required protocols. All the contents available in the products should be safe and contribute to an improved healthy lifestyle. Constant work on the contents of the product improves ratings and becomes the choice of the consumers. Additionally, it allows the FBOs to scale up ensuring they do improve the ratings and products.”
