New Delhi

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has recommended a coordinated monitoring mechanism to ensure accurate labelling and prevent misleading claims on packaged food products sold through e-commerce platforms, citing the rapid expansion of online food sales.

In its Fifteenth Report on the subject, "Regulation of Packaged Commodities with specific Reference to Sugar Content in Baby Products and other Food Products," presented in the Lok Sabha, the committee observed that the rapid growth of e-commerce platforms has increased the online sale of packaged food products, posing challenges for labelling and truthful product claims.

The report stated, "The Committee have observed that the rapid expansion of e-commerce platforms has increased the online sale of packaged food products, which may pose challenges in ensuring accurate labelling and truthful product claims".

The committee recommended that the Department of Consumer Affairs, in coordination with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), State Food Safety Authorities and the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), establish a coordinated monitoring mechanism to address mislabelling and misleading claims in online product listings.

Besides online monitoring, the committee made several recommendations aimed at improving transparency in sugar disclosures and strengthening consumer awareness, particularly for infant and children's food products.

It strongly recommended the introduction of a mandatory sugar-level classification framework under the Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling regime, observing that numerical disclosure of sugar content alone may not help consumers determine whether a product contains high or low levels of sugar.

The committee said the framework should be based on clearly defined scientific thresholds aligned with the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The committee further recommended that sugar disclosure and interpretive labelling norms be applied uniformly across all packaged food categories without exemption.

It also suggested examining the possibility of prescribing specific limits for added sugar in packaged foods, particularly those intended for infants and young children.

For foods intended for or marketed to infants and children, the panel recommended mandatory front-of-pack declarations indicating the presence of added sugar in grams per serving along with its percentage contribution to the daily energy requirement of the relevant age group to help caregivers make informed dietary choices.

The committee also recommended that permissible sugar limits in infant formula, follow-up formula and complementary foods be reviewed periodically, preferably every two to three years, by the concerned scientific bodies of FSSAI, with the outcomes of such reviews placed in the public domain.

Expressing concern over the delay in finalising the Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling regulations issued in draft form in September 2022, the committee urged FSSAI to finalise and notify the regulations within a defined and time-bound framework. It further recommended that the labels carry colour-coded, simple, visible and interpretative warnings for products high in sugar.

It also called for stronger enforcement against misleading sugar-related claims by introducing graded penalties for repeat violations, prescribing mandatory timelines for withdrawal or correction of non-compliant advertisements, and ensuring regular public disclosure of violations and enforcement actions.

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The committee further recommended strengthening transparency and coordination between the Department of Consumer Affairs and FSSAI through structured information-sharing mechanisms, joint review meetings and a dedicated national monitoring approach.