'Talk to children and you will know what Kurkure is...'?
Soon warnings about harmful substances present in packaged food items can be seen. The central government has told the supreme court that it has formed a committee to consider this. Taking this statement of the government on record, the court stopped hearing the case. The court directed the committee to submit the report to the government in 3 months.
The supreme court had issued a notice in august last year on a petition filed by an organization named 3S and Our health Society. In the petition, it was demanded that the front part of the food packet should have written how much quantity of things like sugar, salt and saturated fats is present in it. The petitioner had told that 1 out of every 4 people in india is a victim of diabetes. The elements present in packaged food are becoming the cause of diseases ranging from sugar, heart disease to cancer. Such non-communicable diseases cause 60 lakh deaths in india every year.
The petitioner had said that such food items are heavily marketed. Influenced by this, people, especially children, buy them. This is the reason for many problems ranging from abnormal weight gain to lack of nutrition. It is the duty of the government to warn people about the harm caused by such junk food, but this is not happening. The court had sought a reply from the central government and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of india (FSSAI) on the petition.
Advocate Rajiv Dwivedi appeared on behalf of the petitioner before the bench headed by Justice jb Pardiwala. Justice Pardiwala told him in a light-hearted manner, 'Do you have children in your house? Talk to them and you will know what is Kurkure or what is Maggi? They do not care about what is written on the packet. They are interested in what is inside the packet.'
The judges considered the demand put forward by the petitioner to be justified and questioned the lawyer of the central government and FSSAI. The lawyer of FSSAI said that he is considering changing the rules to record the details of the ingredients present in the food item on the front of the packet. A committee has been formed for this. The committee has so far taken suggestions and objections from about 14 thousand people. On this, the judges asked the committee to submit a report to FSSAI in 3 months, so that the further process can begin.
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