FSSAI wants restaurants to declare calories on the menu

FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal says declaring details of calorie intake and nutrition information ensures that consumers are informed

Sounak Mitra
Updated10 Feb 2017, 05:28 AM IST
FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal. Some fine-dining restaurants have separate menus for low-calorie food and also offer sugar-free options on demand. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint
FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal. Some fine-dining restaurants have separate menus for low-calorie food and also offer sugar-free options on demand. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: India’s food regulator wants restaurants to declare the calorific and nutritive value of the food they serve in an effort aimed at making consumers aware of what they eat.

“Declaring details of calorie intake and nutrition information ensures that consumers are informed. These things are already part of labelling norms for packaged food,” said Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

But Agarwal doesn’t want to make this mandatory—at least, not yet.

“To start with, let the big ones come forward and do this voluntarily.”

ALSO READ | FSSAI notifies caffeine level for energy drinks

Some fine-dining restaurants, especially those at five-star hotels, have separate menus for low-calorie food and also offer sugar-free options on demand. But they do not declare calorific and nutrition details.

The Indian food regulator’s move is probably inspired by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), which in December 2014 notified rules for the so-called Nutrition Labelling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments. By 5 May 2017, some categories of restaurants in the US will have to comply with these.

FSSAI is likely to follow the USFDA standards, when it decides to notify rules, although there is no plan to do this immediately.

“We are working with FSSAI and disclosing information on nutrition and calorie intake will not be an issue,” said a spokesperson for the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India that has 1,700 members across nine states.

ALSO READ | FSSAI decides to ban use of newspapers for packing food

Riyaaz Amlani, president, National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) isn’t as enthusiastic about the idea. “Making it voluntary may make sense. But if it is mandatory, compliance may be an issue. Declaration of nutrition information and calorie details will be a huge task. Even in the western countries, it is not a practice,” said Amlani, who owns Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality Pvt. Ltd that runs popular restaurant and bar and cafe chains such as Smoke House Deli and Social.

The food services market in India is projected to grow to Rs4.98 trillion by 2021, expanding at an annual average rate of 10%, from Rs3.09 trillion in 2016, according to a NRAI-Technopak report.

The food regulator is also working on standards for organic food, including grains. These will be notified by the end of February, Agarwal said.

Organic food is a relatively new phenomenon in India and most of this market is unorganized at present.

The size of the organic food market, most of which is for pulses and grains, was estimated at $0.36 billion in 2014 but is projected to grow at 25-30% a year to $1.36 billion by 2020, according to an October-2015 study by industry lobby group Assocham and research firm TechSci Research.

Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

MoreLess
First Published:10 Feb 2017, 05:28 AM IST
Business NewsPoliticsPolicyFSSAI wants restaurants to declare calories on the menu

Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!

  • Employment Type

    Most Active Stocks

    ITC share price

    481.30
    03:52 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    1.25 (0.26%)

    Tata Steel share price

    153.60
    03:59 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    1.3 (0.85%)

    Infosys share price

    1,824.30
    03:58 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    70.5 (4.02%)

    Larsen & Toubro share price

    3,646.65
    03:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    71.25 (1.99%)
    More Active Stocks

    Market Snapshot

    • Top Gainers
    • Top Losers
    • 52 Week High

    National Aluminium Company share price

    245.00
    03:55 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    10 (4.26%)

    EPL share price

    270.15
    03:42 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    8.15 (3.11%)

    Firstsource Solutions share price

    380.35
    03:53 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    10.95 (2.96%)

    City Union Bank share price

    178.85
    03:29 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    0.15 (0.08%)
    More from 52 Week High

    Hindustan Zinc share price

    513.15
    03:54 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    -46.3 (-8.28%)

    Great Eastern Shipping Company share price

    1,257.65
    03:53 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    -36.35 (-2.81%)

    Five Star Business Finance share price

    654.85
    03:43 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    -18.8 (-2.79%)

    Triveni Engineering & Indus share price

    406.00
    03:29 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    -11.25 (-2.7%)
    More from Top Losers

    Syrma SGS Technology share price

    554.00
    03:51 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    47.45 (9.37%)

    Dixon Technologies (India) share price

    15,658.95
    03:43 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    1262.95 (8.77%)

    Tejas Networks share price

    1,409.95
    03:55 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    101.7 (7.77%)

    Eclerx Services share price

    3,263.35
    03:52 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    231.45 (7.63%)
    More from Top Gainers

    Recommended For You

      More Recommendations

      Gold Prices

      • 24K
      • 22K
      Bangalore
      80,365.00110.00
      Chennai
      80,371.00110.00
      Delhi
      80,523.00110.00
      Kolkata
      80,375.00110.00

      Fuel Price

      • Petrol
      • Diesel
      Bangalore
      102.92/L0.00
      Chennai
      100.80/L0.00
      Kolkata
      104.95/L0.00
      New Delhi
      94.77/L0.00

      Popular in Politics

        HomeMarketsPremiumInstant LoanMint Shorts