Within the past few months, there have been protests on two matters that are crucial to public health. One was with the commercialization of human breast milk, and the other was about the front-of-pack labelling of foods that were unhealthy or overly processed and typically rich in sugar, salt, or saturated fats.
The first one deals with the processing and commercial trade of human milk. This has been happening for a long time. India is the only nation in Asia engaging in such a practise as a result of a lax regulatory framework. A few businesses either process breast milk into powder and sell it for a hefty price or they charge high prices to process breast milk into powder and give it back to moms in sachets. Both businesses obtained the licence under the guise of a dairy product, demonstrating how a flaw in the system allowed for the commercialization of human milk.
The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare unambiguously stated in Parliament that mother’s milk cannot be commercialised, therefore of course the Union government acted promptly. Commercialization of motheru2019s milk is not the same as human milk banking. In several Indian hospitals, there are human milk banks that don’t make any money from sales.
2017 saw a restriction on the commercial sale of breast milk in Cambodia. UNICEF had issued a warning that babies of poor and vulnerable women would suffer from malnutrition as a result of a commercial enterprise selling breastmilk given by mothers in Cambodia to women in the US. When mother’s milk or its processed powders are sold on the market, serious safety and moral concerns arise. The basic concept of banking human milk to assist preterm and very low birth weight infants being treated and cared for in specialised facilities is defeated by this. Another query: Are women starving their children when they give their own milk to a for-profit organisation?
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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare could introduce a Bill in Parliament to address these pressing problems by addressing the following questions: Should mother’s milk be permitted to be sold in the market? Can it be transformed into powder through processing and used in its place? The ‘ethical norm’ and regulation of human milk banking in India may also be included by the bill. The front-of-pack labelling of pre-packaged unhealthy food products is the second topic that generated a lot of media attention over the past year.
The FSSAI was duly called upon by the Prime Minister’s office to do this task as soon as possible. For many years, this policy has been waiting to be implemented. Despite being set to go into effect in 2018u201319, the planned regulation was never made public. In September 2022, the FSSAI published a proposed draught notification that solicited public opinions within 60 days. Those 60 days are now past, and many people may have sent their comments. Despite the FSSAI’s suggestion of a star rating, research does not support it and it is unlikely to be successful in lowering the use of harmful food products. A better strategy is to include a warning label that states how many calories, salt, and sugar are present in excess of the advised amounts.
In India, consumption of unhealthy/ultra-processed food and drink has climbed by more than 6%, while obesity rates among both men and women have increased by 25% during the past five years. The prevalence of Type-2 diabetes in adults is also rising quickly. Unfortunately, there is a lot of advertising for these items. Our quick analysis showed that the majority of food goods sold are unhealthy, but advertisements persist despite self-regulatory mechanisms.
A warning sign that indicates if certain food items are rich in sugar, salt, or saturated fatsu2014the three main causes of the diseases stated aboveu2014should also be displayed on the front of packs. You might also think about classifying unhealthy food items in the same GST bracket as cola drinks. Once completed, these two laws might mark a turning point for India’s public health and serve as a showcase for the G20.
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