FSSAI is considering to introduce the guidelines for the categorization of foods to be sold in the schools keeping in mind the health of the children. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India wants a segmentation on food products like junk food, street food, nutritional food and the unhealthy food for ensuring the health and safety of growing children.
The authority is taking cognizance of the fact that the food and beverages companies are seeing a good marketing opportunity for selling their food products like juices, chips and other packaged food products, so it becomes extremely important that a close check on these packaged food products on nutritional parameters like protein, carbohydrates, sugar, fat etc could be done on regulatory enforcement grounds. Upon enforcements, the authority will do the testing of the food products available in schools on the labelling claims made for ingredients.
Growing children would need a nutritional content, such as the amount of Protein, carbohydrates, Sugar, fat and Calories, so the authority wants a healthy food to be distributed to the school children. There have been many cases of food poisoning in the schools located in small towns as some misbranded food items were being sold in these schools.
The authority has involved various research institutes and organizations for suggestions to prepare guidelines based on scientific research and the accurate data so that safe & healthy food could be arranged for the school children. The guidelines once prepared will be shortly shared among all states for the implementation.
The children who are studying in elementary, middle and the high school education would need a quality of food which is hygienic and contains nutritional elements in the diet. The guidelines if issued would help to remove the faulty products with false claims to ensure a healthy & safe future for our young generation.
Dr bharat says
It is urgent need who is working on it?
FSH Team says
FSSAI is working on it through a reliable survey data with the recommendations of scientific panel of the Food regulatory body.