Food business operators in India, led by CAIT, have written to the Union Health Minister asking for a review of the draft regulations for front-of-the-pack labelling (FOPL) that prescribe Health Star ratings for food products based on content, primarily, salt, sugar and fat – as reported in fnbnews.
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The letter referred to the variations of the food habits across the country that were not taken into consideration while framing the draft. Also, the letter makes a point about the recipes, which are special and peculiar to the specific region and based on the local consumers’ palate. It added that food business is also carried out by a large number of small enterprises, not only large companies and they too make their product available in packages.
“Any legislation or regulation which may be drafted (without considering the local factors, consumer preferences/ choices and trade practices) may result in closure of large number of small sweet and namkeen manufacturers traditionally known as halwai and bakers, which will further result in unemployment of large number of workers who work with these small halwai and sweet namkeen manufacturers’ units,” reads the letter while adding that the proposed rules have not taken into consideration the ground reality of food trade in India.
Distributors’ woes
Meanwhile, in another development a National Governing Council Meet of the “All India Consumer Products Distributors’ Federation (AICPDF)” was held here wherein representatives of 17 state associations from across India participated.
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According to AICPDF, many state leaders have requested the federation to look into the concerns of the distributors of FMCG companies like Cadbury’s, Amul and Tata Consumer Products who are presently facing difficulties due to the alleged anti-distributor policies adopted by these companies.
AICPDF has resolved to take up these issues directly with company management.
“Issues such as problems faced by distributors due to billing on company billing software, unjustified area bifurcations done by company executives, infringement of rights of distributors by online companies were discussed threadbare,” reads a statement issued by the AICPDF.
