‘Fresh ratings may discredit ethnic food’

Pune: The Indian Sellers Collective, an umbrella body of trade associations and sellers, has said that guidelines of the star rating method under the FOPNL (Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling) regulation proposed by FSSAI is likely to discredit Indian ethnic foods. In the Indian Nutrition Rating System, food items will be rated based on their nutritional information per 100g or 100ml. Abhay Raj Mishra, member & national coordinator, Indian Sellers Collective said, “Indian foods have evolved and are naturally designed to suit climatic conditions and genetic composition of Indians.” According to him, the proposed system does not factor in the consumption patterns as it ranks all food items on a 100g basis, making the method unscientific. Dhairyashil Patil, President, All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), said, “Indian foods with lower star ranking and classified as unhealthy will be rejected.”