DW BUREAU / Chandigarh, The Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health (DCM & SPH), Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) which is also running 'Strengthening Management of Hypertension Services Project' (SMHSP), called for a strong warning labels on packaged food and urged that the Front- of- Packaging Labeling (FOPL) law be expedited, on Tuesday. Dr Sonu Goel, Professor at DCM and SPH, who is also the Principal Investigator, SMHSP said, "If properly displayed, FoPlabeling can remarkably reduce hypertension, obesity, and many other nutrition-related problems in India. All appropriate food content should be mentioned on packaged food. A proper system of FoPlabeling can help people make informed choices while deciding to consume packaged food which in turn will help in reducing ailments like obesity, hypertension, and diabetes which are exacerbated by intake of junk food." According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5 there has been an increase in obesity in women in 16 of the 22 states surveyed, while men are more obese in 19 states. Childhood obesity is a rapidly growing concern in 20 of the 22 states surveyed. The doctors said that World Health Day is being observed at a time when the world and India is going through the worst ever health crisis in history. More and more Indians are suffering from chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, high fasting blood sugar levels and obesity?all of which are closely linked to unhealthy diets, and an excessive intake of sugars, total fats, saturated fats, trans-fats and sodium. In turn, the excessive intake of these "nutrients of public health concern" is largely driven by the widespread availability, affordability and promotion of processed and ultra-processed food products with unhealthy nutritional profiles.They said that front-of-package warning labelling enables consumers to identify in a quick, clear and effective way, products high in sugar, sodium, saturated fats, trans fats and total fats, the critical nutrients associated with the NCD burden in India. An expert committee in 2013 set up to look into junk food in schools recommended the need for (FoP) labeling for calories, sugar, fat, saturated fat, and salt. Since then there have been multiple panels, but no final outcome has come about despite 7 years passing. Researchers from the Centre for Science and Environment recommend mentioning clearly on FoPlabeling total fat, sugar and salt against saturated fat, added sugar and sodium. Expressing his concern, Dr. Sonu Goel stated that in today's fast paced life 'package food' such as biscuits, frozen foods, savories, chips, and canned juices have become the most preferred choice among people. All these package foods are aggressively promoted and widely available in the market. So, a law to have proper mention of ingredients right in front of the package was the need of the hour. (editor@dailyworld.in)