Indian law is making brands feed us HFSS/UPF
Here are 20 Indian products that would be banned from advertising IF a law similar to the new one in UK was enforced in India:
1. Cadbury Dairy Milk (chocolate bars) — high sugar + saturated fat.
2. Parle-G (glucose biscuits / packaged biscuits) — high sugar and refined carbs.
3. Britannia Good Day / Bourbon / Treat (cookies & cream biscuits) — sugary baked snacks.
4. Kurkure (PepsiCo, savoury snacks) — high salt, fat and calories.
5. Lay’s (potato chips, PepsiCo) — high salt and fat; calorie dense.
6. ITC Sunfeast Dark Fantasy (choco-filled biscuits) — sugar + fat heavy.
7. Maggi Masala Noodles (Nestlé) — refined carbs, high salt; instant meal category.
8. Kellogg’s Chocos (breakfast cereal) — sugar-heavy ready-to-eat cereal.
9. Coca-Cola / Thums Up (sugary soft drinks) — high free sugar; beverages category.
10. Pepsi / Mirinda (sugary colas & fruit sodas) — high free sugar; beverages category.
11. Maaza / Frooti (sweetened fruit drinks / juice drinks) — concentrated sugars.
12. Cornetto / Wall’s (cone ice creams, major brands) — sugar + saturated fat in desserts.
13. Amul Butter / Amul Cheese (high-fat dairy spreads/cheeses) — saturated-fat dense dairy spreads.
14. Haldiram’s packaged namkeens & sweets (snack mixes / mithai) — high salt, sugar and fat.
15. Bingo! (ITC branded chips/snacks) — processed savoury snacks with salt & fat.
16. Kinder / Nestlé chocolate products (sold in India) — confectionery sugar/fat profile.
17. Britannia Cake / Little Hearts (cream-filled cakes & biscuits) — sugary processed bakery items.
18. KFC / McDonald’s (specific combo meals / burgers with high calories) — ready meals / fast-food mains.
19. Nestlé Milo / Horlicks-based ready mixes (when with added sugar) — sugar-added beverage mixes/instant drinks.
20. Instant soups & cup noodles (Maggi 2-minute cup / Knorr cup soups with high sodium) — processed instant meals with high salt/calories.
Here's what India is NOT doing, for context:
1. No comprehensive media-wide unhealthy food ad ban: India does not currently have a broad ban on HFSS (high fat, salt, sugar) food advertising across TV and online. India’s regulations mostly focus on child-targeted ads on specific channels and are limited in scope.
2. FSSAI’s role is broader but not yet prevention-oriented: FSSAI's current role focuses more on safety/compliance and misinformation, rather than proactively restricting unhealthy food advertising across all media or using packaging as a public health marketing control. more
1. Cadbury Dairy Milk (chocolate bars) — high sugar + saturated fat.
2. Parle-G (glucose biscuits / packaged biscuits) — high sugar and refined carbs.
3. Britannia Good Day / Bourbon / Treat (cookies & cream biscuits) — sugary baked snacks.
4. Kurkure (PepsiCo, savoury snacks) — high salt, fat and calories.
5. Lay’s (potato chips, PepsiCo) — high salt and fat; calorie dense.
6. ITC Sunfeast Dark Fantasy (choco-filled biscuits) — sugar + fat heavy.
7. Maggi Masala Noodles (Nestlé) — refined carbs, high salt; instant meal category.
8. Kellogg’s Chocos (breakfast cereal) — sugar-heavy ready-to-eat cereal.
9. Coca-Cola / Thums Up (sugary soft drinks) — high free sugar; beverages category.
10. Pepsi / Mirinda (sugary colas & fruit sodas) — high free sugar; beverages category.
11. Maaza / Frooti (sweetened fruit drinks / juice drinks) — concentrated sugars.
12. Cornetto / Wall’s (cone ice creams, major brands) — sugar + saturated fat in desserts.
13. Amul Butter / Amul Cheese (high-fat dairy spreads/cheeses) — saturated-fat dense dairy spreads.
14. Haldiram’s packaged namkeens & sweets (snack mixes / mithai) — high salt, sugar and fat.
15. Bingo! (ITC branded chips/snacks) — processed savoury snacks with salt & fat.
16. Kinder / Nestlé chocolate products (sold in India) — confectionery sugar/fat profile.
17. Britannia Cake / Little Hearts (cream-filled cakes & biscuits) — sugary processed bakery items.
18. KFC / McDonald’s (specific combo meals / burgers with high calories) — ready meals / fast-food mains.
19. Nestlé Milo / Horlicks-based ready mixes (when with added sugar) — sugar-added beverage mixes/instant drinks.
20. Instant soups & cup noodles (Maggi 2-minute cup / Knorr cup soups with high sodium) — processed instant meals with high salt/calories.
Here's what India is NOT doing, for context:
1. No comprehensive media-wide unhealthy food ad ban: India does not currently have a broad ban on HFSS (high fat, salt, sugar) food advertising across TV and online. India’s regulations mostly focus on child-targeted ads on specific channels and are limited in scope.
2. FSSAI’s role is broader but not yet prevention-oriented: FSSAI's current role focuses more on safety/compliance and misinformation, rather than proactively restricting unhealthy food advertising across all media or using packaging as a public health marketing control. more
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More than banning, if the government wants to benefit itself, forget the common man, then it should, like the UK, increase the taxes on HFSS products multifold. The companies will have to raise prices, trickling down to the end user (which will be infeasible), and then either modify the product, or discontinue. Sadly, there's no political will. more
Jan 08
Banning advertisements may not be feasible at one go. Government should insist on disclosing the composition of contents with percentages / quantum in the products and their health impact significantly in the advertisements. We have very limited infrastructure and resources to verify the restricted food contents, qualities, adulteration etc, more
Jan 08
The composition should also reflect unhealthy percentages so that it will discourage the “buying aspects” of an individual.Overall health of an indiduals is very very important,other than safety aspects and should warn the buyer in the first place than making him addicted to unhealthy foods. We need the morale of Manufacturer,in Nation Building to have Healthy citizen more
Jan 08
