India's food regulator proposes ban on added sugars in infant foods

India's food safety regulator on Saturday proposed a ​ban on adding sucrose and fructose ​to food products for infants up ‌to six ​months of age, tightening rules on added sugars in infant nutrition products. Under existing rules, lactose and glucose polymers are the preferred ‌carbohydrate sources in infant nutrition products, while sucrose and fructose can be added when required, subject to prescribed limits, the regulator said.

The move comes amid an intensifying food safety crackdown in India, ‌where regulators have forced local eateries and branded restaurants to suspend operations, while a push ‌for front-of-pack warning labels has rattled the country's more than $100 billion packaged food industry. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said the proposed measure aims to reduce infants' exposure to added sugars and address health risks ⁠linked ​to childhood obesity.

The existing regulations ⁠set nutritional composition, quality and safety standards for infant nutrition products intended for children from birth to 24 months ⁠of age, it said. Activists and officials have long raised concerns about rising obesity rates, particularly among ​children. India had 180 million overweight or obese adults in 2021, a figure projected to reach ⁠450 million by 2050, according to a study published in the medical journal The Lancet.

The FSSAI and some ⁠state ​regulators have intensified checks on food safety in recent months, releasing regular public updates including photos and videos of raids that have drawn widespread attention online. In August, the FSSAI ⁠proposed a red hexagonal stamp on labels of food products high in any two or more ⁠nutrients of concern such ⁠as sugar, salt or saturated fat, but tightened the proposal after a public outcry, saying a warning would now be required if even one ‌nutrient exceeds ‌the prescribed level.