Some of the most consequential public-health interventions are surprisingly small.
A pictorial warning on a tobacco packet. A reminder on a medicine strip. And now, potentially, a red hexagon on a packet of biscuits, breakfast cereal or a packaged drink.
India stands at an important moment in its journey towards front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPL). After years of scientific deliberation, in its recent affidavit before the Supreme Court, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed a red, hexagonal warning label to help consumers identify packaged foods high in sugar, saturated fat and salt, as well as specified highly sweetened beverages. It is a significant step toward making nutrition information more visible, understandable, and useful at the point of purchase.
This matters because India’s nutrition landscape is changing rapidly. Overweight and obesity among adults nearly doubled between NFHS-3 (2005-06) and NFHS-6 (2023-24), with rural prevalence rising even faster. As Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) account for a large share of deaths in India, unhealthy diets are an important modifiable risk factor. Growing access to packaged and processed foods, including in rural markets, further underscores the need to address diets high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS), as well as ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which are associated with obesity and NCD risk.
In such an environment, information alone is not always enough. A nutrition label on the back of a packet may contain everything a consumer needs to know, but in its current format, understanding it requires time, attention and some familiarity with nutritional science. The need of the hour is to give consumers easy, understandable signs and warnings to help them make informed choices when selecting packaged and ultra-processed foods.
Evidence from around the world suggests this works. Research from countries including Chile’s black warning labels, Nutri-Score in France and the Keyhole symbol used across Scandinavia has found that interpretive warning labels improve consumers’ understanding of products high in nutrients of concern. A recent systematic review also found that warning-style labels were associated with improved consumer understanding and reductions in the selection or purchase of products high in sugar, salt or saturated fat.
India can build on this growing body of evidence, particularly given what we know about adolescents’ engagement with nutrition information on food packaging. Published Indian research found that 72.58 per cent of adolescents reported reading nutrition information on food packets, while 62.81 per cent said they needed this information simplified. These findings point to both an opportunity and a clear demand for front-of-pack information that is easier to understand and easier to act upon.
This alignment is a key strength. When dietary guidance and food-pack information reinforce each other, the message can be amplified across health professionals, schools, families and communities. Two opportunities remain: allowing high levels of sugar, salt or fat to independently trigger warnings, and maintaining alignment with ICMR-NIN guidance for clarity and coherence.
This is particularly relevant during Poshan Maah, which highlights the foundations of good nutrition, dietary diversity, adequate protein, and nutrition and early stimulation for healthy child development. Nutrition is not only about reducing harmful foods, but also about enabling children and families to access and choose diverse, nutrient-rich diets.
In this sense, front-of-pack labelling can be one part of this broader approach. Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)’s work with World Health Organization-India found that all packaged foods and beverages available in and around participating schools and colleges were classified as HFSS under the WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model. The #BetterNutrition4Adolescent (BN4A) study, jointly led by PHFI with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway; Institute for Implementation Science and Health (IISH), Nepal; and University of Birmingham, UK, is exploring how locally co-created, multicomponent interventions can improve school food environments and adolescent eating behaviours. Central to BN4A is meaningful youth engagement, bringing adolescents, alongside parents, teachers and other stakeholders, into identifying barriers and co-creating solutions.
India therefore does not have to choose between scientific rigour and simplicity. It can have both. The proposed symbol could be more than a graphic on a packet. If designed well, it could become a simple, everyday tool for information and prevention. Even something as intuitive as a red or green dot to distinguish vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods shows how simple visual cues can make information easier to recognise and act upon. A comprehensive public health response must also address the wider food environment, including stronger restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods to children and adolescents and appropriate fiscal measures such as taxation, while empowering adolescents and families to make informed, healthier choices.
Public health is often built through thousands of such decisions. India now has an opportunity to make those decisions a little easier, with Indian science, global evidence, and a label designed for the realities of Indian consumers.
The next chapter is not simply about whether India can introduce a food label. It is about how effectively FOPL can work alongside measures to shape the food environment, protect young people from unhealthy food marketing, improve affordability of healthier choices and equip adolescents and families with the knowledge to choose well. The label itself may be small, but as part of a comprehensive, evidence-based policy response, its contribution to a healthier India could be much bigger.
Views expressed are the authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth