HEALTH AND WELL BEING-INDIA YET TO WAKE UP

Eating habits of people are determined more or less in the first few years of life, evolved mostly by the food environment and parental guidance. Broadly world can be divided into three groups based on their staple foods which could be rice, wheat or corn. Cassava and yam are other staples popular in African continent but not to the same extent as the three main food crops mentioned above. Health afflictions like CVD, diabetes, hypertension, obesity etc are caused mostly by over consumption and diets predominantly unbalanced nutritionally. Specialty foods targeted at those caring for well being and good health are emerging as a major distinct category and their manufacture is growing phenomenally in wealthy countries because of increasing incidence of diet related health disorders among the population there. Though in India also the life style health disorders are becoming more and more conspicuous, the people are not yet sensitive to this problem. Specialty foods/well being foods with less calories or low fat or low sugar or low sodium or high dietary fiber are now available in many countries to cater to those in need of them but in India the market for these type of foods is still in its infancy. Attempts by consumer food giants to launch health focused foods do not seem to be making any headway as reflected by their failure to click in the market.

"A consumer might compromise on the frequency of consumption, but not on taste. Though there is a general alarm over lifestyle diseases like obesity and diabetes, it seems the manufacturers are fretting more than the consumers,"she said. According to her, in India, the eating habits have not evolved yet to western levels where the consumer is far more conscious of what he eats and almost always wants natural to eat and drink. "In India, sugary juices still trail 100 per cent natural ones, and health drinks represent a very minuscule market share when compared to the cola giants and sugar free ice creams are almost unheard of," she added. At the same time, the executive said that the market will take at least a decade more to grow to such a state that food and beverage makers could spin sustainable businesses around health foods and drinks".

According to a recent report, India is the only country which has chucked the trend of increasing BMI with increasing GDP as evident in many developed countries. At the same time India is also being branded as the diabetic capital of the world. How far these statistics can be relied upon is another matter. Whether the population affected by such health problems is small or big, there is a felt need for at least sugar-free foods, low fat foods, and low sodium foods to cater to people suffering from diabetes, CVD and hyper tension. While developing such foods industry should not have a mindset to exploit these unfortunate victims by charging exorbitantly to make them beyond their reach.

V.H.POTTY http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/ http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE STEROID "SCARE"-INDIAN AUTHORITIES BEING ALERTED

It is not clear as to why Indian government needs to be informed by the US about the presence of steroid containing food products in the Indian market because the Food Standards and Safety Authority in the country is supposed to be monitoring the marker to prevent fraudulent products with doubtful safety credentials being promoted. If such cooperation is based on institutional arrangement, it bodes well for the country. There are hundreds of companies promoting their products through the Internet with doubtful health claims and since any Indian buyer can order these products using their credit cards, there is very little GOI can do to prevent such transactions. But entry of these products into the country can be regulated by more stringent monitoring of courier agencies, postal department and imports at regulated ports.

" The US food and drug regulatory organisation has warned India about the possibility of some products containing steroids entering the Indian markets as dietary supplements, a health official said on Monday. In a communique to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the Food and Drug Administration said these products were recalled in the US as some of these were marketed without an approval from the department and most were marketed as "dietary supplement". "The products were found to contain steroid or steroid-like substances making them unapproved new drug. Most of these products were distributed through Internet rather than through a distributor network," said a statement from the health ministry. According to the health ministry, steroid containing products present a risk of acute liver injury to product users. In addition, steroids may cause other serious long-term adverse health consequences, including male infertility, masculinisation of women, breast enlargement in males, short stature in children, adverse effects on blood lipid profile and increased risk of heart attack and death".

Possibility of setting up a portal by the FSSAI for receiving enquiries from consumers who wish to buy such products with exalted health claims can be explored. But for such a thing to happen, the safety agency needs a pro-active consumer protection policy which exists to day only on paper. What is confusing bout the above report is that FSSAI is talking about drugs for which it has no jurisdictional authority and no food products have been identified that contain steroids so far. Nonetheless the information passed on by the FDA of USA must be disseminated as widely as possible for preventing people patronizing such products of doubtful credentials.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com