The decision taken by the Union Health Ministry asking all the government departments, schools, public eateries to put up a display board having complete information about the salt, sugar and fat/oil per serving was based on National Institute of Nutrition 2024 recommendations for nutrition.
The NIN has played a major role in preparation of the display boards along with the FSSAI, wherein the dietary recommendation released last year set limit of oil (fat), 27-30 g/day, recommended limit of sugar 25g/person/day for adults along with 20g/day for children based on a 2000 healthy calories intake diet per day.
As per scientific analysis of NIN, this recommended dietary intake can easily be breached through just one 500ml ultra processed soft drink and it was therefore vital to keep the consumers aware about their daily oil, fat and sugar intake.
Meanwhile, the display boards are being installed at public eateries of government departments, schools, colleges and other public institutions. The focus is particularly on schools both private and government, as experts feel a large adolescent population is at risk of intaking unhealthy products.
Meanwhile, a similar decision was initiated by the FSSAI in 2018 about display boards at the restaurants.