Chandigarh, Oct.19, 2021:- A documentary
entitled ‘Front of Package Labeling: A Game Changer for Healthy
India’, prepared by
the Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health(DCM & SPH)
, Post Graduate
Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh was released during a
press conference held at the Press Club here. This documentary is a part of a
project being undertaken by the Institute in collaboration with the Government
of Punjab and Strategic Institute of Public Health Education and Research
(SIPHER) and is supported by Global Health Advocacy Incubator, USA. The
documentary released at the juncture of festivals such as Diwali, aims to
generate awareness among policymakers, implementers, and the general public
about the importance of healthy and wholesome food to keep Non Communicable
Diseases (NCDs') like hypertension at bay and to generate support for an
intense Front-of-Pack Labelling (FOPL) policy to be developed by
Government of India.
Dr. Sonu Goel said
that a rapid rise in hypertensive cases is being observed in Punjab, which is
worrisome. Through the project, we are collaborating with the Government of
Punjab to prevent and better manage hypertension through sensitization of media
and the general public regarding the risk factors like trans fats in food. We
strongly feel that warning labels on food items are an effective way of helping
people to make nutritious food choices. The documentary drives home the
importance of Front of Package Labelling (FOPL) for averting a
cardiovascular health, obesity and diabetes crisis in India.
As per WHO,
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs') account for 70% of the global deaths. The
state of Punjab has become a capital of hypertension with one out of three people
suffering from this silent killer. Excessive intake of fats, sugar and salt
available in packaged foods such as cake, pizza, pastry, French fries, ice
cream, etc. are the primary cause of NCDs. Under this project which started in
2019, PGIMER Chandigarh has signed a pact with Food and Drug Administration,
Punjab to implement and regulate the Trans fat surveillance in Punjab.
The
documentary highlights key features such as transition of food practices from
traditional to modern, ways to making healthy food choices, identifying good
and bad food, diseases associated with bad food. etc.
It took
around two months to prepare this documentary of approximately 7 minutes, which
is a collaborative effort of the project team. The documentary has been
conceptualized and narrated by Dr. Sonu Goel, Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine and School of
Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh and Principal Investigator of the project.
While
appreciating the public health initiative of PGIMER, Manoj Khosla, Joint
Commissioner, FDA, Punjab highlighted the achievements of the FDA in context of
Food Safety and also briefed the audience regarding the progress of the MoU
signed with PGIMER, Chandigarh.
Adding to this,
Dr. Ravneet Kaur, Director, Food Safety Lab, Punjab highlighted that the Trans
fat surveillance would strengthen the advocacy for FOPL in the country.
Dr. Geeta
Mehra, Head, Dept. of Food Sciences, MCM DAV College, Chandigarh emphasized the
importance of reading food labels while purchasing any packaged food product.
She stressed that FOPL, if
implemented in India, will allow the consumers to identify products containing
excess sugars, trans-fats, oils, and sodium easily, quickly, and correctly and
help them to make informed food choices.
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