India Eyes Tougher Sugar Rules as Parliamentary Panel Pushes Overhaul of Baby Food Regulation

The 118-page report goes beyond infant nutrition, presenting a roadmap for a future regulatory regime that places greater emphasis on consumer awareness, digital transparency, coordinated enforcement and evidence-based policymaking. The committee warned that dietary habits established during the first two years of life significantly.

Drawing on research presented by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), it noted that excessive sugar intake during infancy has been associated with obesity, insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes, hypertension, dental caries, metabolic dysfunction and alterations in gut microbiota later in life. The report.

What Happened

India’s ICMR Dietary Guidelines, meanwhile, recommend limiting added sugar consumption to 25 grams per day, noting that added sugar contributes calories but no essential nutrients. At the center of the debate is India’s regulatory architecture for infant foods.

• The World Health Organization recommends reducing free sugar intake to less than 10% of total daily energy intake, while suggesting a further reduction below 5% for additional health benefits.

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) informed the committee that under the Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2020, lactose and glucose polymers remain the preferred carbohydrate sources.

• Sucrose and fructose may be used only where necessary and together cannot exceed 20% of total carbohydrate content, a standard that FSSAI said is aligned with Codex Alimentarius and European Union regulations.

Key Details

The regulator added that its scientific panels continuously review emerging evidence and can revise standards when warranted. However, the committee suggests the next phase of regulation should move beyond statutory limits to improving how nutritional information is communicated.

• Responding to questions on whether India should adopt stricter WHO thresholds, FSSAI argued that the existing ceiling effectively corresponds to about 10% of total energy requirements for infants and therefore remains consistent with international.

• He has worked for The Telegraph, The Tribune, and Press Trust of India.

• Suryamurthy is a Contributing Editor at South Asian Herald.

Why It Matters

Current regulations require manufacturers to disclose both total sugars and added sugars on food labels. FSSAI has also proposed amendments requiring added sugar, sodium and saturated fat declarations to appear in bold lettering and larger font sizes, making nutritional information more visible.

• The report suggests that India’s next phase of food regulation will be driven as much by preventive public health objectives as by traditional food safety standards.

• Collectively, these recommendations point toward a regulatory environment in which sugar content will receive scrutiny similar to trans fats over the past decade.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by South Asian Herald as more details emerge