66% beverages have high sugar, 97% snacks high fat

Govt-funded study analysed front and back of labels of 432 popular packaged food products including breakfast cereals, idli mixes, porridges, soup mixes, beverages and extruded snacks.

Sumi Sukanya Dutta

A majority of the convenience food products in India provide most of the energy from carbohydrate and fat while there is an acute shortage of food products with low glycemic index (GI), according to an extensive evaluation of nutritional profile of packaged foods. The evaluation, published in a peer-reviewed open access mega journal Plos One in December, has revealed that the overall compliance of the nutrient content claims for the studied convenience foods was 89.5% which is an indicator of better nutritional quality. But, foods in the ‘beverage mix’ and ‘extruded snacks’ category were found to be high in sugar content (65.7%) and total fat content (96.7%), respectively. The study, funded by the Centre’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), indicated that all the products except extruded snacks (created through extrusion, which involves applying heat, pressure, and mechanical force to cereal flour or starches to create a specific shape, texture, and flavor) provided more than 70% of the energy from carbohydrates, while extruded snacks provided over 47% percent of the energy from fat.

Also, products in the ‘soup mix’ category were found to have higher amounts of sodium, which highlights the clear need for reformulating the products, said the research. It has further indicated the scarcity of foods with low Glycemic Index (GI) suitable for the diabetic population: there were some low GI options in the beverage, idly mix and soup mix categories, the rest of the product categories did not have any low GI options. GI is a scale which ranks foods based on their ability to raise the blood sugar level upon consumption. As part of the analysis, researchers associated with Chennai-based Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF), Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) and Reading University, the UK analysed the front and back of labels of popularly used 432 packaged food products. The products were from six categories, breakfast cereals, idli mix, porridge, soup mixes, beverages and extruded snacks. “When we look at the products available in the market and their energy distribution, most of them have higher levels of energy from carbohydrates. This highlights the need for reformulation of food products with desirable macronutrient distribution,” Dr. Shobana Shanmugam, senior scientist and head, Department of Diabetes Food Technology with MDRF and lead author of the study, told The Print. Improving the protein content, reducing the carbohydrate, fat and sodium content will help to improve the nutritional value of the products, Shobana said.

“Research and development in this direction will be helpful for expanding healthier food choices for people with diabetes and prediabetes.” According to a study by the ICMR and MDRF, an estimated 10.1 crore Indians 11.4% of the population were found to be diabetic in 2021 while the number of those with prediabetes was estimated at 136 million, or 15.3% of the population. Another crucial study, which came out in October, shows that foods like chips, cookies, crackers, fried and ultra-processed foods which are rich in advanced glycation end products (AGEs) may be fuelling India’s diabetes crisis.

Some independent nutrition experts The Print spoke with, called the analysis a significant step towards improving the quality and health impact of packaged foods in India. “The findings in the evaluation provide a strong foundation for future research and policy development,” said Dr. Seema Gulati, head, nutrition research group at Delhibased National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation.

High-risk nutrient content: For the analysis, a physical (in Chennai, India) and online market survey was conducted to collect data on the front-of-pack (FOP) and back-of-pack (BOP) of 432 selected convenience foods sold in India and the percentage energy distribution was computed using the mean values of carbohydrates, protein and fat for the food products. The nutritional profiling of convenience food products was performed according to the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulation, 2018 by the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI). In addition, the researchers also categorised the food products recommended by the UK government under which the key nutrients in foods (total fat, saturated fat and total sugar) are categorised as low, medium and high, respectively.

The low (healthy), medium (moderately healthy) and high (least healthy) categories are represented with green, amber, and red colours. It was found that all convenience food products were rich in carbohydrate content and beverage mixes were found to have the highest carbohydrate content (35.5g to 95g/100g). The beverage mixes were found to be rich in protein content followed by the idli mixes, while extruded snacks had the highest mean dietary fiber content as well as highest total fat content, saturated fat content and energy. The soup mixes, on the other hand, had high sodium levels and also showed the presence of traces of trans-fat. The highest cholesterol (49 mg/100g) was reported in the soup mix and they also had poor protein content.

The identification of high sugar content in beverage mixes, excessive fat in extruded snacks and elevated sodium levels in soup mixes underlines the need for reformulating these products to improve nutritional profile and reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes, stressed Gulati. Some products, which claimed to contain whole grains, on the other hand did not display them in the ingredient list and these claims may be misleading to the consumer, noted the researchers.

The latest dietary guidelines, released by ICMR-NIN in May, suggested limiting intake of cereals to 45% of the total energy, while it was around 14-15% for pulses, eggs and flesh foods. Total fat intake should be less than or equal to 30% energy, while nuts, oilseeds, milk and milk products should contribute to 8–10% of total energy per day, it said. The top nutrition body had also underlined that around 56.7% of the disease burden in India is due to an unhealthy diet.

Low GI food tough to find: The analysis also indicated the scarcity of low-GI food options and in the context of the growing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), underscoring the need for such foods in those with diabetes and prediabetes and even glucose tolerant populations. The energy provided by carbohydrates were higher in the products that were studied, wrote the researchers, adding that the energy contribution from carbohydrates were higher in all the products except extruded snacks where fat is higher.

“Such products are not desirable in a high-risk population and underscores the need for the development of foods with higher energy contribution from proteins,” they have said. “The study underscores the lack of low-GI food options, limiting healthier choices for populations with prediabetes or diabetes. This finding is crucial for promoting dietary interventions tailored to India’s growing metabolic disease burden,” Dr Gulati said.