New Delhi:

In a historic move, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has approved a proposal to make a bolder and bigger display of nutritional information regarding total sugar, salt and saturated fat on packaged food items, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said on Saturday.

The proposal calls for packaged food items to carry the amount of total sugar, salt and saturated fat “in bold letters and relatively increased font size.”

The Ministry noted that “the information regarding per serve percentage contribution to Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) would be given in bold letters for total sugar, total saturated fat and sodium content.”

The decision that will amend the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 was taken in the 44th meeting of the Food Authority.

Regulation 2 (v) and 5(3) specify requirements to mention serving size and nutritional information on the food product label, respectively.

“The amendment aims to empower consumers to better understand the nutritional value of the product they are consuming and make healthier decisions,” the MoHFW said.

Healthcare and nutritional experts have been calling out the need to curb the intake of packaged food items, rich in sugar, salt and saturated fats — a major reason for the rising incidences of non-communicable Diseases (NCDs).

The proposal will enable “people to make healthier choices as well as contribute towards efforts to combat NCDs and promote public health and well-being.”

The FSSAI is also expected to share the draft notification for the said amendment in the public domain for inviting suggestions and objections.

Further, FSSAI has been issuing advisories from time to time to prevent false and misleading claims such as ‘Health Drink’, ‘100% fruit juices’, the use of the term wheat flour/ refined wheat flour, the advertisement and marketing of ORS along with prefix or suffix, nutrient function claim for multi-source edible vegetable oils etc.

These advisories and directives are issued to prevent misleading claims by FBOs, MoHFW said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A video has gone viral on social media platforms claiming a food vendor in Chandigarh uses diesel to cook parathas, a popular flatbread. The three-minute-long video begins with a man at a roadside restaurant rolling out a dough and stuffing it with the aloo (potato) mixture.

When asked what he was cooking by the person shooting the video, he replies that he was making a “diesel paratha”.

He then bakes it in a pan and pours an excessive amount of oil on the paratha, saying it is diesel.

In the video, the man at the dhaba also claims that the “diesel parathas” were sold to about 300 people every day.

True recipe for cancer (petrol diesel wala paratha)

Where r we heading? #AlluArjun#Pithapuram#MondayVibes#MorningVibes
#MadhaviLatha#ViralVideo
#ElectionDaypic.twitter.com/GyxC1xhQeb

— K.P.Brinda Reddy (@kpbrindareddy) May 13, 2024

The video sparked an outrage on social media with people demanding India’s food regulator, the FSSAI, to take begin an investigation.

After the backlash, Channi Singh, the owner of the food joint, clarified that they don’t make “any such thing as diesel paratha”.

“We neither make any such thing as ‘diesel paratha’ nor serve any such thing to customers. A blogger had made that video just for fun,” he told the news agency ANI.

He also said that it is “common sense” that nobody would consume a paratha — traditionally fried in ghee, butter, or oil — prepared in diesel, adding that they only use edible oil.

“We provide hygienic food to people here. We don’t play with people’s lives,” he said.

#WATCH | In a viral video, a man in a Chandigarh dhaba was seen claiming that the oil he uses to make parathas is diesel. Owner of the dhaba refutes such claims.

Channi Singh, owner of the dhaba says, “We neither make any such thing as ‘diesel paratha’ nor serve any such thing… pic.twitter.com/15BJ7lMSR3

— ANI (@ANI) May 15, 2024

Mr Singh also said that he didn’t know that the video was going viral and that the food blogger, who made the video, had deleted it.

Food Blogger Apologises For “Diesel Parathas”

Amanpreet Singh, the food blogger who made the video, apologised on Tuesday and said that he “deeply regretted” the content of his recent video.

Mr Singh, who goes by the name “oyefoodiesingh” on Instagram, said that the paranthas were fried in normal oil and not diesel.

“To the esteemed Chandigarh Administration, the gracious people of Chandigarh, and the entirety of India, I humbly extend my sincerest apologies. I deeply regret the content of my recent video and acknowledge the distress it may have caused,” he said and posted a video standing alongside the owner of the food joint.

“I am profoundly sorry for any offense taken. Your understanding and forgiveness would mean a great deal to me,” he added.