News Analysis India

Tag: Salt

  • Scientific cut-offs for salt, sugar and fat mandatory in processed foods, stress nutrition experts

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Scientific “cut-offs” for salt, sugar and fats in processed foods is mandatory if India wants to prevent the looming crisis of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs), nutrition policy activists advocated on Saturday pointing that it was all the more necessary in the background of a raging pandemic.

    In a meeting to discuss the need for a nutrient profiling mission for the country, experts and doctors attached with the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India, the Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest and a few other organisations pointed out that it has to be developed with the key goals of reducing consumption of sodium, saturated fat and added sugar.

    In India, analysis of sales data reveals that per capita sales of ultra-processed foods grew from about 2 kg in 2005, to about 6 kg in 2019 and is projected to grow to about 8 kg by 2024.

    Similarly, per capita sales of ultra-processed beverages are up from 2 litre in 2005 to about 6.5 litre in 2019 and are projected to be about 10 litre in 2024. In the country, more than 5.8 million Indians die every year from NCDs such as cancer, diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.

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    The first comprehensive nationwide survey by the ICMR and several other government institutions to assess the risk factors for NCDs whose results were released earlier this year had also shown that a majority of Indians are at a significant risk of developing lifestyle diseases.

    The survey, for example, had for the first time estimated dietary intake of salt intake of population at a national level and found that adults in the country consume about 8 gm salt per day while higher than the recommended salt intake of 5 mg per day is considered a major risk factor for hypertension.  

    “An NPM that is able to adequately distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods can guide all food and nutrition regulatory policies, particularly related to correctly identifying foods with excessive amounts of potentially harmful nutrients such as sugar, fats and sodium, and help people make good food choices during these challenging times,” said Arun Gupta of BPNI.

    Regulators and policymakers must lay down mandatory thresholds which are within the limits as prescribed by the WHO, said former Union health secretary Keshav Desiraju.

  • Cyclone Tauktae: Flooding washes away salt worth Rs 10 crore in Gujarat

    By PTI
    SURENDRANAGAR: Salt stocks worth close to Rs 10 crore were washed away at Gujarat’s Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) in flooding that occurred due to cyclone Tauktae, people involved in salt production here said on Thursday.

    As per a rough estimate, around 3 lakh metric tonnes of salt, which was harvested and kept in the open near saltpans for transportation, was destroyed by gusty winds, rain and flooding in the LRK region, part of which falls in Surendranagar.

    As the price of one metric tonne of salt in the market is between Rs 300 to Rs 350, the loss is estimated around Rs 10 crore, said Bharat Sumera, district coordinator of Agariya Hitrakshak Samiti, an NGO that works for saltpan workers.

    April to June is a crucial period for salt farmers, as they start harvesting salt and keep the stock ready for transportation to godowns, he said.

    “While around 12 lakh metric tonnes of salt had already been transported to warehouses in Kharaghoda and Zinzuwada, around 3 lakh tonnes were still lying in the saltpans of Surendranagar,” Sumera said.

    LRK is a desert spread across 5,000 sq km and major part of it falls in Surendranagar district.

    At least 10,000 people of Patdi and Dhrangadhra talukas stay in the region for eight months to harvest salt from ground water by creating saltpans.

    May is the peak season, when harvested salt is transported to warehouses before monsoon sets in.

    “To save lives, the administration had evacuated all saltpan workers before the cyclone passed from the district on Tuesday. Since the cyclone brought heavy rains, a large stock of salt got washed away in flood waters. The flooding also destroyed 3,000 saltpans,” Sumera said.

    As many as 25 large solar panels installed by saltpan workers near their temporary huts were also damaged in the gusty winds and flooding, he said, adding that workers will make a representation to the authorities for compensation.

    With 280 lakh tonnes per annum, Gujarat accounts for around 80 per cent of the country’s salt production, said Bharat Raval, president of the Indian Salt Manufacturers Association.

    “The entire LRK region produces around 18 to 24 lakh metric tonnes of salt annually. It is natural that the cyclone may have destroyed the salt kept in the open. Since workers were already evacuated due to safety concerns, there was no one to keep a watch,” he said.

    A clear picture about the loss will emerge in the coming days, he added.