Exclusive | Chips, burgers, colas off menu, FSSAI bans sale of unhealthy food to schoolchildren

A recent notification by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) that bans selling of certain foods to schoolchildren has upset traders and is also likely to deal a blow to FMCG companies and advertisers for whom kids are a big market.

The notification, issued early this month through the official gazette, a copy of which is with Moneycontrol, bans sale and offering of food to children in school premises and also within 50 metres of the school gate. It also prohibits marketing and advertisements of food products high in saturated fat or trans-fat or with added sugar or sodium. 

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which represents small and medium traders, has expressed asked Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to withdraw the notification. 

“Such a regulation dampens the very spirit of ease of doing business. It will impact small-business owners and traders. CAIT national general secretary Praveen Khandelwal said.

A Ministry of Commerce and Industry officer said the move was aimed at curtailing the consumption of unhealthy food. 

“It has been repeatedly found there is no regulation of any ingredients like sugar, fat and sodium that get into products for children,” the official added

Jobs on the line

The ban is distressing news for the advertising industry as well as around seven crore small traders who employ an estimated 46 crore people, far ahead of any other sector in the economy, and account for 45 percent of India’s GDP.

It is this very segment of the Indian market that is keeping the economy alive during the coronavirus pandemic, say industry organisations.

The notification’s definition of the school includes pre-primary, primary, elementary, secondary, day-care, creche, boardings run by private entities, local bodies, government bodies or entities aided by the government.

Various state food authorities will conduct surveillance and period inspection of food-business operators to ensure compliance, the notification says. 

The ban on advertisement of products with high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) aimed at children could affect companies making chips, burgers, pizzas and other junk food. 

Potato chips, colas, ready-to-eat food and pickle are hugely advertised products that fall in the category of high fat, sugar and salt. 

 The Food and Beverage Alliance of India, which includes multinational companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, Kellogg, Mars Chocolate, Hindustan Unilever and Mondelez, will have to restrict food and beverage advertisements aimed at children. 

But the problem lies elsewhere. Since these items are of general consumption, how will the companies ensure children are excluded from viewing these ads? 

Advertising to children is a Rs 7,000-crore market in India and includes food products with sugar and fat content. Can it be erased overnight? 

“It will be a very tough call for the advertising industry which is already reeling under a severe recession. Children’s campaigns are done with utmost responsibility. If the government is saying this should stop, it means nothing less than a death warrant,” advertising veteran Sabyasachi ‘Gullu’ Sen of From Here On communications agency said. 

An official of the Advertising Standards Council Of India (ASCI) said it was studying the notification. 

Unhealthy for business

Traders, too, are worried. 

“We have serious objections to the specific clause of 50 metres because it will lead to many challenges,” CAIT’s Khandelwal said.

The move would make small businesses non-viable as small shops and vendors stocked all kind of FMCG items to meet the needs of neighbourhood consumers, Khandelwal wrote to Goyal. 

“A complete mix of shopping baskets is critical to stay relevant and viable. It is not practically not possible to identify and maintain any such distinction. Not keeping the food and beverage products is bound to impact the sale of other items,” he said.

“They will lose their customer base. It will reduce footfall if shopkeepers are not able to provide a full range of products,” Khandelwal said in a note, a copy of which is with Moneycontrol.

Schoolchildren, if at all, were exposed to vendors or shops while entering or leaving the premises or during recess. For traders, their main customer base were people and not schoolchildren. “This restriction will deprive that consumer base which makes purchases for their daily needs,” he said.

According to an internal government survey of schools in the Capital, one in every four schoolchildren was overweight, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry officer said. In India, aggressive marketing strategies were adopted by various companies. 

“Children are potential consumers. This strategy is often targeted at places children visit frequently. The Indian food market is segmented to capture every type of child consumer,” the official said on conditions of anonymity.

A decade ago, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the United States’ largest health-centered charity organisation, conducted a study that showed that fast-food companies did not adhere to the industry’s self-regulation guidelines for marketing to kids. 

Recently, the World Health Organisation called for tighter monitoring of unhealthy food products, especially those high in salt, sugar and fat.

But traders say the move could be counterproductive at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a hammer blow to the economy.

They say the new notification will increase harassment and add another layer to the numerous rules and regulations that small business owners’ have to follow. 

There will be operational challenges as in both cities and towns, businesses and educational institutions coexist. 

“A large part of these cities and towns will be a no-sale region if 50-metre restriction is implemented,” said Ashok Tripathi, a grocer whose store is close to a well-known school in South Delhi. “Students come to my shop all the time. So what do I do now, shut shop?”

Tripathi said the All India Food Processors' Association has also asked the ministry to reconsider the decision. “Why not make some changes in town planning so that no school/creche should be opened near a market or a store,” he said.