{"id":780,"date":"2026-09-09T21:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T21:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/health.dzwonkinatelefon.net\/paying-attention-to-our-packaged-food\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T21:00:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T21:00:30","slug":"paying-attention-to-our-packaged-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/?p=780","title":{"rendered":"Paying attention to our packaged food"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On food labelling and misleading claims, weight loss drugs, climate change, rabies, cancer care, and more<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

(In the weekly\u00a0Health Matters<\/b>\u00a0newsletter,\u00a0Ramya Kannan<\/b>\u00a0writes about getting to good health, and staying there.\u00a0You can\u00a0subscribe\u00a0here\u00a0to get the newsletter in your inbox.)<\/i><\/p>\n

This past week, as with the previous week, the nation continues to be concerned with food labelling. With the Supreme Court bringing up the packaged\u00a0food labelling<\/b>\u00a0issue up again, a couple of weeks ago, it has been surely and firmly dragged into the public platform. There has been a great deal of interest in the Food Safety and Standards Association of India\u2019s recommendations on front-of-pack labels, and debate about the merits of the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What are these standards that FSSAI promises to hold the packaged food in India up to? We took a long,hard look.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For an idea of what the whole\u00a0FSSAI submission on labelling\u00a0was, initially, check out this conversation between Zubeda Hamid and I<\/b>; we also indicate trends worldwide, in Sunday\u2019s\u00a0Health Wrap<\/b>\u00a0video. While appreciable that some standards have come to play in this entirely unregulated sector, there are questions about the caveats in the proposed recommendations. FSSAI has proposed that the warning initially apply to products high in two or more of the three \u201cnutrients of concern\u201d \u2014 added sugar, added saturated fat and salt \u2014 as well as specified highly sweetened beverages. Activists find the \u201ctwo or more\u201d classification problematic.<\/p>\n

For a more detailed explanation on what the\u00a0<\/b>Red hexagon on your snack pack\u00a0means, read what\u00a0Bindu Shajan Perappadan\u00a0<\/b>wrote. FSSAI has proposed a two-phase rollout. In the first phase, products high in at least two of the three nutrients would carry the red hexagon, along with specified highly sweetened beverages. In the second phase, the warning would extend to products high in any one of the three nutrients. However, FSSAI has not specified a firm timeline for moving to the second phase. The FSSAI proposal refers to added sugar and added saturated fat, rather than total sugar and total fat. The plan is to exempt single-ingredient foods and products inherently rich in these nutrients, including ghee, edible oil, jaggery and honey.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0Soibam Rocky Singh<\/b>\u00a0explains why\u00a0the Central Consumer Protection Authority is cracking down on \u2018100%\u2019 claims on food products. Such claims can give consumers an impression of absolute purity or completeness that may not match what is actually inside the packet. The FSSAI has also asked food businesses to stop using \u201c100%\u201d claims on food labels, packaging and promotional material.<\/p>\n

Here, Prabalika M. Borah examines the hype behind\u00a0Proffee:\u00a0protien+coffee, and here are the highlights of an\u00a0ICMR-NIN study which shows that Vitamin D3 outperforms D2 in supporting muscles and heart.<\/p>\n

Close on the nutrition topic is\u00a0weight loss<\/b>\u00a0drugs. A recent study showed that\u00a0GLP-1 weight loss drugs are effective even at low starter doses, with lower side effects.\u00a0Yet another study in the United States showed that\u00a0more children under 12 in U.S. are being prescribed weight-loss drugs. Prescriptions for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs among children under 12 in the U.S. have risen more \u200bthan 300-fold since 2019.<\/p>\n

Here is a supervised experiment of a fitness coaching putting himself through a GLP 1 course, recording minute observations through the course.\u00a0\u00a0Arvind Ashok\u00a0<\/b>writes:\u00a0\u2018<\/u>I\u2019m a fitness coach. I tried a GLP-1 drug for three weeks\u2019, issuing a statutory warning to readers not to attempt the same at home without a prescription.<\/p>\n

Climate change<\/b>\u00a0will also never be further than a beck and call away. It has dominated headlines periodically, and likely will be even more frequent in future.\u00a0\u00a0Jacob Koshy<\/b>\u00a0writes:\u00a0Global warming will exceed limit, UN says in a report that maps path to get back below danger zone. UNEP\u2019s detailed \u2018overshoot, peak and decline\u2019 pathway seeks to hold the peak as low as possible and then bring temperatures back down below the 1.5\u00b0C limit; report terms it \u2018best remaining option\u2019.<\/p>\n

Yet another new study highlights the life-saving role of air conditioning, but indicates that it comes at a cost. Do check this story out, for the details:\u00a0Keeping cool saves thousands of lives yearly, but at a cost of worsening global warming, experts say.<\/p>\n

On the rabies front, there was some exciting news in the region. I<\/b> record how\u00a0Bhutan leads South-East Asia in eliminating rabies as public health problem. The WHO also validated Bhutan\u2019s claim and explained that this was achieved through conscious of deployment of the One Health approach, affording some key lessons for neighbour India too.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Authorities are probing \u2018counterfeit\u2019 rabies vaccine, and \u00a0the counterfeit \u2018Abhayrab\u2019 rabies vaccine batch remains under investigation. Why is this important? With rabies, the margin for error is exceptionally small. A genuine, potent vaccine administered promptly can prevent a fatal disease; a counterfeit product can create the dangerous illusion that protection has been provided.<\/p>\n

On dogs, segueing into\u00a0cancer,<\/b>\u00a0we had an interesting article this week on whether\u00a0<\/b>dogs can sniff cancer?\u00a0Bengaluru-based startup Dognosis is using AI to analyse dogs\u2019 brain activity, respiration and body language, turning their reaction to scent into data. Click on the link to learn more.<\/p>\n

Dr. Jayanth Reddy<\/b>\u00a0meanwhile wrote on how\u00a0transplant oncology is rewriting the story of liver cancer, and why surgeons, instead of trying to cut the cancer out of the liver, remove the entire diseased liver and replace it with a healthy one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the In Focus podcast, there\u2019s a discussion with Dr. Narayana<\/b>\u00a0Subramanian<\/b>\u00a0about\u00a0cancer \u2018vaccines\u2019 and if will they revolutionise treatment.<\/u>\u00a0What are these new therapies and what cancer do they treat? Why are they called vaccines when they don\u2019t actually prevent cancer? How does mRNA tech work and how is AI helpful in this? Will these personalised treatments be available in India any time soon and how expensive will they be?<\/p>\n

And for that little bit extra, do take a look at this week\u2019s links of health stories that moved the world in their own ways:<\/b><\/p>\n

Athira Elssa Johnson\u00a0<\/b>speaks to experts and clarifies:\u00a0Not all types of dementia cause memory loss: what happens when it strikes early\u00a0<\/p>\n

C. Maya<\/b>\u00a0highlights an important trend:\u00a0Fading fear of HIV puts focus on rising STI risks among youth in Keralam\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sumit Bhattacharjee<\/b>\u00a0explains\u00a0Why have people fallen sick after Chloroquine administration in Andhra Pradesh<\/p>\n

As we come to the close of eye donation awareness week, here is an article from\u00a0Dr. Mohan Rajan\u00a0<\/b>and\u00a0Dr. Sujatha Mohan<\/b>\u00a0on\u00a0Eye donation in India: current scenario and way forward\u00a0<\/p>\n

Attempt our\u00a0Health Quiz<\/b>\u00a0for the week:\u00a0On your eyes and their health<\/p>\n

Swaminathan S.<\/b>\u00a0A first step towards a universal vaccine against pneumonia, meningitis\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Shakeeb Ahmed Khan\u00a0<\/b>and\u00a0Dr. Christianez Ratna Kiruba<\/b>\u00a0ask if\u00a0accessible rehabilitation\u00a0is available to all, particularly post discharge from hospital\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. C. Aravinda\u00a0<\/b>advises that\u00a0In child sexual abuse, one needs to focus on healing the survivor<\/p>\n

Did you know, in addition to being dazzling on stage, Dolly Parton also dazzled the world of health care with substantial donations:\u00a0Jolene, vaccine and cancer research \u2014 the enduring scientific legacy of Dolly Parton<\/p>\n

India\u2019s 40-crore \u2018missing middle\u2019: caught between weak public healthcare and costly private care<\/p>\n

IIT Madras and CMC Vellore researchers build AI tools for early kidney disease detection<\/p>\n

Tamil Nadu and Kerala have appreciably taken women\u2019s health\u00a0Out of neglect bin. Read the edit here.<\/p>\n

There is, of course, much more on offer, do head to our\u00a0health\u00a0page\u00a0and subscribe to the\u00a0health\u00a0newsletter\u00a0here.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On food labelling and misleading claims, weight loss drugs, climate change, rabies, cancer care, and more (In the weekly\u00a0Health Matters\u00a0newsletter,\u00a0Ramya Kannan\u00a0writes about getting to good health, and staying there.\u00a0You can\u00a0subscribe\u00a0here\u00a0to get the newsletter in your inbox.) This past week, as… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}