THE HINDU , SUNDAY - MAY, 8, 2022

 

THE HINDU SUNDAY, MAY 8, 2022

 

Food labeling What is the debate around the nutritional information packaging that the FSSAI has mooted? JAGRITI CHANDRA The story so far: The Food safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is expected to issue a draft regulation for labels on front of food packets that will inform consumers if a product is high in salt, sugar and fat. If is expected to propose a system under which stars will be assigned to a product, which has earned the ire of public health experts and consumer organisations who say it will be misleading and ineffective. Health experts are demanding that the FSSAI instead recommend the “warning label” system which has proven to have altered consumer behavior. Why do we need front-of-package labeling? -In the past three decades, the country’s disease patterns have shifted. While mortality due to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases has declined and India’s population is living longer, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries are increasingly contributing to the overall disease burden. In 2016, NCDs accounted for 55% of premature death and disability in the country. Indians also have a disposition for excessive fat around the stomach and abdomen which leads to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type2 diabetes. According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-2022), 47.7% of men and 56.7% of women have high risk waist-to-hip ratio. An increased consumption of packaged and junk food has also led to a double burden of undernutrition and overnutrition among children. Over half of the children and adolescents, whether under-nourished or with and adolescents, whether under-nourished or with normal weight, are at risk of cardiovascular diseases, according to an analysis by the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey in India (2016-18).    Reducing sugar, salt, and fat are among the best ways to prevent and control non-communicable diseases. While the FSSAI requires mandatory disclosure of nutrition information on food packets, this is located on the back of a packet and is difficult to interpret. What decision has FSSAI taken? -At a stakeholder’s meeting on February 15, 2022, three important decisions were taken on what would be the content of the draft regulations on front-of-package labeling. These included threshold levels to be used to determine whether a food product was high in sugar, salt and fat; that the implementation will be voluntary for a period of four years before it is made mandatory; and that the health-star rating system would be used as labels on the basis of a study commissioned by the FSSAI and conducted by IIM-Ahmedabad. The food industry agreed with the FSSAI’s decision on the issue of mandatory implementation and use of rating, and sought more time to study the issue of thresholds. The World Health Organization representative said the thresholds levels were lenient, while the consumer organisations opposed all three decisions.    The biggest contention is over the use of a health-star rating system that uses ½ a star to five stars to indicate the overall nutrition profile of a product. Despite objections, FSSAI CEO Arun Singhal told The Hindu that he stands by the IIM-A study as it is based on a survey of 20,500 people. He said stakeholders could share their comments once the draft regulations were made public. The FSSAI’s scientific panel will then take that into consideration. Why is there opposition to the rating system? -In a health-star rating system, introduced in 2014 in Australia and New Zealand, a product is assigned a certain number of stars using a calculator designed to assess positive (e.g., fruit, nu, protein content, etc) and risk nutrients in food (calories, saturated fat, total sugar, sodium). Scientists have said that such a system misrepresents nutrition science and the presence of fruit in a fruit drink juice does not offset the impact of added sugar. Experts say that so far there is no evidence of the rating system impacting consumer behavior. The stars can also lead to a ‘health halo’ because of their positive connotation making it harder to identify harmful products. Over 40 global experts have also called the IIM-Ahmedabad study flawed in design and interpretation.    There are many other labeling systems in the world, such as “warning labels” in Chile (which uses black octagonal or stop symbols) and Israel (a red label) for products high in sugar, salt and fat. The ‘NutriScore’, used in France, presents a colored scale of A to E, and the Multiple Traffic Light (MTL), used in the U.K. and other countries depict red (high), amber (medium) or green (low) lights to indicate the risk factors. Global studies have shown a warning label is the only format that has led to a positive impact on food and beverage purchases forcing the industry, for example in Chile, to reformulate their products to remove major amounts of sugar and salt.   What are India’s plans to avert a wheat crisis? With procurement dipping. How will the government balance domestic supplies and rise in export demand? VIKAS VASUDEVA & DIKSHA MUNJAL The story so far: On May 4, the government lowered its wheat production estimates by 5.7% to 105 million tonnes (MT) from the projected 111.32 MT for the crop year ending June. The production is expected to fall on account of unusually warm weather conditions that persisted during March to April in most parts of the key grain-producing States of Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh as well as Uttar Pradesh. Till May 4, wheat procurement in the ongoing winter (rabi) marketing season too had seen a drop, with the Centre procuring 17.5 MT of wheat, which is likely to touch 19.5 MT when the season ends. In the last marketing year, the government had purchased 43.3 MT of wheat from farmers, and this year it had set a target of 44.4 MT. The announcement came around the same time as a report by the World Food Programme, which said the “unfolding war in Ukraine” was likely to “exacerbate the already severe 2022 acute food insecurity forecasts” in countries. Why has wheat production dwindled? -India is the second largest producer of wheat in the world, which China being the top producer and Russia the third largest – Ukraine is the world’s eight large producer of wheat. After five straight years of a bumper wheat output, India has had to revise downwards its estimated production. Unprecedented heatwaves across March and April being the hottest in over 100 years have caused substantial loss to the yield at 6% with 20% of the wheat grain shriveling up. Some estimates have pegged the shriveling as high as 80% of the crop purchased by the government. For instance, according to crop cutting experiments, conducted by the Punjab Agriculture Department every year, the State’s yield per hectare could have fallen 5-10% compared to last year’s yield. Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey attributed the lower estimates to “early summer” affecting the crop yields in States, especially Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. What about government procurement? -This year the government’s wheat purchase has seen a dip owing to several reasons from lower yield to higher market prices being bought by traders at a higher rate than the minimum support price (MSP). Private traders have been prompted to buy more wheat from farmers as the price of wheat at the international level has shot up and is expected to rise due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, farmers are selling to traders-exporters at prices (21-24 rupees per kg), which is better than the MSP (rate of 20.15 rupees per kg). Also, farmers are holding on to some quantity of wheat, expecting higher prices for their produce in the near future. Mr. Pandey admitted that the substantially low procurement was due to market prices of wheat being higher than the MSP being offered by the government. He gave two other reasons for the low procurement: stocks being held by farmers and traders in anticipation of further price rises, and lower production. How will this impact the public distribution of gain? -Wheat procurement is undertaken by the state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other agencies at MSP to meet the requirements under the Public Distribution System (PDS) and other welfare schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) introduced during the pandemic. The government has revised the grain allocation under PMGKAY for May to September 2022. According to the new guidelines, the FCI will fill the gap left by wheat with an increased allocation of rice. An additional 5.5 MT rice is being allocated to the States to fill the gap in supplying wheat grain. Mr. Pandey said rice procurement last year was about 60 MT and this year a similar quantity is expected. Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), he said the annual requirement is roughly about 35 MT. Pointing out that from next year, fortified rice will be distributed to the entire Public Distribution System (PDS), he said with surplus rice stocks, the country is in a comfortable situation. Will domestic wheat prices be hit? -As government wheat procurement has dipped, concerns are being raised about the stability of prices in the country and the availability of grain for internal consumption, which many agriexperts argue should be a priority. An agriculture domain expert and a former member of the Uttar Pradesh Planning Commission, Sudhir Panwar, points out that the government has to ensure that the market price for the domestic consumer is not determined by private players – “this can happen if one or two big business houses are buying chunk of the wheat crop.” The key question, according to Mr. Panwar, is in a scenario where private traders start dictating the price is the domestic market, will the buffer stock be used under the Open Market Sale Scheme to control the market price or will it be used for the NFSA and other welfare schemes. The government has dismissed concerns about both prices and stocks, asserting that India is in a comfortable situation with the overall availability of grains and stocks expected to be higher than the minimum requirement for the next one year. Mr. Pandey stated that after meeting the requirement of welfare schemes in the year ahead, on April 1, 2023, India would have stocks of 8 MT of wheat, well above the minimum requirement of 7.5 MT. Will farmers benefit? -Farmers will certainly benefit from the scenario as they are being offered a price above the MSP. Amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, new markets in countries like Israel, Egypt, Tanzania and Mozambique have opened up for India. However, on the other hand, if private traders continue to buy above MSP, eventually that could stoke inflation. Dr. M.J. Khan, Chairman of the Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture, an apex agribusiness services body, opines that more private buying of the wheat will help India expand the agri-export basket to new countries, riding the current crisis situation. This trade relationship will stay even when the global crisis is over, which means farmers will get about 10%-15% extra price as market prices are ruling above MSP. What about export plans? -Till now, 4 MT wheat has been contracted for export and about 1.1 MT has been exported in April 2022. After Egypt, Turkey has also given approval for the import of Indian wheat. India has been eyeing deals with new export markets in European Union countries too. Compared to record wheat exports of 7.85 MT in the fiscal year 2021-22, the Centre had estimated exports of 12 MT for 2022-23, to cash in on the market rally in global prices following the Ukraine crisis. Global wheat prices rose nearly 50% since the start of this year as supplies from Russia, the number one wheat exporter, and Ukraine, number six, were hit. Despite the crop loss and revision of the output estimate, the Centre maintained that no curbs would be placed on wheat exports and that it was facilitating traders. Market observers estimate exports will be lower than projected earlier at about 10 MT amid low or damaged output. How is the global supply situation shaping up? -In order to meet the gap created by reduced Russian and Ukrainian exports, importers are turning to alternative markets, while wheat-producing countries like India are looking to increase exports. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the export estimates of Brazil, which is traditionally an importer of wheat, is pegged at 2.5 MT, nearly three times its total last year. The South American country has even found new markets, with its wheat exports to West Asian nations jumping over 400%, according to Reuters. Argentina, traditionally a big exporter of wheat, too saw a further rise in exports despite lower than usual production.    The USDA, however, says that these increased exports will not be enough to make up for the nearly 30% of global exports hit by the Ukraine crisis.   Why are reproductive rights under threat? What does a leaked Supreme Court draft on the Roe vs Wade case on the right to abortion in the U.S. say? NARAYAN  LAKSHMAN The story so far: The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has privately voted to strike down the constitutional right to abortion as determined by the landmark Roe vs Wade case in 1973, according to a leaked draft opinion from February 2022. The leak, by news outlet Politico on May 2, has itself become a subject of profound criticism and a likely criminal inquiry within the highest court in the land. The content has provoked dismay among liberals and pro-choice advocates and jubilation on the part of anti-abortionists. While the opinion is not surprising given that a SCOTUS majority of 6-3 leans and votes conservative, it will likely set off a lengthy series of judicial battles at the state level given that it will, if it formally becomes the law of the land, leave the decision on whether to outlaw abortions to state legislators. What is the Roe vs Wade case? -Roe, short for Jane Roe, is the pseudonym for a Texas woman named Norma McCorvey who in 1970 sought to have an abortion when she was five months pregnant, notwithstanding Texas’ ban on abortions except to save a mother’s life. Wade refers to Henry Wade, the district attorney in Dallas County, Texas, at the time, who was the SCOTUS was written on January 22, 1973, by Justice Harry Blackmun, paving the way for the recognition of abortion as a constitutional right in the U.S., effectively striking down a wide range of state-level abortion limitations applied before foetal viability. Foetal viability is the point at which a foetus can survive outside the womb, at the time considered to be around 28 weeks, but today is closer to 23 or 24 weeks owing to advances in medicine and technology.    Based on the Roe vs Wade case, the framework of regulations that applied towards the right to abortion required that in the first trimester, almost no limitations could be placed on that right; in the second trimester, only limitations to abortion rights that were aimed at protecting a women’s health were permitted; and in the third trimester, state governments had greater leeway to limit the right to abortion except for cases in which the life and health of the mother were endangered.    However, Roe vs Wade was not the last word on abortion rights in the U.S. even before the latest SCOTUS opinion. In the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs Casey case, the SCOTUS threw out the so-called trimester framework yet retained the Roe vs Wade case’s “essential holding,” which established women’s constitutional right to abortion until foetal viability. Why is there a possibility of the judgment being overturned? -The overturning of the Roe vs Wade case has not yet been formally announced and thus not yet a part of settled law, although most legal experts believe it is only a matter of time before it becomes so. It remains to be seen whether the leaked text of the private opinion of the SCOTUS, believed to be authored primarily by Justice Samuel Alito, will be the same as the final version that enters the statute books.    Nevertheless, the conservative majority of the court, to which former President Donald Trump successfully nominated three justices, regarded Roe vs Wade to lack any jurisprudential bases within the U.S. Constitution. Hence in the first draft of their opinion, dated February 2022, the justices of SCOTUS said, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitution provision… It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” What impact will the opinion have if it passes into law? -Based on analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports have shown that the typical patient seeking an abortion in the U.S. is already a mother, is in her late 20s, has obtained some college education, is relatively poor, is unmarried, is in her first six weeks of pregnancy, is seeking a first abortion, and lives in a Democratic Party-ruled state. At a broad level, therefore, the SCOTUS opinion will disproportionately affect poorer women if it becomes law. For example, in 2014, nearly 50% of women who went in for abortions were below the poverty line, with another 25% said to be relatively close to the poverty line. Reports quoted researchers saying that the growing share of poorer women in the abortion demographic “reflects improved access to effective contraception among higher-earning women, and recognition of the growing costs of raising children among poorer women. It may also reflect the growing presence of charities that help poor women pay for abortions in states where public programs don’t.”    However, all is not lost for the pro-choice side of the debate, because even if the SCOTUS successfully strikes down Roe vs Wade U.S. President Joe Biden has called upon Congress to pass legislation codifying the right to abortion, which lawmakers have every right to do. Yet, given the 50-50 split of Democratic and Republican Senators on Capitol Hill, it is near impossible to rally together the requisite 60-member supermajority required to defeat a filibuster and pass abortion rights into law in the face of lock-step opposition from conservatives. Democrats are likely pinning their hopes on the November mid-term election sweeping more of their members into the Senate and thus restoring a constitutional right to abortion.