IANS | 18 Sep, 2023
Indian Sellers Collective, an umbrella body of leading trade
associations and sellers across the country, has come down heavily on a
report by WHO which advocates restricting the growth of small
independent retailers selling indigenous food items and alleged that the
global health body is serving interests of MNCs.
Invoking
national interest, Indian Sellers Collective has urged Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to initiate an investigation into the report prepared by
the World Health Organization.
Highlighting the bias in the
report, Indian Sellers Collective said the WHO report has proposed that
zero-sugar carbonated drinks should not be classified under the same GST
category as all carbonated drinks, which currently carry a 28 per cent
tax rate coupled with a 12 per cent sin tax, totalling 40 per cent.
“This
WHO report contradicts its own advisory of advocating prohibition of
non-sugar sweeteners, commonly found in zero-sugar carbonated drinks.
This contradictory stance appears to push a biased narrative by the
global body, suggesting an agenda to promote products from multinational
corporations in the Indian market. This positioning of carcinogenic
non-sugar sweeteners by WHO is clearly geared to suit the interests of a
few at the cost of the health of millions of Indians.
“Another
worrisome aspect of the Report is that it disregards the generations old
composition of Indian foods and calls for promoting artificially
tinkered foods based on untested scientific claims. We must not blindly
adopt Western policies aiming to alter our culinary traditions and food
products. Indian cuisine, finely attuned to our climate and genetic
makeup, has evolved over centuries. The WHO's claim that high-salt
Indian food is detrimental to our health is fallacious,” said Abhay Raj
Mishra, Member and National Coordinator, Indian Sellers Collective.
Another
important point Indian Sellers Collective highlighted is that the WHO
report has also advocated for the implementation of the Draft
Notifications on Food Safety and Standards (Labelling & Display)
Amendment Regulations (2022) proposed by the FSSAI. Due to the
Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling (FOPNL) Indian foods will receive
lower star rankings and will be classified as unhealthy and ultimately
face rejection by consumers. It will lead to an unfair advantage for
western alternatives, which have in reality been fortified and
chemically altered by MNCs solely with the purpose of achieving a higher
ranking.
The Indian Sellers Collective feels there is an urgent
need to safeguard Indian consumers' interests by strengthening and
increasing the mandate of domestic research bodies such as Indian
Council of Medical Research (ICMR) so that they can conduct extensive
studies tailored to Indian dietary habits along with studying the health
implications of reformulated foods.
Many Indian food products
that are consumed in the north, south, east and western parts of the
country are manufactured by cottage industries and MSMEs specific to
those areas. These food products include time tested best sellers like
khakra, murukku, dal sev, bhujiya and much more.
Indian Sellers
Collective believes that there is a surreptitious agenda to change
India’s food palate and this report by WHO is yet another effort in that
direction. It also alleged that the report has the potential to cause
immense damage to the MSME sector as small retailers and unorganised
food manufacturers generate millions of jobs.