India Food Stats

Coconut water is one of the most popular natural hydration drinks today. With so many brands available on supermarket shelves and online platforms, it becomes important to understand what you are actually buying. Packaged coconut water generally comes in two categories based on the label declaration – those that mention 100% Coconut Water and those that are reconstituted from coconut water concentrate . Image: OpenFoodFacts Below is a comparison of popular packaged coconut water brands available in India, grouped by their label claim (data from OpenFoodFacts.org & Amazon.in). 100% Coconut Water Brands (as declared on label) Brand Name Ingredients Pluckk Natural Tender Coconut Water Tender Coconut Water (100%) Mojoco Coconut Water Tender coconut water Yu 100% Coconut Water Coconut Water Raw Pressery Coconut Water Coconut Water (100%), Biopreservative (INS 234) Raskik Coconut Water Coconut Water, Preservative (234) Real Activ Tender Coconut Water Tender Coconut Water ...

Many countries maintain official "Ingredient Dictionaries" or "Common Name Lists" to ensure that when a manufacturer says "Sugar" or "Milk," it means the same thing on every label. While National Nutrition Databases (like the USDA's FoodData Central) focus on what’s inside the food (vitamins/minerals), Regulatory Identity Lists (often part of a country's food law) define what the ingredient must be called. Here are the most prominent official systems used to make ingredient identity clear: 1. Canada: The "Common Names" List Canada is perhaps the most explicit. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) maintains a document called " Common Names for Ingredients and Components ." It acts as a mandatory "thesaurus" for food labels. The Goal: To prevent vague or deceptive labeling. Example: If a manufacturer uses a mix of butter, cream, and skim milk, they are legally allowed (and sometimes required) to group the...

Walk into any MedPlus pharmacy and you’ll likely spot Eatrite Ragi Squares (Chocolate flavour) proudly displayed right at the front — right next to the protein bars and multivitamins. The branding screams “wholesome goodness”: 54% ragi flour (a super millet loaded with calcium, fibre and all those desi-health-hero credentials). Perfect for the calorie-conscious Indian who wants to feel virtuous while snacking, right? Not so fast. Take a closer look at the front packaging and you’ll see cute little chocolate slabs staring back at you, practically winking at anyone with even a mild weakness for cocoa. Yet when you check the actual ingredients, the product contains more sugar than cocoa powder. Images: OpenFoodFacts Here’s the reality check: Ragi flour: 54% → genuinely impressive Refined sugar: 10% → that’s a solid 1 in 10 parts of the product Chocolate cream filling: a whopping 25% (which itself brings even more sugar, milk solids and vegetable fat) Cocoa powder: just 3% So yes — there’s...

After hearing glowing recommendations for Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss on the Open Food Facts forum, I picked up the book with a simple question in mind: How can someone write 400 pages about three basic ingredients — salt, sugar and fat? Three months later, after slowly working my way through the book, the answer became clear. These three ingredients are not just kitchen staples. In the hands of the trillion-dollar processed food industry, they have been carefully engineered to make foods convenient, irresistible, and hard to stop eating. Reading the book was both validating and chilling. Validating, because many of us already suspect something strange about ultra-processed foods. Chilling, because Moss reveals just how deliberately these products are designed. Although the book focuses on American companies, the lessons apply globally. Multinational food giants routinely transfer successful strategies from one country to another. Take the example of ...

Our body requires protein for the replenishment of muscle tissue, skin, bone matter, hair and nails. Proteins are made up of 20 different amino acids, some of which are synthesized within the body (non-essential) while some are not synthesized in the body (essential amino acids). Our body can make 11 on its own but the other 9 essential amino acids have to come from food because your body lacks the genetic code to synthesize them from scratch. You must eat them to survive. The most famous and easiest way to remember all nine is the phrase: " PVT TIM HALL " (Read as: Private Tim Hall) Letter Amino Acid Memory Hook/Function P Phenylalanine Think "Phone" — used for brain signaling (dopamine). V Valine A "Branch-Chain" (BCAA) for muscle growth. T Threonine Think "Thread" — helps make collagen/connective tissue. T Tryptophan The "Turkey" chemical — makes serotonin and melatonin. I Isoleucine Another BCAA — critical for immune function...