India Food Stats

Reuters has reported that the more than $100 billion packaged-food industry, through the All India Food Processors’ Association (AIFPA), filed a court submission (intervener’s affidavit) in the Supreme Court seeking review/re-examination of the planned FSSAI front-of-pack warning labels (red hexagonal labels for products high in added sugar, salt, and/or saturated fat). The filing argues that many staples risk being covered in warnings that “will tarnish the image of Indian food globally.”  AIFPA referred to its earlier submissions to the regulator claiming that nearly 80% of packaged-food products may fall into the high fat, sugar, or salt category under the proposed thresholds (based on per-100g/100ml absolute values drawn from ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines).  The 80% figure is the industry body’s own estimate/claim (not an independent verification), raised to argue the thresholds are too strict and need scientific re-examination in light of Indian dietary patterns, serving s...

Festivals in India are all about lights, laughter, and of course — gifts. The gifting game has evolved, and it’s fun to see how traditions mix with modern health trends. For decades, the safest bet was a box of assorted dry fruits and nuts. Almonds, cashews, pistachios, raisins — crunchy, classy, and guilt‑free.  Then came the avalanche of traditional sweet snacks — laddoos, barfis, jalebis, and syrup‑soaked delights — joined by foreign‑flavored themes like sugar‑loaded cookies and glossy boxed chocolates that feel more global than local. Tasty, yes. Waistline‑friendly? Not really. Everyone smiles when they receive them, but secretly wonders how much sugar they just signed up for. Now, healthier gifting is catching on. Imagine opening a festive box and finding an assortment of tea bags — Darjeeling, Assam, Tulsi green, or exotic herbal blends. It’s thoughtful and elegant. Image: Open Food Facts Health brands are hopping on the trend too. Protinex — usually seen as a serious high‑p...

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 ...

Let's playfully decode this Alpino High Protein Super Oats label like we're detectives in a tasty mystery novel. Image & nutrition details: Open Food Facts The big brag: 24% protein and "No Refined Sugar" . Where's all that magic coming from? Spoiler alert — it's not fairy dust! Let's scan the ingredients: Rolled Oats (45%), Texturised Soya Protein (21%), Unsweetened Peanut Butter (20%), Organic Jaggery (10%), Instant coffee (4%), Rosemary Extract  The protein hero is clearly the Texturised Soya Protein (21%) — that's the real muscle-builder here. Soya chunks/textured vegetable protein are a classic plant-based powerhouse, packing around 50g protein per 100g dry. Rolled oats themselves bring a respectable ~11-13g protein/100g, and unsweetened peanut butter chips in another ~25g/100g with bonus healthy fats. So the combo of oats + a hefty dose of textured soya + peanut butter easily pushes this blend to that impressive 24g protein per 100g mark...

High cocoa prices have triggered a wave of “reformulations” — the industry’s polite term for recipe changes across the U.S. chocolate market. The familiar “milk chocolate” label (a term regulated by the FDA) is quietly being replaced by the more flexible “chocolate candy.” Over the last decade, climate change has added six extra weeks of extreme heat every year to most West African cocoa-growing regions. The result? Declining yields and rising prices. Major players like Nestlé have saved more than $500 million by adjusting recipes in response to the cocoa and coffee price surge. To cut costs, companies are swapping cocoa butter for vegetable fats, using compound coatings, and adding emulsifiers like E476 (polyglycerol polyricinoleate) to stretch limited cocoa supplies. Others are bulking up bars with sugar or chunky add-ins or even switching to cheaper beans and different manufacturers. Chocolate Standards: A Global Contrast Source: Surbhi Bhatia U.S. (FDA): Milk chocolate must contai...

First introduced in 1907 in Old Delhi by herbalist Hakim Abdul Majeed , Rooh Afza is a traditional concentrated syrup (sharbat) that remains a dominant player in the South Asian beverage segment.  Developed originally as a herbal remedy to combat the effects of extreme summer heat—such as heat stroke and dehydration—the formulation is based on Unani medicine principles . Image source: OpenFoodFacts.org Produced by Hamdard Laboratories , Rooh Afza is sold primarily in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, each operated independently by local Hamdard trusts established after the 1947 partition and 1971 formation of Bangladesh.  Minor changes have been made to ingredients over time due to regional availability, but the core formulation remains largely intact. Originally packaged in glass bottles, Rooh Afza is now available in plastic packaging and has expanded its product line to include fruit juice blends, yogurt drinks, and a sugar-free version targeted at higher-income consumers...

Erythritol is a food additive, also known by its European food additive code, E968 . It is a type of sugar alcohol or polyol that's used as a low-calorie sweetener in many foods and drinks. Some countries, such as Japan and the United States, label it as  zero-calorie . It has been approved for use as a food additive in the United States and throughout much of the world.  It was discovered in 1848 by Scottish chemist John Stenhouse.  It occurs naturally in some fruit and fermented foods.  At the industrial level, it is produced from glucose by fermentation with a yeast, Moniliella pollinis.  Erythritol is 60–70% as sweet as sucrose or table sugar, yet it is almost non-caloric. It does not affect blood sugar or cause tooth decay It is partially absorbed by the body, excreted in urine and feces.  According to the GundryMD website, Dr. Steven Gundry is a heart surgeon.

Honey technically has more calories than sugar.  A teaspoon of honey has about 21 calories , while one of white sugar contains around 16 calories. The sugars in honey have a lower glycemic index than those in white sugar.  The glycemic index measures how quickly a food raises blood sugar levels. Foods with a lower GI cause a slower, more gradual rise in blood sugar. Table sugar (sucrose) has a GI of about 65, while honey's GI typically ranges from 35-58 , depending on the variety. This difference occurs because: Honey contains a mixture of fructose and glucose (with more fructose), whereas table sugar is a 50/50 split of fructose and glucose. Honey contains small amounts of fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that may slow glucose absorption. The body processes all kinds of sugar in largely the same way. The differences in health benefits or risks between using honey and table sugar are largely negligible.  If you're looking for a healthier sweet tr...

Dates are quite the energy providers! Dates are primarily carbohydrates, making up about 75% of their mass . Within these carbs, you'll find a good chunk of sugars, around 63% , and also a fair bit of dietary fibre, about 8% . The main sugars present are monosaccharides like glucose (23–30%) and fructose (19–28%) , with only a negligible amount of sucrose. They contain  less than 1% fat , and provide about 2% protein . Dates also pack in some important minerals. A 100-gram serving is considered a rich source of potassium (22%  of the Daily Value ) . They're also a moderate source (10–19% DV) of pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, magnesium, and manganese . Despite their sweetness, dates have a relatively low glycemic index (GI) in the range of 38–71, with an average of 53 . Their glycemic load (GL) is also low, averaging at 9 for a serving of three fruits (27 grams) . There are reportedly 250-400 date cultivars and varieties.   A cultivar (cultivated variety) is a plant v...

Until around August 2024, the Total Sugars in Horlicks Chocolate Delight Flavour were 32 grams per 100 grams. Check the archived & new images on OpenFoodFacts.org A recent pack now has 46 grams per 100 grams! 😲 Additionally, the serving size recommendation has been reduced from 27 grams to 20 grams, and the protein content has dropped from 10 grams to 7 grams per 100 grams. Talk about a sweet surprise!

Source: OpenFoodFacts.org In bold, bright red letters that scream for attention, Slurrp Farm's Choco Crunch packs a punch with its front-of-package declaration: ' NO MAIDA OR REFINED SUGAR '! Aimed at kids, this product proudly announces it's 'made by two mothers'!  But hold on, in smaller print, you'll spot raw unrefined sugar (23%) tucked away in the ingredients list.  Talk about a sweet surprise!  🤔

Did you know that fatty liver disease (FLD) is becoming a major health concern, even surpassing other noncommunicable diseases?  It's a silent epidemic affecting a whopping 30% of the general population !  Indians are particularly susceptible to a severe form of liver disease called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) due to a gene called PNPLA3 . This gene can cause fat buildup, inflammation, and cell damage in the liver.  Shockingly, 90% of people with diabetes and obesity also have fatty liver disease !  The scary part? Many people don't even know they have it because it often has no symptoms. It's not just an issue for those who consume alcohol - it can affect men, women, and even children! So, how can you show your liver some love ? *  Limit your sugar intake: Sugary drinks, sweets, white bread, and other high-glycemic foods can increase insulin levels, leading to fat storage in your liver.  * Cut down on refined carbs: These can also contribute to ...

The following infographic was shared on the Open Food Facts Slack forum: It illustrates the sugar content in 100ml of Fanta Orange across different European countries, emphasizing the variations in formulation. The map uses a color-coding system: green for less than 5g/100ml, yellow for 5-10g/100ml, and red for over 10g/100ml. Notable differences include low sugar levels (under 5g/100ml) in countries like the UK, Ireland, and Norway, while Central and Eastern European nations such as Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine show higher sugar levels (above 10g/100ml). Western Europe, including countries like France and Spain, falls in the moderate range with 5-10g/100ml. Can you guess the sugar content in the Indian version of Fanta? The Indian Fanta contains 13.7g of sugar per 100ml , surpassing countries like Bolivia (7.5g) , Bangladesh (12.74g) , and the US (12.1g) !

An X user shocked the internet in a viral thread about “applejuiceification and the illusion of choice”, pointing out that most mixed juices and smoothies are mainly made from apples. The post examined 13 juices in a supermarket, finding that most contained 50%+ apple juice, despite not mentioning apple in the product name. Examples included a Naked passion fruit, mango, and guava smoothie with 62% apple juice, and an Innocent pink dragon fruit and lychee drink made from 70% apple juice.  The Guardian consulted food experts who explained how and why juice manufacturers often use cheap, abundant apple juice as a base, even when the product is marketed as a different fruit flavor. Apples provide a sweet-tart taste profile that consumers find palatable, and using apple juice allows companies to maximize profit margins. The experts noted that there are only two ways for food companies to make more money - sell more or use cheaper ingredients. Apple juice is a "double win" as it...