FSSAI constitutes panel to review use of sugar in infant food

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has constituted a committee to assess whether India should allow infant food makers to add sugar to their products, said two people aware of the matter.

The development comes after Nestle last year faced criticism for having added sugar in Cerelac, a popular infant food, in India and other developing markets. In the developed markets, the Swiss food and beverage company sells the product without sugar.

India has a law covering ingredients of baby food and another for marketing. While the law strictly prohibits companies from marketing and promoting infant foods, companies are allowed to add sugar in the form of sucrose and fructose.

According to the Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2019, "Sucrose and/or fructose shall not be added, unless needed as a carbohydrate source, and provided the sum of these does not exceed 20% of total carbohydrates."

One of the persons cited earlier said on condition of anonymity, "The committee will assess if India should allow companies to add sugar to their infant food and if yes then how much."

However, no deadline has been stipulated for the committee to submit its findings, according to the person.

In April 2024, Public Eye, a Swiss investigative organisation, and the International Baby Food Action Network alleged that Nestle added sugar to its Cerelac products in India and other developing markets, even as it sold the product without sugar in the developed markets.

Nestle India opposed the findings saying there was no difference between the products sold in India and in other countries.

In its latest annual report, the company said it had reduced sugar in Cerelac up to 30% in the past five years and recently introduced a new Cerelac range with "no refined sugar" option.