A taste of a healthier, emptier future?

It’s natural that the Indian middle-class bulge is seen differently by marketers and nutritionists. But the recent Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) move to decree as junk most things that Indians — large and small — love to munch on and recommend they be swept off our plates in the interests of good health and slapped with a sin tax may not do a fat lot of good.

As the food authority’s no-nos include all sweet, deep-fried and salted ‘snacks’, potato chips, candy, burgers, pizzas, nuggets, noodles, confectionaries, packaged soups and colas, among many other things, children would be the first to ask — as they are wont to do — “Then what else is there for me to eat, even as a treat?” It is likely, therefore, that any caveat against these toothsome delights will be taken with a huge pinch of salt by most people. Man, after all, cannot live by bread alone, even if it is whole grain and bromate-free or a chapati.

Given the flip-flops by experts on everything from salt and ghee to eggs and red meat — including sugar replacing fat as the new Public (Health) Enemy No. 1— Indians can be forgiven for being sceptical about this new good-food/bad-food diktat. In fact, they could get so spooked by harangues about what they should (not) eat that they may rush off for a sugar and-carb fix just to soothe their jangled nerves and tummies.