Industry, government can together address the deep-rooted challenges of malnutrition: Inge Kaurer

Shahid Akhter, Editor, ETHealthworld spoke to Inge Kauer, Executive Director of Access to Nutrition Initiative, Netherlands, to know more about the PPP role that the government and the food & beverage industry can play to enhance the fortification programmes.

India Spotlight Index 2020 : Current findings
The 2020 India Spotlight Index found that many companies have increased their commitments to tackle malnutrition and have aligned with government initiatives like, ’Poshan Abhiyan’ and the ‘Eat Right India’ movement. Therefore, we see an increase in the co-operation between FnB (Food & Beverage) companies, the government and civil societies to work together, in order to tackle malnutrition in India.


India Spotlight Index 2016 vs 2020: Differences and improvement
We observe that the companies, which were a part of Index in 2016, have scored higher in 2020. On a scale of 1 to 10, the average score in 2016 was 3.0, and now it's 4.2 that marks the increase by 1.2. Individual companies like Britannia, which scored 1.6 in 2016, have witnessed improvement of 3.3 with current scoring of 4.9. Introduction of programs and new policies, for example, marketing to children, intensified fortification approach to the government is the different approach that the companies have taken since 2016, to tackle the problem of malnutrition in India.

Malnutrition in India: Changes and challenges
Overall, the most important change is that, since 2016 companies displayed more commitment and better performance in fortification. When we started the index in 2016, there were only few companies fortifying the products, the approach was scattered and not really an integrated approach. Since 2016, many companies have stepped up their commitments to the government, to invest in fortification. On the other hand, FSSAI, the autonomous body of Government of India, has invested in creating an environmental and regulatory framework to aid the companies in fortification. Out of all the companies investing in staple food, number of the ones fortifying their food ingredients is 10 out of 13, which is a major improvement compared to 2016.

With all the improvements, challenges still await, the 2020 research mentions that only 27% of the total products sold by the leading companies can be considered healthy, when compared to the international standards. Companies need to improve their product portfolio by increasing positive ingredients like food and vegetables, while decreasing negative ingredients like salt, sodium, sugar, and saturated fat. Therefore, it is a call to action for companies in 2020 to invest more in healthier products.

Malnutrition in India: Partnering with government
One of the main findings in 2020 Index is the presence of more action and collaboration between FnB industry and the government.They really come together, to tackle India’s malnutrition challenges by supporting National nutrition mission Poshan Abhiyan, Government might be considerate of the industry while formulating frameworks and policies, providing more room for clarity. Since clear standards on reformulation are very important for companies, support from the government would accelerate the change of products, to make them healthier for the Indian consumers.

Malnutrition in India: Possible solutions
We have done an analysis on the nutrition challenges and the results show that, the double burden of malnutrition is increasing. Although, few aspects of malnutrition are better, increasing rate of obese and overweight cases coexist with high rate of stunting. Thus, it is important that products become healthier and fortified with relevant micro nutrients. We believe that companies can accelerate the efforts in bringing more healthy options to the market, making them accessible and affordable that is where government can come together with industry. With efforts from both the ends, industry and the government can tackle deep-rooted challenges in the country.