India wanted red flags on chip packets and soda. Big Food fought back

India’s food regulator has dropped plans for colour-coded front-of-pack nutrition warnings after industry opposition, opting instead for simpler disclosures. The decision faces Supreme Court scrutiny amid concerns over obesity, high sugar, salt and fat levels, and differing product formulations across countries.

A can of Fanta sold in London has 63 calories. Buy the same brand in India, and it contains three times as much sugar. It also includes artificial dye, whose presence in food products in Europe requires a prominent health ​warning. In India, the colorant's presence is noted merely in small print on the back of the can. ​That suits some of the world's biggest companies, which have long resisted Indian efforts to mandate nutritional warnings on the front of packaged products. Consumer giants like Coca-Cola , which makes Fanta, appear to have the advantage. India's food-safety regulator said in August that it had abandoned a push for colorful warnings on the front of food packaging. It said such warning labels don't account for how Indian cuisine has more intense flavors than Western food and instead proposed that companies display a black-and-white table of sugar, fat and salt content. Advt

India's Supreme Court is scrutinizing that decision after a petition by public health activists. At stake are the waistlines of the 450 million Indians who could be obese or overweight by 2050, according to a recent study published in the journal Lancet. Experts say more transparency in labeling can forge healthier eating habits.

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