03/09/2026

THURSDAY | SEPT 3, 2026

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Delhi caught in labelling crossfire NEW DELH: The Indian government is facing fierce opposition on proposed food warning labels from both health experts and food giants. In a setback to India’s over US$100 billion (RM404.3 billion) packaged food industry, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) last week proposed a red-coloured hexagonal label for products that exceed limits in at least two of three nutrients: added sugar, salt or saturated fat. The proposal came amid intense public anger and debate after Reuters reported that India’s government had yielded to industry lobbying in March when Coca-Cola and groups backing Nestle and PepsiCo opposed having warning labels on the front of food and drinks packaging. For health safety experts, India’s proposed two-nutrient threshold is however a key concern because products that are high in just one of the three flagged nutrients will effectively escape scrutiny. “It will be meaningless. No other country uses the double nutrient approach,” said Barry Popkin, a professor in the Department of Nutrition at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. “Every country with warning labels has a separate label with large fonts for each key nutrient.” Researchers say warning labels have benefited public health and India’s Supreme Court has called for their implementation while hearing pleas from activists. Chile’s 2016 food labelling law, which puts separate black octagons on a pack for each nutrient that is excessive, was followed by a 23.7% decline in purchases of sugary drinks in the 18 months after it kicked in. The government said retail sales of ultra-processed food increased 40 times between 2006 and 2019 to US$38 billion. India had 180 million adults who were overweight or obese in 2021, projected to rise to 450 million by 2050, according to a study published in The Lancet. The FSSAI has presented the labelling proposal to the Supreme Court and judges will decide on its merits on Sept 10, a government source said. The health group that challenged New Delhi in court, 3S And Our Health, has prepared a draft submission for the judges challenging the proposal. Seen by Reuters, it says there are many loopholes including an exemption granted to honey, jaggery and similar sugar- or fat-rich foods, and it also flags the “two-nutrient threshold”. Seven executives from Indian and foreign firms said they were concerned, with one key issue being India is proposing a 100gm benchmark to judge whether a product needs to be flagged, instead of going by a single serve. “Nobody consumes 100gm of a pickle or ketchup,” said a senior executive, who said industry will press the FSSAI to consider per serve calculations. The other big issue for major food companies is thresholds – India is proposing a red warning if added sugar is in excess of 3% of solid products by weight, and fat in excess of 4.2%. A CEO of an Indian firm said: “Everything will be red.” – Reuters

Relatives mourn during symbolic funerals held for flood victims at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu. – AFPPIC

Hopes of finding survivors dim

o UN flags risk of contamination

scale of the destruction and the challenge communities face as they clear homes, roads and public spaces and begin to rebuild,” it said. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said aid agencies were “very concerned” about the growing public health risk from overcrowded shelters, contaminated water and damaged health facilities, particularly for women and children during the monsoon season. About 3,900 people remain unaccounted for and nearly 3,500 people are living in 27 displacement sites across the hardest-hit districts of Nuwakot and Rasuwa, Dujarric told a press briefing on Tuesday. Shah said his government had stepped up surveillance and response measures to prevent possible outbreaks of disease in flood-affected areas. – Reuters

oversaw the search and rescue operation during the 2015 earthquake. Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the focus would shift from search, rescue and relief operations towards rehabilitation and reconstruction. “The government is now focusing on rehabilitation while working to protect the lives of people in the affected areas and providing necessary medical treatment and psychological counselling,” Shah said. The disaster left at least 2.2 million tonnes of debris, according to a preliminary estimate by the UN Development Programme, including parts of buildings, rocks and sediment, the equivalent of six Empire State buildings. “The amount of debris shows the

“Large numbers” of heavy machines have now reached the site where the Chinese border inspection complex once stood, along with equipment to reinforce search operations, CCTV said. Rescue teams and excavators are carrying out intensive searches for people still missing, CCTV footage showed. Crews equipped with life detection devices and search dogs were deployed to the hardest-hit section of the border crossing area, riverbanks, ravines and damaged road corridors, said the state broadcaster. China reported on Sunday that 546 people remained unaccounted for in Tibet, including 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries, while the death toll stood at 16. – Reuters “The hope of finding survivors is decreasing,” said Phanindra Paudel, a senior official at the National Emergency Operation Centre. Rescuers are trying to find survivors believed to be trapped inside the tunnels of several hydroelectric plants, whose powerhouses have spaces and rooms for people to stay, army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said. Authorities said 279 people had been rescued from the ruins of hydropower projects but at least 639 more were still missing, some of whom are believed to be trapped in tunnels. “Looking at the nature of the disaster and the area which has been hit by the flood, as days go by there are less chances of human survivors,” said Binoj Basnet, a retired senior army general who

KATHMANDU: Hopes of finding more survivors among thousands still missing in Nepal were fading, authorities said yesterday, a week after a rock collapse unleashed flash floods that devastated the mountainous nation. At least 1,050 people have been killed and nearly 4,000 remain unaccounted for, with officials fearing many are buried under debris left by the floods that tore through towns and valleys. Across the border in Tibet, China’s official toll has held steady since Sunday at 16 dead and 546 missing.

China restores road access BEIJING: China has fully reopened the only road leading to Gyirong border crossing a week after it was torn apart by catastrophic flooding, allowing heavy machinery to reach the core disaster zone for the first time. monitoring upstream lakes that posed potential risks of flooding. Risks from the lakes have diminished but landslides were still a concern, authorities said.

Rescue teams worked around the clock to rebuild the G216 national highway after debris flows washed away sections of the road when a rock collapse unleashed mudslides and floods through river systems on Aug 26. Before the road reopened yesterday, China had been airdropping equipment and supplies to frontline rescuers, while soldiers used life-detection equipment to search for the missing, according to broadcaster CCTV. Progress was hampered by rain and challenging terrain, as crews had to work in a narrow mountain gorge squeezed between unstable cliffs and a fast-flowing river. Chinese authorities had also been

Vehicles on the reopened road to Gyirong Port. – CNS/AFPPIC