India, Sept. 2 -- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will reportedly mandate front of the pack warning labels (FOPL) for packaged foods, prompted by a Supreme Court order earlier this year on transparent warnings. This will make high sugar, salt, and fat content of packaged foods explicit, with their levels displayed prominently. It can prove a significant driver of healthier food choices if it nudges consumers to act on easily digestible nutritional information. The gains for the country - already the diabetes capital of the world and set to see more than a doubling of obesity incidence, from 180 million in 2021 to 449 million by 2050 - are not too hard to imagine. FOPL warnings can be an easy-to-understand guide on the potential harm from packaged food items for consumers. The large pictorial warning regime for cigarette packets, which came into effect in 2016, offers a glimpse of such behavioural change. Compliance by tobacco companies has helped push down smoking in India - according to an analysis by the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction, the prevalence of adult daily smoking fell from 8.6% in 2017 to 7.1% in 2022. In the case of foods, feedback from informed consumption (following the warnings) could prompt manufacturers to reformulate products and make them healthier. The efficacy of an FOPL regime will depend on two factors. One, the labelling has to be easy to understand and widely popularised for the average consumer to be aware of what a particular warning label indicates. To that end, the FSSAI must conduct information campaigns prior to rolling out FOPL. Two, to encourage healthier eating choices, there has to be awareness generated about the health effects of harmful foods. Children present the perfect catchment for this, given they are a large consumer segment for packaged foods, and schools can be harnessed to educate them about avoiding unhealthy foods....