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By Shivaji Sarkar<\/strong><\/p>\n \n India\u2019s fight against obesity may soon come with a public notice \u2014 stuck next to your favourite samosa stall or jalebi counter. The Union Health Ministry, wants central government offices to install \u2018oil and sugar boards\u2019 \u2014 warning staffers of the health hazards of deep-fried and sugary indulgences. The noble intent? Encouraging healthy eating. The unintended fallout? A direct blow to an informal food economy that feeds both bodies and bank accounts across the country.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t just a cultural shift \u2014 it\u2019s an economic tremor. And one that could quietly destabilise the Rs 3 to 5 lakh crore unorganised food sector that runs on the backs of Bhantis, Halwais, Mayaras, Mithaiwalas and Modaks \u2014 names that don\u2019t appear in the NITI Aayog charts, but feed crores and lakhs of households. In 2023, the Indian \u201cpackaged\u201d sweets market of rosogolla, laddoo, barfi of some large confectioners in IMARC study was valued at Rs 6,229.7 crore, and it\u2019s projected to reach Rs 25,970.8 crore by 2032, with a CAGR of 16.67 per cent.<\/p>\n This sprawling informal economy is largely unregulated, yes \u2014 but it is also ethical, preservative-free, hyperlocal, and affordable. From Delhi\u2019s Sarojini Nagar to Patna\u2019s Gandhi Maidan, Allahabad\u2019s Loknath, Lucknow\u2019s Hazratganj, Kerala\u2019s beaches or Kolkata\u2019s Garer Maath, India sells an estimated 6 crore samosas daily, may be more. If you add the allied universe of pakoras, vada pavs, Jaipur pyaj kachori, jalebis and other mithais, the numbers multiply \u2014 as does their economic gravity. Each samosa, different in every city, represents a supply chain: wheat farmer to flour miller, the aloo vendor, the masala mixer, the oil refiner, the street hawker, and finally the hungry buyer.<\/p>\n And then comes jalebi, India\u2019s golden spiral of joy. Take Ahmedabad \u2014 the country\u2019s fafda-jalebi capital. On Dussehra 2023 alone, 17 lakh kilos of fafda-jalebi were consumed in a single day, generating an estimated Rs 175 crore, estimated a national newspaper. That\u2019s more than some tech startups raise in Series A funding. And it\u2019s tens of millions of kilos of jalebis annually, count the volume approximately at Rs 400 a kg. Rosogolla export from Kolkata-Bikaner is no less than imports of nuts from the US.<\/p>\n But while venture capitals get headlines, the jalebiwala gets cholesterol warnings. All India, it\u2019s not easy to fathom the expanse of this economy. While there is a good intent its bad target.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s be clear: rising obesity and lifestyle diseases are real concerns. India is seeing a spike in hypertension, diabetes, and cardiac ailments across demographics. But where is the policy coherence? There are no front-of-pack regulations on ultra-processed branded foods loaded with additives \u2014 chips, colas, frozen snacks \u2014 flooding Indian shelves. And like samosa-jalebis, are not made fresh or served hot.<\/p>\n Yet, it\u2019s the affordable, preservative-free, freshly-made local food \u2014 consumed by daily wage workers, office-goers, and students \u2014 that\u2019s now being flagged. This is not public health reform. This is misplaced elitism disguised as nutrition.<\/p>\n The irony is harsh. The very people who rely on these foods for their daily calories \u2014 and livelihoods \u2014 are being shamed. For crores of urban and rural poor, a Rs 5 to10 samosa or Rs 6 jalebi is often the only meal. Railway stalls sell vada pavs and aloo bondas starting at Rs 10.<\/p>\n If these foods are discouraged without providing cheap, healthy alternatives in the same spaces, the consumer will simply pivot to cheap packaged junk, often worse in nutritional value and more additive – a bigger nutritional health crisis, not a smaller one.<\/p>\n The health ministry\u2019s directive has ripple effect – lower footfall for street vendors, reduced demand for mithai during government functions and festivals \u2013 Diwali, Onam, Bihu, Rathayatra – cultural stigma attached to food, long embedded in India\u2019s social fabric. You don\u2019t fix an obesity crisis by targeting a jalebi in Azamgarh-Guwahati or a pakora in Pune-Tiruchirapalli. You fix it by regulating international corporate, not Hiralal Halwai.<\/p>\n Samosas, laddoos, and jalebis are not just items on a plate. They\u2019re India\u2019s culinary soft power. More importantly, they\u2019re the foundation of a decentralised food economy that employs crores without requiring land, degrees, or foreign funding. To disrupt this fragile ecosystem in the name of wellness \u2014 without consultation, compensation, or coherent planning \u2014 is to denigrate India\u2019s most resilient social safety net the food-street economy.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s not kid ourselves. This isn\u2019t just about samosa-mirchi pakori and calories. It\u2019s also about market realignment. Global and domestic food giants are eyeing India\u2019s growing billion-rupee unorganised snack sector. Unable to beat the local seller on price, freshness, or taste, they now ride the \u201chealth\u201d bandwagon to undermine traditional foods and insert factory-packed substitutes. (They did so attacking mustard oil kolhu and now its prices spiralling).<\/p>\n At Rs 5 to10, a street samosa is unbeatable. But with an \u201cunhealthy\u201d tag stuck on it, consumers are nudged toward: Rs 60 frozen puff pastries, Rs 40 \u201chealthy baked\u201d chips or Rs 35 sugar-heavy oat bars. And while the samosawala is forced to hang a warning sign, these packaged snacks carry no visible red flags, despite being ultra-processed, preservative-laced, and sugar-heavy.<\/p>\n India still lacks mandatory warning labels for high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar products in the processed food market \u2014 something Brazil, Chile, and even Mexico enforce strictly. Packaged snack makers continue to use preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial flavours and colourants \u2014 yet face minimal scrutiny.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the local halwai using fresh oil, chickpea flour, spices and jaggery is the one under attack. This regulatory bias that masks itself as public health sends the message: homemade is harmful, but lab-made is clean \u2014 a myth that is both nutritionally and culturally dishonest.<\/p>\n The potential fallout – millions of daily wage earners, including women and caste-marginalised vendors, risk livelihood collapse. A culture is erased as regional snacks, rituals, and taste traditions face extinction in favour of bland standardisation. Costs rise as replacing a samosa with an oat bar and obesity may worsen with the ultra-processed substitutes.<\/p>\n Instead of warnings, vendors need support \u2014 not quiet condemnation. Yes, India has an obesity problem. But solving it by going after traditional, local food is like banning lassi to control cola consumption. India didn\u2019t become obese on samosas alone. And we certainly won\u2019t become healthy by simply banning them with bureaucratic notice boards. The real recipe for wellness lies not in shaming tradition \u2014 but in supporting it smartly. Otherwise, we risk frying the very hands that feed us. \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Target Samosa-Jalebi By Shivaji Sarkar India\u2019s fight against obesity may soon come with a public notice \u2014 stuck next to your favourite samosa stall or jalebi counter. The Union Health Ministry, wants central government offices to install \u2018oil and sugar boards\u2019 \u2014 warning staffers of the health hazards of deep-fried and sugary indulgences. The noble […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-267970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}