oppn parties Is FSSAI Compromising Its Position By Getting Big Food Companies To Sponsor Its Initiatives?

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Tiranga Rally Is Excellent. Breaking The Law Was Not

October 17, 2026

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People Are Talking About Junk Food Near Schools

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Is FSSAI Compromising Its Position By Getting Big Food Companies To Sponsor Its Initiatives?

By Linus Garg

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

Nowadays, conflict of interest has become a big issue. Anyone or anything seen as even remotely connected in any capacity to anyone or anything that it promotes or partners immediately raises concerns of conflict of interest. Hence, when it came to light that big food companies and trade organizations that represent the interests of these companies (and often lobby for them to get government policies suitably altered in their favour) were partnering the food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, FSSAI, in its various initiatives to educate the people about the right food to eat and get the companies to commit to lowering harmful ingredients in packaged food, activists and the media accused it of sleeping with the 'enemy'.

Obviously, and on the face of it, involving food companies in any of its initiatives immediately opens FSSAI to charges of conflict of interest. To cozy up (and take their money) to those whom one is expected to regulate is not a done thing. The initiatives which the FSSAI has taken up, like "Eat Right India", for instance, need a lot of awareness campaigns including media advertising and events. All such things cost lots of money. When such partnerships are struck with food companies, they will foot the bill. Also, such partnerships will mean that FSSAI officials and those of the food companies will remain in constant touch over long periods of time and forge friendships. These friendships can be used to influence the decisions of the food regulator in the future.

Of course, these are all just speculations. The FSSAI can obviously keep its regulatory role at a distance from its role as an educator. Even after taking money from the food companies, it can be strict with them and tell them that it is doing the work (of educating the consumer) that ideally they, or their trade bodies, should have done. It could impress upon them that unless they strictly adhere to the norms of lower harmful ingredients, they would be named and shamed. Instead of alleging that FSSAI is compromising its position, one can say that the regulator is doing the opposite by involving the food companies in the campaigns so that it can influence them in a positive way.

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