Indian Health Minister targets soft drinks, packaged foods.

June 11, 2006

The Times of India Online

After clearing smoke, Ramadoss aims at fizzArnab Ganguly[ Saturday, June 10, 2006 02:48:07 pmTIMES NEWS NETWORK ] KOLKATA: After pushing to banish smoking from the screen, Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss wants to take the fizz away from celebs. Addressing a gathering of health experts on Friday at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Central Food Laboratory, he said actors and s p o r t s p e r s o n s should stay away from endorsing soft drinks since aerated drinks were damaging kids’ health. "I will urge stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag to desist from promoting these products. If they are concerned about children, then they must not promote soft drinks," he said. "Juvenile diabetes and obesity are on the

rise among children. Soft drinks have a detrimental effect on them. A committee is probing whether they contain pesticides. But even without pesticides they are equally harmful." However, Ramadoss stopped short of calling for a ban on soft drink commercials. "I am just making a request to these stars," he said. Ramadoss also put the packaged food industry on notice, saying a strict law on labelling was on the anvil. "Eight months back we had prepared a draft resolution making it mandatory for all food packets to carry information on ingredients and nutritional value. All food packets will have to print the information — small or big. The final draft is just a few weeks away," he said. ©Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." -

Aurobindo.