First India Access to Nutrition Spotlight Index

The Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF) launched the first Access to Nutrition Spotlight Index in New Delhi on December 14, 2016. The India Spotlight Index 2016 is based on the premise that companies can - and must - work alongside governments, international organisations and civil society to address the spiralling double burden of malnutrition - persistent levels of undernutrition at the same time as rising levels of overweight and obesity.

Key Findings

• Mother Dairy’s number 1 ranking in the Product Profile of the 2016 India Spotlight Index, indicates that its product portfolio is the healthiest of the nine companies assessed.
• Nestlé India tops the Corporate Profile ranking with its strongest policies, practices and disclosure on nutrition and undernutrition.
• Despite certain good practices, the largest food and beverage manufacturers have much to do to help fight the mounting double burden of malnutrition in India.
• Only around 12% of beverages sold by the Index companies and 16% of foods were of high nutritional quality.
• Local Indian companies need to adopt and disclose their nutrition strategies and policies, while particularly the multinationals operating in India need to improve the nutritional quality of their portfolios.
• Nine of the companies assessed have a commitment to combat undernutrition but most companies do not produce or produce very few fortified packaged foods.
• India’s strict regulation of marketing of breast-milk substitutes (BMS) and vigilant monitoring mean that the 8 BMS companies assessed were found broadly to comply with the IMS Act. Nevertheless, several worrying examples of marketing were found that must be addressed, such as promotions by online retailers and product labels that include promotional wording.