Processed foods more easily available than fruits in market: EACPM

Mumbai: Processed foods like Kurkure are more easily available than fruits and vegetables, even in rural areas, a top economic advisor to the Prime Minister said on Wednesday, emphasising the need to ensure healthier market options for the public.

The industry needs to look into this aspect and ensure that healthy products are made available to the countrymen, S Mahendra Dev, the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EACPM), said. Dev warned that if we overlook this issue, coming out of excess consumption of processed food and beverages, we will have to grapple with issues like obesity.

Citing official surveys, he said processed food and beverages account for 21 per cent of food consumption even in rural areas now, and it will only be upwards of 25 per cent in urban areas.

There is a need to work with the industry on the issue of processed foods to ensure that there is a better supply of healthier snacking options in the market.

"Chips and Kurkure are easily available in rural areas compared to fruits and vegetables," Dev said, stressing that we need to ensure that healthier options are made available, especially to the children.

When asked if any policy interventions are planned around this, Dev said that much of the effort will focus on educating people and having a dialogue with the industry. Working couples are dependent on processed food as their schedules do not allow them to cook daily, he said, adding that this is a health problem.