Pepsi’s India unit promises to reduce salt and sugar in snacks and beverages

Global food and beverage company Pepsico has committed itself to reducing salt and sugar in its beverage and snack offerings in India in the wake of the recent Maggi food scandal that hit the country.

The move comes after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said that it will be setting up an 11-member committee that will recommend the maximum permissible limits and labelling requirements of sugar, salt and fat in food products.

This committee, which will primarily focus on packaged and processed items and junk food will make recommendations about the quantity intake of fat, sugar and salt that could be considered healthy for consumption.

It will also focus on the impact of these products on children.

The Economic Times quoted an unnamed executive from the company as saying that it was currently working on a beverage called ‘7 Up Revive,’ which it claims has less sugar than the regular 7 Up.

An executive was quoted by the Economic Times as saying: "PepsiCo is also stepping up distribution of its low-sugar, low-salt oats brand ‘Quaker Oats’, while other low-salt, low-calorie variants of its snacks brands, including ‘Kurkure’ and ‘Lay’s’, are also in the process of being researched, and the company wants to launch these ahead of schedule."

A major food scandal erupted in the country last month when Swiss multinational Nestle’s popular noodles brand Maggi was found laced with excess amounts of lead, leading to a countrywide ban of the product by the FSSAI.