Adding sugar, salt to food products:

Health Ministry to implement SLSI standards

Nadira Gunatilleke

The Health Ministry will implement standards set by the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI) regarding the addition of sugar and salt to food products. The gazette notification in this regard is to be issued shortly, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman said the extremely high sugar and salt levels in food products in the market has seen a rise in Non Communicable Diseases.

The approved amount of sugar for a person is less than five teaspoons a day. A Sri Lankan consumes over nine teaspoons of sugar a day. The approved amount of salt for a person is only a teaspoon per day, but a Sri Lankan consumes around three and half teaspoons of salt a day, he said.

A Health Ministry Food Unit survey revealed that food and beverages such as fast food, junk food, especially salted peanuts, fried and deviled grams available in packets, soft drinks, pre-prepared tea, milk tea available in machines, varieties of bites in packets, etc contain an excessive amount of sugar and salt that exceed local and international standards, he said.

The gazette notification is to be issued shortly, under the Food Act number 26 of 1980. Thereafter food producers need to add approved amounts of sugar and salt to all types of food products. The approved amount will be decided by the SLSI. The rule will be implemented strictly, he said.