India must act on its sugar problem beyond warning labels

India's Food Safety and Standards Authority proposed front-of-pack red warnings for high-sugar foods following Supreme Court pressure. However, 41 million Indian children aged 5 to 19 are now overweight or obese. Experts warn that labeling alone is insufficient without enforcement, regulation of unorganized sectors, and a tiered sugar tax similar to the U.K.'s model to incentivize reformulation.

Doing nothing is not neutral; it is a slower, costlier tax, paid in ill health rather than rupees at the till.