Revant Himatsingka, popularly known as FoodPharmer, has become a household name. Recently, the content creator announced that Lay’s maker PepsiCo has decided to reduce the use of palm oil in its chips.
““Big win! Lay’s India to reduce palm oil usage! Last month, I made a video showcasing how Lay’s India uses palm oil but Lay’s USA does not use Palm oil! After a lot of public pressure, Lays India has set a public statement that they have begun the process to replace palm oil in their Lays!” He wrote on X (erstwhile Twitter).
A month ago, he claimed in his video that while Lay’s India used palm oil in its chips which is harmful, Lay’s USA used vegetable oil instead of palm oil.
According to experts, Palm oil, commonly found in chips, biscuits, and similar foods can have adverse effects on heart health when consumed excessively. However, a PepsiCo spokesperson, as quoted by MoneyControl, said that trials for new oil blends for their products had already begun in 2023.
Since his video discussing Bournvita’s high sugar content and its potential impact on children FoodPharmer has contributed tremendously to understanding the impact of packaged food products. He regularly posts about picking healthy food over processed products.
Now to take this to the next level, food pharmer has started an initiative to promote checking the nutrition label at the back of all packaged products.
The initiative, ‘Label Padhega India’ also includes actor Archana Puran Singh, choreographer Terence Lewis, Sportsperson Abhinav Bindra, Dinesh Karthik, Flying Beast, Ankita Bainyanpuria, Ankur Warikoo, Tech Burner, Thugesh, Saurav Joshi, Abhi and Niyu, Luke Coutinho, and many more. The objective of the initiative is to raise awareness about the hidden dangers lurking behind the nutritional labels of packaged foods, highlighting the poor effects of preservatives and unhealthy additives on consumer’s health.
FoodPharmer’s address highlighting the anthem, “You are what you eat” encapsulates the core message of the initiative, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability in the food industry.
“I am starting health movement called “Label Padhega India” to fight against all the recent health controversies that have been taking place for example, Bournvita health drink, Patanjali issue, protein powder etc. Companies give us poor quality food because Indians are often not aware of what goes in their food as they don’t read labels,” the food Pharmer told Financial Express.com.
He has also initiated a social media challenge to my audience to tag three individuals and urge them to read the nutritional labels of packaged foods.
“If we all start reading labels, companies will not be able to falsely market themselves,” he said
“I am trying to create an ice-bucket challenge type of a movement where I challenge 3 people to start reading labels and in turn they are supposed to challenge 3 more people, thereby creating a chain. The objective is to get companies to stop falsely marketing themselves,” he told Financial Express.com.
If the majority of the country starts reading labels, companies will not be able to falsely market themselves and they will have to give us clean foods, he added.
