People’s Vigilance Committee for Human Rights (PVCHR) Founder & Convenor Dr Lenin Raghuvamshi, spent 12 days in the ICU due to COVID-19 infection in the second pandemic wave, which gave him an awareness of his health and he optimized his nutrition for immunity boosting (high protein diet). Packaged food, which is high in fat, sugar, and salt, is linked to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other non-communicable diseases. That turned out to be a turning point. As he had been at the forefront of organizing the most marginalised, his more profound concern for packaged foods became the strength to spearhead the campaign for Front of Pack Labels (FOPL) to combat NCDs, childhood obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases in India's largest populous state and its neighbouring states.

The consultative sessions and public dialogue have given impetus to the campaign for strong FOPL, leading doctors, university and IIT professors, human rights defenders, faith leaders, political parties and global public health experts have come together to emphasize to the importance of consumer-friendly warning labels, which address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases in India.

The People's Initiative for Participatory Action for Food Labelling (PIPAL), a grassroots initiative was launched by PVCHR and its fraternal organisations in order to build awareness through consultations, dialogues, interactions, and enlisting support through various campaigns to hasten the adoption of food labels. Millions of Indians die every year from NCDs (such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease), and most of these diseases could be prevented if dietary habits and food industry practices were improved if the government implements FOPL for its rapidly growing packaged food and beverage sector.

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