The bright red bottle of Sting, an energy drink, catches Sunita Devi's eye when she finds her local shopkeeper has run out of the biscuits she hoped to buy to fuel her son through his homework. She cannot read the English label, but 10-year-old Ajit says it sounds healthy.
"Stimulates mind, energises body," the bottle proclaims. It's the type of marketing that helps shop owner Vasu Gupta sell energy drinks - mostly to families who have migrated from the countryside to a slum in Govindpuri in the Indian capital, Delhi.
But the drink, which is made by PepsiCo India, is not quite as beneficial as it sounds. A 250ml bottle contains 17g of sugar - a third of the daily intake recommended by the World Health Organization, although there is nothing on the packaging to warn about its high sugar levels; and the small print on the back says the drink is not recommended for children.
Drinks and snacks claiming to benefit consumers are concerning food campaigners working in India and elsewhere in the developing world, who say that food companies are getting away with marketing ultra-processed foods, high in sugar and salt, by promising health, height, strength, energy and even happiness.
The result, they say, is a crisis in rising diabetes and hypertension and poorly nourished children.
The link between unhealthy diets and ultra-processed food and drinks prompted the WHO to issue guidelines this month recommending that governments restrict marketing of foods high in fat, sugar and salt to children, because of the harmful effects on health and nutrition.
Arun Gupta, the head of the thinktank Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest - India, said it was a "ticking timebomb". "Everybody wants their child to grow well, tall and free from disease. Those aspirations are actually used, emotionally exploited," he said.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 28, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 28, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
Dalai Lama's mountain town feels the strain of tourist boom
SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj's narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music.
'I am all the world' The brutal rule of a West Bank settler
Palestinians tell ofblacklisted Yakov's reign across the Jabal Salman valley and heisjust one of many violent bosses
Stormy waters New flashpoint emerges in South China Sea dispute
Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived.
'Justice delayed' Why trust in public inquiries to bring closure is fading
After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: \"We did not ask for this inquiry... It's delayed the justice my family deserves.\"
Celeriac soup with almond pangrattato
I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
Are smoke signals telling me to make an oil change in the kitchen?
Should you that is, not can you) cook with extra-virgin olive oil? Antonio, Atlanta, Georgia, US
Going underground
A darkly humorous encounter between an American spy-cop and the members ofan eco-commune she is hired to infiltrate
All work and no play
Hard Graft, a powerfulnew London exhibition, focuses onworkers’ exploitation, from the ruined hands ofa washerwoman to mothers forced to sell their bodies
What the princess and the shaman tell us about hereditary privilege
It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.