Speaker / Gateway

Revant Himatsingka, MBA graduate and clean eating champion from Kolkata, better known as the Food Pharmer

Revant Himatsingka, MBA graduate and clean eating champion from Kolkata, better known as the Food Pharmer

1. Introduction and Background: Revant Himatsingka, known as the Food Pharmer, recently moved to Mumbai. An MBA graduate from Wharton and a certified health coach, he advocates for clean eating.
2. Career Shift and Initiative: After 13 years in the US, Revant returned to India without a concrete plan and started “Padhega India,” a movement encouraging people to read food labels. This initiative gained significant traction, highlighted by The Economic Times as a major consumer campaign.
3. Controversy and Public Attention: Known for his critique of various food brands, Revant has garnered significant media attention. He emphasises food as medicine and advocates for reducing dependence on pharmaceuticals by choosing healthier food options.
4. Health Literacy: Revant aims to improve health literacy in India, distinguishing it from general education. He believes understanding food labels is crucial, often more important than other commonly emphasised skills like coding.
5. Viral Video Incident: He shared a viral video exposing high sugar content in a popular drink, leading to legal action and sparking a broader discussion on the health claims made by food companies.
6. Legal Challenges and Public Support: Despite facing multiple legal challenges, including defamation suits, Revant remains committed to his cause, buoyed by public support.
7. Key Message on Food Labels: He stresses the importance of reading all parts of food packaging, including the front package, ingredient list, and nutrition label, to make informed choices, warning against relying solely on marketing claims.
8. Product Longevity and Health: Products with longer expiry dates are often less healthy due to preservatives and additives. Revant promotes choosing fresh products with shorter shelf lives.
9. Marketing Tactics: Packaged foods often use appealing front-of-package descriptions, but the true content, including high sugar levels or artificial additives, is usually detailed on the back.
10. Deceptive Labelling: Attractive elements like images of fruits or claims of no artificial flavours may hide low actual fruit content and high sugar levels.
11. Targeted Marketing: Food products often use keywords appealing to specific demographics, aligning with consumer desires without necessarily altering nutritional content.
12. Marketing Gimmicks: Companies use visual cues, like green packaging, to imply health benefits, though these are often marketing tactics with little basis in the actual product content.
13. Trademark Misuse: Misleading trademarks can confuse consumers about the nature of products, such as misusing common terms to imply health benefits.
14. Celebrity Endorsements: Endorsements can mislead consumers into trusting product quality based on celebrity associations, rather than the actual product merits.
15. Misleading Health Claims: Unsubstantiated health claims can mislead consumers, making them believe products are more beneficial than they are.
16. Overconsumption: Products marketed as healthy can lead to overconsumption due to perceived health benefits, which is problematic with items like brown bread that may contain added colours.
17. Marketing Associations: Associating products with daily routines or cultural practices encourages frequent consumption, such as snacks marketed as companions to tea.
18. Understanding “Flavour”: The term “flavour” often means the product tastes like an ingredient without actually containing it, misleading consumers about the product’s content.
19. Sponsorships and Brand Positioning: Brands sponsor events that align with their desired image, positioning their products as premium or aspirational.
20. Ingredient Transparency: The best products have clear, minimal ingredient lists, or none at all, like fresh fruits and vegetables. Long ingredient lists often indicate processed foods.
21. Order of Ingredients: Ingredients are listed by weight; if sugar or refined flour is among the first ingredients, the product likely has a high proportion of these less desirable components.
22. Nutrition Label Awareness: Consumers often miss misleading serving sizes on nutrition labels, leading to underestimating calorie consumption.
23. Excess Sugar in Beverages: Beverages often contain high added sugar, and understanding the sugar content in teaspoons helps highlight this issue.
24. Health Risks of Excess Sugar: Excessive sugar consumption can lead to health problems, making it crucial to read labels to understand sugar content.
25. Comparison of Sugar Content in Beverages: Different beverages, including juices and soft drinks, vary significantly in sugar content.
26. Ketchup Consumption: Ketchup is widely consumed, often with high sugar content, and alternatives like coriander chutney are encouraged.
27. Criticism of Packaged Foods: While critiquing packaged foods, it’s important to offer alternatives to avoid leaving people uncertain about what to eat.
28. Healthier Alternatives: Revant suggests alternatives to common packaged foods, like choosing peanut butter with minimal ingredients or healthier bread options.
29. Misleading Product Labels: Some products mislead consumers by suggesting they are something they are not, such as misusing terms like ORS.
30. Ingredient Transparency: Emphasis on reading ingredient lists and choosing products with simple, minimal ingredients.
31. Impact of Packaged Foods Across Socioeconomic Lines: Packaged foods are consumed by people of all economic backgrounds, and addressing these issues benefits everyone.
32. Healthy Yoghurt Choices: Opt for unsweetened yoghurt and add fresh fruit instead of buying pre-flavoured versions with added sugars.
33. Cleaner Food Products: Choose products with simpler ingredient lists, which are generally healthier.
34. Advocacy for Health Literacy: Revant advocates for health and nutrition education in school curriculums, similar to other academic subjects.
35. Conscious Capitalism: He promotes conscious capitalism, aligning business practices with social good, such as using proceeds to feed the poor.
36. Non-Endorsement Policy: To maintain credibility, Revant does not endorse any food products but provides information on healthier choices.