The samosa-jalebi saga: After backlash comes PIB disclaimer

After a flurry of headlines had snack lovers clutching their chai in horror, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has stepped in to clear the air: no, the government is not slapping health warnings on samosas, jalebis, or laddoos. The claim, according to the PIB, is “false and misleading” — aka, pure fried fiction.

As per a report in the Times of India, the Union health ministry has also weighed in, calling the stories floating around in the media “misleading, incorrect, and baseless”. In short: nobody is coming for your mithai just yet. Eat in peace (responsibly, maybe).

This, after it was reported on Monday that the health ministry had urged all ministries and departments to instal display boards mentioning the sugar and oil content in snacks such as samosa, kachori, pizza, burger, French fries, soft drinks, gulab jamun and vadapav to promote healthy lifestyles and combat obesity and non-communicable diseases.

Apparently, some folks mistook the health ministry’s initiative — installing informational 'Oil and Sugar Boards' in select government cafeterias (like AIIMS Nagpur) — as a call to action against Indian snacks. These boards list how much sugar and oil go into commonly consumed foods, presumably to jolt civil servants out of their samosa-induced afternoon naps.

Interestingly, it took PIB over 24 hours to come up with its 'disclaimer', while the news spread like wildfire across social media, but now that it has, we can presumably be clear: these are informational posters in government canteens, not blanket bans or warning labels for your neighbourhood halwai.

When a headline suggests that samosas might soon be treated like cigarettes, people panic. Rightly so — jalebis have done a lot for national morale, and some of us aren’t ready to lose them to red-tape rhetoric.

Thankfully, one assumes the government’s clarification means:

• Your street-side samosa vendor doesn’t need to print nutrition labels next to the tamarind chutney.

• There’s no official policy targeting Indian snacks with health warnings.

• The ministry is merely trying to nudge people toward thinking about what they eat — without waging war on laddoos.

To sum up, if you now read a story claiming your gulab jamun is the new Marlboro Light, take it with a (low-sodium) pinch of salt. The government is pushing for awareness — not an all-out ban on indulgence. So yes, the samosa is safe… for now.

With agency inputs