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More than 100,000 obesity deaths ‘could be prevented with new food warnings’
More than 100,000 obesity deaths could be prevented over 20 years if firms were forced to put nutrition warning labels on the front of food packs, experts have said.
Researchers from the University of Liverpool found that warning labels for foods high in fat, salt or sugar – as implemented in several other countries – could save lives across England and cut the number of overweight people.
In 2016, Chile was the first country to bring in a mandatory nutritional warning label law – with food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar needing to display a black octagonal warning on the front of packs.
Other countries, including Mexico and Canada, have introduced similar changes.
In the UK, while it is mandatory for nutrition information to be displayed on the back of all food packaging, putting any details on the front, such as the traffic light system, is voluntary.
In the new study, published in the Lancet Regional Health – Europe, experts used modelling to see what differences mandatory warning labels could make.
Looking at the 20-year period from 2024 to 2043, mandatory implementation of traffic light labelling was estimated to reduce obesity prevalence by 2.34 percentage points.
It could also prevent or postpone 57,000 obesity-related deaths.
But mandatory implementation of nutrient warning labelling – as seen in other countries – would have a bigger effect, with a 4.44 percentage point reduction in obesity prevalence and 110,000 fewer obesity-relateddeaths.
The authors concluded that nutrient warning labels should now be considered by the Government.
Dr Rebecca Evans, corresponding author of the study, said: “Our findings suggest that mandatory nutrient warning labels could deliver substantial health benefits for the population, reducing both obesity rates and related mortality.
“These results support current government discussions about alternative labelling approaches and provide robust evidence to guide future UK food labelling policy.”
Dr Zoe Colombet, an author on the study, said: “Nutrition labels are a simple yet powerful tool.
“Making them mandatory could help people make healthier food choices and encourage the food industry to rethink what goes on our shelves, helping to prevent thousands of deaths linked to obesity”.
Amanda Daley, professor of behavioural medicine at Loughborough University, said: “We need effective public health interventions to reduce the number of deaths related to people living with obesity and mandatory warning labels on food may be one way to achieve this.
“Importantly, we need the food industry to play their part in helping people to make informed decisions about the food they purchase and consume.
“The requirement for food manufacturers in the United Kingdom to include warning labels may encourage the sector to consider more carefully the contents and portion size of food items that they sell.
“Let’s not forget, the public have the right to be fully informed about the impact of the food they consume on their health.”
Dr Jordan Beaumont, from Sheffield Hallam University, said: “Traffic light labelling is a useful tool for consumers but can be tricky to interpret in context of our wider food choices and dietary intake.
“Given we often have very little time to actually inspect labelling and make truly informed decisions when shopping for food, nutrition warning labels provide simpler and more explicit information that is quick and easy to interpret, which explains the larger impact of such information in this modelling.”
Andrea Martinez-Inchausti, assistant director of food at the British Retail Consortium, which represents retailers, said: “Retailers are fully committed to helping improve the health of their customers and have been consistent in providing advice on healthy living, including providing nutritional information on all their products.
“Supermarkets have also keenly adopted the traffic light system for nutritional information on their own products.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This government is bringing in a modernised food nutrient scoring system to reduce childhood obesity.
“We are taking strong action to tackle the obesity crisis as part of our 10 Year Health Plan, which will shift the focus from sickness to prevention.
“We are also restricting advertising of junk food on TV and online, limiting volume price promotions on less healthy foods and introducing mandatory reporting on sales of healthy food.”
New Delhi: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has deactivated more than 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons till date. This is as part of a nationwide clean-up effort to maintain the continued accuracy and integrity of the Aadhaar database, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Shri Jitin Prasada in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Aadhaar is the world’s largest biometric identity system with approximately 134 crores live Aadhaar holders.
In case of the death of a person, it is essential that his/her Aadhaar number is deactivated to prevent potential identity fraud, or unauthorized usage of such Aadhaar number for availing welfare benefits.
The State / UT mentioned in the address of an Aadhaar number holder in the Aadhaar database may vary from the State / UT where death was registered.
Measures to prevent potential identity fraud
Government has said that several measures have been taken to reduce the risk of identity fraud and ensure leak-proof delivery of benefits in the country.
The key measures include:
Biometric Lock/Unlock feature enables an Aadhaar number holder to “Lock” his biometrics, preventing any unauthorized authentication attempts.
Aadhaar Lock/Unlock feature for an Aadhaar number holder.
Deployment of Face Authentication having ‘Liveness Detection feature’ to prevent spoofing and ensure the physical presence of the beneficiary during transactions.
Offline Verification: Promotion of Aadhaar Secure QR Code, Aadhaar paperless offline e-KYC, e-Aadhaar and Aadhaar verifiable credentials for offline identity verification.
No sharing of Core Biometric information of Aadhaar number holders in any manner by UIDAI.
Secure Data Storage: Mandatory use of Aadhaar Data Vaults by all requesting entities to store Aadhaar numbers in an encrypted format.
Database Sanitization: Regular de-duplication and deactivation of Aadhaar numbers belonging to deceased persons.
Updation of demographic details of an Aadhaar number holder is allowed only as per documents listed by UIDAI.
UIDAI has launched a new Aadhaar app which facilitates sharing of verified credentials by Aadhaar number holder with the Offline Verification Seeking Entities (OVSE) in a secure and seamless manner.
New Delhi: February 2026 brings a series of important deadlines related to Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) that taxpayers and deductors should not overlook. From issuing TDS certificates to submitting mandatory statutory forms, these compliance dates play a key role in ensuring smooth and accurate tax reporting. Businesses, employers, and government offices must stay alert and complete the required filings on time to avoid penalties or complications under the Income-tax Act. Keeping track of these dates can help ensure hassle-free compliance and prevent last-minute stress.
February 14:
– Deadline for issuing TDS certificate under Section 194-IA for tax deducted on transfer of immovable property in December 2025.
– Deadline for issuing TDS certificate under Section 194-IB for tax deducted on rent paid by individuals or HUFs in December 2025.
– Deadline for issuing TDS certificate under Section 194M for tax deducted on contractual or professional payments made in December 2025.
– Deadline for issuing TDS certificate under Section 194S for tax deducted on transfer of virtual digital assets by specified persons in December 2025.
February 15:
– Deadline for government offices to furnish Form 24G where TDS/TCS for January 2026 was deposited without generating a challan.
– Deadline for issuing the quarterly TDS certificate for non-salary payments for the quarter ended December 31, 2025.
New Delhi: US entrepreneur Elon Musk’s net worth surged past the $800 billion mark after SpaceX acquired his artificial‑intelligence firm xAI, making him the richest person in history by a wide margin.
Musk’s net worth reached roughly $852 billion, almost $578 billion higher than the world’s second-wealthiest person, Google co-founder Larry Page, whose net worth is estimated at $281 billion.
The merger took the combined value of the company to $1.25 trillion and added about $84 billion to Musk’s fortune, according to reports.
Before the merger, Musk owned about 42 per cent of SpaceX which was valued at $800 billion and roughly 49 per cent of xAI, which was valued at $250 billion after a recent private fundraising round. Post‑merger, Musk’s stake in the combined entity touched 43 per cent, worth about $542 billion and SpaceX became Musk’s largest holding by a wide margin, the reports said.
Musk also retains about 12 per cent of Tesla, valued at approximately $178 billion, along with Tesla stock options, estimated at $124 billion. Further, in addition to these, Musk also receives a shareholder‑approved Tesla pay package up to $1 trillion in additional Tesla stock, before taxes over the next decade and the cost of unlocking restricted shares, if performance targets are met.
He crossed several wealth milestones in the past four months such as $500 billion, $600 billion and $700 billion, driven by SpaceX valuation gains and a Delaware Supreme Court ruling that restored his Tesla options.
Musk earlier said that SpaceX’s Starship will begin delivering the much more powerful V3 Starlink satellites to orbit in 2026, with each launch adding more than 20 times the capacity to the constellation as the current Falcon launches of the V2 Starlink satellites.
It will enable launches “every hour carrying 200 tons per flight” and ultimately lifting millions of tons to orbit and beyond, Musk has shared his plan.
Starship will also launch the next generation of direct-to-mobile satellites, which will deliver full cellular coverage everywhere on Earth, he added.
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