FSSAI Removes Dahi Word from Curd Packet After Protests
The FSSAI issued a notice withdrawing its order of putting the term ‘dahi’ on curd packets.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a circular on 11th January 2023 asking companies to remove the term "curd" from all the curd packets and to use the Hindi word 'dahi' on curd packets prominently, while allowing the use of regional names in brackets.
The controversy escalated in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with various organisations in both states speaking out against it, calling this yet another attempt to impose Hindi on southern states. In a tweet, Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai tweeted that this notice and rules are not at all in support of PM Narendra Modi who is actually promoting regional languages. He said that the rule should be immediately rolled back. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin tweeted that #HindiImposition meaning imposing of Hindi upon the southern states has come to an extent where even the curd label is being changed to Hindi and the regional language is treated as secondary. He added, “Such brazen disregard to our mother tongues will make sure those responsible are banished from the South forever.”
After the backlash, on 30th March 2023, the FSSAI issued a notice withdrawing its order of putting the term ‘dahi’. The statement read, “It has been decided that the Food Business Operators (FBOs) can use the term 'curd' in English along with any other prevalent regional common name in brackets on the label. Accordingly, curd can also be labeled as per the following examples - 'Curd (Dahi)' in Hindi, 'Curd (Mosaru) in Kannada, 'Curd (Thayir)' in Tamil, 'Curd (Perugu)' in Telugu.
A lot of people, including local shopkeepers, commented that though this is a small issue, but, this way the government is slowly trying to impose HIndi everywhere. This way they are taking away our identity. A professor from Tamil Nadu commented that it is not fair and nobody in rural Tamil Nadu would know what the word dahi means. However everyone was relaxed once the order was taken back.
