Here's an exercise for you on your next supermarket run. Keep an eye out for products with these words: 'active', 'immunity', 'cold-pressed'. You're sure to find them on as many edible-oil bottles as on juice cartons. But choosing a 'healthy' oil is way more vexing than you think. Is safflower oil better than one made from rice bran? Maybe olive oil is better than both, but is it fit for Indian cooking? Such questions drive the marketing and packaging of edible-oil brands like Fortune, Saffola, Conscious Food, and Borges. Take, for instance, Fortune Soya Health. Lest you read too much into the name, the fine print at the back of the bottle says: “The word ‘health’ is only a brand name and does not represent its true nature.” And did you know that all cooking oils, regardless of their distinct attributes, have roughly 900 kilocalories per 100 grams? I didn't. There's a lot at stake for FMCG companies here: edible oils are a $24 billion industry in India, and the share of branded products is close to 90%, which wades through the morass of edible-oil brands' catchy labels and tall claims to bring you a rich story (no pun intended).
