Non-vegetarian food in India
In the generally vegetarian environment of India, restaurants offering meat and fish usually have a "non-vegetarian" section of their menu, and may include the term (typically as "Veg and Non-veg") in their name-boards and advertising.
[15] The authors that Biswas referred to measured "cultural and political pressures" with the vote share falling to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
[13] Overall, 43% of Indian women and 49% of men consumed fish, chicken or meat weekly, according to the National Family Health Survey, 2015–16.
[7] More men than women eat non-vegetarian food in India; almost three in ten women do not consume eggs (29%) and chicken, fish or meat (30%) compared to two in ten men who do not consume eggs (20%) and chicken, fish or meat (22%).
[7] Data on women show that Kerala (93%), Goa (86%) and Assam (80%) have the highest weekly consumers of fish, chicken or meat while Punjab (4%), Rajasthan (6%) and Haryana (8%) rank the lowest.
Figures for men show that Tripura (95%), Kerala (90%) and Goa (88%) are the highest weekly consumers of fish, chicken or meat while Punjab (10%), Rajasthan (10%) and Haryana (13%) are the lowest.
[7] According to archeological finds, Indus Valley civilisation had dominance of meat diet of animals such as cattle, buffalo, goat, pig and chicken.
[18] The term non-vegetarian has been criticized by the blogger The Last Caveman as a misnomer and a casteist pejorative with origins attributed to the caste system in India.
A 2018 study from Economic and Political Weekly by US-based anthropologist Balmurli Natrajan and India-based economist Suraj Jacob suggests that the percentage of vegetarians is about 20%.
[15][21] The study argues that meat-eating behavior is underreported because consumption of meat, especially beef, is "caught in cultural, political, and group identity struggles in India".
[26][27][28][29] The symbol was introduced by Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Act of 2006, and received a mandatory status with its 2011 revision.
[12] A December 2021 Delhi High court instruction reminds all food business operators “to ensure complete and strict adherence of Regulation 2.2.2(4)”, (“i.e.
Declaration regarding Veg or Non veg”.. in whatever amount of percentage, what is sourced from animals, would render the food article as Non-Vegetarian, and need to be declared) and noted that “failure…to adherence…would expose [them] to, inter alia, class action for violation of the fundamental rights of the consumers and might invite punitive damages, apart from prosecution”.
The Supreme Court while accepting the freedom of speech and expression would include the right to receive information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution the court considered Government of India's contention that it may not be desirable for the patient or his attendant to know the origin of the ingredients of the drug i.e. whether ‘vegetarian’ or ‘non- vegetarian’.
Hence right to information can be limited by reasonable restrictions under the law made for the purpose mentioned in the Article 19(2) of the Constitution (in the case of Medicinal drugs).
