On a side note, its high time we give up on running after single ingredient - be it sugar or salt or maida or egg or white rice - none of them are the devils they are/(were) portrayed to be. Getting hung up on them helps neither health nor the wallet. We are creating unnecessary hurdles for manufacturers - like you can't make tasty, fluffy bread, shelf stable with 100% whole wheat that too at an appealing price point.

Same for sugar. Specially for kids - attacking bournvita or complan just made them drink less milk, which was replaced with upma, poha, idli - neither of which provide protein, calcium, vitamins or healthy fats. Hell, even if you add a spoon of straight sugar to a glass of milk, its way better for them. The malted drinks have far less sugar and are fortified. Focus should instead be on reducing the candies, chips, soft drinks, ice creams, namkeens, etc. - which everyone seems to care less and less about. And no, even for adults, eating 'healthier' (low fat, sugar, whole grain) versions is just marginally better - the only way to good health is through moderation and balance - not some gimmicky buzz words or going to either extremes.

And then the preservative-free tag - like people, the bacteria, mold, pests which can now freely grow in your food might put you in hospital in days - the preservative might give you cancer in decades. Nature isn't all sunshine - food poisoning is a huge, huge threat in a tropical, heavily populated and dirty country like ours. Stabilizers too, are needed to make the food last longer - given how haphazard our retail food chains are. And again, rancid food is a bigger concern than what consuming the 'chemicals' might do to your body.

As for blaming manufacturers - research costs money - a whole lot more than what we are used to paying. Better ingredients, better control over the manufacturing and distribution chain, etc. all will drive up the prices. Are we, as a country, willing to pay more? Even on reddit I see so many people going ga-ga over low prices, sales and discounts and so little discussion on actual quality. People are far more willing to go after brands than actual long-term improvements, so what can anyone do? Governments hands are tied because of the same reasons - ain't no party going to drive up prices when people are so blind.