If I make a mistake, I'm done': Inside Food Pharmer's high-stakes shift to food startup founder

Food Pharmer is the public name of Revant Himatsingka, who challenged major food companies over misleading claims. He named brands openly and refused to blur logos. His work made him a prominent critic of food marketing in India.

Only What's Needed is the food startup he created after rejecting paid promotions for food brands. Its purpose is to offer consumers an alternative that follows the standards he demanded from other companies. The brand puts nutrition information at the front and shows ingredients transparently.

The move carries unusual risk. Himatsingka has criticised thousands of companies, so any mistake in his own product could spread quickly. He said, “If I make a mistake, I am done.” His wider goals include health education and clearer labels across the food industry.

Transparent food labeling means showing consumers clearly what a product contains, rather than hiding important information in small print or vague claims. Himatsingka sees transparency as a trust issue. People should be able to understand a product before deciding whether to buy or eat it.

Only What’s Needed places its nutrition label on the front in large type. It also displays every ingredient in a pie chart with its exact percentage. Instead of simply listing plant protein, the packaging can identify it as “56% pea protein.” A QR code opens the label in major Indian languages.

This approach responds to two problems: confusing labels and limited access to English. Himatsingka wants every packaged food to use an easy-to-read pie chart. He promoted companies that copied the idea because he wants the practice to spread across the industry.

Himatsingka moved into food entrepreneurship because criticism alone did not give consumers many alternatives. Companies were willing to pay him crores of rupees to promote their products, but he refused food brand deals. He needed another way to support products that matched his concerns.

That need led to Only What’s Needed. He designed its packaging around the problems he had criticised elsewhere. The nutrition label is large and placed at the front. Ingredient percentages appear in a pie chart. A QR code makes the label available in major Indian languages, rather than assuming everyone reads English.

Founding the company also raised the stakes. Himatsingka had publicly challenged thousands of companies, so consumers and critics would closely examine his product. He knew a mistake could go viral and damage his credibility. The brand therefore became both a business and a test of whether his principles worked in practice.

The article states that only 15 to 20 per cent of India reads English. This matters because much packaged-food information is presented through written labels. If consumers cannot comfortably read the language, important details may remain inaccessible even when the information is technically printed.

Only What’s Needed responds with a QR code that opens its label in major Indian languages. Its packaging also uses a large front-facing nutrition label and a pie chart showing ingredient percentages. These design choices reduce dependence on dense English text or specialist interpretation.

Himatsingka connects language access with trust and health. His goal is for labels to be understandable to ordinary shoppers, not only nutritionists and doctors. He wants every packaged food to use a clear pie chart. Presenting information in familiar languages could make transparency more widely available, especially as health becomes a common expectation rather than a privilege.

Misleading health claims can distort a consumer’s understanding of a food. Himatsingka described a product labeled “high protein” that contained only two grams of protein. Such claims can make shoppers believe a product offers a health benefit that its contents may not support.

The article also highlights products aimed at children. Himatsingka said some companies sell sugar-free infant formula in Europe but add sugar to their products in India. He argued that this exposes children to high sweetness from infancy. Early habits, in his view, are engineered rather than simply chosen by families.

The consequences reach beyond one purchase. Himatsingka called companies profiting from childhood obesity and compromised health a tragedy. He also reassured adults that habits formed through such products are not their fault. His response is stronger regulation, health education and labels that show exactly what goes into food.

Himatsingka explains India’s historical focus through scarcity. As a country that was not rich, its first concern was securing enough food. Asking whether food was also healthy came later. In that setting, availability naturally received more attention than nutrition quality or detailed labeling.

He says the situation is changing. Health is becoming something everyone expects rather than something only a few can afford. The article does not describe one specific new rule, but Himatsingka believes regulation is getting better. He argues that existing food-safety rules must be implemented strictly.

The direction he wants is broader than enforcement alone. He has two long-term ambitions: health education in every Indian school and a pie chart on every packaged food. These goals would help people understand nutrition and inspect ingredients more easily. Together, they point toward a food system where safety, health and transparency are treated as basic expectations.

Health literacy is the practical ability to understand health information and use it when making decisions. For food, that includes interpreting nutrition labels, recognising what ingredients mean and judging whether a health claim is useful. It is different from general schooling or academic knowledge.

Himatsingka says Indians are educated, but not necessarily health literate. A shopper may read a product’s words yet miss the significance of its ingredients or percentages. A claim such as “high protein” may sound persuasive, even when the product contains only two grams. Dense labels can also be difficult for people who do not read English.

That gap explains his focus on education and design. He wants health taught in every Indian school, alongside subjects such as history and geography. He also wants simple pie charts on packaged food. Clear visuals, exact percentages and local-language access could help education become practical at the point of purchase.