Central idea: Misleading claims

FSSAI flagged 32 cases of food business operators (FBOs) making misleading claims and advertisements in contravention of the Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements & Claims) Regulations, 2018.
The cumulative count of such offences has shot up to 170 in the last six months.
FBOs urged to avoid making unscientific and exaggerated claims for larger consumer interest.

Regulations for tackling misleading ads and claims

FSSAI seeks truthful, unambiguous, meaningful, and scientifically substantiated claims.
Claims suggesting suitability for prevention, alleviation, treatment, or cure of a disease, disorder, or particular psychological condition prohibited unless permitted under the regulations of the FSS Act, 2006.

Scrutinized products in categories such as health supplements, organic products, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products, and staples endorsing certain health and product claims.
Alleged violators include manufacturers and/or marketers of nutraceutical products, refined oils, pulses, flours, millet products, and ghee.
Cases referred to concerned licensing authorities to issue notices and withdraw the misleading claims or scientifically substantiate them.
Failure to comply would invite penalties of up to Rs 10 lakh, suspension, or cancellation of licenses for repeated offenses.

Non-disclosure: Close to 788 ads processed against food advertising, about 299 related to non-disclosure by food influencers, and 490+ ads found to be misleading.
Fairly violative sector: Violations across different food categories and food.

Natural food product: A single food derived from a recognized natural source with no additives or chemicals.
Fresh: This reference is allowed only for products not processed except washing, peeling, chilling, trimming, cutting, or low-dose irradiation.
Pure: It is used for single-ingredient foods with nothing added and devoid of all avoidable contamination.

Expectations from a consumer’s point of view

Clinical data: Companies need to provide clinical data about the outcomes pertaining to the control group, the administered group, and the observed period of the claimed outcomes.
Interpretable ads: Advertisements need to be modified in a way a consumer can interpret.