Regulations for Tackling Misleading Ads and Claims

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• What has been Observed in the Food Advertising Ecosystem in India? 
• Some Misleading Words in the Food Advertising Ecosystem in India
• Regulations for Tackling Misleading Ads and Claims
• Way Ahead

Why in News?

• The Advertisement Monitoring Committee at the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) flagged 32 fresh cases of food business operators (FBOs) making misleading claims and advertisements.
• They were found to be in contravention of the Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements & Claims) Regulations, 2018.

What has been Observed in the Food Advertising Ecosystem in India? 

• FSSAI seeks that the advertisements and claims be truthful, unambiguous, meaningful, not misleading and help consumers to comprehend the information provided.
• Claims must be scientifically substantiated by validated methods of characterising or quantifying the ingredient or substance that is the basis for the claim. 
• According to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), food advertising has been a “fairly violative sector”.
• Last month, an uproar ensued after allegations were made against health drink Bournvita.

Some Misleading Words in the Food Advertising Ecosystem in India:

• Natural: A food product can be referred to as ‘natural’ if it is a single food derived from a recognised natural source and has nothing added to it. 
  • Therefore, composite foods – a mixture of plant and processed constituents, can be called ‘made from natural ingredients’ instead of ‘natural’.
• Fresh: It can be used for products which are not processed in any manner other than washing, peeling, chilling, trimming, cutting or irradiation by ionising radiation (not exceeding 1 kGy to delay in ripening, killing of insects/pests, etc). 
  • The regulations forbid the ‘fresh’ reference if the processing endeavours to achieve an extension in the shelf-life of the product (may instead use ‘fresh frozen’).
• Pure and original:
  • ‘Pure’ is to be used for single-ingredient foods to which nothing has been added and which are devoid of all avoidable contamination. 
  • ‘Original’ is used to describe food products made to a formulation, with a traceable origin that has remained unchanged over time.
• Nutritional claims:
  • Nutritional claims may either be about the specific contents of a product or comparisons with some other foodstuff. 
  • Claims of equivalence such as “contains the same of (nutrient) as a (food)” or “as much (nutrient) as a (food)” may be used in the labelling. 
  • According to the ASCI, most complaints of misleading Ads were related to the nutrition of a product, its benefits and the ingredient mix not being based on adequate evidence. 

Regulations for Tackling Misleading Ads and Claims:

• The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006:
  • It prohibits product claims suggesting suitability for prevention, alleviation, treatment or cure of a disease, disorder or particular psychological condition unless specifically permitted under the Act. 
  • Making deceptive claims or advertisements are punishable offences and may invite penalties of up to Rs 10 lakh apart from suspension/cancellation of licenses for repeated offences. 
• The Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements & Claims) Regulations 2018: The focus of the regulation is to make the Companies accountable for their claims on food products and cater to the interest of customers.
• The Consumer Protection Act 2019: Under this, Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) was set up as a regulatory body in relation to matters (such as wrong advertisements) affecting rights of consumers.
• The Programme and Advertising Codes: These are prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules 1994 and underlines that advertisements must not give claims which are difficult to be proved.

Way Ahead:

• FBOs must desist from making any unscientific and/or exaggerated claims and advertisements to promote their product sales to avoid enforcement actions and in larger consumer interest. 
• They must be in consonance with principles of Good Clinical Practices (GCP) and peer-reviewed or published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Q1) What is the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)?

The ASCI is a voluntary self-regulatory organization of the advertising industry in India. Established in 1985, ASCI is registered as a non-profit company under section 25 of the Company Act.

Q2) What is the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)?

FSSAI is a statutory body established [under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006] under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. It is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.

Source: Explained | Misleading food ads and regulations to curtail them