New Delhi: A significant development is that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has earlier written to the Commerce and Industry Ministry advising all e-commerce companies to remove drinks and beverages from the category of ‘health drinks’.
Bournvita, which was widely consumed along with milk, will no longer be considered a ‘healthy drink’. The central government has sent a notice to all e-commerce companies ordering them to stop listing drinks and beverages under the ‘health drinks’ category on their portals.
The Commerce and Industry Ministry then wrote in an advisory to all commerce companies that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, a statutory body constituted under section (3) of the Commission of Protection of Child Rights Act 2005, after its inquiry under section 14 of CRPC Act 2005 concluded that there is no health drink defined under FSS Act 2006, rules and regulations submitted by FSSAI and Mondelez India Food Pvt Ltd.
On April 10, in a letter, the Ministry of Commerce mentioned that Bournvita, along with other drinks, was excluded from the category as under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, there’s no definition of a health drink.
Bournvita, which is owned by Mondelez, said that it has high sugar content and said Bournvita’s tagline is “tayyari jeet ki”, but in reality, Bournvita is preparing kids for diabetes due to high sugar content. He also claimed that Bournvita has certain ingredients that could cause cancer. The video garnered over 12 million views. However, Mondelez India sent a legal notice to Revant and told him to delete the video on the internet.
The company’s counter statement said, “Every serving of 20 grams of Bournvita contains 7.5 grams of added sugar, which is approximately one and a half teaspoons. This is much less than the daily recommended intake limits of sugar for children. All ingredients are safe, approved for use, and within permissible limits as per regulatory guidelines.”
After this situation, NCPCR sent a notice to the company to remove all misleading advertisements, labels and packaging.
