FSSAI sends notices to food business operators for misleading advertisements

In order to keep a close tab on claims and advertisements being made by the food business operators on their products, Advertisement Monitoring Committee of FSSAI has reported 32 fresh cases which have been found prima facie in contravention of the provisions of Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements & Claims) Regulations, 2018.

The food products scrutinised include various range of products like health supplements, organic products, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products, staples, etc., and the claims identified include various health claims, product claims, etc.

Further, the FBOs include manufacturers and/or marketers of nutraceutical products, refined oils, pulses, flours, millet products, ghee, etc.

As per the provisions of Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements & Claims) Regulations, 2018, under which, the deceptive claims or advertisements are prohibited and are punishable offences under Section-53 of FSS Act, 2006.

For further action, including issuance of notices to the concerned Food Business Operators, the same have been referred to the concerned Licensing Authorities for issuance of notices to all such FBOs for withdrawing the misleading claims or scientifically substantiate the same.

In case of unsatisfactory response, the FBO is required to withdraw such claims or modify them as per the provisions of the said Regulations failing which, the FBO can be penalised with a fine extending up to Rs. 10 lakhs, as per Section-53 of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, apart from other stringent punishments like suspension/cancellation of licence, etc, in case of repeated offences.

The total number of such cases of reported misleading advertisements and claims in last six months has gone up to 170 cases and action against such delinquent Food Business Operators shall also continue in the future.

All the Food Business Operators are again advised to strictly adhere to the provisions of Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements & Claims) Regulations, 2018, and desist from making any unscientific and/or exaggerated claims and advertisements to promote their product sales to avoid enforcement actions and in larger consumer interests.