FSSAI has taken note of various media reports including on social media about various health claims made by the Food Business Operators in the country.
In this regard, FSSAI has maintained that the mandate of FSSAI is to lay down science-based standards for food products in the country and enforce the same.
This blog uncovers how FSSAI monitors deceptive claims and advertisements on social media and e-commerce platforms, which regulation governs compliance, what an FBO do for the compliant product claim and the penalty for claim and advertisements non-compliance.
Which regulation is followed for claim and advertisement regulation?
Accordingly, in order to regulate the advertisement and claims on food products by Food Business Operators (FBOs), FSSAI has notified a regulation i.e. 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.
What kind of deceptive health claims should be avoided by FBOs?
1)Every claim including the permitted nutrient-based claims under the said Regulations is required to meet the criteria stipulated in the said Regulations and no false or exaggerated health claim is permitted.
2) Further, any nutrient function claims and other functional claims made on the food products are required to be based on current and relevant scientific evidence.
What does FBO do in order to attribute claims to the product?
The claims made by an FBO in relationship to health should strictly be in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Regulation.
Where a claimed health benefit is attributed directly to the product, it shall be based on statistically significant results from well-designed human intervention studies, conducted by or under the guidance of established research institutions, in line with the principles of GCP (Good Clinical Practices) and peer-reviewed or published in a peer-reviewed reputed scientific journal.
Who ensures product claim and advertisement compliance?
To ensure compliance with the said provisions the Licensing cum Designated Officers notified both at the Central and State levels are empowered to call upon the FBOs to submit scientific evidence for such health claims being made on the products.
What is the penalty for deceptive claims and advertisements?
1) In case of FBOs failing to submit evidence made for health claims or unsatisfactory response the FBO is required to withdraw such claims or modify them as per the provisions of the said Regulations.
2) Failing to improve or remove the non-compliant/ deceptive health claims 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 license etc. in case of repeated offences.
How FSSAI monitors product claims and advertisements?
FSSAI has set up a dedicated Advertisement Monitoring Committee which periodically scrutinizes the advertisements and claims being made by the FBOs on various channels including social media and e-commerce platforms.
The said committee monitors the advertisements/claims regularly of different food products in Indian Market and in case of any default noticed prima facie actions including the issuance of Improvement Notices under Section-32 of the FSS Act, 2006 are initiated against the FBO.
Read More: How to get FSSAI Food License for E-commerce Business in India?
What is the impact of FSSAI’s monitoring of claims and advertisements on social media and e-commerce platforms?
During the last six months, the said Committee has scrutinized Advertisements and Claims on many food products and has reported 138 cases including that of many prominent brands as non-compliant and misleading for the consumers vis-à-vis Regulatory provisions and the provisions of the FSS Act, 2006 and for further enforcement actions the same has been referred to the concerned Licensing Authorities for issuance of notices to all such FBOs for withdrawing of misleading claims or scientifically substantiate the same.
Conclusion
FSSAI is actively discharging its statutory role for the sake of consumers by acting against the FBOs reported being involved in making any false/misleading claims on food products to protect the interests of the consumers while ensuring fair trade practices and orderly growth of the food industry in the country.
