NEW DELHI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Sunday issued notices to 14 food business operators (FBOs) for allegedly using misleading brand names, trade names and product claims in violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The companies served notices include Emami Healthy & Tasty, Health Aid, Troovy, The Healthy Factory, Healthy Master, Healthy Choice, Plan B, Neuherbs, Organic Wisdom, Shine Organic, Two Brothers Organic Farms, World of Organic, Storia and Iota Water.
The notices were issued for the use of terms such as "organic" and "healthy" in product names and claims. The products include bread, poha, vitamins, pizza bases, chips, oil, ghee and drinking water.
In its notice, FSSAI said, “FBOs are directed to strictly comply with the established labelling and display regulations to prevent consumer deception.”
Among the prominent names flagged is Emami Healthy & Tasty, the cooking oils arm of the Kolkata-based Emami Group.
FSSAI said its trade name is "likely to mislead consumers and appears to be in contravention of applicable FSSAI regulations”.
Plan B, which markets its products as "plant based vegan", also drew the food regulator's attention for allegedly creating the impression that its products are vegan without obtaining prior approval for vegan food endorsement in its FSSAI licence. The food regulator highlighted Plan B's Cheddar Block, a cashew-based paste.
On Neuherbs, FSSAI said its ‘True Vitamin’ trade name is “misleading and does not conform to the applicable regulations”. It further said the term “True Vitamin” is neither defined nor recognised under the regulations and may mislead consumers.
The Healthy Factory's "Zero Maida Whole Wheat Bread", which contains chakki fresh atta and wheat gluten, has been flagged for misleading consumers and being in contravention of applicable FSSAI regulations.
Its "Zero Maida Pizza Base" product also faced similar scrutiny. FSSAI noted that the claim appears to violate applicable regulations.
Troovy's range of snack products, including "Healthy Mix Veggie Chips", "Healthy Ragi Chips" and "Healthy Moong Dal Chips", have been flagged for allegedly making misleading "healthy" claims despite containing a range of other ingredients.
FSSAI also flagged Healthy Master's tagline, "Vision to Serve Healthy", Healthy Choice's "Healthy Food for Healthy Life Poha", and Health Aid's trade name as likely to mislead consumers about the nature of the products.
Health Aid’s ‘Salmon Oil’ was also flagged for its trade name, which FSSAI said “is likely to mislead consumers and appears to be in contravention of applicable FSSAI regulations”.
On Organic Wisdom’s ‘Quinoa Jowar Pasta’, the notice said the trade name is likely to mislead consumers regarding the organic status of the product, as it does not have NPOP/PGS certification, the FSSAI Jaivik Bharat logo, or the necessary organic endorsement.
Shine Organic’s ‘Unnab Ber’ (Jujube) and Two Brothers Organic Farms’ ‘Cultured Ghee’ were also called out for allegedly misleading consumers regarding the organic status of the products.
World of Organic’s ‘Healthy Trail Mix’ was also found to be creating a misleading impression that the product is certified organic, despite lacking the required organic certification and endorsement.
Storia Juice Pomegranate was served a notice for allegedly misleading consumers by creating the impression that it is solely pomegranate juice despite containing only 4 per cent pomegranate juice concentrate.
Iota Water’s ‘Water Feel The Difference’ was also served a notice. FSSAI said the claim regarding the addition of minerals in packaged drinking water is misleading. The existing regulations stipulate that "No product shall claim the term 'added nutrients', if such nutrients have been added merely to compensate the nutrients lost or removed during processing of the food."
The FSSAI, a statutory body under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, made the announcement through its official social media handles.
Earlier, FSSAI had served notices to Nestlé’s Maggi over alleged insect detection and KFC over quality and hygiene complaints.
