The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has informed all e-commerce platforms to refrain from labelling dairy-based, cereal-based or malt-based beverages as ‘health drinks’ or ‘energy drinks’, reported Business Today.
The reason behind this is because ‘health drink’ isn’t defined in Indian food laws. ‘Energy drink’ on the other hand, by law, refers to flavoured water drinks – carbonated and non carbonated, under the FSS Act 2006.
According to the FSSAI, the use of these terms can mislead consumers. Hence, the body has asked all Food Business Operators (FBO) that operate via e-commerce to dissociate themselves from such terms by removing their drinks and beverages from these categories.
“This corrective action aims to enhance clarity and transparency regarding the nature and functional properties of the products, ensuring that consumers can make well-informed choices without encountering misleading information, “ the body said in a statement.