Is Bournvita not a ‘health drink’? What the Centre has said

Cadbury’s Bournvita has remained in the spotlight since last year. After being called out for its harmful ingredients by a health and nutrition influencer in April 2023 and getting a legal notice from the Centre, Bournvita is back in the news.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has asked all e-commerce companies to remove all drinks and beverages, including Bournvita, from the category of ‘health drinks’ on their platforms.

But why has the Centre directed this?

Let’s take a closer look.

Centre’s advisory for e-commerce sites

In a notification issued on 10 April, the ministry said that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has that there is no “health drink defined” under India’s food laws or any regulations.

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NCPCR, which is “a statutory body constituted under Section (3) of the Commission of Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) 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,” the notification read, according to IANS.

The commerce ministry then went on to direct all e-commerce websites to stop listing beverages as “health drinks” on their platforms.

Earlier in April, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), a statutory body under the administration of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, asked e-commerce sites not to place dairy, cereal, or malt-based beverages under the ‘health drink’ or ‘energy drink’ categories, as per a Moneycontrol report.

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The body explained that there is no definition of ‘health drink’ in India’s food laws, adding that ’energy drinks’ are just flavored water-based drinks.

“Therefore, FSSAI has advised all e-commerce companies to promptly rectify this misclassification by removing or de-linking such drinks or beverages from the category of ‘health drinks/energy drinks’ on their websites and placing such products in the appropriate category as provided under the extant law,” the body had said in a statement on 2 April, as per India Today.

It said this is being done to ensure consumers make well-informed choices without facing misleading information.

NCPCR’s inquiry

The order comes about a month after the NCPCR wrote to the commerce ministry, recommending it ask all e-commerce companies to delist drinks and beverages from the category of ‘health drinks’ from their sites.

As per a Times of India (TOI) report, NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo had also written to the Department of Consumer Affairs of all states and Union Territories suggesting that “no drink, beverages including Bournvita and other similar products should be sold under the category of health drink in stores/shops.”

He had said that he took notice of the media reports regarding “some health – powder drinks claiming to be energy drinks containing high percentage of sugar and other harmful content for health of children i.e. – Bournvita an energy drink for children.”

The NCPCR had carried out an inquiry where it was told by the FSSAI that the term ‘health drink’ is not defined under the country’s laws. Mondelez India Food Private Limited, the manufacturer of Bournvita, had told the commission that Bournvita is not a health drink, TOI reported.

As per IANS, the NCPCR had also called upon the FSSAI to take action against companies that did not meet safety standards and guidelines and were exhibiting power supplements as ‘health drinks’.

How Bournvita came to the limelight

Bournvita was thrown into the spotlight last April when influencer Revant Himatsingka, who runs an Instagram page called foodpharmer, posted a video claiming that every 100 g of Bournvita contains 50 g of sugar. He said the brand claims its drink has several health benefits but contains high sugar levels.

After his video went viral, Cadbury slapped him with a legal notice, saying his video was “unscientific”, reported Indian Express. Himatsingka took down the video and explained his reasons on Instagram after this.

Bournvita released a statement, saying its product is “a scientifically designed formula made with ingredients that are approved for use, and all our ingredients are declared on the pack”.

The Centre sent a legal notice to Cadbury the same month asking the company to withdraw misleading information on Bournvita packaging, as per Indian Express.

Himatsingka released another video last December saying that Bournvita had slashed its added sugar content by nearly 15 per cent.

“This is probably the first time in history that a social media video has led to a food giant reducing their sugar content! If one video can result in a 15 per cent reduction in added sugar, imagine what we can achieve if all of us start reading food labels before we buy anything!” he wrote in his caption at the time.

With inputs from agencies