Blocked in UK, Complan & Horlicks feed on kids’ exam fears here

“Yeh history, geography badi bewafa, raat ko rato kal safaa.”
“Yeh zaalim maths ke formulae, ghar mein yaad rahe exam mein bhule.”These are two ditties from a milk supplement advertisement currently playing on television. Companies marketing products pegged to season have now latched on to the one that holds households in grip around this time of the year: the exam season. What they are counting on is the nervousness and anxiety of intended consumers to sell their wares — based on dodgy “studies.” A Horlicks commercial on these lines, ‘Taller, Stronger, Sharper’, which has been running on Indian television for years, incidentally had to be withdrawn in the UK after the advertising standards authority objected.After raising the bogey of history, geography and maths, an advertisement has a voice-over asking parents: “Do your children forget things they learn for their exams?” The reason, it says, “could be incomplete nutrition”. To fill the gap, the advertisement adds, what is needed is “Complan memory”. “Make your children drink it at least twice a day. It has five brain chargers that will charge your children’s brain and improve their ability to retain what they learn.”“It is such a crafty move,” says Bejon Mishra, former member of the Food Safety Authority of India and the founder of non-profit organisation Healthyyou. “You sell your product playing on your target audiences’ insecurities and anxities and instill a sense of guilt.”Heinz India, the company that owns the Complan brand, did not respond to phone calls and email sent by The Indian Express.However, Complan isn’t the only one playing on the fear of exams. With a tagline ‘Exams ka bhoot bhagao’, a Horlicks ad features “ghosts” reminding children of exams. The voice in the background directs children to drink two cups of Horlicks every day to be “exam ready”. It adds that Horlicks “builds up attention, concentration and makes children stronger by making both the brain and the body ready for exams”.In an email response to The Indian Express, Jayant Singh, Marketing Director, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH), the company that owns the brand Horlicks, said: “The claims on our products are backed by extensive scientific evidence and research. Stringent tests and scientific reviews are conducted on the product prior to it being released commercially.”He further cites a study on micronutrient fortified beverage conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition that works under the Indian Council of Medical Research. According to him, the study was reviewed and approved by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad.Misra challenges the validity of such studies. “There are several issues. One, any fortified nutrient will have benefits over non-fortified food, so to say a product is better than others is stating half truth. Secondly, such studies are not representative and are commissioned on a small, closed set of subjects. Their results, therefore, cannot be universal.”While he was a member of the Food Safety Authority of India, Misra says, he had suggested that the scientific committee of the authority be reconstituted to include people with a proper scientific background and that all studies on nutritional benefits of products be validated by it.Misra also points out that “Horlicks or Complan will not be allowed to air such ads in any of the developed countires whatever be the basis of their study”.In 2008, the Advertising Standards Authority of the UK had forced Horlicks to withdraw an ad on ‘Taller, Shaper, Stronger’ lines that claimed that a test done on 869 children had shown that the group among them that was fed Horlicks was better at all kinds of activities than the rest.Horlicks’s official defence in the case was that the ad was not meant for the UK market and was aired by mistake. GlaxoSmithKline’s Singh doesn’t deny that the same ad now runs in India. “The ‘Taller, Stronger, Sharper’ claim on Horlicks is restricted to the Indian subcontinent. GSK has not authorised anyone to air this advertisement outside the Indian subcontinent,” he says, arguing that claims in ads are decided by the relevance for their geography.The counterpart of the British authority in India, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), says it has not taken any action against the two brands because there has been no complaint. “There has been no complaint against the ads in question of the two brands,” says Allan Collaco, secretary general of ASCI.Misra, who is a member of the Consumer Complaints Council of the ASCI, says therein lies a loophole. “Consumers rarely file any complaints. Most complaints that come to the ASCI are from rivals, but when rivals are partners in crime, how could there be any complaint?”

Alcohol content in wine, beer, whiskey set to be regulated in India

Alcohol content in your favourite bottle of beer, wine and spirit is all set to go under scrutiny in the country.
For the first time, India's food regulator FSSAI has finalised draft standards for all categories of alcoholic beverages like wine, beer, whiskey, rum, gin and vodka to set the maximum permissible limits of alcohol in these drinks and thus, mandate safety standards.The draft standards will come up for final discussions at the forthcoming meeting of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the apex food regulator, which plans to notify these by July 1.So far, there was no benchmarking in place for prescribing safe and permissible limits of alcohol in drinks.The new standards will apply to practically all branded alcoholic beverages that are permitted for sale in India as per the current licencing regulations. Sources in the FSSAI said the new draft food standards finalised for alcoholic drinks would prescribe standards for the content of alcohol, grains and water in drinks.“These standards have already been approved by the FSSAI scientific committee and are expected to be taken up at the Authority's forthcoming meeting before their final approval.After approvals, these will be put in the public domain and objections will be invited,” FSSAI officers said.The move has a potential to impact sales of the alcohol industry, a major revenue earner for states, with the total annual sales pegged at over USD 10 billion in the country.The industry is stiffly resisting any move from the food regulator to set standards on alcohol content in branded drinks.The current levels in India allow a maximum of 45.5 per cent alcohol content in distilled spirits such as whisky, rum, gin or vodka, 12 per cent for wine and 8 per cent for beer.While the FSSAI says setting of standards for food products is part of its mandate by law, alcoholic beverage manufacturers say the Authority has no such power and the state governments alone had the legislative competence to govern the manufacture and sale of these products. Citing the existing state laws governing the manufacture and sale of liquor under the Excise Act, the manufacturers of alcoholic drinks under the banner of Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies have moved the Bombay High Court challenging FSSAI's move to set alcohol content standards.Liquor manufacturers have also moved the Jabalpur High Court challenging the inclusion of alcoholic drinks in the definition of food under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which was implemented last year in August. The Act says anything consumed would be considered as food.FSSAI officers maintain they have the requisite powers under the FSSAI Act to set standards for anything consumed by humans as food or drink items and ensure that whatever is consumed is fit for human consumption. “We are simply trying to tell consumers what is fit for their consumption. These standards are directed to safeguard public health,” an FSSAI official said.Developed countries have safety standards for all alcoholic drinks and these are enforced strictly in the interest of public health. The FSSAI was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as a statutory body to lay down science- based food safety standards and regulating manufacturing, processing, distribution, sale and import of food so as to ensure safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

Food licence must for operating liquor shops

Excise department makes it compulsory for liquor shop owners seeking renewal to attach a copy or issuance receipt of food licence, as alcoholic beverages are now included under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
In order to ensure that liquor shops owners in the district are registered with the Food and Drug Administration, the excise department made it mandatory for those seeking new licences or renewal to attach a copy of food licence or its issuance receipt, as alcoholic beverages are now classified under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.


Time for renewal: A wine shop in Camp. Representation Pic

While the officials from the excise department claimed that circulars to inform shop owners were issued in January itself, a few of the shop owners claimed ignorance about reading or hearing of any such circular.

Taken by surprise
“We were unaware that a food licence is required to run a liquor shop. When we approached the excise department for renewing our licence, its officials asked us to first get a licence from the FDA. This surprised us. The excise officials said renewal will be processed only if we attach a copy of the licence or its issuance receipt along with the application,” Mahesh Punde, owner of Arya Beer Shoppee, said. While there were few who claimed ignorance about the circular, there were others who applied for a food licence from the FDA.

Prior knowledge
Vicky Mulchandani, owner of Khushboo Wines in Karvenagar, said, “I knew about the requirement of food licence for running a liquor shop so I applied for one and got it. I have now applied for the renewal of the liquor licence with the excise department.”

Owner of Antique Wines in Pimple Saudagar said, “We recently came to know about submitting a copy of food licence or the receipt of application why applying for renewal of our liquor licence.”

A senior official from the excise department said the FDA officials had approached the department and requested them to help spread awareness about the importance of having a food licence for running a liquor shop.

“Based on their request, the department informed liquor shop owners in the district about it. We told them to get a food licence before applying for renewal of liquor licence,” the officials said.

When asked whether it was compulsory to have a food licence, a few of the excise officials said it was the FDA’s decision and they were helping it to get liquor shop registered under the FSSA Act.

Officialspeak
FDA Joint Commissioner (Food) Shashikant Kekare said, “Though alcoholic beverages are now included in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, very few liquor shop owners are aware of it and are registering with the FDA. So we approached to the excise department and requested them to spread awareness amongst shop owners. Based on our request, they circulated the information.”
Repeated calls to Superintendent of Excise Department A B Chaskar went unanswered.