38 cases of 'misguiding ads' on food items, FSSAI sends notices: Manish Tewari

NEW DELHI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued notices in 38 cases of dubious claims or misguiding advertisements on food items and prosecution has been launched in 19 cases, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari also said that apart from these 38 cases, other instances that came before the ministry were placed before an Inter-Ministerial Committee.

According to details given by the minister, complaints had been filed against advertisements of leading brands including one of Complan, which claimed that one can grow two times by using the product.

The cases have been filed for violation under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Food Safety and Standards (Packing and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, Tewari said.

Another matter that was filed pertained to the Horlicks advertisement over the claim that the children consuming the product were "taller, stronger and sharper".

Another case was related to the Kellogs advertisement which claimed that "research shows that people who eat low fat breakfast like Kellogg's Special K, tend to be slimmer than those who don't".

According to Tewari, cases had also been filed against advertisements promoting many other brands.

In response to another question, Tewari said that the Press Council had registered 532 complaints on charges of baseless and provocative news reports published in print media since April 1.