Withdraw ‘misleading’ Bournvita ads, packaging and labels, says NCPCR

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights issued a notice to Mondelez International, India after allegations that Bournvita has high sugar content that could be harmful to children.

NCPCR demands Bournvita to withdraw 'misleading' ads over high sugar content.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has issued a notice to Mondelez International, India – the company that makes Bournvita – to withdraw all misleading advertisements, packaging and labels after allegations that it has a high sugar content that could be harmful to children.

In its notice on Wednesday, the NCPCR has said that it has taken cognizance of the matter under Section 13(1)(j) of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act after having received a complaint that alleges that Bournvita, which promotes itself as a health powder/health drink that promotes a child’s growth and development, “contains a high percentage of sugar” and substances which could cause “harmful impact to the health of children”.

“The Commission in this regard observes that the product manufactured by your company is misleading the customers through its product packaging and advertisements. The Commission observes that your product’s labelling, packaging, display and advertisements claims are misleading for the general public. Further your product’s labelling and packaging also fails to acknowledge the correct information regarding the content used in the product – Bournvita,” the commission said in its notice.

The notice further says that Bournvita fails to display “mandatory disclosures in line with the guidelines and regulations of the Food Safety Standard Authority of India and under the Consumer Protection Act”.

The commission observes that Bournvita “prima facie” seems to have bypassed the threshold of added sugar with the use of labels ‘Maltodextrin’, ‘Liquid Glucose’ which needed to be displayed under the title of “added sugar”, according to the FSSAI’s Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020.

The NCPCR has further said that prima facie, another FSSAI regulation seems to have been violated by Bournvita which says that the claims (made by the product) will specify the “number of servings of the food per day for the claimed benefit”.