Mumbai:
A health drink that makes children grow tall - a claim that the Maharashtra State Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is all set to challenge in court.
In its charge sheet, the FDA has charged Heinz India, the makers of Complan, with violating the 1954 Prevention of Food Adulteration Act that forbids exaggerated claims in advertisments.
Dr. R K Anand, Senior Paediatrician, and member of Indian Academy of Paediatrics says, ''Mothers started asking me, 'Doctor saab my child is short, so I have started giving him Complan'. She forgets the child was small at birth."
"The most common problem with children's health is malnutrition in our country. The solutions for malnutrition are quite easy and cost-effective, but when the products are advertised in an attractive format, it makes children and parents more anxious,'' says Dr. Arun Bal, Association for Consumer Action on Safety and Health.
Globally, health claims made in ads for children's food products are closely watched. Recently, in the United States, Nestle was forced to drop its claim that one of its products improves children's immunity.
In India, too, there are guidelines against products with untested claims. "They can't make false, misleading claims and the benefits they promote have to be substantiated," said Prof. Dhananjay Keskar, Chairman, Advertising Standards Council.But the monitoring process, it appears, isn't as rigorous.
Scientific studies, on which a company bases its claim, have to be registered with a Government of India lab. But like Complan's, most of the claims are not registered, and there is no way of checking their validity.