Bournvita row rages on, Bureau of Indian Standards says will probe into influencer's claims
Amid the raging issue, BIS, which is under the Union ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, assured that the case will be probed.
- Apr 19, 2023,
- Updated Apr 26, 2023 6:02 PM IST
Days after a health influencer’s video criticised Bournvita, a product of Cadbury, as a ‘health drink’ for children, Bureau of Indian Standards, backed by the Centre, has said that it would look into the issue and launch a probe into the case.
On April 1, influencer Revant Himatsingka in a video said that Bournvita has high sugar, cocoa solids and cancer-causing colourant. He said that Bournvita’s tagline “tayyari jeet ki” should be changed to “tayyari diabetes ki.”
Responding to the video, Mondelez India-owned health drink brand issued a legal notice to Himatsingka, claiming that his video was misleading.
It said: "Bournvita contains nutrients namely Vitamin A, C, D, Iron, Zinc, Copper and Selenium which help build immunity. These have been part of our formulation for several years. We have always called out ‘Helps with the healthy functioning of the immune system’ on the back of our pack for several years (even before the Covid-19 pandemic)."
It added that each serve of Bournvita contains 7.5 grams of added sugar, which is less than the daily recommended sugar intake for children, and hence Himatsingka claims didn’t stand.
Himatsingka deleted his video and issued an apology to the company.
Amid the raging issue, BIS, which is under the Union ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, assured that the case will be probed.
“We will look into the complaint. The social media influencer has taken back the video made on Bournvita. FSSAI is the regulatory body in this case. However, the complaint can always come to us and we are duty-bound to probe into the case,” said Pramod Tiwari, Director General, BIS.
Before the video was deleted, it racked up 12 million views on Instagram and was widely shared across social media platforms. The post was even shared by actor-politician Paresh Rawal, former cricketer and MP Kirti Azad. Many personalities and health experts have shown their concerns about health drinks and their content.
Dr Abby Philips, whose Twitter name goes as The Liver Doc, said that Cadbury's claim that Bournvita promotes muscle and bone growth, immunity enhancement, and brain development is “misleading because there are no controlled studies to support them”.
In a thread of tweets, Dr Philips (The Liver Doc) said that Cadburys issued a statement that they have designed the product on a scientific basis, "which means there has to be published studies backing their claims". But the only published research that the liver doctor could find were those that supported Himatsingka's claims made in the now-deleted video.
Among the four research papers that Dr Philips found, one showed that caffeine content in Bournvita was higher than in other similar cocoa-based products.
Another study showed that Bournvita product changes color due to inherent changes in pH due to its "sugary" content. A third called the UNICEF-Cadbury partnership "sugarwashing."
On Monday, Zerodha CEO and co-founder Nithin Kamath said that such products (health drinks) should have front-of-package food labelling.
Without naming Bournvita or any other health drink, Kamath said drinks brands should have front-of-package food labelling, as FSSAI proposed in their 2018 draft paper indicating the fat and sugar content.
Kamath also said that food or drinks should be taken in moderation for healthy benefits. "Even the healthiest foods on the planet are healthy only when consumed in moderation," he said.
Also read: Influencer deletes post on Bournvita after receiving 'legal notice' from Cadbury
Days after a health influencer’s video criticised Bournvita, a product of Cadbury, as a ‘health drink’ for children, Bureau of Indian Standards, backed by the Centre, has said that it would look into the issue and launch a probe into the case.
On April 1, influencer Revant Himatsingka in a video said that Bournvita has high sugar, cocoa solids and cancer-causing colourant. He said that Bournvita’s tagline “tayyari jeet ki” should be changed to “tayyari diabetes ki.”
Responding to the video, Mondelez India-owned health drink brand issued a legal notice to Himatsingka, claiming that his video was misleading.
It said: "Bournvita contains nutrients namely Vitamin A, C, D, Iron, Zinc, Copper and Selenium which help build immunity. These have been part of our formulation for several years. We have always called out ‘Helps with the healthy functioning of the immune system’ on the back of our pack for several years (even before the Covid-19 pandemic)."
It added that each serve of Bournvita contains 7.5 grams of added sugar, which is less than the daily recommended sugar intake for children, and hence Himatsingka claims didn’t stand.
Himatsingka deleted his video and issued an apology to the company.
Amid the raging issue, BIS, which is under the Union ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, assured that the case will be probed.
“We will look into the complaint. The social media influencer has taken back the video made on Bournvita. FSSAI is the regulatory body in this case. However, the complaint can always come to us and we are duty-bound to probe into the case,” said Pramod Tiwari, Director General, BIS.
Before the video was deleted, it racked up 12 million views on Instagram and was widely shared across social media platforms. The post was even shared by actor-politician Paresh Rawal, former cricketer and MP Kirti Azad. Many personalities and health experts have shown their concerns about health drinks and their content.
Dr Abby Philips, whose Twitter name goes as The Liver Doc, said that Cadbury's claim that Bournvita promotes muscle and bone growth, immunity enhancement, and brain development is “misleading because there are no controlled studies to support them”.
In a thread of tweets, Dr Philips (The Liver Doc) said that Cadburys issued a statement that they have designed the product on a scientific basis, "which means there has to be published studies backing their claims". But the only published research that the liver doctor could find were those that supported Himatsingka's claims made in the now-deleted video.
Among the four research papers that Dr Philips found, one showed that caffeine content in Bournvita was higher than in other similar cocoa-based products.
Another study showed that Bournvita product changes color due to inherent changes in pH due to its "sugary" content. A third called the UNICEF-Cadbury partnership "sugarwashing."
On Monday, Zerodha CEO and co-founder Nithin Kamath said that such products (health drinks) should have front-of-package food labelling.
Without naming Bournvita or any other health drink, Kamath said drinks brands should have front-of-package food labelling, as FSSAI proposed in their 2018 draft paper indicating the fat and sugar content.
Kamath also said that food or drinks should be taken in moderation for healthy benefits. "Even the healthiest foods on the planet are healthy only when consumed in moderation," he said.
Also read: Influencer deletes post on Bournvita after receiving 'legal notice' from Cadbury