‘Likely to mislead’: FSSAI bars Dabur from selling products with ‘100%’ guarantee claims
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has prohibited Dabur India from selling several food products carrying “100 per cent” claims, saying such labelling are “ambiguous, unverifiable” and “likely to mislead consumers”.In a post on social media on Monday, the food regulator said it had issued a prohibition order to Dabur India Ltd over the sale of products carrying claims such as “100 per cent Natural”, “100 per cent Pure”, “100 per cent Purity Guaranteed”, “100 per cent Organic” and “100 per cent Tender Coconut Water”.The products covered under the order include honey, cow ghee, edible oils, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, sesame oil, coconut water, coconut milk and other food items.According to the FSSAI, the use of such claims violates the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising & Claims) Regulations, 2018, as they are “ambiguous, unverifiable and likely to mislead consumers.”“Food products being sold on the company’s website were found carrying misleading ‘100 per cent’ claims such as ‘100 per cent Natural’, ‘100 per cent Pure’, ‘100 per cent Purity Guaranteed’, ‘100 per cent Organic’ and ‘100 per cent Tender Coconut Water’,” the regulator said.The FSSAI also found that Dabur Himalayan Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and Dabur Organic Honey displayed the Jaivik Bharat logo without a valid FSSAI organic endorsement.In addition, Dabur Hommade Coconut Milk was marketed with the claim “100 per cent Purity”, which the regulator said is not permitted for compound food products under the advertising and claims regulations.The regulator said it had earlier issued a notice directing Dabur to discontinue the misleading claims, but “no satisfactory corrective action was taken by Dabur.”“FSSAI directed Dabur India Limited to immediately prohibit the sale of the food products identified in the notice and all other food products carrying misleading ‘100%’ claims, and to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) within 15 days,” the regulator said.Responding to the development, Dabur India said it is reviewing the notice. “We have received the FSSAI notice and are in the process of checking the content mentioned in the notice on our website,” the company said in a statement.The action is part of the regulator’s broader crackdown on misleading food labelling and advertising. Over the past few months, the FSSAI has increasingly used social media to publicise enforcement action against food business operators and e-commerce platforms selling such products.
