Gone are the days of witnessing food ads go one about how “fresh” their “freshly” made “natural” products are because the Health Ministry has proposed restricting the use of terms like “fresh”, “natural”, “traditional” and “original” in advertisements for food products.

Words Don’t Come Easy

Food Safety and Security Authority of India (FSSAI) has prepared the draft that inhibits putting such words in food campaigns. Currently with IANS, the proposed draft states that the practice of certain terms that have usually been used rather frivolously in past will have to be rethought now.

Fresh, Freshly – “Fresh” and “Freshly” must not be used for foods “containing additives and/or subjected to packaging, storing or any other supply chain processes that control freshness shall not be termed as ‘freshly stored’ or ‘freshly packed’”.

Natural, Real, Genuine – Further, the word “natural”, “real”, and even “genuine” to must be used wisely for only describing products “derived from a recognized source such as a plant, animal, micro-organism or mineral and to which nothing has been added”. Even the packaging of such foods should be done sans preservatives and chemicals.

Traditional, Original – As for the word “traditional”, it can only be used for recipe, fundamental formulation or processing method for a product that has been present for a substantial amount of time and have remained unchanged. “The term ‘original’ shall only be used to describe a food that is made to a formulation, the origin of which can be traced, and that has remained essentially unchanged over time. It should not contain replacements for major ingredients. It may similarly be used to describe a process, provided it is the process first used in the making of the food, and which has remained essentially unchanged over time, although it may be mass-produced,” the draft says.

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Health Claims & Advisories

In addition to describing the product in general, the makers should also revise the text that explains the health claims of the said food. That the food boasts of nutritional or health attributes should be scientifically verified by certified methods of measuring the same.

“All disclaimers related to a claim shall appear in the same field of vision. No claim or promotion of sale, supply, use and consumption of articles of foods shall be made using FSSAI logo and license number. Advertisements shall also not undermine the importance of healthy lifestyles,” the draft says.

Moreover, the FSSAI claims that no food or beverage advertisement should promote the product as a “meal replacement”. Also, these claims must be in tandem with the information on the label or packaging of the food or beverage.

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