Food regulator FSSAI has reportedly directed Dabur India to not use claims of providing 100 per cent pure or natural products on their packaging, saying such labels were misleading and went against the law.
Dabur India Ltd is under the scanner for claiming that its products were '100 per cent Natural', '100 per cent Pure', '100 per cent Organic'. Some of its products were found stating '100 per cent Purity Guaranteed', while its coconut water was found to be labelled as '100 per cent Tender Coconut Water'. Dabur sells a wide range of food products, including honey, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, cow ghee, coconut water and more.
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In a statement shared on its social media, the food regulator said, "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 per cent" claims." The FSSAI has further issued a 15-day deadline for Dabur to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR).
Why FSSAI prohibited Dabur from using 100% claims
Issuing a prohibition order, FSSAI directed Dabur to immediately halt the sale of food products carrying '100 per cent' claims as they were "ambiguous and unverifiable".
{{/usCountry}}Issuing a prohibition order, FSSAI directed Dabur to immediately halt the sale of food products carrying '100 per cent' claims as they were "ambiguous and unverifiable".
{{/usCountry}}The food regulator cited the FSS (Advertising & Claims) Regulations, 2018, which aims to protect consumers from misleading assertions by companies.
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Earlier in June, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) had penalised a food and beverage company for making similar claims. Explaining the reason behind the crack down, the CCPA said, "100 per cent is a precise and absolute numerical expression and cannot be used loosely, approximately or as a marketing slogan. Any such claim must correspond exactly with the actual composition of the product."
Which Dabur products are under FSSAI scanner?
FSSAI found that Dabur was selling its products, Dabur Himalayan Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and Dabur Organic Honey, with Jaivik Bharat Logo, but they lacked the valid FSSAI organic endorsement. Another product, Dabur Hommade Coconut Milk guaranteed "100 per cent Purity".
The FSS (Advertising & Claims) Regulations, 2018, do not allow companies to make such claims for compound foods.
Dabur India confirmed to have received the FSSAI notice and said the company was in the process of reviewing its products mentioned in the notice.
This was not the first time that Dabur came under the food regulator's radar. According to the FSSAI, it had previously directed Dabur to discontinue sale of products with "100 per cent" claims, but it did not result into a satisfactory corrective action by the company.