Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Tukaram Mundhe recently challenged celebrities and public figures endorsing paan and gutka products to apply the same standards to themselves and their families as they do while promoting such products to the public.
"If you are advertising paan or gutka, then you should consume it first. Let your children consume it and make it a habit. Then tell everyone else to do it. Why should it work the other way around?" Mundhe said at an NDTV event recently.
His remarks come after the Maharashtra FDA issued show-cause notices to Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over their participation as brand endorsers in an advertisement for Vimal Elaichi.
The FDA has alleged that the campaign could amount to surrogate or indirect promotion of prohibited pan masala or tobacco-related products.
FDA flags ‘double standards’
Mundhe said people cannot have one set of standards in their personal lives and another when they are working professionally. If someone publicly tells people that a product is good, the same standard should apply to the person promoting it, he said.
{{/usCountry}}Mundhe said people cannot have one set of standards in their personal lives and another when they are working professionally. If someone publicly tells people that a product is good, the same standard should apply to the person promoting it, he said.
{{/usCountry}}The FDA commissioner also criticised what he described as sycophancy and maintaining different standards in different situations.
"I hate to be a sycophant. Anybody. I hate sycophancy. Double standards, multiple standards, multiple faces, I don't like them," he said, the NDTV report added.
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Mundhe's comments underline the FDA's position that celebrities and other public figures cannot completely distance themselves from the responsibility attached to products they endorse, particularly when the products raise questions under food-safety and advertising laws.
‘Not only the producer's responsibility’
The FDA commissioner also rejected the argument that actors appearing in advertisements are merely the faces of campaigns and therefore have no responsibility for the products they promote.
He specifically addressed the argument: "I am a commercial person, I am an actor, I am an actress, I am somebody, therefore, I am advertising it. It is not my responsibility. It is only the producer's responsibility."
"That is not the case," Mundhe said.
He said an endorsement is not merely about lending one's face to a brand. Public figures also have a responsibility to understand what they are asking people to consume or believe.
Mundhe said the issue goes beyond personal morality or ethics, pointing to the legal responsibilities of sponsors. He said the law does not permit misleading claims in relation to food or drugs.
Shah Rukh, Ajay, Tiger issued notices
The FDA notices, dated August 11, 2026, were issued under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and related regulations. The actors were given 15 days from the date of receipt to submit written explanations.
The FDA warned that failure to respond, or an explanation found to be unsatisfactory, could lead to further action under applicable law.
In the notices, the FDA said the Vimal brand is “prominently associated with Pan Masala in the market” and pointed out that pan masala products are prohibited in Maharashtra.
Mundhe later said during a press conference that Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff had responded to the show-cause notices.