New Indian Express: New Delhi: Monday, 28 July 2025.
According to I&B ministry, no food product advertisements were identified as misleading between September 2023 and March 2025 under the rules, and so the question of taking action “doesn’t arise.”
The Centre’s two key
ministries and a department, which are tasked with monitoring and regulating
misleading advertisements and false claims about food products, have failed to
detect any such promotions in the past two years, a series of RTIs have revealed.
This is despite the fact that the Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), a national think tank on nutrition consisting of independent medical experts, paediatricians, and nutritionists, said they have spotted a number of such misleading advertisements on a daily basis in electronic and print media and, of late, social media, too.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which plays a crucial role in regulating and monitoring advertisements, replied in the negative in an RTI reply to a question on which food product ads they have identified as misleading between September 2023 and March 2025 under the Advertising Code (Rule 7) under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.
In its reply, the I&B ministry said that, according to readily available records, no food product advertisements were identified as misleading between September 2023 and March 2025 under the rules, and so the question of taking action “doesn’t arise.”
Similarly, the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution ministry was asked the same question, and their reply was “the required information is not available.”
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), also establishes standards to ensure food safety, was also asked the same question. The FSSAI, in its reply, said that it regularly monitors advertisements disseminated through various platforms, including e-commerce portals, print media, and social media.
“We were not surprised that the government has not taken any action, but were certainly shocked that a system has been created that does not do any good and continues to ask people to keep complaining,” Dr Arun Gupta, a paediatrician, nutrition advocate and NAPi Convener told this paper.
On the recent Union Health Ministry’s direction to showcase “sugar and oil boards” in all government offices and public institutions, a story first reported by this paper, Dr Gupta said, “The real culprit is marketing, advertising, sponsorship of sports by ultra-processed foods (UPF) and HFSS food product industry. It’s marketing that increases consumption of unhealthy diets.”
“This is a communication attempt by the centre; however, to be effective in reducing consumption, legal frameworks are required that would put Front-of-Pack Nutrition (FOPN) Labelling warning and banning ads of HFSS,” said Dr Gupta, who was a member of the PM’s Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges.
According to I&B ministry, no food product advertisements were identified as misleading between September 2023 and March 2025 under the rules, and so the question of taking action “doesn’t arise.”
This is despite the fact that the Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), a national think tank on nutrition consisting of independent medical experts, paediatricians, and nutritionists, said they have spotted a number of such misleading advertisements on a daily basis in electronic and print media and, of late, social media, too.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which plays a crucial role in regulating and monitoring advertisements, replied in the negative in an RTI reply to a question on which food product ads they have identified as misleading between September 2023 and March 2025 under the Advertising Code (Rule 7) under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.
In its reply, the I&B ministry said that, according to readily available records, no food product advertisements were identified as misleading between September 2023 and March 2025 under the rules, and so the question of taking action “doesn’t arise.”
Similarly, the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution ministry was asked the same question, and their reply was “the required information is not available.”
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), also establishes standards to ensure food safety, was also asked the same question. The FSSAI, in its reply, said that it regularly monitors advertisements disseminated through various platforms, including e-commerce portals, print media, and social media.
“We were not surprised that the government has not taken any action, but were certainly shocked that a system has been created that does not do any good and continues to ask people to keep complaining,” Dr Arun Gupta, a paediatrician, nutrition advocate and NAPi Convener told this paper.
On the recent Union Health Ministry’s direction to showcase “sugar and oil boards” in all government offices and public institutions, a story first reported by this paper, Dr Gupta said, “The real culprit is marketing, advertising, sponsorship of sports by ultra-processed foods (UPF) and HFSS food product industry. It’s marketing that increases consumption of unhealthy diets.”
“This is a communication attempt by the centre; however, to be effective in reducing consumption, legal frameworks are required that would put Front-of-Pack Nutrition (FOPN) Labelling warning and banning ads of HFSS,” said Dr Gupta, who was a member of the PM’s Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges.