FSSAI has taken note of various media reports including on social media about various health claims made by the Food Business Operators in the country. Accordingly, in order to regulate the advertisement and claims on food products by Food Business Operators (FBOs), FSSAI has notified a regulation i.e. Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements & Claims) Regulations, 2018 under which the deceptive claims or advertisements are prohibited and are punishable offences under Section-53 of FSS Act, 2006.
Every claim including the permitted nutrient based claims under the said Regulations are required to meet the criteria stipulated in the said Regulations and no false or exaggerated health claim is permitted. Further, any nutrient function claims and other functional claims made on the food products are required to be based on the current and relevant scientific evidence.
Where a claimed health benefit is attributed directly to the product, it shall be based on statistically significant results from well-designed human intervention studies, conducted by or under guidance of established research institutions, in line with the principles of GCP (Good Clinical Practices) and peer reviewed or published in a peer reviewed reputed scientific journal.
